language and culture exam slideshow 2

prescriptivism

approaches to language that set out rules for what is regarded as "good" or "correct" usage

descriptivism

an evidence-based approach to language that describes, in an objective manner, how language is used

truth #1

All languages can express the full range of human expression. All languages are equal linguistically.

linguistic toolkit

• phonetics and phonology

• morphology and lexicon

• syntax

• semantics

• pragmatics

• pragmatics

What is a speech sound called in phonology?

Phoneme

What does phonology encompass in a language?

A set of rules about how phonemes can be used.

What are some rules included in phonology?

Phoneme position, combination, and pronunciation changes under certain conditions.

morphology

Smallest meaningful unit of language. they include words and affixes

examples of morphemes words

book, motivate, cool, child

exmaples of morphemes affixes

-s, -ed, un-, -ish

lexicons

Lexicons of different languages differ in what they contain or do not contain

syntax = grammar

The rules for the ordering of words into clauses/sentances

semantics

the way that meaning works in a language

what does sematics include

the lexical level and the sentence level

polysemy

the different means of the same word

synonym

a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language

antonym

a word opposite in meaning to another

pragmatics

The role/rules of social context that shape meaning in cases of language use

truth #2

all languages change over time

language standardization

prescriptiveness efforts to enforce rules about language use (to stop change and eliminate variation)

truth #3

Variation is intrinsic to language. This is why/how we have dialects.

communicative competence

How to use language appropriately under different circumstances