Language Files 12: Chapter 1 Introduction

linguistic competence

what we know when we know a language; the unconscious knowledge that a speaker has about his or her native language

linguistic performance

the observable use of language; the actualization of one's linguistic competence

performance error

errors in language production or comprehension, including hesitations and slips of the tongue

speech communication chain

the process through which information is communicated, consisting of an information source, transmitter, signal, receiver and destination

speech communication chain steps

1. Think of what you want to communicate

2. Pick out words to express the idea

3. Put these words together in a certain order following rules

4. Figure out how to pronounce these words

5. Send those pronunciations to your vocal anatomy

6. Speak: send the sounds through the air

7. Perceive: listener hears the sounds

8. Decode: listener interprets sounds as language

9. Connect: listener receives communicated idea

noise

interference in the communication chain

lexicon

mental repository of linguistic information about words and other lexical expressions, including form, meaning, morphological and syntactic properties

mental grammar

the mental representation of grammar; the knowledge that a speaker has about the linguistic units and rules of his native language

descriptive grammar

objective description of a speaker's knowledge of a language based on their use of the language

evidence that writing and language are not the same

a. archaeological evidence (6000 years ago)

b. writing doesn't exist everywhere

c. writing must be taught

d. neurological evidence (areas of brain)

e. writing can be edited

reasons some people believe writing to be superior to speech

a. writing can be edited

b. writing must be taught

c. writing is more physically stable

prescriptive grammar

a set of rules designed to give instructions regarding the socially embedded notion of the "correct" or "proper" way to speak or write

Charles Hockett's nine design features (necessary for a communication system to be considered a language)

1. mode of communication

2. semanticity

3. pragmatic function

4. interchangeability

5. cultural transmission

6. arbitrariness

7. discreteness

8. displacement

9. productivity

mode of communication

means through which a message is transmitted for any given communication system

semanticity

property of having signals that convey a meaning, shared by all communication systems

pragmatic function

the useful purpose of any given communication system

interchangeability

the property of a communication system by which all individuals have the ability to both transmit and review messages

cultural transmission

property of a communication system referring to the fact that at least some aspects of it are learned through interaction with other users of the system

arbitrariness

refers to the fact that word's meaning is not predictable from its linguistic form, nor is its form dictated by its meaning

nonarbitrariness

direct correspondence between the physical properties of a form and the meaning that the form refers to

iconic

describes a relationship between form and meaning such that the form of a word bears a resemblance to its meaning

evidence for arbitrariness

1. unrelated synonyms (peach pit and stone)

2. cross linguistic evidence (hand and mano)

3. different names for similar inventions (Mustang and Corvette)

onomatopoeia

iconic use of words that are imitative of sound occurring in nature or that have meanings that are associated with such sounds

sound symbolism

phenomenon by which certain sounds are evocative of a certain meaning ([i] implies smallness at times)

nonarbitrary aspects of language

1. onomatopoeia

2. sound symbolism

discreteness

the property of communication systems by which complex messages may be built up out of smaller parts

displacement

the property of some communication systems that allows them to be used to communicate about things, actions, and ideas that are not present at the place or time of communication

productivity

the capacity of a communication system (unique to human language) for novel messages built out of discrete units to be produced and understood

productive rules

rules that can be applied in novel situations to produce novel grammatical forms

formal language

a communication system that has both semantic and syntactic rules and that encodes ideas with symbols that represent particular meanings, but that could never be the native language of a human (logical notation and most computer languages)

natural language

a language that has evolved naturally in a speech community; as opposed to constructed language

constructed language

a language that has been designed by an individual or group for some particular use (Elvish, Esperanto, modern Hebrew)

modality

mode of communication

auditory-vocal language

(aural-oral language; spoken language) language with a spoken modality

visual-gestural language

seen with eyes and communicate with signed language(produces with gestures).

myths about signed languages

1. Signed languages are codes for local spoken languages (derived from those spoken languages)

2. Sign languages are pantomime

a. They don't have internal structure

b. They are completely iconic

3. Signed languages are universally the same

code

a way of representing a language by replacing units of the language with different symbols, yet preserving the structure of the original language

tactile-gestural modality

a secondary modality of signed languages, used when being interpreted (received) by a deaf-blind individual

differences between codes and languages

1. a code is artificially constructed

2. a code represents another language

3. a code borrows its structure from a language

4. a code never has a native speaker

5. a language generally transmits information more quickly and efficiently