Week 2 Flashcards
Linguistic Competence
Refers to the unconscious knowledge of grammar that allows a speaker to use and understand a language
Linguistic Performance
An individual’s use of a language
Performance Error
Those errors made by learners when they are tired or hurried
Speech Communication Chain
A simple model of spoken communication that highlights the transformation of an intention in the mind of the speaker to an understanding of that intention in the mind of the listener through processes
Speech Communication Chain Steps
Grammatical Code, the Phonological Code, articulation, sound, hearing and perception.
Noise
The variation among users of language. This can take place through shifts in spelling, grammar, or other aspects of language.
Lexicon
A lexicon is the knowledge that a native speaker has about a language.
Mental Grammar
System that all speakers of a language have in their minds, which allows them to understand each other. The mental grammar of every language includes phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics.
Language Variation
Refers to regional, social, or contextual differences in the ways that a particular language is used.
Descriptive Grammar
The term descriptive grammar refers to an objective, nonjudgmental description of the grammatical constructions in a language.
Evidence that writing and language are not the same (4 reasons)
- Writing must be taught, whereas spoken language is acquired naturally.
- Writing does not exist everywhere spoken language does.
- Writing uses more areas of the brain than spoken language.
- Writing can be edited before it is share while speech is usually much more spontaneous.
Reasons some people believe writing to be superior to speech
Written language is associated with political and economic power, admired literature, and educational institutions, all of which lend it high prestige. In literate societies, people often come to think of their written language as basic; they may regard speech as inferior.
Prescriptive Grammar
The attempt to establish rules defining preferred or correct usage of language. These rules may address such linguistic aspects as spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax, and semantics.
Prescribe
Dictate how words should be used or set forth rules of “correctness”
Charles Hockett’s nine design features (necessary for a Communication system to be considered a language)
Mode of Communication Semanticity Pragmatic Function Interchangeability Cultural Transmission Arbitrariness Discreteness Displacement Productivity
Mode of Communication
Means through which a message is transmitted for any given communication system
Semanticity
Property of having signals that convey a meaning, shared by all communication systems
Pragmatic Function
The useful purpose of any given communication system
Interchangeability
The property of a communication system by which all individuals have the ability to both transmit and review messages
Cultural Transmission
Property of a communication system referring to the fact that at least some aspects of it are learned through interaction with other users of the system
Arbitrariness
in relation to language, refers to the fact that word’s meaning is not predictable from its linguistic form, nor is its form dictated by its meaning
Linguistic Sign
The combination of a linguistic form and meaning
Convention
A linguistic convention is a principle or norm that has been adopted by a person or linguistic community about how to use, and therefore what the meaning is
Non-arbitrariness
Direct correspondence between the physical properties of a form and the meaning that the form refers to
Iconic
Relationship between form and meaning such that the form of a word bears a resemblance to its meaning
Onomatopoeia
Iconic use of words that are imitative of sounds occuring in nature or that have meanings that are associated with such sounds
Conventionalized
Something that is established, commonly agreed upon, or operating in a certain way according to common practice. When an arbitrary relationship of a linguistic sign and its meaning is conventionalized, the linguistic sign bears a constant relationship only because people consistently use that linguistic sign to convey that meaning
Sound Symbolism
Phenomenon by which certain sounds are evocative of a particular meaning
Discreteness
The property of some communication systems by which complex messages may be built up out of smaller parts
Displacement
The property of some communication systems that allows them to e used to communicate about things, actions, and ideas that are not present at the place or time where communication is taking place
Productivity
The capacity of a communication system (unique to human language) for novel messages built out of discrete units to be produced and understood
Modality
Means through which a message is transmitted for any given communication system
Myths about signed languages
Myth 1: “There is only one sign language” …
Myth 2: “Sign languages are not real languages” …
Myth 3: “All deaf people sign” …
Myth 4: “Signing hinders learning speech”
Differences between codes and languages
In sociolinguistics a language may be referred to as a code. A code is a neutral term which can be used to denote a language or a variety of language.
