Chap 2: language

Question 1

what are the 2 important linguistic functions of language?

Answer 1

1. Conveying information
2. expressing or evoking feelings

Question 2

what is cognitive meaning?

Answer 2

A terminology that conveys information

Question 3

what is emotive meaning ?

Answer 3

A terminology that expresses or evokes feelings

Question 4

what is a value claim?

Answer 4

its a claim that something is good, bad, right , wrong or better etc…

Question 5

why do people use emotive terminology often ?

Answer 5

1. it obscures the fact that a value claim is being made
2. gives psychological momentum to that claim= intellectual laziness

Question 6

how can cognitive meanings be defective?

Answer 6

because some can be vague and ambiguous

Question 7

what is vagueness?

Answer 7

when a sentence lacks preciseness so it is impossible to tell if the expression applies or not

Question 8

what is ambiguousness?

Answer 8

when a word can be interpreted as having more than one clearly distinct meaning in a given context.

Question 9

what is a verbal dispute ?

Answer 9

its a dispute that arise over the meaning of language

Question 10

what is a factual dispute ?

Answer 10

its a dispute that arise over a disagreement about facts.

Question 11

what is a term? what does it consist of?

Answer 11

its any word or arrangement of words that can serve as the subject of a statement.
they consist of proper names, common names and descriptive phrases

Question 12

what are the 2 kinds of cognitive meaning of terms?

Answer 12

intentional and extensional

Question 13

what is a intensional meaning?

Answer 13

it consists of the qualities or attributes that the term connotes

Question 14

what is a extensional meaning?

Answer 14

it consists of the members of the class that the term denotes

Question 15

what is a conventional connotation?

Answer 15

its the attributes that the term commonly calls forth in the minds of competent speakers of the language.

Question 16

what is empty extension?

Answer 16

its a non existent members in a certain time, a class that has no members.

Question 17

what is increasing intension

Answer 17

when each term in the series connotes more attributes the the one preceding it.

Question 18

what is decreasing intension

Answer 18

its the reverse of increasing intension

Question 19

what is increasing extension?

Answer 19

when each term in the series denotes a class having more members than the class denoted by the term preceding it

Question 20

what is decreasing extension?

Answer 20

reverse of increasing extension

Question 21

what is a definition

Answer 21

its a group of words that assigns a meaning to some word or group of words.

Question 22

what does a definition consist of?

Answer 22

1. definiendum = words that is supposed to b defined
2. definiens = words that does the defining

Question 23

how many types of definitions are there and what are they?

Answer 23

there are 5 types of definitions.
1. stipulative definitions
2. lexical definitions
3. precising definitions
4. theoretical definitions
5. persuasive definitions

Question 24

what is a stipulative definition?

Answer 24

it assigns a meaning to a word for the 1st time. it could be coining a new word or giving a new meaning to an old word.
its purpose is replacing a more complex expression with a simpler one, or to set up secret codes.
there is no such thing as a “true” or false stipulative definition.
and it cannot provide new information.

Question 25

what is a lexical definition

Answer 25

it reports the meaning that a word already has in a language.
it can true or false depending on whether it does or does not report the way a word is actually used.
the purpose is to eliminate the ambiguity and lists the various meanings of a word.

Question 26

what is a precising definition?

Answer 26

it reduces the vagueness of a word.
it helps with deciding the applicability of the word to a specific situation.
it is not an arbitrary assignment of meaning.

Question 27

what is a theorical definition?

Answer 27

it assigns a meaning to a word by suggesting a theory that gives a certain characterization to the entities that the term denotes.
it entails deductive consequences and experimental investigations.
they are neither true or false.

Question 28

what is a persuasive definition?

Answer 28

it causes a favorable or unfavorable attitude toward what is denoted by the definiendum.
it uses an emotionally charged meaning to a word while making it appear that the word easily has that meaning in the language in which it is used.
the objective is to influence the reader.
it can be true or false.

Question 29

what is an extensional definition?

Answer 29

it assigns a meaning to a term by indicating the members of the class that the definiendum denotes.

Question 30

what are the techniques used for extensional definitions?

Answer 30

a. demonstrative
b. enumerative
c. by subclass

Question 31

what is a demonstrative (ostensive) definition? and the limitations

Answer 31

it assigns a meaning by pointing at the definiendum.
limitation:
the required object needs to available to be pointed at.

Question 32

what is an enumerative definition ?

Answer 32

it assigns a meaning to a term by naming the members of the class the term denotes.
limitation:
- a class can have an infinite number of members or a large amount to enumerate. there will be some with no names.

Question 33

what is a definition by subclass?

Answer 33

it assigns a meaning to a term by naming subclasses of the class denoted by the term.
limitation:
few terms denote classes that admit a small number of subclasses.

Question 34

what are the techniques used for intensional definitions

Answer 34

a. synonymous definition
b. etymological definition
c. operational definition
d. definition by genus and difference

Question 35

what is a synonymous definition?

Answer 35

the definiens is a synonym of the word being defined.
limitation:
many words have a subtle shades of meaning that are not connoted by any other single word.

Question 36

what is an etymological definition?

Answer 36

it assigns a meaning to a word by disclosing the word’s ancestry in both its own language and other languages.
its important for 2 reasons:
1. the etymological definition of a word often conveys the word’s root meaning or seminal meaning from which all other associated meanings are derived. Unless one is familiar
with this root meaning, one often fails to place other meanings in their proper light or to grasp the meaning of the word when it is used in its most proper sense.
2. the second reason for the importance of etymological definitions is that if one is familiar with the etymology of one English word, one often has access to the meaning of
an entire constellation of related words.

Question 36

what is an operational definition?

Answer 36

it assigns a meaning to a word by specifying certain experimental procedures that determine whether or not the word applies to a certain thing.
Operational definitions were invented for the purpose of tying down relatively abstract concepts to the solid ground of empirical reality.
limitation:
operational definitions usually convey only part of the intensional meaning of a term. ( a certain term is more than just the operation ).
it is usually hard to give an operational definition for terms outside of science. EX: “freedom”

Question 36

what is a definition by genus and difference?

Answer 36

it assings meaning to a term by identifying a genus term and one or more difference words that when combined convey the meaning of the term being defined.

-genus means: larger class (animal)
-species: smaller subclass of the genus (mammal)
-difference: attributes that distinguishes the various species within a genus.
its the most effective

Question 36

what are the criteria’s for lexical definitions?

Answer 36

• rule 1: A Lexical Definition Should Conform to the Standards of Proper Grammar
• Rule 2: A Lexical Definition Should Convey the Essential Meaning of the Word Being Defined
• Rule 3: A Lexical Definition Should Be Neither Too Broad nor Too Narrow
• Rule 4: A Lexical Definition Should Avoid Circularity
• Rule 5: A Lexical Definition Should Not Be Negative When It Can Be Affirmative
• Rule 6: A Lexical Definition Should Avoid Figurative, Obscure, Vague, or Ambiguous Language
• Rule 7: A Lexical Definition Should Avoid Affective Terminology
• Rule 8: A Lexical Definition Should Indicate the Context to Which the Definiens Pertains