Lecture Notes: Typology, Acquisition, and Sociolinguistics (Pages 1-15)

Vocabulary flashcards covering topics in typology, language acquisition, and sociolinguistics. Each term is defined to reinforce key concepts from the notes.

language death

Complete disappearance of a language when there are no living native speakers to transmit it, often due to population decline, displacement, or dominance of another language.

dialect

A regional or social variety of a language that is often mutually intelligible with other varieties of the same language.

language

A system of communication with organized phonology, morphology, and syntax; may contain multiple dialects.

mutual intelligibility

The speaker’s ability to understand another speaker’s language variety; lies on a continuum, signaling whether varieties are dialects of one language or separate languages.

linguistic universals

Structural characteristics that occur in most or all languages, used to predict patterns in other languages.

typology

The study and classification of languages based on structural similarities in phonology, morphology, and syntax.

phonology

The system of sounds in a language, including the inventory of phonemes and their contrasts.

morphology

The study of the internal structure of words and how morphemes combine.

syntax

The rules governing the arrangement of words and phrases to form sentences.

markedness

A concept where some features are less common (marked) than others (unmarked); marked features often imply the presence of an unmarked counterpart.

unmarked

A more common, basic, or default feature in a linguistic system.

marked

A less common or more complex feature in a linguistic system.

implicational universal

If a language has feature X, then it tends to have feature Y; X implies Y, but Y does not necessarily imply X.

nasal vowels

Vowels produced with airflow through the nose; often considered more marked than oral vowels.

oral vowels

Vowels produced without nasal airflow; typically more common (unmarked) than nasal vowels.

vowel inventory

The set of vowel phonemes a language has; most languages have between 3 and 9 vowels, with five being most common.

stops

Consonants produced with complete closure in the vocal tract (e.g., p, t, k); all languages have stops.

fricatives

Consonants produced with a narrow constriction causing turbulent airflow (e.g., s, f, z).

nasals

Consonants produced with air flowing through the nose (e.g., n, m).

obstruents

Consonants produced with some obstruction of the vocal tract (stops, fricatives, affricates); contrasted with sonorants.

morphological typology

Classification of languages by how they form words and mark grammatical relations (isolating, agglutinative, fusional, polysynthetic).

isolating (analytic)

Languages with little to no bound morphemes; roughly one morpheme per word.

agglutinating

Morphology where words are formed by stringing together clearly separable affixes, each marking a single grammatical category.

fusional (inflectional)

Morphology with affixes that encode multiple grammatical categories at once, often with less transparency.

polysynthetic

Languages with long, synthetic words that often express whole sentences’ meaning; affixes attach to a root to convey complex information.

morpheme-to-word ratio

A measure of how many morphemes correspond to a single word; higher in fusional and polysynthetic languages.

derivational affix

Affixes that create new words or change word class; typically closer to the root in a word with both derivational and inflectional affixes.

inflectional affix

Affixes that express grammatical categories like tense, number, mood, or case.

head final

A phrase where the head (e.g., verb, noun) comes at the end; typical of OV languages.

head initial

A phrase where the head comes at the beginning; typical of VO languages.

VO (verb–object) order

A language order in which the verb precedes the object; often associated with prepositions.

SVO

Subject–Verb–Object word order (e.g., English).

SOV

Subject–Object–Verb word order (e.g., Japanese).

VSO

Verb–Subject–Object word order.

dichotic listening

A technique where different sounds are presented to each ear to study brain lateralization for language.

right ear advantage

tendency for right-ear (left-hemisphere) processing to be more accurate for language tasks.

aphasia

A language disorder caused by brain damage, affecting comprehension and/or production across modalities.

Broca’s area

Left frontal region linked to language production.

Wernicke’s area

Left temporal region linked to language comprehension.

global aphasia

Most severe form of aphasia with limited language production and comprehension, despite intact intellect.

sociolinguistics

Study of how language varies and changes in social contexts, including gender, ethnicity, region, and class.

standard vs non-standard language

Standard language is the socially accepted variety; non-standard forms vary by region, social group, or context.

linguistic variable

A feature that can take multiple forms (variants) within a language, showing systematic variation.

dialect (regional and social)

Regional dialects vary by geography; social dialects vary by social factors like age, ethnicity, or gender.

accent

A pattern of pronunciation associated with a speaker’s background, which may reflect transfer from a first language.

slang

Informal, often rapidly changing vocabulary that is not tied to the standard lexicon.

variety

An umbrella term for any language form, including dialects, registers, and sociolects.

ethnolect

A language or variety associated with a particular ethnic group.

enclave

An ethnic neighborhood or community where a language or variety is prominently used.

code-switching

Alternating between languages or language varieties within a conversation; situational or metaphorical in nature.

situational code-switching

Code-switching driven by the social setting or context (e.g., home vs. work).

metaphorical code-switching

Code-switching used to express identity or move between social groups.

