LING1109 - key concepts wk 1-2

Question 1

writing

Answer 1

a system of visual representation that is language (i.e. not pictures)

Question 2

Language consists of

Answer 2

meaning, wording, and expression (speech, writing, signing)

Question 3

charactery

Answer 3

a writing system based on characters (e.g. Chinese, Hieroglyphs), or ‘logographs’

Question 4

syllabary

Answer 4

a writing system which represents syllables

Question 5

alphabet

Answer 5

a writing system which represents (or tries to represent :) - see Halliday’s discussion of English) phonemes

Question 6

synchronic linguistics

Answer 6

the study of a ‘state’ of language

Question 7

historical linguistics

Answer 7

the study of language changes

Question 8

linguistic sign

Answer 8

the unity of two distinct phenomena, a sound-image and a concept

Question 9

signifier

Answer 9

a sound-image (it is called a ‘sound-image’ not just a sound because you can say it in your head)

Question 10

signified

Answer 10

a concept or meaning

Question 11

valeur

Answer 11

the meaning of sign depends on what else is around it, and what other signs could be used in its place

Question 12

the language and thought relation

Answer 12

without language, thought is a ‘vague, uncharted nebula’. Language enables us to make a ‘clear-cut, consistent distinction’ between two ideas

Question 13

iconic signs

Answer 13

signs that are a pictorial representation of their meaning

Question 14

indexical signs

Answer 14

signs in which the meaning is embedded in the material environment in which the sign was found

Question 15

conventional/arbitrary signs

Answer 15

signs where the expression of the concept bears no natural relation to the meaning - think for instance of ‘cat’ (English for ‘gato’) and ‘gato’ (Spanish for ‘cat’)