Vocabulary and Terminology

Question 1

linguistic competence

Answer 1

the unconscious knowledge of grammar that allows a speaker to use and understand a language.

Question 2

linguistic performance

Answer 2

the ability to produce and comprehend sentences in a language.

Question 3

performance error

Answer 3

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

Question 4

speech communication chain

Answer 4

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

Question 5

speech communication chain steps

Answer 5

1. Think of what you want to communicate
2. Pick out words to express the idea
3. Put these words together in a certain order following rules
4. Figure out how to pronounce these words
5. Send those pronunciations to your vocal anatomy (transmitter)
6. Speak: send the sounds through the air
7. Perceive: listener hears the sounds
8. Decode: listener interprets sounds as language
9. Connect: listener receives communicated idea

Question 6

noise

Answer 6

is the variation among users of language.

Question 7

lexicon

Answer 7

is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge.

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

is a characteristic of language: there is more than one way of saying the same thing.

Question 10

descriptive grammar

Answer 10

lay 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 must be taught, whereas spoken language is acquired naturally.
2. writing does not exist everywhere, whereas spoken language does (most everyone speaks, but not everyone writes).
3. writing can be edited, whereas speech is much more spontaneous.
4. archeological evidence: writing is a later historical development than spoken language (spoken language has been around for hundreds of thousands of years, whereas the first writing was six thousand years ago).

Question 12

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

Answer 12

1. writing is physically more stable and can be preserved, whereas language cannot unless it is captured but audio or video recording.
2. writing is more organized with fewer errors because it can be edited whereas language cannot.
3. because writing can be taught, writing develops more educational value which contributes to professional speech.

Question 13

prescriptive grammar

Answer 13

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

Question 14

prescribe

Answer 14

a rule that tells you how you should speak or write according to someone’s idea of what is good or bad.

Question 15

Charles Hockett’s nine design features (necessary for a 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 by which messages are transmitted and received.

Question 17

semanticity

Answer 17

is the property requiring all signals in a communication system have a meaning or function.

Question 18

pragmatic function

Answer 18

communication must serve some useful purpose.

Question 19

interchangeability

Answer 19

refers to the ability of individuals to transmit and receive messages.

Question 20

cultural transmission

Answer 20

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 21

arbitrariness

Answer 21

words of a language represent a connection between a group of sounds or signs which give the word its form or meaning; which the form can be said to represent.

Question 22

linguistic sign

Answer 22

the combination of a linguistic form and meaning.

Question 23

convention

Answer 23

a certain group of sounds goes with a particular meaning.

Question 24

non-arbitrariness

Answer 24

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

Question 25

iconic

Answer 25

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

Question 26

onomatopoeia

Answer 26

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

Question 27

conventionalized

Answer 27

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

Question 28

sound symbolism

Answer 28

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

Question 29

discreteness

Answer 29

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

Question 30

displacement

Answer 30

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 where communication is taken place.

Question 31

productivity

Answer 31

the capacity of a communication system for novel messages built out of discrete units to be produced and understood.

Question 32

modality

Answer 32

a mode of communication (how it is produced, and how it is perceived).

Question 33

myths about signed languages (list 4)

Answer 33

myth 1: signed languages derived from spoken languages, rather than being languages in their own right.
myth 2: signed languages don’t consist of words at all, but rather involve signers using their hands to draw pictures in the air or to act out what they are talking about.
myth 3: that there is only one signed language that is used by deaf speakers all over the world.
myth 4: that you have to be deaf or hearing-impaired in order to use sign language or that deaf individuals only use sign language.

Question 34

differences between codes and languages (list 4)

Answer 34

1. a code has no structure of it’s own but instead borrows its structure from the nature language it represents.
2. codes never have native speakers, whereas language does.
3. word order.
4. transmission of information.

Question 35

References:

Answer 35

Dawson, H., & Phelan, M. (2016). Language files: Materials for an introduction to language and linguistics (12th ed.). Columbus: Ohio State University Press.

Linguistics (definitions retrieved and cited from: Dawson, H … - quizlet. (n.d.). https://quizlet.com/312393443/linguisticsdefinitions-retrieved-and-cited-fromdawson-h-phelan-m-2016-language-files-materials-for-an-introduction-to-language-and-linguistics-12th-ed-columbus-ohio-state-universi-flash-cards/