The Words of Language

This set of flashcards is designed to help students prepare for examinations on language acquisition, vocabulary development, and the intersection of language and cognition.

What is the first word typically learned by children?

Around their first birthday.

At what age does a child typically reach a basic level of vocabulary?

18-24 months, around 50 words.

What is the vocabulary spurt?

A rapid increase in vocabulary, where children learn 4 to 8 new words a day.

What are the two sides of word learning?

Productive and receptive skills – recognizing and saying words.

What is the 'less is more' hypothesis in early lexicon?

Fewer words makes it easier to distinguish meanings.

What happens to a child's vocabulary after reaching 50 words?

They experience a vocabulary spurt.

What is fast mapping?

The ability to learn a word and its grammatical class after only a couple of exposures.

What is the significance of joint attention in word learning?

Children learn better when they pay attention to the speaker's intentions.

How do children typically acquire the meanings of words?

They map words to objects, actions, and attributes.

What is the mutual exclusivity bias in language learning?

Children assume each object has only one label.

What is a prototype in lexical development?

An average member of a category that children use to categorize words.

What are overextensions in early vocabulary use?

When a child incorrectly applies a word to similar objects.

What is under-extension in language acquisition?

Using a word for a specific item but failing to apply it to similar items.

What role do morphological structures play in understanding words?

They help determine how words fit together in language.

What are inflectional affixes?

Affixes that serve as grammatical markers and alter a word's tense.

How does cognitive development relate to language acquisition?

Cognitive development can influence and determine the course of language development.

What does the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggest about language and thought?

The structure of our language shapes and determines our thought processes.

What is the impact of machine-generated language on learning?

It may not replace the need for real human interaction in language acquisition.

What influences children's word learning according to the research of Hart and Risley?

Disparities in language exposure among children from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

What is the relationship between word learning and social context?

Words are often learned in context that includes communicative and situational elements.

What are semantic and syntactic manipulations in language processing?

They are changes in sentence structure that affect the comprehensibility of the sentence.

Why is mean length of utterance (MLU) important in language development?

It correlates with a child's age and reflects linguistic complexity.

What is a morpheme?

The smallest meaningful unit of language.

How do children demonstrate knowledge of morphological rules?

Through tests like the 'Wug' test, where they apply pluralization rules to nonsense words.

What does the word 'empty' illustrate in linguistic analysis?

It shows how linguistic meaning can affect perception and behavior.

How do children typically address lexical difficulties?

By not learning words as quickly or accessing them as easily as their peers.

What is the role of syntax in understanding language?

Syntax provides a structure for how words are combined into meaningful sentences.

What are some strategies children use to acquire word meanings?

Children employ different strategies such as extension, object scope, and conventionality.

What is the significance of semantic category structures (basic, subordinate, superordinate)?

They help children organize and understand relationships between words.

How do children learn through situational contexts?

They learn words through interactions that provide contextual cues.

What is a key takeaway regarding the relationship between language and cognition?

Language and cognition are interdependent and influence each other.

What is a significant finding about color memory in relation to language?

Codable colors are remembered more easily than non-codable ones.

What impacts how children process verbs according to developmental patterns?

Children initially use regular forms for irregular verbs due to their developmental stage.

Why is continuous interaction important in language acquisition?

Because it fosters joint attention and reinforces learning through social engagement.

How does the structure of words affect their meaning?

The internal hierarchy of morphemes in a word reveals how it is constructed.

What is the definition of joint attention in language development?

Concentration on a speaker and their intentions, which aids in understanding language.

What does the phrase 'language is a social construct' imply?

Words are not physical characteristics but arise from social conventions.

In terms of word combinations, what is compounding?

Joining two independent words to create a new unit that acts as a single word.

What are derived affixes?

Affixes that change a word's category or significantly alter its meaning.

What is the significance of lexical organization in language learning?

It involves categorizing words phonologically, syntactically, and semantically.

What is an example of a rapid mapping strategy in language acquisition?

Quickly associating a word with its meaning after minimal exposure.

How does linguistic context facilitate word learning?

By providing meaning through strings of words rather than isolated terms.

What does cognitive linguistics suggest about the origins of languages?

It proposes that language influences how we perceive reality.

How can inclusivity in language affect cognitive processes?

Different languages can lead speakers to conceptualize experiences differently.