Vocab & Terms

Question 1

linguistic competence

Answer 1

A speakers subconscious, intuitive knowledge of the rules of their language.

Question 2

linguistic performance

Answer 2

Production of actual sentences in use in relation-life situations; an individual’s use of a language.

Question 3

performance error

Answer 3

unintended deviation from the immanent rules of a language

Question 4

speech communication chain

Answer 4

A concept that describes the process communication from the moment a thought forms in a speaker’s mind to when it is understood by the listener.

Question 5

speech communication chain steps

Answer 5

• Thought formation
• Language processing
• Sound production
• Transmission
• Hearing
• Comprehension

Question 6

noise

Answer 6

The variation among users of language; grammatical language that the hearer cannot understand.

Question 7

lexicon

Answer 7

the complete set of meaningful units in a language

Question 8

mental grammar

Answer 8

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

Question 9

language variation

Answer 9

the difference in the way things are said within a single language

Question 10

descriptive grammar

Answer 10

lays out the grammatical elements and rules of a language as it is actually used

Question 11

evidence that writing and language are not the same (List 4 reasons)

Answer 11

1. Writing doesn’t exist for all languages
2. Language is developed while writing is learned
3. Writing was historically developed after human language
4. Writing is more permanent, less easily changed, as well as usually more formal and structured.

Question 12

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

Answer 12

1. Writing can be, and has been, preserved for generations.
2. Writing is easier to organize than speech.
3. Writing can be edited.

Question 13

prescriptive grammar

Answer 13

A set of rules defining the norms or preferred usage of how a language should or should not be used.

Question 14

prescribe

Answer 14

The establishment of rules defining preferred usage of a language.

Question 15

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

Answer 15

1. Mode of Communication
2. Semanticity
3. Pragmatic Function
4. Interchangeability
5. Cultural Transmission
6. Arbitrariness
7. Discreteness
8. Displacement
9. Productivity

Question 16

mode of communication

Answer 16

means of communicating; written or spoken words

Question 17

semanticity

Answer 17

property of language that permits it to present actions, ideas, and events to provide meanings for communication

Question 18

pragmatic function

Answer 18

The implied and inferred meaning a speaker wishes to convey to the person they are speaking to.

Question 19

interchangeability

Answer 19

humans can give and receive identical linguistic signals

Question 20

cultural transmission

Answer 20

the process whereby language is passed on from one generation to the next in a community

Question 21

arbitrariness

Answer 21

the meaning of linguistic signs is not predicable from its word form, nor is the word for dictated by its meaning/function

Question 22

linguistic sign

Answer 22

assigns meaning to things so that people can communicate. Made up of two elements: signifier and the signified.

Question 23

convention

Answer 23

a principle or norm that has been adopted by a person or linguistic community about how to use, and therefore what the meaning of, a specific term.

Question 24

non-arbitrariness

Answer 24

a relation between form and meaning such that aspects of a word’s meaning or grammatical function can be predicted from aspects of its form

Question 25

iconic

Answer 25

a relationship of resemblance or similarity between the two aspects of a sign: its form and its meaning.

Question 26

onomatopoeia

Answer 26

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

Question 27

conventionalized

Answer 27

having become usual and generally accepted, or done in a way that is usual and generally accepted

Question 28

sound symbolism

Answer 28

the perceptual similarity between speech sounds and concept meanings

Question 29

discreteness

Answer 29

The sounds used in language are meaningfully distinct

Question 30

displacement

Answer 30

the capability of language to communicate about things that are not immediately present

Question 31

productivity

Answer 31

the degree to which speakers of a language use a particular grammatical process

Question 32

modality

Answer 32

the ways language can express various relationships to reality and truth.

Question 33

myths about signed languages (list 4)

Answer 33

1. There are only a few types of sign language and they’re all similar.
2. Sign language is a simplified form of spoken language.
3. Sign language is a visual representation of spoken language.
4. Sign language is easy to learn.

Question 34

differences between codes and languages (list 4)

Answer 34

1. Code borrows its structure from language
2. Codes are artificially constructed
3. Languages have native speakers while codes do not.
4. There is no expression in code while there can be in language.