Vocabulary/Terminology

Question 1

Linguistic competence

Answer 1

system of linguistic knowledge possessed by native speakers of a language.

Question 2

Linguistic performance

Answer 2

the ability to produce and comprehend sentences in a language

Question 3

Performance error

Answer 3

unintended deviation from the immanent rules of a language variety made by a second language learner

Question 4

Lexicon

Answer 4

The vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge.

Question 5

Speech communication chain steps (7)

Answer 5

1.Speaker. person who initiates the communication process.
2.Message. whatever a speaker communicates to someone else.
3.Channel. the means by which the message is communicated.
4.listener. the person who receives the communicated message.
5.feedback. the response of the listener.
6.interference.
7.situation.

Question 6

Noise

Answer 6

variation among users of language. This can take place through shifts in spelling, grammar, or other aspects of language.

Question 7

Mental Grammar

Answer 7

the generative grammar stored in the brain that allows a speaker to produce language that other speakers can understand.

Question 8

Language Variation

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Descriptive Grammar

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Speech communication chain

Answer 10

comprises the processes of: speech production, auditory feedback to the speaker, speech transmission (through air or over an electronic communication system (to the listener), and speech perception and understanding by the listener.

Question 11

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

Answer 11

1. Writing is not language.
2. Written language is more complex, and requires punctuation. Punctuation has no equivalent to spoken language.
3. Written and spoken use different types of language such as slang.
   4.Spoken language involves speaking and listening. Writing requires reading and writing skills.

Question 12

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

Answer 12

1.Writing can live on for centuries
2.Writing needs to be taught, and people regarded writing with status
3.When we write, our words can be read by many other people, anywhere at any given time.

Question 13

Prescriptive grammar

Answer 13

set of norms or rules governing how a language should or should not be used rather than describing the ways in which a language is actually used.

Question 14

Prescribe

Answer 14

the establishment of rules defining preferred usage of 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

the exact way by which a communication is expressed or the way a communication is processed.

Question 17

Semanticity

Answer 17

the quality that a linguistic system has of being able to convey meanings, in particular by reference to the world of physical reality.

Question 18

Pragmatic function

Answer 18

the meaning a speaker wishes to convey to the person they are speaking to (the addressee).

Question 19

Interchangeability

Answer 19

Refers to the idea that humans can give and receive identical linguistic signals; humans are not limited in the types of messages they can’t hear/say.

Question 20

Cultural Transmission

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

Arbitrariness

Answer 21

the quality of being based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.

Question 22

Linguistic Sign

Answer 22

Is not a link between a thing and a name, but between a concept and a sound pattern.

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 is of, a specific term.

Question 24

Non-arbitrariness

Answer 24

the converse of arbitrariness, 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 (e.g. cuckoo, sizzle )

Question 27

Conventionalized

Answer 27

having become usual and generally accepted, or done in a way that is usual and generally accepted: Words and phrases that have a conventionalized rather than a literal meaning are also known as phatic expressions: examples are greetings and farewells.

Question 28

Sound Symbolism

Answer 28

is the resemblance between sound and meaning

Question 29

Discreteness

Answer 29

refers to the fact that linguistic units (sounds, words, phrases, etc.) are distinct from one another, and that there are clear boundaries between them.

Question 30

Modality

Answer 30

having to do with the expression of possibility and necessity.

Question 31

Displacement

Answer 31

the capability of language to communicate about things that are not immediately present (spatially or temporally); i.e., things that are either not here or are not here now.

Question 32

Productivity

Answer 32

the degree to which speakers of a language use a particular grammatical process, especially in word formation.

Question 33

Myths about signed language (list4)

Answer 33

1.Sign language is not universal
2.The deaf can understand your spoken language by lip reading.
3. If you’re talking to a deaf person, speak slowly so they can understand you.
4. A deaf person’s family and friends are qualified to interpret for them in a medical setting.

Question 34

Differences between codes and languages (list4)

Answer 34

1.Codes are simple modes of communication that translate information through decipherable symbols.
2.Language requires a shared code, but a code in itself does not constitute a language.
3.For a language to be classified as such, it needs to have identifiable phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.
4.Code is a finite set of uses for getting specific outputs from specific inputs.