Lecture 4: Language and Communication

Question 1

primate call systems

Answer 1

•natural communication system that consists of a limited number of sounds (calls) produced only when environmental stimuli are encountered

Question 2

non-human primate language

Answer 2

• Kanzi
• Koko: ASL
• Washoe: ASL
• Lucy: ASL

Question 3

Distictive features of Language

Answer 3

•cultural transmission
•communication system through learning is a fundamental attribute of language
•productivity
•change and new symbols/words can be created
ex: jorts
•displacement
•language is not bound to specific times, situations, or
places; abstract
ex: Last Thursday (talking about the past)
•conventionality
•language is a constant force but is able to change
over time

Question 4

FOXP2

Answer 4

• Gene that can allow or restrict people from speaking

* 150000 yrs ago we developed this ability

Question 5

nonverbal communication

Answer 5

•Human symbol systems are complex as well as their gestures and vocalizations
ex: nodding, shaking hands to greet

Question 6

focal vocabulary

Answer 6

•set of terms and definitions that certain groups of people come to share by way of mutual interest and participation in certain activities
ex: vernacular, coke instead of soda?

Question 7

semantics

Answer 7

• language’s meaning system

Question 8

syntax

Answer 8

•the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

Question 9

phoneme/phonology

Answer 9

•sound contrast that makes a difference; differentiates meaning
ex: read
•study of speech sounds; considers what sounds are present and meaningful in a given language

Question 10

minimal pairs

Answer 10

•words that resemble each other in all but one sound

ex: purr/purse; Bit/Pit

Question 11

morpheme/morphology

Answer 11

•words and their meaningful parts
ex:
• studies how sounds combine words;

Question 12

Noam Chomsky & universal grammar

Answer 12

•he argues that as humans we have a born, innate language

“Colorless green ideas sleep furiously”-surface structure is meaningless is recognized as sentence; deep structure = intelligible

Question 13

deep structure/surface strructure

Answer 13

• the abstract representation of the syntactic structure of a sentence.
• the structure of a well-formed phrase or sentence in a language, as opposed to its underlying abstract representation.

Question 14

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Answer 14

• Edward Sapir/Benjamin Whorf

the structure of a language determines a native speaker’s perception and categorization of experience

Question 15

style shifts

Answer 15

•switching dialects

Question 16

sociolinguistics

Answer 16

•the study of language in relation to social factors, including differences of regional, class, and occupational dialect, gender differences, and bilingualism.

Question 17

symbolic capital

Answer 17

•the resources available to an individual on the basis of honor, prestige or recognition, and serves as value that one holds within a culture.

Question 18

AA Vernacular English and Stigmatization

Answer 18

• the variety of English natively spoken by most working- and middle-class African Americans particularly in urban communities.Having its own unique grammatical, vocabulary, and accent features
• AAVE is stigmatized bc AA people themselves are stigmatized

Question 19

American Tongues

Answer 19

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