Linguistic Terminology

Question 1

Creole

Answer 1

A new language created when children aquire their parents’ pidgin language as their first language

Question 2

Critical Period Hypothesis

Answer 2

The claim that human beings are only capable of learning language between the age of 2 years and the early teens

Question 3

Decoding

Answer 3

Processing language to get the “message”

Question 4

Codebreaking

Answer 4

Processing language to get the “rules”

Question 5

Fricative

Answer 5

A type of consonant in which the air escapes through a narrow gap between lips, teeth, and tongue
(i.e. fine, sign, vine)

Question 6

Glottal Stop

Answer 6

A speech sound made by closing the vocal cords and then releasing them
(i.e. a cough)

Question 7

Immersion Teaching

Answer 7

Teaching the whole curriculum through the second language

Question 8

Intonation

Answer 8

The change of pitch used in the sound system of language

Question 9

Morpheme

Answer 9

The smallest unit in grammar that is either a word in its own right or part of a word

Question 10

Morphology

Answer 10

The study of how sounds make meaning

Question 11

Nasals

Answer 11

Consonants created by blocking the mouth and allowing the air to come out through the nose

Question 12

Parsing

Answer 12

Process through which the mind works out the grammatical structure and meaning of the sentence

Question 13

Phonetics

Answer 13

Sub-discipline of linguistics that studies the production and perception of the speech sounds themselves

Question 14

Phonology

Answer 14

The study of sound units

Question 15

Pidgin

Answer 15

A language created by speakers of two different languages for communicating with each other

Question 16

Semantics

Answer 16

Word/sentence meaning

i.e. needs vs. wants

Question 17

Syntax

Answer 17

How we use grammar to structure sentences

Question 18

Universal Grammar

Answer 18

1) The aspects of language that all languages have in common

2) The language faculty built in to the human mind

Question 19

Phoneme

Answer 19

A unit of sound

i.e. /s/

Question 20

Allophones

Answer 20

Different phonemes with the same meaning

i.e. there are 3 different ways to pronounce “s”

Question 21

Assimilation

Answer 21

When sounds are influenced by other sounds

Question 22

Flapping

Answer 22

A process by which rapid speech affects the phonemes we hear
(i.e. “butter” becomes “buder”)

Question 23

Deletion

Answer 23

In rapid speech we sometimes delete entire phonemes

i.e. “Wednesday” becomes “Wensday”

Question 24

Epenthesis

Answer 24

When sounds are added to a word, usually the interior

i.e. “athelete”

Question 25

Metathesis

Answer 25

When phonemes are swapped

i.e. “aks” instead of “ask”

Question 26

Free Morphemes

Answer 26

Stand-alone words

Question 27

Bound Morphemes

Answer 27

Attached to words; cannot stand alone

i.e. -tion, -ing

Question 28

Communicative Competence

Answer 28

Knowing when/how to use appropriate language

i.e. don’t say “sweetie” during an interview

Question 29

Idiolects

Answer 29

Individual speakers’ verbal tics

Question 30

Sociolinguistics

Answer 30

Study of variation within a culture or between cultures

Question 31

Sociolects

Answer 31

Language variations used by subcultures

i.e. teen talk, texting, jargon

Question 32

Hypercorrection

Answer 32

When a second generation corrects their parents’ misuse of language, but goes too far

Question 33

Whorf Hypothesis

Answer 33

The idea that one’s language can limit or broaden their experience in life

Question 34

Place of Articulation

Answer 34

Where sounds are made in the mouth