Module 1, Week 2: What is Language

Question 1

Linguistic Competence

Answer 1

The system of linguistic knowledge possessed by native speakers of a language

Question 2

Linguistic Performance

Answer 2

The way a language system is used in communication

Question 3

Performance Error

Answer 3

Is a deviation (conscious or unconscious) from the apparently intended form of an utterance

Question 4

Speech Communication Chain

Answer 4

How we exchange information using auditory/oral method to communicate

Question 5

Speech Communication Chain Steps

Answer 5

1. Sender has a thought, the thought must be encoded
2. Selection of words - lexicon is inventory of words that represents your thoughts, you pull from it to form words/phrases and combine them
3. Following Rules - use syntax to properly phrase thoughts
4. Nerve Impulses - signals get transported through neural pathways to motor nerves
5. Muscle Movements - nerves driving our vocal muscles to produce sound which then activates the lungs, moves tongue to articulate, the lips, the hand, and your face
6. Sound Waves - when noise comes out you are producing sound waves

Question 6

Noise

Answer 6

A sound, especially one that is loud or unpleasant or that causes disturbance

Question 7

Lexicon

Answer 7

The vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge

Question 8

Mental Grammar

Answer 8

The generative grammar stored in the brain that allows a speaker to produce language that other speakers can understand

Question 9

Language Variation

Answer 9

Refers to regional, social, or contextual differences in the ways that a particular language is used

Question 10

Descriptive Grammar

Answer 10

A set of rules about language based on how it is actually used

Question 11

Evidence that writing and language are not the same (list 4 reasons)

Answer 11

1. Language is primarily spoken
2. written language is an imperfect reflection of spoken language
3. human society could have a fully functioning spoken language while, until a century ago, only a very few societies had a written language
4. People everywhere start speaking during the first two years of life; many of the abilities involved are probably inborn rather than learned. Learning to write typically builds on learning to speak

Question 12

Reasons some people believe writing to be superior to speech (list 3 reasons)

Answer 12

1. Writing can be edited
2. Writing must be taught
3. Writing is more physically stable

Question 13

Prescriptive Grammar

Answer 13

A set of rules about language based on how people think language should be used. In a prescriptive grammar there is right and wrong language

Question 14

Prescribe

Answer 14

Advise and authorize the use of (a medicine or treatment) for someone, especially in writing

Question 15

Charles Hockett’s nine design features (necessary for a communication system to be considered a language) (list)

Answer 15

1. Vocal-auditory channel
2. Interchangeability
3. Total feedback
4. Specialization
5. Semanticity
6. Transitoriness
7. Broadcast transmission and directional reception
8. Arbitrariness
9. Learnability

Question 16

Mode of Communication

Answer 16

Face-to-face, video, audio and text-based are all different modes of communication. These are the basic umbrella forms of communication, but they can be broken down into more specific styles

Question 17

Semanticity

Answer 17

The quality that a linguistic system has of being able to convey meanings, in particular by reference to the world of physical reality

Question 18

Pragmatic Function

Answer 18

Meaning and pragmatic function is a general heading under which terminology relating to the various areas of study of language use and interpretation is collected

Question 19

Interchangeability

Answer 19

Can refer to Interchangeable parts, the ability to select components for assembly at random and fit them together within proper tolerances

Question 20

Cultural Transmission

Answer 20

Cultural learning, also called cultural transmission, is the way a group of people or animals within a society or culture tend to learn and pass on information

Question 21

Arbitrariness

Answer 21

The quality of being based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system

Question 22

Linguistic Sign

Answer 22

Is an abstract structure whose instances participate in a linguistic system, or language

Question 23

Convention

Answer 23

A way in which something is usually done, especially within a particular area or activity

Question 24

Nonarbitrariness

Answer 24

Not subject to individual determination

Question 25

Iconic

Answer 25

Relating to or of the nature of an icon

Question 26

Onomatopoeia

Answer 26

The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named

Question 27

Conventionalized

Answer 27

To make conventional

Question 28

Sound Symbolism

Answer 28

The partial representation of the sense of a word by its sound, as in bang, fizz, and slide

Question 29

Discreteness

Answer 29

Apart or detached from others; separate; distinct

Question 30

Displacement

Answer 30

The moving of something from its place or position

Question 31

Productivity

Answer 31

The state or quality of producing something, especially crops

Question 32

Modality

Answer 32

A particular mode in which something exists or is experienced or expressed

Question 33

Myths about signed languages (list 4)

Answer 33

1. All Deaf people sign
2. Sign is iconic
3. Sign is universal
4. Sign is a visual form of English

Question 34

differences between codes and languages (list 4)

Answer 34

1. A code is an artificially constructed system for representing a natural language
2. A code has no structure of its own
3. A code borrows its structure from the natural language that it represents
4. There are differences in word order