Language Flashcards
Phonemes
Discrete sounds that make up words that have no meaning
i.e. “ee’, “p”, or “sh”
Morphemes
Made up of phonemes; the smallest units of meaning in language. Words or parts of words that have meaning are morphemes: “boy”, “-ing”
Phrase
A group of words that when put together function as a single syntactic part of a sentence.
Syntax
The arrangement of words into sentences as prescribed by a particular language
Grammar
The overall rules of the interrelationship between morphemes and syntax that make up a certain language
Morphology
Grammar rules; how to group morphemes
Prosody
Tone inflections, accents, and other aspects of pronunciation that carry meaning
Noam Chomsky
Father of transformational grammar, which differentiates between surface structure and deep structure in languagr
Surface structure
The way that words are organized. The following all have the SAME surface structure:
- I studied the material for hours
- The material was studied for hours by me
- For hours, I studied the material
Each has the same kernel structure (subject = I, verb = studied, object = material)
Deep structure
Underlying meaning of a grouping of words
- involves analysis of kernel structure (subject, verb, object)
Language acquisition device (LAD)
Chomsky proposed that humans have an inborn ability to adopt generative grammar rules of the language that they hear
- Controversial because of its nativist/genetic interpretation
- Chomsky beleived that children need only be exposed to a language in order to apply the LAD; they do not memorize or learn though conditioning
Over-regularization
The over-application of grammar rules
- “I founded the toy”
- Learning that plural adds an “s”, children mistakingly applying this to all nouns, creating words like “sheeps”
Over-extension
Generalizing with names for things
- e.g., calling all furry things “doggie”
Telegraphic speech
Speech without articles or extras
-e.g. “Me go”
Holophrastic speech
When a young child uses one word (holophrases) to convey a whole sentence
e.g. “Me” may mean “give that to me”
Language learning sex differences
Girls learn language faster and more accurately than boys
Bilingualism
Bilingual children are slower at language learning
Which articles of speech do children use first?
Nouns, then verbs
“Me want” (1 noun, 1 verb)
“Mommy shirt” (2 nouns)
4 Language acquisition milestones?
1 year: speaks first word(s)
2 years: >50 spoken words, usually in two- (and then three-) word phrases
3 years: 1,000 word vocabulary, but use has many grammatical errors
4 years: grammar problems are random exceptions
Whorfian hypothesis
Through studies of the Hopi language (Uto-Aztecan), Whorf posited that language influences a culture’s perspective.
- has been used as an argument for non-sexist language
Argument against Whorfian hypothesis
cultures that don’t have words for certain colours can still recognize them, so it is unclear to what extent language affects our perceptions
William Labov
Studied “black” English (Ebonics) and found that it has its own complex internal structure
Vygotsy and Luria
Asserted that language is a tool involved in the development of abstract learning
Pragmatics
- the study of the practical aspects of human action and thought.
- the study of the use of linguistic signs, words and sentences, in actual situations.
Charles Osgood
Studied semantics (word meanings) and created semantic differential charts
- Results showed that people with similar backgrounds and interests plotted words similarly
- Words have similar connotations for cultures or subcultures
