LING FINAL REVIEW

language contact and acquisition

linguistic universals

basic features shared by all languages

universal grammar

theoretically inborn set of structural characteristics shared by all languages

The innate hypothesis

innate behaviors are present in all normal individuals of a species; 6 rules describing innate behavior

rule 1 of innate behavior

an innate behavior emerges before it is needed

ex. humans walking, birds singing, cats pouncing

rule 2 of innate behavior

the appearance of a behavior is not the result of a conscious decision

ex. no child decides to start walking or talking

rule 3 of innate behavior

behavior is not triggered by external events

ex. seeing winter or getting attacked does not make someone start walking or talking

rule 4 of innate behavior

direct teaching and practice have little effect

ex. children’s language flashcards = pointless

rule 5 of innate behavior

there are a sequence of milestones that the behavior exhibits at given ages

ex. talking, walking

rule 6 of innate behavior

there is a ‘critical period’ in which the behavior has time to manifest to its full potential

ex. puberty for speech

theories of FLA (first language acquisition)

imitation, reinforcement, active construction of grammar, connectionist, and social interaction

imitation theory

children learn language by listening to speech and reproducing things they hear

\
potential errors:

*hitted* rather than *hit*

reinforcement theory

children learn to speak like adults because they are praised when they get it right and are corrected when they get it wrong

may have to do more w/ truth corrections rather than grammar

active construction of a grammar theory

children invent the rules of their grammar themselves as they acquire new inputs; assumes ability to create rules is innate, but rules are dependent on inputi

mistakes are expected to be in a non-random pattern

input

the linguistic form before the application of a rule or set of rules

connectionist theory

children learn language by creating neural connections in the brain

associations btwn words, meanings, sound sequences

ex. association with *bottle* and *milk* rather than an association of *bottle* with *water*

social interaction theory

children acquire language through interaction w/ other children/adults

ex. child-directed speech/speech to infants

language mixing/code switching

more than one language within a phrase

transfer

when learning second language, the influence of language 1 on language 2

stages of identifying sounds

4mo: distinguish vowels: \[a\] and \[i\]

6mo: able to perceive phonetic distinctions that correspond to phonemes in many languages

12mo: distinguish only sounds that are phonemic in their native language

Which of the following tests are best suited for determining how/when children perceive different sounds important for their langauge?

high amplitude sucking test, conditioned head-turn procedure

order stages of language acquisition in children:

canonical babbling, variegated babbling, cooing, monosyllabic babbling

cooing, monosyllabic, canonical, variegated

cooing

occurs within a few weeks after birth; sequences of vowel-like sounds; palatal

repeated/canonical babbling

occurs in 7-10 month stage; continual repetition of syllables

T/F: babbling can be both spoken and signed

true; babies may move fingers in repetitive rhythmic ways (signed) OR speak sequences of vowels and consonants

variegated babbling

occurs during 10-12 month stage; stringing together different syllables

systematic errors/problematic areas with phonological acquisition

consonant clusters, syllable-final consonants, approximants, lots of unstressed initial syllables

one word stage

occurs at age 1; first words (people, objects, pets), then verbs, then intonation to signal questions, statements, demand

two word stage

18-24 mo; word order to express semantic relations

two word stage combinations

agent + action

action + object

action + location

entity + location

possessor + possession

entity + attribute

demonstrative + entity

modifier + object

T/F: three-word utterances are reached by combining a two-word phrase and a one-word phrase

False: three-word utterances are reached by combining two two-word utterances

\
daddy cookie + eat cookie = daddy eat cookie

order of morpheme acquisition for plural words

singular → common irregular forms → overgeneralization of regular ending → distinguish btwn regular and irreg plurals

order of morpheme acquisition of negative words

put “no” in front of sentence → insert negative word btwn subject and verb → something/nothing/anything

order of morpheme acquisition for interrogatives

intonation → (3 years) auxiliary verbs w/ appropriate word order → question words

acquisition of word meaning

meaning determined by guessing, trial, and error

Order of words learned reflects ________ _______.

intrinsic complexity

complexive concepts

a child associates different characteristics with the meaning of a word on successive uses, creating a set of objects that do not have a unifying characteristic

overextensions

extending the range of a word’s meaning beyond that typically used by adults

ex. a toddler may use the word “dog” to refer to all four-legged animals, including cats, pigs, and cows

underextensions

smaller set of objects than appropriate

ex. kitty might mean the family cat, but no other cats

internal variation

the fact that a single language may have multiple ways of expressing the same meaning

language variety

umbrella term used by linguists to refer to any form of language characterized by systematic features

(can be distinct language, form of language, or speech of single person - including in a particular context)

idiolect

a single individual’s total repertoire of styles

dialect

a geographically defined variety

ethnolect

a variety defined by ethnicity

linguistic variable

a linguistic unit that is realized in different ways depending on extra-linguistic factors

register

a variety defined by activity

sociolect

a variety defined by social class

style

a single individual’s systematic speech patterns in some contexts

what are the two types of borrowing?

