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Linguistics 2B - Syntax > Week 1 > Flashcards

Week 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What is ‘Standard English’?

A

one of many different dialects of English, it just happens to be the one that currently has the greatest clout

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2
Q

what are all speakers of English?

A

all speakers of English are dialect speakers

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3
Q

When does a ‘standard language’ arise?

A

a standard language typically arises due to a combination and influence of economic, political and social context, this does not mean that the variety is perfect

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4
Q

what does standard English represent? and what does this not mean?

A

Standard English represent a kind of lingua franca, as it has been codified. This does not mean that it is intrinsically better than others

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5
Q

what means ‘codified’?

A

recorded in grammars, dictionaries and style books

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6
Q

what do speakers of non-standard English show?

A

speakers of non-standard English show differences in accent, vocabulary and grammar

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7
Q

what are all dialects equally good for?

A

all dialects are equally good for the purpose they serve, they all have their own particular convention to do different things

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8
Q

what is a prescriptive statement?

A

stating what people should be saying, this is what grammar teachers do

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9
Q

what is a descriptive statement?

A

the work of objectively analyzing and describing how language is actually used by a speech community

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10
Q

what can you never stop?

A

you can never stop a language from changing

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11
Q

what is variation across time?

A

variation across time is the concept that time influences. Shifts in grammar, words and pronunciation occur within one’s lifetime.

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12
Q

in what is variation across space divided?

A

geographical and social

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13
Q

what is variation across space, the geographical branch?

A

variation across space, the geographical branch means that at any given point in tie, English will differ within a country between countries

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14
Q

what is variation across space, the social branch?

A

variation across space, the social branch means that a socially significant group of people will differ in their linguistic behaviour, such as: age, sex, sexual preference, education, soco-economic class, influence the way language is used

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15
Q

how does our language vary constantly?

A

our language varies constantly in response to different situational factors including relationship between speakers, their audience, the setting, subject matter or whether a spoken or written medium is used

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16
Q

what are transivity/transitive verbs?

A

must have something following them, verbs that cannot stand on their own

17
Q

what does classify languages typologically means?

A

classifying languages typologically means: similarities between the languages and the group accordingly

18
Q

what are registers?

A

varieties associated with particular contexts or purposes

19
Q

what are shared typological features sometimes the result of?

A

genetic inheritance

20
Q

how can similarities between languages also arise?

A

similarities between languages can also arise because languages have undergone the same sort of changes, either independently motivated or perhaps brought about through contact

21
Q

in which 3 categories can ‘germanic’ be divided?

A
  • west germanic
  • north germanic
  • east germanic
22
Q

which languages fall under west germanic?

A
  • english
  • dutch
  • german
  • afrikaans
  • frisian
23
Q

which languages fall under north germanic?

A
  • danish
  • norwegian
  • swedish
  • faroese
  • icelandic
24
Q

which language falls under east germanic?

A

gothic

25
Q

what is universal grammar?

A

A system of categories, mechanisms, and constraints shared by all human languages and considered to be innate

26
Q

how does the human brain deal with language?

A
  • the human mind must be somehow pre-disposed towards learning a language
  • development of language is linked more closely to the general cognitive development of children
27
Q

what doe linguists, who prefer the pre-desposition theory believe? and what is this called?

A

linguists that prefer the pre-desposition explanation believe that there’s a part of the brain which contains knowledge at birth of what is and what is not language. This is called innate grammar/language acquisition device (LAD)

28
Q

what language will a child learn?

A

a child will learn the language or languages spoken around them, even if it is not the language of the biological parents

29
Q

why is there no obvious way of studying universal grammar?

A

there is no obvious direct way of studying universal grammar since it is an abstract entity

30
Q

with what is speech therapy/general study of communication disorders concerned?

A

speech therapy/general study of communication disorders is concerned with people whose language faculty is somehow different from the expected

31
Q

when can people have speech therapy/general study of communication disorders?

A

this can be due to developmental problems or to illness which damages a language faculty that had previously been fully developed

32
Q

what is ‘stylistics’ the study of?

A

stylistics is the study of how language is used in literature, but also in non-literary texts you will find grammatical analysis an useful tool, effective writing/communication is also included

33
Q

what comes with an awareness of grammar?

A

with an awareness of grammar comes a feeling for sentence patterning, and this means that we can better evaluate the different choices that confront us when we draft something written

34
Q

in which workplaces is English used?

A
  • the film industry
  • writing
  • information technology
  • advertising and marketing
  • safety measures
  • the law
  • the “Plain English” movement
35
Q

what is discourse structure/information structure?

A

how speakers and writers go about packaging our messages, how we distribute information in a text to help our audience interpret the text appropriately

Linguistics 2B - Syntax (6 decks)

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