unit 9 Flashcards
what is “language”
set of symbols, and principles, that allow for communication and comprehension
language is symbolic. what does that mean?
symbolic: sounds/signs/symbols stand for something out in the world (randomly linked to meaning) * unlike gestures, pointing, waving.
language is rule-based. explain what that means.
rule-based: has structure and the structure is meaningful (rules for combining sounds and combining words)
language is generative. explain what that means.
generative: can combine units to create an infinite number of meanings
what is “mental lexicon”?
all the words a person knows
what is “semantics”?
how words and sentences express meaning
what is “syntax”?
rules for putting words together (grammar)
what is “discourse”?
language beyond the sentence level
what is phonology?
the study/analysis of speech sounds in a language *there can be differences across languages
what are phonemes? give an example.
the smallest meaningful units of sound, the smallest units of speech sound that are recognized as different in a particular language and change the meaning of a spoken signal
ex: /b/ and /p/ “p” in “Pat” and “b” in “bat” creates a different meaning
what are morphemes?
smallest meaningful units of language
ex: tree, walk, -ed, -s, un-
what are free morphemes?
can stand alone
what are bound morphemes?
must accompany a free morphene
speech perception is pretty complex! what are some things that make speech perception so challenging?
“there are no pauses between the words”
- variability in speech sounds due to accents, speed and context
- coarticulation: overlapping of phonemes during speech
- lack of clear word boundaries in continuous speech
what is meant by the “coarticulation” of phonemes?
phonemes articulated together, overlap in time
phonemes sound different depending on neighboring phonemes
do we tend to perceive phonemes in categories or along a continuum?
phonemes are perceived categorically
are phonemes actually produced in categories or along a continuum?
phonemes are produced along a continuum
infants initially detect more phonemes than adults do. by what age do infants begin turning their phoneme detection to match the phonemes of the language they’re exposed to?
phonemic tuning already under way as early as 6 months
what is “Motherese”? What does it accomplish?
“Motherese” : the melodic and exaggerated manner in which adults often speak to infants
- provides info about phonemes & boundaries
- aids in development of speech perception
why can it be difficult to detect word boundaries in a language that is unfamiliar to you?
unfamiliar languages lack familiar cues like stress patterns, phoneme combinations, and pauses that indicate word boundaries
what is the phonemic restoration effect? explain how it is demonstrated. how does it show evidence of top-down processing?
phonemic restoration effect: We “fill in” missing speech sounds
ex: it was found that the *eel was on the shoe (answer: heel)
it shows evidence of top-down processing because our knowledge of words enhances our ability to extract them when listening in speech.
ambiguous messages are more difficult to process than unambiguous messages because you need to resolve conflict between two competing interpretations. what can help with picking an interpretation?
context, prior knowledge, and nonverbal cues
in speech production, what is the linearization problem?
refers to the challenge of organizing complex thoughts into a linear sequence of words during speech.
what is discourse? give an example of how we might adjust our speaking depending on who’s listening.
discourse refers to language organization above the level of words and sentences, like narrative, conversation, exposition
ex: might simplify/adjust our speech for children when teaching them something
