Language

Question 1

Linguistics

Answer 1

characterizing structure of language

Question 2

Psycholinguistics

Answer 2

• How humans acquire, use, comprehend & produce language
• merging of linguistics and psych
• Productivity and Regularity
• Competence and Performance
• Relationship between language and thought

Question 3

Productivity

Answer 3

an infinite number of sentences are possible in any languages

Question 4

Regularity across language

Answer 4

for all languages there is a systematic structure:

• rules of grammar= rules that account for sentence productivity and regularity
• 3 levels of analysis= phonology, syntax, semantics

Question 5

Syntax

Answer 5

• rules for determining word ordering in phrases and sentences
• Subject, Verb, Object
• rules for forming past tense and plurals (infections)

Question 6

Semantics

Answer 6

• rules for accessing/combining word meanings into a sensible meaningful whole
• ex) Little children sleep peacefully.

Question 7

Competence

Answer 7

• knowledge of the “rules” which linguists identify

Question 8

Performance

Answer 8

• applying knowledge when speaking and listening
• psycholinguists develop theories that account for mental application of rules (DVs= errors, reading times)

Question 9

Relationship between language and thought (2 theories)

Answer 9

Linguistic Determinism: Language shapes the way we think and precieve

• Eskimos are native to snowy environments so thay have 15 differerent words for snow. English speaks have 1. Do english speakers precieve snow differently?

Aristotle: Thought shapes language

• Language arose as a tool for communicating thought
• similarities in structure across different languages
• language universals

Question 10

Language Universals

Answer 10

Statistical and Absolute features

Question 11

Statisitcal Features

Answer 11

features found in many but not all languages

• Subject precedes Object

Question 12

Absolute Language Features

Answer 12

features found in ALL languages

• productivity, regularity, arbitrariness, flexibility, displacement, interchangability

Question 13

Arbitrary Features

Answer 13

Arbitrary= no inherent connection between words and their meaning; we need to learn these connections

• Exception= onomonopeia

Question 14

Flexibility Features

Answer 14

Flexibility= we assign names for everything, and we sometimes change meanings to keep up with the times

• Google, computer, “mouth bling”

Question 15

Displacement Features

Answer 15

We can talk about things that happened inthe past and future

Question 16

Interchangeability

Answer 16

• all humans, male or female, can produce an infinite number of words