Language and US society

Presuppositions in questions

Something a question assumes to be true.

Preferences in questions

Questions that are designed in favor of a certain answer based on preferred vs dispreferred responses.

Preferred responses

Support face wants (direct, immediate, simple).

Dispreferred responses

Threaten face (delays, explanations/accounts, apologies).

Reference terms

Minimixation, and recognition. If there is a conflict, recognition wins

Conditional relevance

When a question is asked, it creates an expectation that an answer should come next

Five facts of language

1.) All languages change over time

2.) All languages are equal in terms of linguistic potential

3.) Grammaticallity and communicative effectiveness are distinct and independent issues

4.) Written and spoken/signed language are historically, structurally, and functionally different creatures.

5.) Variation is intrinsic to all languages at ever level, and much of that variation serves and emblematic purpose.

Critical Period

7-13 years old

Descriptivism

Linguistic gramaticality, describes how people speak

Prescriptivism

Socially-constructed gramaticallity, prescribed rules about how people should speak.

The three features of taboo language

1.) Avoidance

2.) Replacement

3.) Euphemism