vocab

Question 1

linguistic competence

Answer 1

the ability to do something efficiently or successfully.

Question 2

linguistic performance

Answer 2

an individual’s use of a language.

Question 3

performance error

Answer 3

errors in language production or comprehension, including hesitations and slips of the tongue

Question 4

noise

Answer 4

physical, physiological, psychological, and semantic.

Question 5

speech communication chain steps

Answer 5

the process through which information is communicated, consisting of an information source, transmitter, signal, receiver and destination

Question 6

mental grammar

Answer 6

the system that all speakers of a language have in their minds, which allows them to understand each other.

Question 7

language variation

Answer 7

core concept in sociolinguistics.

Question 8

descriptive grammar

Answer 8

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

Question 9

evidence that writing and language are not the same:

Answer 9

age, universality, acquisition, level of structure.

Question 10

reasons some people believe writing to be superior to speech:

Answer 10

writing can be edited, writing must be taught, writing is more physically stable

Question 11

prescriptive grammar

Answer 11

a set of rules designed to give instructions regarding the socially embedded notion of the “correct” or “proper” way to speak or write.

Question 12

prescribe

Answer 12

use rules and conventions to tell a speaker the way he should or shouldn’t use a language.

Question 13

Charles Hockett’s nine design features:

Answer 13

1. mode of communication
2. semanticity
3. pragmatic function
4. interchangeability
5. cultural transmission
6. arbitrariness
7. discreteness
8. displacement
9. productivity

Question 14

mode of communication

Answer 14

means through which a message is transmitted for any given communication system.

Question 15

semanticity

Answer 15

property of having signals that convey a meaning, shared by all communication systems.

Question 16

pragmatic function

Answer 16

the useful purpose of any given communication system.

Question 17

interchangeability

Answer 17

the property of a communication system by which all individuals have the ability to both transmit and review messages.

Question 18

cultural transmission

Answer 18

property of a communication system referring to the fact that at least some aspects of it are learned through interaction with other users of the system.

Question 19

arbitrariness

Answer 19

refers to the fact that word’s meaning is not predictable from its linguistic form, nor is its form dictated by its meaning.

Question 20

linguistic sign

Answer 20

the combination of a linguistic form and its meaning.

Question 21

convention

Answer 21

something that is established, commonly agreed upon, or operating in a certain way according to common practice.

Question 22

nonarbitrariness

Answer 22

direct correspondence between the physical properties of a form and the meaning that the form refers to.

Question 23

iconic

Answer 23

describes a relationship between form and meaning such that the form of a word bears a resemblance to its meaning.

Question 24

onomatopoeia

Answer 24

iconic use of words that are imitative of sound occurring in nature or that have meanings that are associated with such sounds.

Question 25

conventionalized

Answer 25

adjective describing onomatopoeia.

Question 26

sound symbolism

Answer 26

phenomenon by which certain sounds are evocative of a certain meaning.

Question 27

discreteness

Answer 27

the property of communication systems by which complex messages may be built up out of smaller parts.

Question 28

displacement

Answer 28

the property of some communication systems that allows them to be used to communicate about things, actions, and ideas that are not present at the place or time of communication.

Question 29

productivity

Answer 29

the capacity of a communication system (unique to human language) for novel messages built out of discrete units to be produced and understood.

Question 30

modality

Answer 30

mode of communication.

Question 31

myths about signed languages:

Answer 31

1. Signed languages are codes for local spoken languages (derived from those spoken languages)
2. Sign languages are pantomime
   a. They don’t have internal structure
   b. They are completely iconic
3. Signed languages are universally the same

Question 32

differences between codes and languages (list 4)

Answer 32

1. a code is artificially constructed
2. a code represents another language
3. a code borrows its structure from a language
4. a code never has a native speaker
5. a language generally transmits information more quickly and efficiently.