Language Flashcards
What is language and what is its purpose?
Language is a system of communication governed by rules where you combine words into an infinite number of ideas
What are the properties of language?
1) displacement
2) arbitrary symbolism
3) structure
4) open-ended
5) dynamic
Property of Language: What is displacement?
It is communicating about ideas absent in the environment.
Ex. we can talk about mom and dad because they were not here
Property of Language: What is arbitrary symbolism?
It is a symbol that has no visual similarity to a feature it represents.
ex. the words that do not sound similar to the object; cats find different language
Property of Language: What is structure?
It is when discreet sounds go together.
ex. phenomes, syntax, etc.
Property of Language: What is open-ended?
It does not have fixed limits or restricted, but it is broad
ex. run –> ran (not runned); sheep (not sheeps); etc.
Property of Language: What is dynamic?
It is when language is always changing.
ex. old words to new words in English
What are the five structures (or levels) of language?
1) Phoneme
2) Morpheme
3) Syntax
4) semantics
5) pragmatic
Structure of Language: What is Phenome?
It has 44 different sounds (vowels and consonants)
A phoneme is the smallest meaningful unit of sound in a language. A meaningful sound is one that will change one word into another word. For example, the words cat and fat are two different words, but there is only one sound that is different between the two words - the first sound.
Structure of Language: What is a morpheme?
It is when basic sounds still have meanings.
It is the smallest unit of language that has meaning. For example, the word “play” has one morpheme, while the past tense “played” has two morphemes.
For example, recharged is re/charg/ed and prefix/suffix/root.
Structure of Language: What is syntax?
The syntax is grammar rules.
It is the study of how words are combined to form sentences and how sentences are linked together to create sentence structure
For example, the past tense for a ring is rung (not ringed). Three grammar rules are non-phrase, verb phrase, and noun going first and before the verb.
Structure of Language: What is semantic?
Semantic is meaning including the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences.
Structure of Language: What is pragmatic?
Pragmatic is using language in social situations, including what to say, how to say it, and when to say it.
What is a dialect and how does it help demonstrate some of the properties of language?
Dialect is across generations. It is when different languages are comprehensible but have different rules, such as syntax, semantics, and phoneme.
It is a variation of a language that is spoken by a particular group of people or in a specific area of a country
What are the rules governing using language?
Pragmatic - rules governing the use of language. There are 4 rules in language.
1) using language
2) social cues
3) establish common grounds
4) lexical entrainment
Rules of language: using language
Using language - based on our purpose (tone, manners, etc.)
Rules of language: social cues
Social rules
a) proximity - social rule in language
+ Differs based on who you’re
communicating
+ The more intimate the relationship is
= The closer the bubble
b) eye contact
c) Turn-taking
d) staying on topic
e) verbal/nonverbal (should match)
Rules of language: establish common grounds
3) establish common ground/background
a) in friend group –> slang words that
you know
b) common ground shared background,
schemas, and experiences that are
needed for understanding
Rule of language: lexical entrainment
Lexical entrainment is a shared standard term for object/level/person
Lexical entrainment is the phenomenon in conversational linguistics of the process of the subject adopting the reference terms of their interlocutor.
What can a brain tell us about language?
Neurolinguistics
* Broca’s area - speech production; know what they want to say but struggle to speak and say
* Wernicke’s area - understanding speech; know what they want to say but their words don’t make sense
What is the WADA test?
It is looking at the language and memory on one side of the brain at a time.
Left-handed brain
- speech production
- understanding
grammar and
concrete
nouns
- reading
- high in imagery
Right-handed brain
- abstract words
- emotional tone
- humor
Which hemisphere can be developed when Broca’s area occurs?
Left hemisphere can be occurred with Broca’s area when the stroke happens.
How does language develop?
It is innate. It allows us to learn a language so easily.
- language is modular –> language specific
1) general skills
2) cognitive skills –> pattern recognition
like in math, social skills, etc.
3) social skills
a. Joint attention (the point at
something –> someone looks at
what I am pointing at)
b. Like Me hypothesis (ex. copying
faces between Dad and
baby)
What is a language acquisition device?
It is universal grammar and the ability to learn grammar
What are the benefits of being multi-lingual?
1) expertise in language
2) more aware language is arbitrary
3) pay attention language
4) communicate with more people
5) better following instructions
6) increased non-verbal
7) protection dementia
8) cognitive outside of attention and
working memory
Why should kids learn another language?
1) better communication
2) cultural awareness
3) better math skills
4) easier travel
5) better memory
6) international friends
7) heightened logic
8) better career prospects