Lakoff’s major claims (women’s language)

Women’s language exists, has identifiable features, reflects subordinate status, and reflects social power dynamics.

empty adjectives

A Lakoff feature describing adjectives that seem subjective or evaluative (e.g., pretty, lovely) rather than essential meaning.

gender as a social construct

Gender roles and expectations are constructed by society, not solely determined by biology.

ethnicity vs race

Ethnicity refers to shared culture, history, and traditions; race is a socially created label based on perceived physical traits.

social mobility

The ability to move within a social stratification system (vertical, horizontal, intergenerational).

closed vs open system (stratification)

Closed systems limit mobility (e.g., caste); open systems allow movement between social strata.

social hypercorrection

Overcorrecting speech forms to align with perceived higher-status forms, often due to social pressure.

first language acquisition vs second language learning

L1 acquisition typically occurs naturally in early childhood; L2 learning often occurs in structured settings with conscious effort.

language death

Complete disappearance of a language when there are no living native speakers to transmit it, often due to population decline, displacement, or dominance of another language.

dialect

A regional or social variety of a language that is often mutually intelligible with other varieties of the same language.

language

A system of communication with organized phonology, morphology, and syntax; may contain multiple dialects.

mutual intelligibility

The speaker’s ability to understand another speaker’s language variety; lies on a continuum, signaling whether varieties are dialects of one language or separate languages.

linguistic universals

Structural characteristics that occur in most or all languages, used to predict patterns in other languages.

typology

The study and classification of languages based on structural similarities in phonology, morphology, and syntax.

phonology

The system of sounds in a language, including the inventory of phonemes and their contrasts.

morphology

The study of the internal structure of words and how morphemes combine.

syntax

The rules governing the arrangement of words and phrases to form sentences.

markedness

A concept where some features are less common (marked) than others (unmarked); marked features often imply the presence of an unmarked counterpart.

unmarked

A more common, basic, or default feature in a linguistic system.

marked

A less common or more complex feature in a linguistic system.

implicational universal

If a language has feature X, then it tends to have feature Y; X implies Y, but Y does not necessarily imply X.

nasal vowels

Vowels produced with airflow through the nose; often considered more marked than oral vowels.

oral vowels

Vowels produced without nasal airflow; typically more common (unmarked) than nasal vowels.

vowel inventory

The set of vowel phonemes a language has; most languages have between 3 and 9 vowels, with five being most common.

stops

Consonants produced with complete closure in the vocal tract (e.g., p, t, k); all languages have stops.

fricatives

Consonants produced with a narrow constriction causing turbulent airflow (e.g., s, f, z).

nasals

Consonants produced with air flowing through the nose (e.g., n, m).

obstruents

Consonants produced with some obstruction of the vocal tract (stops, fricatives, affricates); contrasted with sonorants.

morphological typology

Classification of languages by how they form words and mark grammatical relations (isolating, agglutinative, fusional, polysynthetic).

isolating (analytic)

Languages with little to no bound morphemes; roughly one morpheme per word.

agglutinating

Morphology where words are formed by stringing together clearly separable affixes, each marking a single grammatical category.

fusional (inflectional)

Morphology with affixes that encode multiple grammatical categories at once, often with less transparency.

polysynthetic

Languages with long, synthetic words that often express whole sentences’ meaning; affixes attach to a root to convey complex information.

morpheme-to-word ratio

A measure of how many morphemes correspond to a single word; higher in fusional and polysynthetic languages.

derivational affix

Affixes that create new words or change word class; typically closer to the root in a word with both derivational and inflectional affixes.

inflectional affix

Affixes that express grammatical categories like tense, number, mood, or case.

head final

A phrase where the head (e.g., verb, noun) comes at the end; typical of OV languages.

head initial

A phrase where the head comes at the beginning; typical of VO languages.

VO (verb–object) order

A language order in which the verb precedes the object; often associated with prepositions.

SVO

Subject–Verb–Object word order (e.g., English).

SOV

Subject–Object–Verb word order (e.g., Japanese).

VSO

Verb–Subject–Object word order.

dichotic listening

A technique where different sounds are presented to each ear to study brain lateralization for language.

right ear advantage

tendency for right-ear (left-hemisphere) processing to be more accurate for language tasks.

aphasia

A language disorder caused by brain damage, affecting comprehension and/or production across modalities.

Broca’s area

Left frontal region linked to language production.

Wernicke’s area

Left temporal region linked to language comprehension.

global aphasia

Most severe form of aphasia with limited language production and comprehension, despite intact intellect.