LING 111 exam 1

Language

A rule-governed mental system that connects forms—spoken sounds or manual signs—to meanings.

Signed language

A complete natural language expressed primarily through the manual-visual modality; it has phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.

Design properties

Characteristics used to describe and compare human language with other communication systems.

Semanticity

The property by which linguistic signals are systematically associated with meanings.

Arbitrariness

The relationship between a linguistic form and its meaning is generally conventional rather than naturally necessary.

Discreteness

The property by which language uses distinct categories, even when their physical realizations vary continuously.

Productivity

The ability to produce and understand an unlimited number of novel expressions.

Duality of patterning

The organization of language into two levels: meaningless units combine into meaningful units, which combine into larger expressions.

Displacement

The ability to communicate about things beyond the immediate time and place, including the past, future, distant, fictional, and hypothetical.

Cultural transmission

The specific language a person acquires depends on exposure to and interaction with a linguistic community.

Interchangeability

The property by which language users can generally both produce and perceive linguistic messages.

Reflexivity

The ability to use language to discuss language itself.

Prevarication

The ability to use language to communicate false, imaginary, or misleading information.

Human language vs. animal communication

Human language is especially characterized by open-ended productivity, complex hierarchy, displacement, and duality of patterning, although animal systems may share some properties.

Internal approach to language

The study of language as knowledge represented in an individual speaker’s or signer’s mind.

External approach to language

The study of observable linguistic behavior, texts, speech, signs, social conventions, and community patterns.

I-language

Internalized linguistic knowledge in an individual’s mind.

E-language

Externalized language as observable behavior or socially shared patterns.

Implicit linguistic knowledge

Unconscious knowledge that allows speakers and signers to produce and judge forms without being able to explain the rules.

Descriptive rule

A statement describing how language users actually speak or sign.

Prescriptive rule

A socially imposed instruction about how people are told they should use language.

Hierarchy of linguistic levels

Sounds or signs combine into morphemes; morphemes combine into words and sentences; structures are connected to meaning.

Sound or sign

The smallest units used in the form of spoken or signed language.

Morpheme

The smallest linguistic unit carrying meaning or grammatical function.

Constituent

A word or group of words functioning as a structural unit inside a sentence.

Language acquisition

The process by which children develop knowledge of a language through exposure and interaction.

Babbling

An early acquisition stage involving repeated speech-like or sign-like units that become shaped by the surrounding language.

One-word stage

A stage in which one linguistic form may express the meaning of an entire sentence.

Two-word stage

A stage in which children combine two forms to express basic relationships, as in “more juice.”

Telegraphic speech

Early multiword language containing many content words while omitting some function words and inflections.

Overgeneralization

The application of a regular pattern to an irregular form, as in “goed” instead of “went.”

Lack of correction observation

Children receive limited and inconsistent grammatical correction but still acquire complex grammar.

Poverty of the stimulus

The argument that children develop linguistic knowledge not fully explained by the limited, imperfect, and unlabeled input they receive.

Innateness hypothesis

The proposal that humans possess biologically based capacities or biases that support language acquisition.

Phonetics

The study of the physical production, acoustic properties, and perception of speech sounds.

Phonology

The study of how a language mentally organizes sounds or signs and uses them in patterned ways.

Social meaning

The social associations a linguistic feature may acquire, such as connections to region, age, class, identity, or formality.

Indexicality

The ability of a linguistic feature to point to or suggest social information about a speaker or context.

Vocal fry

A voice quality involving irregular, low-frequency vocal-fold vibration, also called creaky voice.

Why is the IPA needed?

Ordinary spelling represents pronunciation inconsistently; the International Phonetic Alphabet provides standardized symbols for speech sounds.

IPA

International Phonetic Alphabet; a standardized system for representing speech sounds.

Phonemic transcription

A transcription using slashes, / /, to represent abstract or contrastive phonemes.

Phonetic transcription

A transcription using brackets, [ ], to represent actual pronunciations or phones.

