Linguistic Terminology Flashcards
Creole
A new language created when children aquire their parents’ pidgin language as their first language
Critical Period Hypothesis
The claim that human beings are only capable of learning language between the age of 2 years and the early teens
Decoding
Processing language to get the “message”
Codebreaking
Processing language to get the “rules”
Fricative
A type of consonant in which the air escapes through a narrow gap between lips, teeth, and tongue
(i.e. fine, sign, vine)
Glottal Stop
A speech sound made by closing the vocal cords and then releasing them
(i.e. a cough)
Immersion Teaching
Teaching the whole curriculum through the second language
Intonation
The change of pitch used in the sound system of language
Morpheme
The smallest unit in grammar that is either a word in its own right or part of a word
Morphology
The study of how sounds make meaning
Nasals
Consonants created by blocking the mouth and allowing the air to come out through the nose
Parsing
Process through which the mind works out the grammatical structure and meaning of the sentence
Phonetics
Sub-discipline of linguistics that studies the production and perception of the speech sounds themselves
Phonology
The study of sound units
Pidgin
A language created by speakers of two different languages for communicating with each other
Semantics
Word/sentence meaning
i.e. needs vs. wants
Syntax
How we use grammar to structure sentences
Universal Grammar
1) The aspects of language that all languages have in common
2) The language faculty built in to the human mind
Phoneme
A unit of sound
i.e. /s/
Allophones
Different phonemes with the same meaning
i.e. there are 3 different ways to pronounce “s”
Assimilation
When sounds are influenced by other sounds
Flapping
A process by which rapid speech affects the phonemes we hear
(i.e. “butter” becomes “buder”)
Deletion
In rapid speech we sometimes delete entire phonemes
i.e. “Wednesday” becomes “Wensday”
Epenthesis
When sounds are added to a word, usually the interior
i.e. “athelete”
Metathesis
When phonemes are swapped
i.e. “aks” instead of “ask”
Free Morphemes
Stand-alone words
Bound Morphemes
Attached to words; cannot stand alone
i.e. -tion, -ing
Communicative Competence
Knowing when/how to use appropriate language
i.e. don’t say “sweetie” during an interview
Idiolects
Individual speakers’ verbal tics
Sociolinguistics
Study of variation within a culture or between cultures
Sociolects
Language variations used by subcultures
i.e. teen talk, texting, jargon
Hypercorrection
When a second generation corrects their parents’ misuse of language, but goes too far
Whorf Hypothesis
The idea that one’s language can limit or broaden their experience in life
Place of Articulation
Where sounds are made in the mouth
