Vocabulary and Terminology Flashcards
linguistic competence
a speaker’s subconscious, intuitive knowledge of the rules of their language
linguistic performance
an individual’s use of a language, i.e. what a speaker actually says, including hesitations, false starts, and errors.
performance error
errors made by learners when they are tired or hurried. Normally, this type of error is not serious and can be overcome with little effort by the learner.
speech communication chain
a concept that describes the process of communication from the moment a thought forms in a speaker’s mind to when it is understood by the listener
speech communication chain steps
thought formation, language processing, sound production, transmission, hearing, and comprehension
noise
the variation among users of language
lexicon
the collection of words used by certain languages, professions or hobbies
mental grammar
the system that all speakers of a language have in their minds, which allows them to understand each other
language variation
regional, social, or contextual. differences in the ways that a particular language is used
descriptive grammar
lay out the grammatical elements and rules of a language as it is actually used
evidence that writing and language are not the same
- Writing does not exist everywhere that spoken language does.
- Writing can be edited before it is shared with others in most cases, while speech is usually much more spontaneous.
- Archaeological evidence indicates that writing is a later historical development than spoken language.
- Writing is taught, and spoken language is acquired naturally.
reasons some people believe writing to be superior to speech
- Writing can be edited, therefore, the product of writing is usually more aptly worded and better organized, containing fewer errors, hesitations, pauses, filler words, false starts, and incomplete sentences than are found in speech
- Writing is taught and is intimately associated with education and educated speech.
- Writing is more physically stable than spoken language, as spoken language is basically only sounds waves and is not preserved the same
prescriptive grammar
a set of rules about language based on how people think language should be used
prescribe
is the establishment of rules defining preferred usage of language
Charles Hockett’s nine design features
Mode of communication, semanticity, pragmatic function, interchangeability, cultural transmission, arbitrariness, discreteness, displacement, and productivity
mode of communication
a means of communicating. A medium is the channel or system through which communications are conveyed
semanticity
the use of arbitrary or nonarbitrary signals to transmit meaningful messages
pragmatic function
the meaning a speaker wishes to convey to the person they are speaking to (the addressee)
interchangeability
the idea that humans can give and receive identical linguistic signals
cultural transmission
the process through which cultural elements, in the form of attitudes, values, beliefs, and behavioral scripts, are passed onto and taught to individuals and groups
arbitrariness
the meaning of linguistic signs is not predictable from its word form, nor is the word form dictated by its meaning/function
linguistic sign
made of two elements: the signifier, signal, or the sound pattern, and the signified, signification, or concepts
convention
Something that is established, commonly agreed upon, or operating in a certain way according to common practice
non-arbitrariness
Direct correspondence between the physical properties of a form and the meaning that the form refers to
iconic
The relationship between form and meaning; the form of a word bears a resemblance to its meaning
onomatopoeia
Iconic uses of words that are imitative of sounds occurring in nature or that have meanings that are associated with such sounds
conventionalized
Something that is established, commonly agreed upon, or operating in a certain way according to common practice
sound symbolism
Phenomenon by which certain sounds are evocative of a particular meaning
discreteness
The property of communication systems by which complex messages may be built up out of smaller pieces
displacement
The ability of a language to communicate about things, actions, and ideas that are not present in space or time while the speakers are communicating
productivity
A language’s capacity for novel messages to be built up out of discrete units
modality
Mode of communication; tells us how language is produced and how it is perceived
myths about signed languages
- Signed languages derive from spoken language, rather than being their own languages
- Signed languages do not consist of words at all, but instead involve signers using their hands to draw pictures in the air or to act out what they are talking about
- Signed languages do not have any internal structure
- There is only one signed language that is used by deaf speakers all over the world
differences between codes and languages
- A code has no structure of its own so it borrows its structure from the natural language that it represents, whereas signed languages are structurally distinct from each other and from spoken languages
- Codes never have native speakers because they are artificial systems, but languages do
- A code is artificially constructed for representing a natural language, but signed languages evolve naturally and independently of spoken languages
- Signed codes are not as efficient as true language, whether it is signed or spoken because its average seconds-per-preposition rate is much higher
