Week 2

Question 1

Linguistic Competence

Answer 1

Refers to the unconscious knowledge of grammar that allows a speaker to use and understand a language

Question 2

Linguistic Performance

Answer 2

An individual’s use of a language

Question 3

Performance Error

Answer 3

Those errors made by learners when they are tired or hurried

Question 4

Speech Communication Chain

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Speech Communication Chain Steps

Answer 5

Grammatical Code, the Phonological Code, articulation, sound, hearing and perception.

Question 6

Noise

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Lexicon

Answer 7

A lexicon is the knowledge that a native speaker has about a language.

Question 8

Mental Grammar

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

Language Variation

Answer 9

Refers to regional, social, or contextual differences in the ways that a particular language is used.

Question 10

Descriptive Grammar

Answer 10

The term descriptive grammar refers to an objective, nonjudgmental description of the grammatical constructions in a language.

Question 11

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

Answer 11

1. Writing must be taught, whereas spoken language is acquired naturally.
2. Writing does not exist everywhere spoken language does.
3. Writing uses more areas of the brain than spoken language.
4. Writing can be edited before it is share while speech is usually much more spontaneous.

Question 12

Reasons some people believe writing to be superior to speech

Answer 12

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.

Question 13

Prescriptive Grammar

Answer 13

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.

Question 14

Prescribe

Answer 14

Dictate how words should be used or set forth rules of “correctness”

Question 15

Charles Hockett’s nine design features (necessary for a Communication system to be considered a language)

Answer 15

Mode of Communication
Semanticity
Pragmatic Function
Interchangeability
Cultural Transmission
Arbitrariness
Discreteness
Displacement
Productivity

Question 16

Mode of Communication

Answer 16

Means through which a message is transmitted for any given communication system

Question 17

Semanticity

Answer 17

Property of having signals that convey a meaning, shared by all communication systems

Question 18

Pragmatic Function

Answer 18

The useful purpose of any given communication system

Question 19

Interchangeability

Answer 19

The property of a communication system by which all individuals have the ability to both transmit and review messages

Question 20

Cultural Transmission

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Arbitrariness

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Linguistic Sign

Answer 22

The combination of a linguistic form and meaning

Question 23

Convention

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Non-arbitrariness

Answer 24

Direct correspondence between the physical properties of a form and the meaning that the form refers to

Question 25

Iconic

Answer 25

Relationship between form and meaning such that the form of a word bears a resemblance to its meaning

Question 26

Onomatopoeia

Answer 26

Iconic use of words that are imitative of sounds occuring in nature or that have meanings that are associated with such sounds

Question 27

Conventionalized

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Sound Symbolism

Answer 28

Phenomenon by which certain sounds are evocative of a particular meaning

Question 29

Discreteness

Answer 29

The property of some communication systems by which complex messages may be built up out of smaller parts

Question 30

Displacement

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Productivity

Answer 31

The capacity of a communication system (unique to human language) for novel messages built out of discrete units to be produced and understood

Question 32

Modality

Answer 32

Means through which a message is transmitted for any given communication system

Question 33

Myths about signed languages

Answer 33

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”

Question 34

Differences between codes and languages

Answer 34

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.