LING 1.1-1.6 textbook vocab

also class on 9/2/26

Modality

what counts as talking?…is it signed or vocalized?

Mental lexicon

links up forms (combination of signs/sounds/written symbols) w/ meanings

Articulatory phonetics

figure out how to use physical functions to communicate the word

Morphology

combinations of meaningful pieces inside words (ex: love becomes loved)...knowing what piece of the grammar to use, not where to put it in a sentence

Phonology

info about how physical units of language can be combined and how they change in different contexts…knowing how something does not work in english and knowing how to fix something that’s wrong

Syntax

knows how words can and can’t be combined to make phrases and sentences (how you structure a sentence)

Semantics

allows grammar to calculate the meanings of these phrases

Pragmatics

help to know what meanings arise in different contexts (“it’s a bit cold” can mean “let’s go inside” or “please lend me your jacket,” or etc)

Generativity

Every language can use their finite vocab/principles to create infinite new sentences

Productivity

Languages are always changing

Metalinguistic awareness

conscious knowledge you have about grammar, not grammatical knowledge itself (ex: language you learned in school)

Sociolinguistics

contextually sensitive grammar (can say same sentence, but it is weird…ex: “whatchup to?” –normal in certain contexts but not others since it’s informal)

Prescriptivism

imposition/enforcement of rule/method…Someone telling you you “can’t” say something that technically works (on paper, what you’re supposed to say)

Phonetics

Sound production and perception…Humans have roughly same vocal tract, but languages differ in how they’re used