Linguistics Exam 3 Shortened

Lame ah dood

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Strong

linguistics determinism, language actually determines thought, so speakers of a language can only think of things in the way that their language expresses them

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Weak

linguistic relativity, language influences how we perceive the world and how we think

Input

the examples of language that are used in the presence of the child and with the child

Child-directed speech

a specific style of speech used when interacting with infants and younger children

Explicit instruction

theory of acquisition

• all children acquire language regardless of being taught exactly, more a matter of input in general

Imitation

theory of acquisition

• children learn through replicating what they hear

Analogy

theory of acquisition

• children learn by comparing similar forms, recognizing patterns, and then extending the ____ analysis… not always true… we do not get certain ungrammatical forms based in over-generalizations

Correction/reinforcement

theory of acquisition

• the right produced forms are praised and generally receive positive feedback, and wrong forms are not garnered the same attention. So, children learn to the forms that receive positive feedback

Social interaction theory

theory of acquisition

• interactions with caregivers provides structure that children can rely on while their abilities are limited… this is not necessary though

Active construction of grammar

theory of acquisition

• children go through stages of acquisition

• Babbling

• One-word stage (holophrastic)

• Two-word stage

• Multi-word constructions (telegraphic speech)

• Questions and negation

What is the order of acquisition?

Synchronic linguistics

the study of language during one period of time

Diachronic linguistics

the study of language as it changes overtime

The comparative method

looking at a large number of forms to show that there are systematic correspondences between them, in order to determine that similarities are due to some historical change

• majority principle

• most natural development principle

Majority Principle

if a majority of forms have the same segment, that segment is more likely to represent the original sound

Most Natural Development Principle

certain types of sound changes are very common, while changes in the opposite direction are unlikely

1. Final vowels often disappear (vino → vin)

2. Voiceless sounds tend to become voiced in voiced environments, especially between vowels (muta → muda)

3. Stops tend to become fricatives, especially between vowels (ripa → riba → riva)

4. Consonants tend to become voiceless at the end of words (rizu → riz → ris)

Cognate

words from different languages that have similar forms and meanings because they descend from some common ancestor

Proto-language

the common ancestor among a group of related languages

Proto-Indo-European

the common ancestor of all European languages

Sociolinguistics

the study of the relationship between language and society

Language variety

a term that refers to any form of language that can be described in terms of its systematic features and social/geographic distribution

Dialect

term for a language variety that is characteristic of a specific geographical area

Accent

a difference in pronunciation

• we all have one

Sociolect

language that is specific to a social group

Idiolect

language that is specific to an individual

• everyone has their own

Isogloss

the boundaries that divide regional dialects on a map

• these would be different depending on the speaker

Dialect Continuum

the idea that language varieties are not discrete, but instead form a continuum

Social variable

the independent variable or the predictor

linguistics variable

the dependent variable (or the response variable), which changes in response to the independent variable

Standard language

an idealized variety of a language that is not typically associated with a particular region

Overt prestige

forms that are marked as standard or “better” by the majority of speakers

Covert prestige

forms that are marked as non-standard or as “vernacular speech” (ordinary speech) by the majority of speakers

Style

a way of speaking that is appropriate for a particular context (careful/casual)… not necessarily representative of someone’s social identity

Style shifting

changing ones style according to the context

Pidgin language

a form of language that is very casual, usually born out of necessity for the purposes of work, trade, or colonization

• not as developed, no unique grammatical features

Creole language

a more developed language that is complex in that it has its own grammar and vocabulary, and it may become the native language of some of its users

• potential to develop into a full language

Old Norse and Norman French

History of English:

Which two languages were in close contact with English for a long period of time, resulting in the borrowing of many words and other changes

Which parts of the English vocabulary were most affected by French borrowings?

• Law and Government – e.g., court, judge, jury, parliament

• Military – e.g., army, soldier, battle, siege

• Cuisine – e.g., beef, pork, cuisine, restaurant

• Fashion and Art – e.g., dress, beauty, color, genre

• Social and Aristocratic Life – e.g., noble, servant, royalty, estate

• Abstract and Intellectual Concepts – e.g., justice, liberty, peace, reason

French was seen as the language nobles

Which parts of the English vocabulary were least affected by French borrowings?

• Basic vocabulary – e.g., body parts (head, hand), family terms (mother, father), natural elements (sun, rain)

• Core verbs – e.g., go, come, eat, see, make

• Numbers – especially low numbers like one to ten

• Pronouns – e.g., I, you, he, she

• Prepositions and conjunctions – e.g., in, on, and, but

• Native animals and rural life – e.g., cow, sheep, plow, field

English was the language of the peasants

What is the Great Vowel Shift?

chain shift

Danish
English
German
Swedish

Germanic

Breton

Gaelic

Irish

Welsh

Celtic

French

Italian

Portuguese

Spanish

Italic (Latin)

Greek

Hellenic