Exam Preparation Questions

Vocabulary flashcards based on exam preparation questions.

Divine source

A divine source provided humans with language.

Natural sound

You acquire language between the sound and the thing making the sound.

Social interaction

When people started communicating, it was for survival.

Physical adaption

We are more likely to produce speech because of our physical features.

Tool-making

Our primal functions like biting and sucking have developed into speech.

Genetic

There might be some language gene which gives us the capacity to produce language.

Reflexivity

A special property of language that allows language to be used to think and talk about language itself.

Displacement

A property of human language that allows users to talk about things and events not present in the immediate environment like time and place.

Arbitrariness

A property of language describing the fact that there is no natural connection between a linguistic form and its meaning.

Productivity

A property of language that allows users to create new expressions including the ability to create new words and to combine words.

Duality

A property of language whereby linguistic forms have two simultaneous levels of sound production and meaning.

Cultural transmission

The process whereby knowledge of a language is passed from one generation to the next.

Coinage

Inventing a new word completely.

Borrowing

Taking over words from other languages.

Compounding

Combining two words together into a new one.

Blending

Take one part of a word and a part of another word to create one new word.

Clipping

When a word of more of one syllable is reduced to a shorter form.

Backformation

You take a noun and then change the spelling to form a word of another type, which is usually a verb.

Conversion

Changing the function of a word

Acronyms

New words formed from the initial letters of a set of other words.

Derivation

Forming new words using affixes.

Agent

The entity that performs the action.

Theme

The entity that is affected by the agent.

Instrument

Indicators are by and with.

Experiencer

The entity the action is being done to.

Location

Where an entity is.

Source

Motion from somewhere.

Goal

Motion to somewhere.

Synonymy

Using a word that means the same.

Antonymy

Something that means the opposite of a word.

Hyponymy

When you describe a word by using other words in that category.

Homonymy

Words that have the same spelling but an entirely different meaning.

Polysemy

Words that are used in kind of the same situation.

Metonymy

Using a word instead of another word to refer to something that has a close meaning.

Broca's aphasia

The person suffering from this knows what it going on and what they want to say, but have trouble expressing themselves. They are not able to make whole sentences.

Wernicke's aphasia

People suffering from this are fluent in speech, but have problems with the input. Their speech doesn't make sense.

Anomia

People suffering from anomia can't come up with certain words sometimes. They can either describe the word, or there is a pause and they come up with the word eventually.

Conduction aphasia

This is a combination of the abovementioned problems.

Tip of the tongue phenomenon

We feel that a word is eluding us. We know the word, but it won't come to the surface.

Slip of the tongue

When you say something that either resembles the word you want to say or mixes up a couple of words.

Slip of the ear

You hear something else than what is being said.

Cooing

A stage of acquisition in which children become capable of producing the first speech-like sounds.

Babbling

A stage of acquisition in which children produce a number of different vowels and consonants, as well as combinations of vowels and consonants.

One-word stage

A stage of acquisition in which children begin to produce a variety of recognizable single unit utterances.

Telegraphic speech

A stage of acquisition in which children begin producing a large number of utterances that could be classified as multiple word speech.

Two-word stage

A stage of acquisition when children begin to combine single words into short phrases.

Overgeneralization

Applying a grammatical rule incorrectly because you want to get it right.

Overextension

Extending the meaning of one word and using it for everything related.

Audio lingual

Influenced by the belief that fluency was a set of habits that can be developed with a lot of practice. This method is mostly based on repetition of oral drills.

Grammar-translation

Vocabulary lists and sets of grammar rules are used to define the target of learning. Memorization if encouraged, and the focus is on written language.

Communicative

The functions of language should be emphasised rather than the form.

Positive transfer

The use of a feature from the first language that is similar to the second language while performing in the second language.

Negative transfer

The use of a feature from the first language that is completely different from the second language while performing in the second language.

Integrative motivation

The desire to learn a second language in order to take part in the social life of the community of its users.

Instrumental motivation

The desire to learn a second language, not to join the community but to achieve some kind of goal.

Communicative competence

The general ability to use language accurately, appropriately and flexibly.

Grammatical competence

The ability to use words and structures accurately as part of communicative competence.

Sociolinguistic competence

The ability to use language appropriately according to social context as part of communicative competence.

Strategic competence

The ability to use language to organize effective messages and to overcome potential communication problems as part of communication competence.

Sound loss

Pronunciation of a sound is lost, but the spelling stays the same.

Metathesis

The reversal in position of two sounds in a word.

Epenthesis

The addition of a sound in the middle of a word.

Semantic broadening

The broadening of the meaning of certain words.

Semantic narrowing

The narrowing of the meaning of certain words.

Standard language

Is a language that has no specific region and is the idealized language in a country.

Dialect

the form of a standard language with regional differences in pronunciation and grammatical aspects.

Accent

Aspects of pronunciation that are different from the standard language

Isogloss

he line on a map separating areas that have a different features

Dialect boundary

Multiple isoglosses together

Bilingual

People are able to speak two languages fluently

Bidialectal

People are people who can speak two varieties of one language fluently

Diglossia

Two different languages are used in a country, but one is more prestige

Pidgin

A language that is used for trading purposes.

Creole

A pidgin that is evolved to a place where it is a ‘real’ language and is treated as the first language of a country

Social dialect

Social class is mainly used to define groups of speakers as having something in common

Regional dialect

A difference from the standard language in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary based on where people are

Social variables

The influence a people’s social factor like age or religion has on their speech

Linguistic variables

Variables based on things like pronunciation

Idiolect

Personal dialect that no one else but you speaks

Social marker

How often you use a specific feature will mark you as a member of a specific group

Overt prestige

When you try to sound like a higher class than you belong to

Covert prestige

When you try to sound like your own or a lower class

Convergence

The adoption of speech that attempts to reduce social distance.

Divergence

When you try to make this social distance bigger

Register

A conventional way of using language that is appropriate in a specific context.

Jargon

Special technical vocabulary based on specific areas of work or interest

Slang

Typically used among lower-status groups.

Taboo

Words that are typically replaced with other words because they aren’t socially acceptable to say in specific groups of people

Linguistic relativity

Argues that our language has an influence on how we look at the world. We are likely to think in the categories our language provide us

Linguistic determinism

Says that language doesn’t only influences but determines the way we think

Lexicalized

When a concept is explainable in one word

Non-lexicalized

If this is not the case, and needs multiple words to describe the concept

Natural gender

The distinction in sex between a male and a female

Grammatical gender

The distinction between masculine and feminine words, which is used to classify nouns in language that have masculine and feminine articles

Social gender

How we address someone based on their social role

Kinship terms

Terms that are used to describe certain members of your family, like brother

Social categories

Categories of social organization that we use to say how we are connected to others