Vocabulary and Terminology Module 1 Week 2

Question 1

What is linguistic competence?

Answer 1

“Hidden” knowledge in language. The knowledge we maintain about a language.

Question 2

What is linguistic performance?

Answer 2

The ability or act of engaging our linguistic competence.

Question 3

What is performance error?

Answer 3

Mistakes that can happen in linguistic performance. Ex. not remembering how to pronounce a word or jumbling words

Question 4

What is the speech communication chain?

Answer 4

The process that takes place in speech communication. From thinking of what to say to someone receiving the idea behind communicating.

Question 5

What are the speech communication chain steps?

Answer 5

Information source, a transmitter, a signal, a receiver, and a destination

Question 6

What is the definition of noise?

Answer 6

Interference in the chain of communication

Question 7

What is lexicon?

Answer 7

The collection of all words you know, their functions, what they refer to, how they are pronounced and their relationship to other words.

Question 8

What is mental grammar?

Answer 8

The mental rules for a language that an individual has knowledge of.

Question 9

What is language variation?

Answer 9

Language varies from person to person, region to region, and situation to situation.

Question 10

What is descriptive grammar?

Answer 10

Objective description of a speaker’s or a group of speakers’ knowledge of a language based on their use of the language.

Question 11

What is evidence that writing and language are not the same?

Answer 11

1) Writing must be taught. Spoken language can be picked up naturally.
2) Writing is not inherent to spoken language. Some cultures only have spoken language.
3) Speaking is more spontaneous while writing can be edited.
4) Historically, archaeological evidence points out that writing progressed after spoken language.

Question 12

Why do people believe writing is superior to speech?

Answer 12

1) Writing can be edited where speech is more spontaneous leading to the idea that writing can be “perfected”
2) Writing must be taught and is therefor looked at as a more “educated” way of communicating.
3) Writing is more physically stable, meaning that because it is physically written it is more preservable.

Question 13

What is prescriptive grammar?

Answer 13

The socially embedded notion of the “correct” or “proper” ways to use a language.

Question 14

What does prescribe mean?

Answer 14

To give a suggestion or opinion based on someones idea of what is “good” or “bad”.

Question 15

What are Charles Hockett’s nine design features?

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

What does mode of communication mean?

Answer 16

The means which a message is transmitted and received.

Question 17

What is semanticity?

Answer 17

The idea that it is a requirement for all signals in communication system have a meaning or a function.

Question 18

What is pragmatic function?

Answer 18

Communication systems must serve some useful purpose.

Question 19

What does interchangeability mean?

Answer 19

The ability of individuals to both transmit and receive messages.

Question 20

What is cultural transmission?

Answer 20

There are aspects of language that we can acquire only through communicative interaction with other users in a system.

Question 21

What does arbitrariness mean in language?

Answer 21

A word’s meaning is not predictable from its linguistic form and its form is not dictated by its meaning.

Question 22

What is a linguistic sign?

Answer 22

The combination of form and meaning.

Question 23

What does convention mean regarding linguistics?

Answer 23

A general rule or rule set for a language.

Question 24

What does nonarbitrariness mean?

Answer 24

There is a connection between the form of a word and its meaning.

Question 25

What does iconic mean?

Answer 25

An extreme case of nonarbitrary connection where the form represents the meaning directly.

Question 26

What is a onomatopoeia?

Answer 26

A word that is used to imitate natural sounds or have meanings associated with natural sounds.

Question 27

What does conventionalized mean?

Answer 27

To create a general rule set for the meaning or form of a word or language.

Question 28

What is sound symbolism?

Answer 28

Certain sounds occur in words not because they are directly imitative of a sound but because they are evocative of a certain meaning.

Question 29

What is discreteness?

Answer 29

The property of language that allows us to combine together discrete units in order to create larger communicative units.

Question 30

What is displacement?

Answer 30

The ability of a language to communicate about things, actions, and ideas that are not present in space or time while speakers are communicating.

Question 31

What is productivity?

Answer 31

Related to discreteness, a languages capacity for novel messages to be built up out of discrete units.

Question 32

What is modality?

Answer 32

A mode of communication.

Question 33

What are 4 myths about signed languages?

Answer 33

1) That signed languages derive from spoken languages
2) That signed language is completetly iconinc, and nothing but hand pictures instead of words
3) That there is only one sign language used by deaf speakers across the world
4) That just because someone has hearing loss, it means they will use sign language.

Question 34

What are 4 differences between codes and languages?

Answer 34

1) Codes have no structure of its own but borrows it from the language it represents
2) Codes do not have native speakers while languages do
3) Codes require multiple or varied orders of code as apposed to language which can use one word.
4) Codes take longer to communicate with than languages