ling 111 exam 1

Language

A system of rules that connects sounds or signs to meanings.

Signed language

A full language that uses hands, face, and body instead of speech.

Design properties

Features that help explain what makes human language special.

Semanticity

Language signals have meanings.

Arbitrariness

A word or sign usually has no natural connection to its meaning.

Discreteness

Language uses separate categories of sounds or signs.

Productivity

The ability to create and understand new sentences.

Duality of patterning

Meaningless sounds or sign parts combine into meaningful words, and words combine into sentences.

Displacement

The ability to talk about things that are not happening here and now.

Cultural transmission

People learn a specific language from the community around them.

Interchangeability

Language users can both produce and understand messages.

Reflexivity

The ability to use language to talk about language.

Prevarication

The ability to use language to lie or discuss imaginary things.

Human language vs. animal communication

Human language can create unlimited new messages using complex rules.

Internal approach to language

The study of language as knowledge in a person’s mind.

External approach to language

The study of language as it is spoken, signed, written, and used in society.

I-language

A person’s mental knowledge of language.

E-language

Language that can be observed in a community.

Implicit knowledge

Language knowledge you use automatically without thinking about the rules.

Descriptive rule

A rule that explains how people actually use language.

Prescriptive rule

A rule that tells people how they are supposed to use language.

Linguistic hierarchy

Sounds or signs form morphemes, morphemes form words and sentences, and these forms create meaning.

Sound or sign

A small unit used to build spoken or signed language.

Morpheme

The smallest part of language with meaning or a grammatical job.

Constituent

A word or group of words that acts as one unit in a sentence.

Language acquisition

The process of learning a language naturally.

Babbling

An early stage when babies repeat speech-like sounds or sign-like movements.

One-word stage

A stage when a child uses one word to express a full idea.

Two-word stage

A stage when a child combines two words, such as “more juice.”

Telegraphic speech

Early short sentences that leave out smaller grammar words, such as “dog eat food.”

Overgeneralization

Using a regular rule where it does not belong, such as “goed” instead of “went.”

Lack of correction

Children learn grammar even though adults do not correct every mistake.

Poverty of the stimulus

The idea that children learn more about language than their limited input seems to teach them.

Innateness

The idea that humans are born with abilities that help them learn language.

Phonetics

The study of how speech sounds are made, heard, and physically measured.

Phonology

The study of how a language organizes sounds or signs in the mind.

Social meaning

What a language feature suggests about identity, region, age, or social group.

Indexicality

When a language feature points to social information about a speaker.

Vocal fry

A low, creaky voice quality caused by slow and uneven vocal-fold vibration.

IPA

The International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of symbols for speech sounds.

Why do we need the IPA?

Spelling does not always match pronunciation, so the IPA represents sounds more accurately.

Phonemic transcription

Writing mental sound categories between slashes, such as /p/.

Phonetic transcription

Writing actual pronunciations between brackets, such as [pʰ].

Pulmonic egressive airflow

Air pushed outward from the lungs, used for most English sounds.

Lungs

Provide the airflow needed for most speech.

Diaphragm

A muscle that helps control breathing.

Trachea

The tube that carries air between the lungs and throat.

Larynx

The voice box, which contains the vocal folds.

Vocal folds

Tissue that can vibrate to create voiced sounds.

Glottis

The space between the vocal folds.

Pharynx

The throat area above the larynx.

Oral cavity

The mouth.

Nasal cavity

The space inside the nose.

Velum

The soft part at the back of the roof of the mouth that controls nasal airflow.

Uvula

The small structure hanging at the back of the mouth.

Hard palate

The hard front part of the roof of the mouth.

Alveolar ridge

The bump behind the upper front teeth.

Tongue regions

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

Three consonant features

Voicing, place of articulation, and manner of articulation.

Voicing

Whether the vocal folds vibrate.

Voiced sound

A sound made with vocal-fold vibration.

Voiceless sound

A sound made without vocal-fold vibration.

Place of articulation

Where airflow is blocked or narrowed in the vocal tract.

Manner of articulation

How airflow is blocked or narrowed.

Bilabial

Made using both lips; /p, b, m/.

Labiodental

Made with the lower lip and upper teeth; /f, v/.

Dental

Made with the tongue at or between the teeth; /θ, ð/.

Alveolar

Made with the tongue at the ridge behind the upper teeth; /t, d, s, z, n, l/.

Postalveolar

Made slightly behind the alveolar ridge; /ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/.

Palatal

Made with the tongue near the hard palate; /j/.

Velar

Made with the back of the tongue near the velum; /k, ɡ, ŋ/.

Glottal

Made at the vocal folds; /h/ and [ʔ].

Stop

Airflow is fully blocked and then released.

Nasal

Air is blocked in the mouth but flows through the nose.

Fricative

Air passes through a narrow opening and creates friction.

Affricate

A stop followed immediately by a fricative-like release.

Approximant

The articulators come close together without creating strong friction.

Lateral approximant

Air flows around the sides of the tongue; /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 “judge.”

/l/

Voiced alveolar lateral approximant, as in “lip.”

/ɹ/

Voiced rhotic approximant, as in “red.”