Lec 1 Flashcards
(16 cards)
Creativity
- Creativity has to do with productivity/generativity.
- Every language can create an infinite number of possible words and
sentences. - Every language can use its finite set of vocabulary and its finite set of
principles to produce an infinite number of (new) sentences as the need
arises.
Systematicity
- Language has systematic constraints that establish boundaries within
which innovations can occur. - There are rules to the game.
- Although language is creative, there are limits
modality
the physical implementation of language transmission
Oral-aural (speaking, hearing)
Manual-visual (fingers, hands, wrists, forearms to eyes)
Prescriptive statements
It is wrong to use a preposition to end a sentence. (Where did you go to?)
We should pronounce the -ing at the end of words, not -in’ (e.g., cooking, not cookin’).
Descriptive statements
In spoken and most written language, we use prepositions at the end of sentences.
Many speakers of English pronounce the suffix -ing as “-in’”.
Phonetics
Articulation (and perception) of sounds
Phonology
Patterning of sounds
Morphology
Word formationS
Syntax
Phrase and sentence formation
Semantics
Meanings of words and sentences
Pragmatics
use of words and sentences in context
Mental lexicon
A speaker’s mental dictionary; it contains all information about words
Arbitrariness
For the most part, there is no inherent relationship between form and meaning
grammatical structures
forms that can be generated by the mental grammar; acceptable forms for (native) speakers
ungrammatical structures
forms that cannot be generated by the mental grammar; unacceptable forms for (native) speakers; often marked with an asterisk(*).
What type of empirical data can we use?
Grmmaticality or acceptability judgements
Surveys
Interviews
Corpora
Experiments