Pulmonic egressive airflow

Airflow powered by the lungs and directed outward; it is used for most English speech sounds.

Lungs

Organs that provide the airflow for most speech sounds.

Diaphragm

A muscle that helps control breathing and air pressure.

Trachea

The airway carrying air between the lungs and larynx.

Larynx

The structure containing the vocal folds.

Vocal folds

Tissue in the larynx whose positioning and vibration help distinguish voiced, voiceless, and glottal sounds.

Glottis

The opening between the vocal folds.

Pharynx

The throat cavity above the larynx.

Oral cavity

The mouth cavity.

Nasal cavity

The air passage through the nose.

Velum

The soft palate; raising it blocks nasal airflow, while lowering it permits nasal airflow.

Uvula

The structure at the rear edge of the soft palate.

Hard palate

The hard portion of the roof of the mouth.

Alveolar ridge

The ridge directly behind the upper front teeth.

Tongue regions

The tip, blade, front, back, and root of the tongue.

Three features used to describe consonants

Voicing, place of articulation, and manner of articulation.

Voiced sound

A sound produced with vocal-fold vibration.

Voiceless sound

A sound produced without regular vocal-fold vibration.

Bilabial

A place of articulation using both lips; English /p, b, m/.

Labiodental

A place of articulation using the lower lip and upper teeth; English /f, v/.

Dental

A place of articulation using the tongue at or between the teeth; English /θ, ð/.

Alveolar

A place of articulation involving the alveolar ridge; English /t, d, s, z, n, l/.

Postalveolar

A place of articulation slightly behind the alveolar ridge; English /ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/.

Palatal

A place of articulation involving the tongue body and hard palate; English /j/.

Velar

A place of articulation involving the back of the tongue and velum; English /k, ɡ, ŋ/.

Glottal

A place of articulation involving the glottis; English /h/ and the glottal stop [ʔ].

Stop

A consonant produced with complete airflow blockage followed by release; English /p, b, t, d, k, ɡ/.

Nasal

A consonant produced with oral closure and a lowered velum, allowing air through the nose; English /m, n, ŋ/.

Fricative

A consonant produced with a narrow constriction that creates turbulent airflow.

Affricate

A consonant beginning with stop closure and ending with a fricative-like release; English /tʃ, dʒ/.

Approximant

A consonant in which articulators approach each other without creating strong turbulent airflow; English /ɹ, j, w/.

Lateral approximant

A consonant in which air passes around the sides of the tongue; English /l/.

/p/

Voiceless bilabial stop, as in “pin.”

/b/

Voiced bilabial stop, as in “bin.”

/t/

Voiceless alveolar stop, as in “tin.”

/d/

Voiced alveolar stop, as in “din.”

/k/

Voiceless velar stop, as in “coat.”

/ɡ/

Voiced velar stop, as in “goat.”

/m/

Voiced bilabial nasal, as in “mat.”

/n/

Voiced alveolar nasal, as in “not.”

/ŋ/

Voiced velar nasal, as in “sing.”

/f/

Voiceless labiodental fricative, as in “fan.”

/v/

Voiced labiodental fricative, as in “van.”

/θ/

Voiceless dental fricative, as in “thin.”

/ð/

Voiced dental fricative, as in “this.”

/s/

Voiceless alveolar fricative, as in “sip.”

/z/

Voiced alveolar fricative, as in “zip.”

/ʃ/

Voiceless postalveolar fricative, as in “ship.”

/ʒ/

Voiced postalveolar fricative, as in “measure.”

/h/

Voiceless glottal fricative, as in “hat.”

/tʃ/

Voiceless postalveolar affricate, as in “chin.”

/dʒ/

Voiced postalveolar affricate, as in “gin.”

/l/

Voiced alveolar lateral approximant, as in “lip.”

/ɹ/

Voiced rhotic approximant, as in “rip.”

/j/

Voiced palatal approximant, as in “yes.”

/w/

Voiced labial-velar approximant, as in “wet.”

Vowel

A speech sound produced without a major obstruction of airflow.