Visual, auditory, & tactile symbols of communication.
What are call systems?
Sounds used by other primates which are limited in their combination and range.
Stages of Verbal Acquisition
From 2-5 months, babies ____ (make vowel-like sounds).
coo
From 5-12 months, babies _____ (make syllable-like consonant-vowel sounds)
babble
When do infants begin to comprehend some aspects of language and exhibit meaningful gestures?
Around 9-12 months.
When do children begin to form two-word utterances?
Around 2 years of age.
When do children's language begin to develop into simple sentences?
Around 2.5-3 years of age.
By what age have children acquired the majority of their native language(s)?
By age 5.
What is the cut-off age for bilinguals to have native proficiency?
By age 6 or 7.
Ferdinand de Sausurre
Language results from the arbitrary association between _____ and _____.
words; meaning
________ = word, while ______ = meaning of the word
signifier; signified
The external manifestation (speech) of an individual is known as _____.
parole
Chomsky's Universal Grammar
The idea that all languages have a common structural basis is known as _______ ______.
universal grammar
What languages lend support to Chomsky's theory?
Creole
Creole languages develop from _________ languages, which develop as a means of communication between groups that do not have a language in common.
pidgin
What 3 things does the development of pidgin languages require?
Long-term contact between speakers of different languages.
A reason to communicate between these speakers.
Lack of proficiency in a common language.
Creole Languages
Where have creole languages historically developed?
In places where slaves were forced to abandon their languages for their masters' languages.
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
What does the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis say?
That the grammar of each particular language leads speaker of different languages to understand the world differently.
Some evidence of this would include ____ dividing time into past, present and future, while _____ divided time into events that exist (past+present) and those that don't or don't yet exist (future + imaginary events)
English; Hopi
Non-Verbal Communication
What are the 5 functions of nonverbal "body language"?
Express emotions
Express interpersonal attitudes
Accompany speech managing cues for interaction between speakers
Presentation and personality
Rituals (greetings)
Gender and Non-Verbal Communication in US (Tannen)
Women tend to... (2 things)
Look directly at each other when speaking
Draw limbs in towards themselves with men
Men/boys tend to ...(2 things)
not look directly at the person they are speaking with
sprawl out in conversational groups
Gender, Games, and Communication (Wood)
While ____ games involve teamwork, rules and roles, and winning, ____ games involve small groups, no clear-cut rules, and a process of communication
boys; girls
Gender & Verbal Communication in US
Women engage in _____ talk, or "private speaking, while men engage in ______ talk, or "public speaking"
rapport; report
Phonology
What is phonology?
The study of speech sounds
Define phoneme.
Differences in sound that make different meanings.
Phonemes, from language to language, range from ___-___, with an average of ____-____.
15-60; 30-40
How many phonemes does Standard English have?
35.
Morphology
Define morphology.
The study of how sounds combine to form words.
Words and their meaningful parts are known as ______.
morphemes
A language's vocabulary of all words is it's ______.
lexicon
____ is the arrangement and order of words in phrases and sentences.
Syntax
Sociolinguistics
Define sociolinguistics.
How language is used by the speakers of the language, or the performance of the language.
Black English Vernacular (BEV)
True/False: Many of the features of BEV that distinguish it from Standard English are also common in southern US white speech. If false, why?
True.
The absence of SE forms of the verb "to be" are known as ______ _____.
copula deletion
Historical Linguistics
Define linguistics.
The study of languages, formation, meaning and use.
The language from which later languages derived is known as _____ language, while languages that derive from that language are known as _______ language.
