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Exam 1 Flashcards

MASTERY (78 cards)

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1
Q

What is language?

A

the system that allows us to communicate with one another

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2
Q

what makes us human?

A

language distinguishes us from other creatures

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3
Q

what is a language (i)

A

i: a particular variety spoken in a community

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4
Q

what is a language (I)

A

I: The overarching system that encompasses human communication

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5
Q

how many human languages are there

A

7105 spoken/signed

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6
Q

Criteria for language distinction:

A

Mutual intelligibility: Two varieties are dialects if they are mutually intelligible; otherwise, they are different languages.

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7
Q

Political and cultural factors in language:

A

Quote: “A language is a dialect with an army and a navy.” – Max Weinreich

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8
Q

Arbitrariness in Language:

A

Concept: The sign-meaning relationship is arbitrary; different languages have different words for the same meaning.

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9
Q

Hierarchical organization of Language:

A

Example: Sounds form words, words form phrases, phrases form sentences.

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10
Q

Other properties of Language:

A

Displacement: Communicating about things not present.
Genetic endowment: All humans have an innate capacity to acquire language.

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11
Q

Rule-governed creativity in Language:

A

Definition: Creativity in language is constrained by grammar.

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12
Q

Competence vs. Performance:

A

Competence: Knowledge of language rules.
Performance: Actual use of language, which can be affected by various factors.

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12
Q

Key Focus Areas of Linguistics:

A

Organization of human language.
Modeling of language in the mind.
Language change over time.
Social factors affecting language use.
Language acquisition.

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13
Q

Unique Aspects of Human Language:

A

Key Points:
All humans use language to communicate, whether spoken or signed.
Animal communication systems do not match the complexity of human languages.

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13
Q

What is Linguistics?

A

Definition: The scientific study of human languages, focusing on properties and structures shared by all languages.

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14
Q

Common Features of All Languages:

A

More consonants than vowels.
Use of a finite set of sounds.
Presence of nouns and verbs.
Hierarchical structures.

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15
Q

Descriptivism vs. Prescriptivism:

A

Descriptivism: Understanding and describing how language is used in the real world.Prescriptivism: Advocating for “correct” ways of speaking and writing.

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16
Q

What Do Linguists Do?

A

Methods Used:
Corpora: Databases of language use.
Elicitation: Gathering judgments from speakers.
Experimentation: Measuring language production and perception.

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17
Q

Example of Descriptive Grammar:

A

Fact: The basic word order of English is Subject-Verb-Object, while Japanese follows Subject-Object-Verb.

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18
Q

Scenario of Descriptive vs. Prescriptive Rules:

A

Example: The use of “ain’t” in casual speech is a descriptive rule, despite prescriptive grammar suggesting it is inappropriate.

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19
Q

What Linguists Do Not Do:

A

Key Point: Linguists do not enforce grammar rules or correct language use; they study language as it is actually spoken.

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19
Q

Linguistic Diversity:

A

Definition: The challenge in defining languages due to political, religious, and social factors, often measured by mutual intelligibility.

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20
Q

Common Prescriptive Rules in English:

A

Don’t end sentences with a preposition.
Don’t split infinitives.
Avoid double negatives.

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20
Q

Origin of Prescriptive Rules:

A

Key Point: Many prescriptive rules come from Latin and Ancient Greek, influencing how modern English is modeled.

