Intro

Question 1

Modern linguistics began around the…

Answer 1

1960s

Question 2

Metalinguistic awareness

Answer 2

the ability to understand and analyze the underlying structure of language, separate from its meaning

Question 3

Grammatical competencies

Answer 3

Phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic

Question 4

Labov

Answer 4

studied New York City English

Question 5

Linguistic competence is the ability to

Answer 5

produce and understand an unlimited number of sentences, and recognize that certain phrases are unacceptable

Question 6

Grammar

Answer 6

the system of knowledge that underlies linguistic competence

Question 7

When linguists say something is grammatical, they mean…

Answer 7

attested in the language or doesn’t violate the underlying rules of the language

Question 8

Two ways of talking about rules

Answer 8

Prescriptive and descriptive

Question 9

Prescriptive rules of English

Answer 9

Don’t end a sentence with a preposition, use ‘whom’ instead of ‘who’ when the word is a grammatical object

Question 10

Descriptive rules of English

Answer 10

Adjectives come before the nouns they modify, some people use ‘literally’ non-literally (as an intensifier)

Question 11

Why do we have prescriptive rules?

Answer 11

Prescribing what is ‘allowed’ is a form of social gatekeeping; adhering to prescriptive rules is a form of social signalling

Question 12

Which rules matter more: prescriptive or descriptive?

Answer 12

Linguists are more interested in describing how speakers of a language actually use their language