Language Flashcards
What is language?
System for representing or communicating info about the world using symbols and rules
What are the two classes of language?
Natural vs formal
What is a formal language?
Finite system of signs and rules for combination
What is a generative language?
Capable of describing an infinite number of concepts
What is the pathway for development of languages?
Ancestral language -> regional dialects -> modern language families
How many language families are there?
6500
What are the functional components of language?
Articulation, phonology, meaning, syntax and comprehension
What are the places of articulation?
Labial (lips), alveolar (tongue against hard palate) and palatial (tongue against pharynx)
What are the manners of articulation?
Voiced vs unvoiced, Fricative, plosive
What is phonology?
The sound combinations from which the syllables and words of language are built up
What is used as a common phonological notation?
International Phonetic Alphabet
What is the definition of the meaning of language?
Representation in long term memory of concepts and the relations between them
What is syntax?
The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language
What does syntax rely on?
Grammatical markers and word order
What is the definition of comprehension of language?
The ability to represent the meaning of words or sentences spoken or written by another person
What are things that affect comprehension?
Context, pitch, stress, prosody
What brain part is important in articulation and phonology?
Motor homonculus and anterior portions of Broca’s area
What brain part is important in understanding meaning?
Temporal poles
Why are temporal poles so good at understanding the meaning of language?
Dense interconnections with widespread regions of association cortex and modality - independent representations