PPT Notes, Test 2

Question 1

phoneme

Answer 1

the underlying sound itself /t/. the mental construct of the sound. Your mind will accept a wide set of inputs (allophones) as acceptable

Question 2

phone

Answer 2

the production of the sound [t] phone=sound

Question 3

allophone

Answer 3

variations of a phoneme. the possible production of a phoneme [t(h)], these are in complementary distribution(mutually exclusive, never overlap), they do not change the meaning of the word

Question 4

phonology

Answer 4

the branch of linguistics that studies the sound system of language. (phonemes=mental construct)

Question 5

phonetics

Answer 5

This is the branch of linguistics that studies the production, transmittal, and perception of speech sounds. (phones=physical sound)

Question 6

Saussurean sign

Answer 6

Object/Thought/Concept is the thing signified
Word/Sound/Inscription is the signifier
idea of a tree vs. the inscription ‘tree’

Question 7

minimal pair

Answer 7

one phonetic shift in a ‘word’ that keeps the same number of phonemes, yet this one shift causes the meaning of the word to change.
/pIt/ (pit) vs. /bIt/ (bit)
so /p/ and /b/ are separate phonemes in English

Question 8

complementary distribution

Answer 8

means that allophones never overlap

Question 9

contrastive distribution

Answer 9

Phonemes are in contrastive distribution. Where you find one, you will not find the other. Changing one will change the meaning of the word.

Question 10

contrastive features in English consonants

Answer 10

voiced/voiceless
place of articulation
manner of articulation
obstruent/sonorant

Question 11

contrastive features in English vowels

Answer 11

height
backness
tense/lax
rounded/unrounded

Question 12

natural class

Answer 12

all and only those phonemes defined by a particular group of features
ex
/p,t,k/ = voiceless stops
/e, 3/ = mid front vowels

Question 13

define the natural classes:
/k, g/
/j, w/
/b, d, g/
/m, w/

Answer 13

/k, g/ = velar stops
/j, w/ = glides
/b, d, g/ = voiced stops
/m, w/ = bilabial

Question 14

when are voiceless stops aspirated?

Answer 14

when they appear at the very beginning of a syllable
ex
Pot
Pepper
vs
step

Question 15

assimilation

Answer 15

when a phoneme adopts characteristics of a neighboring phoneme in a word

Question 16

/r/ -less pronunciation, where found

Answer 16

Boston

Question 17

some syntactical differences in AAVE and southern speak

Answer 17

[d] for /ð/: dis and dat for this and that
multiple negation: I ain’t never flown before.
habitual “be”: He be home.
double negatives: I don’t have nothing to say
their for genderless, singular, possessive pronoun:
The student took their exam. (when we don’t know the gender)
perfective ‘done’: She done vacuumed the house.
multiple: modals: We might can help you move.
who/whom: he/him, subject object issue.

Question 18

different Englishes

Answer 18

home
work
formal
educational

Question 19

define language

Answer 19

A system of spoken and/or written communication that a significant group of people use for communication. This usually consists of ‘rules’ (grammar) that people follow to effectively generate communication.

Question 20

define dialect

Answer 20

A way of using a language. This is often bound by region or group.

Question 21

define idiolect

Answer 21

The peculiar way of speaking unique to each person.

Question 22

dialect or language? China; US and Scotland

Answer 22

cultural and political issues

Question 23

linguistic hegemony

Answer 23

influence, control, culturally, politically over the language - the ones in power are looked up to, emulated - if you desire to have influence, to be accepted, you must speak as they speak - a privileged dialect will seek to maintain its authority

Question 24

given the stigmas attached to nonstandard varieties, why don’t they disappear?

Answer 24

because people want to maintain there identity, or want to maintain there cultural capital in their own group

Question 25

overt prestige

Answer 25

A dialect variation that speakers aspire to when they want a higher social standing. This is the supposed ‘valuable’ version.

Question 26

covert prestige

Answer 26

A dialect variation that has value in a local context, i.e. – Cherokee for Amanda Swimmer (the woman from the dialect video).

Question 27

change from above

Answer 27

consciously adding/adjusting language to the circumstance due to added social prestige.

Question 28

change from below

Answer 28

change that happens without the speaker being conscious of the shift. For example, the vowel shift taking place in the North.

Question 29

what is social network ‘density’

Answer 29

how many people a person knows, and how many people that the person knows that know each other

Question 30

what is social network ‘multiplexity’

Answer 30

the different capacities that a speaker knows the other speakers - ex. do they know you as a father, web designer, student, musician, athlete, etc.

Question 31

define isogloss

Answer 31

lines that separate areas that use one lexical item, grammatical construction, or pronunciation from another

Question 32

define dialect boundary

Answer 32

lines in the geography where many isoglosses coincide

Question 33

why do sociolinguists study isoglosses and dialect boundaries?

Answer 33

to study the systematic variation of language by region

Question 34

variationist sociolinguistics

Answer 34

the study of language regional variation further subdivided by demographic factors (race, age, etc.)

Question 35

summarize Labov’s research

Answer 35

s.klein, fourth floor

Question 36

define linguistic equality, and why controversial?

Answer 36

the idea that all dialects are equally complex and capable of communication - controversial because people perceive certain dialects as inferior and corrupting of the ‘standard’ English