CHAPTER 4: Language

Question 1

language

Answer 1

a system of communication organized by rules that uses symbols such as words, sounds, and gestures to convey information.
a system of communication that uses symbols.

Question 2

historical linguistics

Answer 2

the study of the development of language overtime, including its changes and variations.

Question 3

language continuum

Answer 3

the idea that variation in languages appears gradually over distance so that groups of people who live near one another speak in a way that is mutually intelligible.

Question 4

speech community

Answer 4

the study of the sound, symbols, and gestures of a language, and their combination into forms that communicate meaning.

Question 5

descriptive linguistics

Answer 5

the study of the sound, symbols, and gestures of a language, and their combination into forms that communicate meaning.

Question 6

phonemes

Answer 6

the smallest units of sound that can make a difference in meaning.

Question 7

phonology

Answer 7

the study of what sounds exist and how they are used in a particular language.

Question 8

morphemes

Answer 8

the smallest units of sound that carry meaning of their own.

Question 9

morphology

Answer 9

the study of patterns and rules of how sounds combine to make morphemes.

Question 10

syntax

Answer 10

specific patterns and rules for combining morphemes to construct phrases and sentences.

Question 11

grammar

Answer 11

the combined set of observations about the rules governing the use of phonemes, morphemes and syntax that guide language use.

Question 12

kinesics

Answer 12

(nonverbal communication) the study of the relationship between body movements and communication.

Question 13

paralanguage

Answer 13

(nonverbal communication) an extensive set of noises (such as laughs, cries, sighs, and yells) and tones of voice that convey significant information about the speaker.

Question 14

linguistic relativity

Answer 14

the notion that all languages will develop the distinct categories necessary for those who speak them to deal with the realities around them.

Question 15

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

Answer 15

the idea that different languages create different ways of thinking.

Question 16

lexicon

Answer 16

all the words for names, ideas, and events that make up a language’s dictionary.

Question 17

speech registers

Answer 17

the word and terminology that develops with particular sophistication to describe the unique cultural realities experienced by a group of people.

Question 18

sociolinguistics

Answer 18

the study of the ways culture shapes language and language shapes culture, particularly the intersection of language with cultural categories and systems of power such as age, race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender and class.

Question 19

methodological relativism

Answer 19

researcher position when recognize them as a culture that exists but it doesn’t mean they recognize them as ethical (idea/ mindset)

Question 20

moral relativism

Answer 20

ideas and practices don’t reflect universal truths (position/ mindset) Morality and ethics are socially/ historically constructed. Morality and ethics are shaped by culture.

Question 21

What are the 5 characteristics of language?

Answer 21

1- symbolic
2- arbitrary - (artificially created) lack of inherit relationship or meaning.
3- discreetness - units are put together to create new meanings. (like Legos) multiple moving parts.
4- abstraction/ displacement - can communicate about things that don’t exist or aren’t present.
5- creative/ productive - ability to create infinite new meanings.

Question 22

dialect

Answer 22

a nonstandard variation of language.

Question 23

prestige language

Answer 23

a particular language variation or way of speaking that is associated with wealth, success, education and power.

Question 24

language ideology

Answer 24

beliefs and conceptions about language that often serve to rationalize and justify patterns of stratification and inequality.

Question 25

code-switching

Answer 25

switching back and forth between one linguistic variant and another or one language and another depending on the cultural context.

Question 26

language loss

Answer 26

the extinction of languages that have very few speakers.