Week One Flashcards

(60 cards)

1
Q

Communication

A

the transmission of information from one source to another

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2
Q

Language

A

A system of symbols that convey meaning because of shared rules

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3
Q

Linguistics

A

Structure of language

Descriptive rather than prescriptive

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4
Q

Linguists try to :

A

Describe language

Account for what people say and find acceptable

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5
Q

Focus of Psychology of Language:

A

the study of the psychological processes by which people acquire and use language

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6
Q

Psych of language addresses:

A

Comprehension

Production

Acquisition

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7
Q

Ultimate goals of psycholinguistics

A

To develop an integrated account of:

how users of language produce/understand language

children acquire these abilities so quickly

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8
Q

Why haven’t these goals been met?

A

Language is a complex system

Research techniques are sometimes inadequate

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9
Q

Phonemes

A

smallest unit of sound

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10
Q

Phonetics

A

speech sounds and how they are articulated

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11
Q

Phonology

A

how sounds are used and categorised within a language

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12
Q

Phonotactics

A

The rules for combining sounds within a language

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13
Q

Intonation

A

the rise and fall of the voice in speaking

e.g. she spoke English with a German intonation

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14
Q

Prosody

A

patterns of intonation and stress

In English, prosody can distinguish grammatical contrasts

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15
Q

Morphemes

A

smallest units of meaning

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16
Q

Morphology

A

the study of how words are built up from morphemes

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17
Q

Free morphemes

A

can stand alone

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18
Q

Bound morphemes

A

cannot stand alone but still add meaning

e.g. -ing

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19
Q

Semantics

A

word meanings in our mental lexicon

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20
Q

Function words

A

have ambiguous meaning

prepositions, articles, pronouns

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21
Q

Content words

A

carry the most meaning

e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs

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22
Q

Syntax

A

rules for combining words into sentences

understand all words in a sentence as well as what they mean when combined

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23
Q

Pragmatics

A

language in real world context

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24
Q

What does pragmatics include?

A

word choice/interpretation according to the situation

guides use of language in context, such as in politeness systems

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25
What is register in pragmatics?
appropriate level of written or spoken language for a given situation
26
Discourse
verbal or written interaction longer than a single utterance unit of language longer than a single sentence
27
Listener/reader of discourse
must go beyond understanding single words and phrases must evaluate discourse in terms of particular context and prior knowledge
28
Metalinguistics
thinking about language
29
how many languages are still spoken?
2,700 to 10,000
30
Inclusion of new words includes
borrowing from other languages giving new meanings to old words inventing new words
31
modalities of language
spoken language: part of being human; all cultures written language: relatively recent; some cultures; differs in nature of representation signed language : some cultures
32
Where did language come from?
natural selection changing skull shape allowed articulatory apparatus to develop
33
Vocal-auditory channel
communication occurs by producer speaking and receiver hearing
34
broadcast transmission and directional reception
signal travels out in space but localised by listener
35
rapid fading
signal rapidly disappears
36
interchangeability
speakers can receive and transmit message
37
complete feedback
speakers can access their productions
38
discreteness
vocabulary is made of discrete units
39
tradition
can be both taught and learned
40
duality of patterning
meaningless basic units gain meaning when combined into sequences
41
specialisation
energy of signal is irrelevant to meaning
42
semanticity
signals have meaning: relate to features of the world
43
learnability
the speaker of one language can learn another
44
prevarication
language provides the ability to lie and deceive
45
arbitrariness
neutral symbols that don't resemble what they stand for
46
displacement
the system can refer to things remote in time and space
47
reflectiveness
we can communicate about the communication system itself
48
openness/creativity/productivity
the ability to invent new messages
49
What is animal communication dependent on?
context and/or stimulus vocalisations occupe under very specific conditions
50
What species communicate?
bees birds dolphins whales non - human primates
51
how many distinct vocal sounds can vervet monkeys produce?
36 generally determined by circumstances
52
Birds language
alarm cry when they see a predator questions to if this is displacement or continued fear
53
How do bees produce language?
In the form of various dances
54
What is the action of a round dance?
turning in circles
55
What is the message of a round dance?
nectar is close to the hive
56
What is the action of a waggle dance?
tail wiggles side to side
57
What is the message of a waggle dance?
nectar is far from the hive
58
Is language species specific?
no animal appears to include all the design features of human language in its own form of language
59
how many words could Alex (African grey parrot) produce?
80
60
how could chimps be taught to produce language?
sign language button pressing token manipulation