Vocabulary/Terminology Flashcards
Linguistic competence
system of linguistic knowledge possessed by native speakers of a language.
Linguistic performance
the ability to produce and comprehend sentences in a language
Performance error
unintended deviation from the immanent rules of a language variety made by a second language learner
Lexicon
The vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge.
Speech communication chain steps (7)
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.
Noise
variation among users of language. This can take place through shifts in spelling, grammar, or other aspects of language.
Mental Grammar
the generative grammar stored in the brain that allows a speaker to produce language that other speakers can understand.
Language Variation
Variation is a characteristic of language: there is more than one way of saying the same thing.
Descriptive Grammar
lay out the grammatical elements and rules of a language as it is actually used.
Speech communication chain
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.
Evidence that writing and language are not the same (4 reasons)
- Writing is not language.
- Written language is more complex, and requires punctuation. Punctuation has no equivalent to spoken language.
- Written and spoken use different types of language such as slang.
4.Spoken language involves speaking and listening. Writing requires reading and writing skills.
Reasons some people believe writing to be superior to speech (list 3)
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.
Prescriptive grammar
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.
Prescribe
the establishment of rules defining preferred usage of language
Charles Hockett’s nine design features (necessary for a communication system to be considered a language) (list)
1.Mode of communication
2.Semanticity
3.Pragmatic Function
4.Interchangeability
5.Cultural Transmission
6.Arbitrariness
7.Discreteness
8.Displacement
9.Productivity
Mode of communication
the exact way by which a communication is expressed or the way a communication is processed.
Semanticity
the quality that a linguistic system has of being able to convey meanings, in particular by reference to the world of physical reality.
Pragmatic function
the meaning a speaker wishes to convey to the person they are speaking to (the addressee).
Interchangeability
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.
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 quality of being based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.
Linguistic Sign
Is not a link between a thing and a name, but between a concept and a sound pattern.
Convention
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.
Non-arbitrariness
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.