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21
Major Languages in the World:
Fact: 2/3 of the world’s population speaks one of just 12 languages, while 1/4 of languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers.
22
Countries with Linguistic Diversity:
Example: Papua New Guinea and Nigeria: Over 500 languages spoken. Somalia: Only about 14 languages spoken.
22
Romance Languages:
Fact: Descendants of Proto-Germanic, divided into West Germanic (e.g., English, Dutch) and North Germanic (e.g., Swedish, Norwegian).
23
Language Families:
Definition: Groups of languages that share similar properties due to descent from a common ancestor.
24
Indo-European Languages:
Fact: These are descendants of Proto-Indo-European and include several subgroups like Romance, Germanic, Slavic, and Indo-Iranian.
25
Lingua Franca:
Definition: A common language used to facilitate communication in multilingual environments, e.g., English or Swahili in Kenya.
25
Case Study #3: Word Complexity:
Sino-Tibetan languages (e.g., Mandarin) have small, single-meaning words. Native American languages (e.g., Onondaga) can have very long words representing complex thoughts.
25
Language Isolates:
Definition: Languages that are not genetically related to any other languages, such as Basque.
25
Case Study #1: Word Order:
Examples: English: SVO (Subject-Verb-Object) Japanese: SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) Irish: VSO (Verb-Subject-Object)
25
Implications of Word Order:
Fact: Languages with SVO order tend to have prepositions, while those with SOV order usually have postpositions.
26
Linguistic Typology:
Definition: The classification of languages based on their grammatical properties, revealing possible patterns and structures.
26
Case Study #2: Sound Inventory:
Fact: Languages vary in the number of vowels; for example, Arabic has 3 vowels, while German has 14.
27
What is language policy?
Definition: An official mechanism by which a nation or group grants status or power to a particular language or variety, typically involving endorsement and enforcement by a governing body.
28
Language in the US:
Fact: The US has no official language; however, several states have adopted official languages, such as English, Hawaiian, and various Indigenous languages in Alaska.
29
Special Status of Languages:
Examples: Louisiana recognizes French. Oklahoma recognizes Cherokee. New Mexico recognizes Spanish.
30
English Plus Movement:
Definition: A response to "English only" movements promoting linguistic diversity, acknowledging English as the de facto national language without official status in the Constitution.
31
Language and Power:
Key Point: Language has historically been used to establish dominance and suppress minority languages, as seen in the cases of Catalan and Basque in Spain.
32
Quebec Sovereignty Movement:
Fact: French culture and language are central to the separatist movement in Quebec, exemplified by Bill 101, which mandates that commercial signage must be in French.
33
Neocolonialism:
Definition: The official status of European languages in Africa reflects the lingering colonial influence, where indigenous languages have been discouraged.
34
Why is granting European languages official status problematic?
Key Point: It can lead to forced education in a second language, which may hinder learning as children learn best in their mother tongue.
35
Standard Language Challenges:
Definition: Granting official status to a "standard" variety of a language can be problematic as it might not represent the language spoken by the majority.
36
Language Planning:
Definition: Part of language policy that involves status planning, corpus planning, and acquisition planning to develop and promote a language.
37
Status Planning:
Focus Areas: Attitudes toward the language, intended environments of use, and the language's status in regional and international communities.
38
Corpus Planning:
Components: Standardization of the language, status of the writing system, and modernization of the language.
39
Acquisition Planning:
Key Considerations: Literacy levels in the language, availability of teaching materials, and training for language educators.
40
What is a dialect?
Definition: Dialects are mutually intelligible forms of the same language that differ systematically.
41
Where do dialects come from?
Factors: Primarily geographic or political separation, along with social, historical, and religious factors.
42
Case Study: BCMS
Definition: Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) illustrates a complex language vs. dialect situation due to ethnic and political factors following the breakup of Yugoslavia.
43
Case Study: Czech-Slovak
Fact: Czech and Slovak are mutually intelligible Slavic languages that were recognized as dialects of Czechoslovak before becoming separate official languages after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.
44
Case Study: Arabic
Fact: Arabic has numerous dialects across a vast area, but a desire for cultural and linguistic unity leads to the use of a single shared language alongside unique regional varieties.
45
Dialect Continuum:
Concept: Language intelligibility is a cline; for example, Moroccan Arabic may be difficult to understand for speakers of Iraqi Arabic, but Moroccan and Libyan Arabic are more similar.
46
Role of Lingua Franca:
Definition: Standard Arabic serves as a lingua franca to manage variation between dialects, while Classical Arabic is primarily used in religious contexts.
47
English as a Global Lingua Franca:
Fact: English is used as a first language (L1) in countries like the US and UK and as a second language (L2) in regions such as South Asia and Africa.
48
Differences Between American and British English:
Examples: Vocabulary: fries vs. chips Spelling: color vs. colour Grammar: "He is in the hospital" vs. "the team is/are winning"
49
Regional Dialects of English in the US:
Fact: Surveys have been conducted to analyze American English based on vocabulary and pronunciation, often represented on maps using isoglosses.
50
What is Accent?
Definition: Accent refers specifically to pronunciation differences within a dialect.
51
Northern Cities Vowel Shift:
Fact: This shift is associated with Chicago and has spread east, affecting regions like Syracuse.
52
Other Regional Accent Characteristics:
Examples: West Coast: cot/caught merger Southern: pen/pin merger California: loss of vowel rounding
53
What is language endangerment?
Definition: A situation where languages face pressures (political, economic, environmental, religious) that hinder their transmission to children, leading to a loss of speakers.
54
Current Status of Languages:
Fact: Out of approximately 7,100 languages, 3,018 are considered endangered according to Ethnologue.
55
Political Pressure:
Key Point: Language endangerment can arise from pressure to adopt an official or lingua franca language, often seen in educational systems where indigenous languages are not used.
56
Economic Pressure:
Definition: Parents may prioritize teaching their children a dominant language perceived as necessary for success, often at the expense of their mother tongue.
57
Environmental Pressure:
Example: Environmental catastrophes and loss of land can lead to language endangerment, as seen with Native American populations forced onto reservations.
58
Religious Pressure:
Key Point: There can be pressure to adopt languages associated with dominant religions, complicating language preservation efforts for minority groups.
59
Language Revitalization:
Definition: A community effort, often with linguistic assistance, to reintroduce mother tongue transmission to children, starting with language documentation.
59
Stages of Endangerment:
Key Points: A language is moribund when transmission from parent to child ceases. It is classified as dead when there are no native speakers, though it may still be used as a second language.
60
Language Policy Components:
Components include: Status planning Corpus planning Acquisition planning
61
Endangerment is Relative:
Fact: The number of speakers does not always correlate with the degree of endangerment; sociopolitical context plays a significant role.
62
Catalan vs. Spanish:
Example: Catalan has 4.1 million speakers but maintains a strong nationalist movement despite Spanish's larger number of speakers.
63
Tamil vs. Hindi:
Example: Tamil, with 70 million speakers, may be considered a minority language compared to Hindi, which has over 500 million speakers.
64
Revitalization Efforts:
Examples: Cornish Hawaiian Hebrew (Ulpan schools) Maori Irish (Gaeltacht areas)
64
Dead Languages:
Examples include: Attic Greek Latin Church Slavonic Sanskrit
65
Extinct Languages:
Examples: Klallam (last speaker in 2014) Yana (last speaker was Ishi)
66
Language Birth:
Fact: New languages can emerge, such as Fanagolo (from Zulu) and Iscamtho (used by gay and lesbian youth).

Linguistics (2 decks)

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