Unit 5; Language Flashcards
What are the three things that make a language
Regular
Arbitrary
Productive
What does regular mean
It is regulated by the rules of grammar and sentence structure
What does arbitrary mean
The phonemes don’t represent the function
except for onomatopoeia
What does productive mean
Different ways/word combos to say the same thing
What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Language influences our thoughts and h’ow we perceive/experience the world
ex. one word for “5 or more” means cant differentiate between 5 and 6
What is grammar/syntax
The rules for making sentences
What are semantics
The meaning/understandability of a sentence
What is a morpheme
The smallest unit of sound that contains information
ex. table / cloth / s (3M)
What is a phoneme
The smallest unit of sound
ex. sh, d, ph, ai
What is transparent orthography
A given letter will always make the same sound (not English)
- Easier for children to learn
What is the order of language milestones
(8 wks) Cooing / vowels
(16 wks) Turns head towards voices
(6 mnth) Babbles / vowels + consonants
(8 mnth) Non-random babbling
(2 yrs) Uses 2 word phrases + 50-250 words
(2.5 yrs) Vocab > 850 words
When does the language explosion occur
1.5 - 6 yrs old
Why do foreign languages sound too fast
Speech segmentation problem
What is universal phoneme sensitivity
Infants can discriminate between all phenomes (even non-native ones)
Skill disappears around age 1
What is perceptual narrowing
Loss of universal phoneme sensitivity
What is an overextension? Does it support SLC or IMT?
Categorizes object too broadly
(ex. every animal with 4 legs = “doggie”)
Supports IMT as no adult would make that mistake
What is an overregularization? Does it support SLC or IMT?
Grammar/syntax rule applied too broadly
(ex. “I runned”)
Supports IMT as no adult would make that mistake
What is an underextension?
Categorizes objects too specifically
(ex. “doggie” for only their dog)
What are the two theories for language acquisition
Social Learning theory and Innate Mechanism theory
What examples support SLT (2)
Genie
Babies reinforcement
What examples support IMT (4)
Sign language development
Neural activation - babies prefer speech over non-speech sounds
Over/Underextension
What does infant-directed speech sound like
High pitch, exaggerated changes in pitch and use of rhythm
What are pragmatics
Skills that allow children to communicate appropriately and effectively in a social situation
ex. taking turns in a convo
What is a holophrastic phrase
Single word used to indicate a full sentence
