Language And The Brain

Question 0

Phonology

Answer 0

The study of sound systems and sound change

Question 1

Linguistics

Answer 1

The principled study of language as a system

Question 2

Phonetics

Answer 2

The description and classification of sounds more generally and the study of production and perception

Question 3

Morphology

Answer 3

Study of how words form

Question 4

Syntax

Answer 4

The structure of phrases, clauses, and sentences

Question 5

Semantics

Answer 5

The study of meaning - the relationship between linguistic signs and the things they represent

Question 6

Pragmatics

Answer 6

Attempts to explain how we manage to communicate with language

Question 7

Communal

Answer 7

Humans acquire language in speech communities - no one person can control or own language

Question 8

Creativity

Answer 8

There are an infinite number of utterances from a finite set of linguistic units

Question 9

Arbitrary

Answer 9

No natural relationship between a string of sounds and the concept behind it

Question 10

Grammar

Answer 10

The systematic rules governing how units are combined and recombined in language

Evidence of syntax

Question 11

Displacement

Answer 11

The ability to refer to things not physically present, removed in space or time, and the ability to talk about abstract concepts

Question 12

Aphasia

Answer 12

Partial or total inability to either covey ideas in language or to understand language, as a result from damage to the brain

Question 13

Broca’s aphasia

Answer 13

Hard to speak in sentences, no command of tense and verb order

Question 14

Corpus callosum

Answer 14

Tissue that connects the brains left and right hemispheres and allows them to communicate

Question 15

Cerebral cortex

Answer 15

A layer of gray matter covering there cerebrum that contains fissures

Question 16

Frontal lobe

Answer 16

The front half of the brain distinct to Homo sapiens that is responsible for decision making and language/motor functions

Question 17

Sylvian fissure

Answer 17

Feature in both hemispheres but longer on left side that divides the lobes

Question 18

Wernicke’s aphasia

Answer 18

Lack of comprehension, speak on long and meaningless sentences, add/drop/replace words, invert sounds in words

Question 19

Cerebellum

Answer 19

Large portion in back of brain controlling voluntary movements, balance, and posture

Question 20

8 design features of all human language

Answer 20

1. Arbitrary
2. Ambiguous
3. Communal
4. Creative
5. Discrete
6. Displacement
7. Grammar
8. Volume

Question 21

Volume

Answer 21

There is a high volume of units that can be combined and recombined into many more units, more than in the communication systems of other animals

Question 22

Discrete

Answer 22

Human language is made up of separate units that can be combined and recombined

Question 23

Ambiguity

Answer 23

Words can have multiple meanings and encompass a variety of different intentions

Question 24

Date of origin of language

Answer 24

150,000 to 200,000 years ago - we have had language for as long as we have been biologically human