structural and lexical

T/F: structural borrowing requires more intense contact than lexical borrowing

true

T/F: superstratum languages are known as the less dominant group’s language

false: that is substratum

T/F: in adstratal relationships, borrowings are one directional

false: they go both ways; in su\[erstratal/substratal relationships, borrowing only goes one way

how many levels are there to language death

1 - living language (a + b)

2 - moribund language (a, not b)

3 - dead language (no a or b)

which of the following is generally not made up of a superstratum and a substratum language

mixed language

what language cannot be someone’s first language?

pidgin

A ______ can be someone’s first language.

creole

T/F: when a child says he “hitted the ball”, this is an example of imitation theory

false; it’s an example of active construction of a grammar theory

T/F: social interaction theory posits that children learn language through shared experience or sharing observations rather than simply being exposed to language (like only watching television and not attempting communication)

true

how many languages are needed for something to be considered language contact?

2

which of the following is not included in lexical borrowing:

\
core vocabularies

grammatical function words

loanwords

syntactic

syntactic

which of the following is not included in structural borrowing?

\
loan translations

loanwords

phonological borrowings

syntactic borrowings

loanwords

what type of words are rarely borrowed?

core vocabularies and function words

T/F: lexical borrowing requires more intense contact than structural borrowing

false; structural is more intense

what type of borrowing:

\
Greek spoken in Turkey adopted Turkish SOV over native SVO

syntactic borrowing

T/F: phonological borrowing is an example of lexical borrowing

false; phonological borrowing is structural

What type of borrowing occurs first? Structural or lexical?

lexical (alphabetical)

creole language

* typically arise in situations with two or more peoples need a common, primary means of communication
* has native speakers

mixed language

degree of bilingualism among speakers; the mixing of 2 languages

language convergence

two (or more) languages become more similar due to extended contact

language death

the end result of a language shift, when a language is no longer spoken

language shift

possible result of extended language contact between superstratum/substratum languages, in which speakers of the substrate shift toward the superstrate language, abandoning their native language

pidgin languages

1. typically arise in situations where two or more peoples come together for the purposes of trade


1. NO native speakers

accent

systematic phonological difference of a dialect

a group of people speaking the same dialect is a …

speech community

Why are “pure dialects” rare?

communicative isolation (due to factors like geographic region, ethnic group, socio-economic status, age etc.)

mutual intelligibility

if speakers of one variety can understand speakers of another variety, then they are speaking dialects of the same language

ex. New Yorker and Texan

dialect continuum

situation in which there are a large number of geographically contiguous dialects, and each dialect is closely related to the next, but the dialect on the end of the continuum are not

(German and Dutch)

Socio-political criteria takes __ and _____ considerations into account.

cultural, historical

Example of switch in style/register

Academic presentation vs. speaking to friends

What is the name for automatically adjusting your speech style?

style shifting

jargon

special words/expressions used by a particular profession/group that are difficult for others to understand

ex. healthcare - varicella, acute

Examples of jargon escaping into common usage

“strike out” from baseball

slang

informal words.phrases, more common in speech than writing, and typically restricted to a particular context or group of people

2 slang types

common - fridge, tv

in-group - (more specialized, divisional)

T/F: All dialects are linguistically equivalent

true

T/F: standard dialect is an accurate representation of language

false; it is a complex notion and often an idealization; socially the dialect of prestige and taught in schools, government, media, etc.

T/F: Double negatives are associated with high economic status

false; double negatives are associated with low economic status

prescriptive standard

social standard which people use to make judgements about whether an expression is “right” or “wrong”

standard dialect for US

SAE (standard American english)

why is prejudice against nonstandard dialects harmful?

it puts children at a disadvantage in school and may lead to assumptions about their intelligence

difference between standard and nonstandard possession rules

Standard: add –self/selves to possessive in 1st \n & 2nd, to object form in 3rd

\n Nonstandard: add –self/selves to object form \n in all persons

bidialectal

speakers of a language who know the standard dialect as well as their native dialect

overt prestige

associated w/ standard dialect and high social position

covert prestige

associated with a particular group a speaker belongs to, so the speakers use the nonstandard variety to “fit in”

Factors of language variation

regional (geography) + social dialect (age, gender, ethnicity, social/economic status)

Who influences language variation?

People who speakers are in face-to-face communication with

what influences language variation?

patterns of settlement and geographic isolation

isogloss

line that marks a boundary of an area where a particular linguistic form is used

bundle of isoglosses

when many isoglosses surround the same area

factors influencing centralization

region, age (the older, the more centralized), ethnic

speakers use language to show their …

identity