Introduction: History, Goal, Methods, Linguistic Theories Flashcards
What do linguists base their research on?
Linguistis base their research on grammaticality judgement. For example, can I say ‘On je preplavalec?’? No, because it is not grammatical. Linguists research the reasons of why a certain thing is ungrammatical.
How do psycholinguists approach research?
Psycholinguists look at behaviour through naming tasks, lexical decisious tasks, etc. They wish to answer two main questions:
What mental processes are involved in language use?
What linguistic knowledge is involved in language use?
Psycholinguistics is an interdisicplinary area of study as it incorporates linguistics and psychology. The two are complementary and inform one another.
How does neurolinguistics approach research?
Neurolinguistics studies the relationship between language and the brain as language is a biological phenomenon. It explores the relation between language and different aspects of brain function. It uses neuroimaging techniques and lesion studies for its reseach.
How does linguistic theory explain language? Which three fundamental facts does it state?
1) Language phenomena are explained through symbolic representations (breaking down sentences into structures)
2) Words are combinations of sounds, each with its own property.
3) Words are structured from smaller parts (morphemes)
Explain the associative chain theory.
The associative chain theory is a linguistic theory put forth by behaviourist B.F. Skinner. Behaviourists understood language as a verbal behaviour, which is a function of the physical environment of the speaker. This particular linguistic theory focuses on meaning, wherein a sentence consists of a chain of associations based on individual words.
Explain Chomsky’s critique of the associative chain theory.
Chomsky claimed that associations of meaning are not enough. He famously compared two non-sensical sentences
“Colorless green ideas sleep furiously”
“Furiously sleep ideas green colorless”
The two sentences are both non-sensical but there is a clear difference in the quality of the two sentences; the first is much more agreeable. He proposed that it’s rules that make sentences good, not meaning.
Explain the concepts of competence and performance within the context of Chomsky’s philosophy of language.
Chomsky claimed that we must distinguish between competence and performance.
Competence is the knowledge of language structures/grammar. These are inherent rules of a language.
Performance is the application of that knowledge of language structure.
[The squirrel] [that the dog] [that the man saved][ chased] ran up the tree. → Some grammatical structures may initially seem ungrammatical if they are hard to process (ok on the competence side, hard on the performance side; so the two cannot be the same thing.
Explain the distance hypothesis.
The distance hypotheiss claims that sentences are harder to process when the subject and the corresponding verb are separated by another clause.
What are the three phrase structure rules?
Naturally, it depends on how long and complex a sentence is (it can stop at the first rule or the rules can be repeated 20 times) but generally all sentences can be broken down according to the three rules:
1. A sentence is broken into a nominal phrase and a verbal phrase.
2. The nominal phrase breaks down into another nominal phrase and a sentence prime (S’).
3. The sentence prime (S’) breaks down into a nominal phrase and a VP.
Example:
The squirrel that the dog chased ran up the tree.
1. NP = The squirrel that the dog chased; VP = ran up the tree
2. NP = The squirrel; S’= That the dog chased
3. that + S
4. NP = the dog; VP = chased
What is linguistic productivity and recursion?
Linguistic productivity is the ability of human languages to produce an infinite amount of novel sentences from a finite number of words by embedding one sentence into another(=recursion).
In language we only have about 20 phonological features, which turn into several dozens of phonemes. From these phonemes, we form morphemes which in turn create a large pool of words. And from this pool of words we can create an infinite amount of sentences.
What is a morpheme? How does it differ from a word?
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in language. Some, called free morphemes, are the same as words (work, manage, …) and some are bound and are different from words (-er in worker).
How does linguistic productivity work in sign language?
Linguistic productivity follows the same principles in sign language. We have a small amount of primitive features like the shape of the hand, its placement and different movements. Together, these form a finite amount of components which can create an infinite amount of sentences.
What are primitive features of spoken language?
A. Manner of articulation
B. Space of articulation.
C. Voicing
D. Meaning.
A. Manner of articulation
C. Voicing
Caroll stated there is a duality of patterning in language. Explain this term.
All languages have duality: a level at which there is a relatively small number of basic, meaningless elements and another level at which there is a large number of meaningful elements. All languages have a systematic set of rules for combining the formed into the latter
