Week 1 Flashcards
What is ‘Standard English’?
one of many different dialects of English, it just happens to be the one that currently has the greatest clout
what are all speakers of English?
all speakers of English are dialect speakers
When does a ‘standard language’ arise?
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
what does standard English represent? and what does this not mean?
Standard English represent a kind of lingua franca, as it has been codified. This does not mean that it is intrinsically better than others
what means ‘codified’?
recorded in grammars, dictionaries and style books
what do speakers of non-standard English show?
speakers of non-standard English show differences in accent, vocabulary and grammar
what are all dialects equally good for?
all dialects are equally good for the purpose they serve, they all have their own particular convention to do different things
what is a prescriptive statement?
stating what people should be saying, this is what grammar teachers do
what is a descriptive statement?
the work of objectively analyzing and describing how language is actually used by a speech community
what can you never stop?
you can never stop a language from changing
what is variation across time?
variation across time is the concept that time influences. Shifts in grammar, words and pronunciation occur within one’s lifetime.
in what is variation across space divided?
geographical and social
what is variation across space, the geographical branch?
variation across space, the geographical branch means that at any given point in tie, English will differ within a country between countries
what is variation across space, the social branch?
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
how does our language vary constantly?
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
what are transivity/transitive verbs?
must have something following them, verbs that cannot stand on their own
what does classify languages typologically means?
classifying languages typologically means: similarities between the languages and the group accordingly
what are registers?
varieties associated with particular contexts or purposes
what are shared typological features sometimes the result of?
genetic inheritance
how can similarities between languages also arise?
similarities between languages can also arise because languages have undergone the same sort of changes, either independently motivated or perhaps brought about through contact
in which 3 categories can ‘germanic’ be divided?
- west germanic
- north germanic
- east germanic
which languages fall under west germanic?
- english
- dutch
- german
- afrikaans
- frisian
which languages fall under north germanic?
- danish
- norwegian
- swedish
- faroese
- icelandic
which language falls under east germanic?
gothic
what is universal grammar?
A system of categories, mechanisms, and constraints shared by all human languages and considered to be innate
how does the human brain deal with language?
- 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
what doe linguists, who prefer the pre-desposition theory believe? and what is this called?
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)
what language will a child learn?
a child will learn the language or languages spoken around them, even if it is not the language of the biological parents
why is there no obvious way of studying universal grammar?
there is no obvious direct way of studying universal grammar since it is an abstract entity
with what is speech therapy/general study of communication disorders concerned?
speech therapy/general study of communication disorders is concerned with people whose language faculty is somehow different from the expected
when can people have speech therapy/general study of communication disorders?
this can be due to developmental problems or to illness which damages a language faculty that had previously been fully developed
what is ‘stylistics’ the study of?
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
what comes with an awareness of grammar?
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
in which workplaces is English used?
- the film industry
- writing
- information technology
- advertising and marketing
- safety measures
- the law
- the “Plain English” movement
what is discourse structure/information structure?
how speakers and writers go about packaging our messages, how we distribute information in a text to help our audience interpret the text appropriately
