Vocabulary and Terminology Chapter 1

Question 1

linguistic competence

Answer 1

What we know when we know a language; the unconscious knowledge that a speaker has about her or his native language.

Question 2

linguistic performance

Answer 2

The observable use of language. The actualization of one’s linguistic competence.

Question 3

performance error

Answer 3

Errors in language production or comprehension, including hesitations and slips of 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
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

Interference in the communication chain

Question 7

lexicon

Answer 7

Mental repository of linguistic information about words and other lexical expressions, including form, meaning, morphological and syntactic properties

Question 8

mental grammar

Answer 8

The mental representation of grammar; the knowledge that a speaker has about the linguistic units and rules of his native language

Question 9

language variation

Answer 9

The property of languages having different ways to express the same meanings in different contexts according to factors such as geography, social class, gender, etc..

Question 10

descriptive grammar

Answer 10

Objective description of a speaker’s knowledge of a language based on their use of the language

Question 11

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

Answer 11

1. Archaeological evidence (6000 years ago)
2. Writing doesn’t exist everywhere
3. Writing must be taught and can be edited
4. Neurological evidence (areas of brain)

Question 12

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

Answer 12

1. Writing can be edited
2. Writing must be taught
3. Writing is more physically stable

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

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

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 through which a message is transmitted for any given communication system

Question 17

semanticity

Answer 17

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

Question 18

pragmatic function

Answer 18

The useful purpose of any given communication system

Question 19

interchangeability

Answer 19

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

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

Question 22

linguistic sign

Answer 22

The combination of a linguistic form and its meaning

Question 23

convention

Answer 23

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

Question 24

nonarbitrariness

Answer 24

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

Question 25

iconic

Answer 25

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

Question 26

onomatopoeia

Answer 26

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

Question 27

conventionalized

Answer 27

The adjective to describe a convention in society

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 of communication

Question 31

productivity

Answer 31

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

Question 32

modality

Answer 32

mode of communication

Question 33

myths about signed languages (list 4)

Answer 33

1. Signed languages are derived from those spoken languages rather than being languages in their own right. This myth suggests that signed languages are merely codes for the languages spoken in the surrounding area.
2. Sign 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.
   a. They don’t have internal structure
   b. They are completely iconic
3. Sign language can’t convey the same complex meaning as spoken language.
4. Signed languages are pantomime, is that there is only one sign language that is used by deaf speakers all over the world. Sign Language is universally the same.

Question 34

differences between codes and languages (list 4)

Answer 34

1. a code is artificially constructed system for representing a natural language; it has no structure of its own but instead borrows its structure from the natural language that it represents.
2. a code never has a native speakers (i.e., people who learn them as children as their primary form of communication) because they are artificial systems.
3. Language have native speakers.
4. True language, whether it is spoken or signed, is much more efficient means of communicating than signed codes.