Other Linguistic terms (Language, Linguistics, Paradigms, Grammar)

Question 1

Language

Answer 1

• uniquely human
• a system of interrelated signs and unconscious rules
• creative
• variable and social (usage varies according to region [dialect], social group [sociolect], speaker [idiolect], situation [register], …)
• constantly changing

Question 2

Descriptive

Answer 2

neutral depiction of language as it is actually used

Question 3

Prescriptive

Answer 3

dictating rules for how language should be used “correctly”

Question 4

Introspective

Answer 4

based on the intuitions of trained linguists

Question 5

Empirical

Answer 5

based on authentic language data from experiments, text corpora etc.

Question 6

Sociolinguistics

Answer 6

the influence of society on language use

Question 7

Pragmatics

Answer 7

meaning in context

Question 8

What is language? - De Saussure

Answer 8

• structuralist understanding
• langue = a system of signs
  (arbitrary but conventional) and rules of combination
• parole = language as individual
  activity, the concrete process
  of utterance

Question 9

What is language? - Generative Understanding

Answer 9

• competence = the knowledge a competent speaker has of his/her language and his/her ability to use this system infinitely
• performance= language as individual activity, the concrete process of utterance

Question 10

Language Functions - Bühler’s Organon Modell

Answer 10

• conative function → sign = Signal → effect on recipient, achieve a goal
• referential function → sign = Symbol → speaker refers to a referent
• emotive function → sign = Symptom → speaker also tells sth. about his/her emotions

Question 11

Language Functions - Jakobson

Answer 11

• referential
• emotive
• conative
• poetic
• phatic
• metalinguistic
• cognitive

Question 12

Modern Linguistics

Answer 12

• Descriptive approach
• Spoken language is primary, written language is derived → two systems
• Each language has its own standard → no judgement

Question 13

Traditional linguistics/grammar

Answer 13

• Prescriptive approach
• Written language overemphasised – permanent, superior
• Analysis on the basis of a Latin- based framework, assumption that Latin provides a universal framework

Question 14

Design features of Language

Answer 14

• Sound signals: vocal and auditory channel, directional perception, rapid fading
• Arbitrariness
• Duality: sound becomes meaningful in combination with others
• Need for learning/cultural transmission: language can only be learned in a social group
• Displacement: time & space; hypothetical worlds; psychological distance between speaker and message
• Creativity:novel utterances
• Patterning: internal structure
• Structure Dependence: language operations are structure-dependent**

Question 15

What is Linguistics?

Answer 15

• approaches phenomenon of language → scientific/systematic/objective study of human language/s → idea of a system

Question 16

Facets of language:

Answer 16

• structure
• use
• history
• place/function in society

Question 17

-What is a paradigm?-

Answer 17

• paradigm = “example”, has been used in linguistics and science to describe distinct concepts

1. systematic arrangement of all the inflected forms of a word
2. generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time

Question 18

Historical Linguistics

Answer 18

• interest in origin, history and
  genealogy of individual languages
  method: reconstruction

Question 19

Historical Linguistics - a) First Half of the 19th Century

Answer 19

• trigger: discovery of Sanskrit & and romanticists‘ interest in the history of their people
• **reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European: **Genetic tree theory
• Goal: search for the origin of language

→ philosophical & speculative

Question 20

Historical Linguistics - b) Second Half of 19th Century

Answer 20

• neogrammarians,the Leipzig School
• approach: positivism; compilation of large amounts of data
• description of language change
• analysed by incorporating oral language, dialects

Question 21

What is language? - usage-based models

Answer 21

knowledge of one’s language
(grammar) emerges from usage
(ling experience)

Question 22

Grammar in the wider sense

Answer 22

• grammar as knowledge (of a language): (native) speakers simply know how to use their language; automatically use expressions conforming to the rules

Question 23

Grammar in a narrow sense

Answer 23

• divided into morphology and syntax → both have to do with the structure of words, phrases and sentences