Language Lecture 9 Overview Quiz

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Questions and Answers

What is the definition of psycholinguistics?

The study of language sounds and their articulation.

The study of language as it is used and learned by people. (correct)

The study of language syntax and grammar.

The study of language acquisition in children.

According to Hockett (1960), how many linguistic universals did he propose?

13 (correct)

What does semanticity refer to in the context of linguistic universals?

The naming process in language.

The flexibility of symbols in language.

The structure of language sounds.

Language conveys meaning. (correct)

What is arbitrariness in the context of linguistic universals?

There is no inherent connection between language units and their meanings. Signup and view all the answers

What does flexibility of symbols refer to in the context of linguistic universals?

$The connection between symbols and meaning in language is arbitrary.$ Signup and view all the answers

What does naming imply in the context of linguistic universals?

We assign names to everything in our environment, including feelings and thoughts. Signup and view all the answers

What is the definition of linguistics?

The academic discipline that studies language. Signup and view all the answers

According to Webster’s definition, what does 'language' refer to?

A shared, symbolic system for communication. Signup and view all the answers

What does psycholinguistics study?

The cognitive processes involved in language use and learning. Signup and view all the answers

What is meant by lexical and semantic factors?

The meaning conveyed by words in a language. Signup and view all the answers

Which type of aphasia is associated with word repetition impairment?

Conduction aphasia Signup and view all the answers

Which area of the brain is associated with speech comprehension?

Wernicke's Area Signup and view all the answers

What does anomia refer to?

Impairment in retrieving and naming concepts Signup and view all the answers

Which type of aphasia is associated with disruption in reading?

Alexia Signup and view all the answers

What does pure word deafness refer to?

Inability to understand spoken language Signup and view all the answers

What type of disorder is characterized by a lack of or bad language due to brain disruption?

Aphasia Signup and view all the answers

What does semantic parsing focus on in sentence processing?

The semantic roles played by content words Signup and view all the answers

What do garden path sentences demonstrate?

The challenges posed by ambiguous or misleading sentence structures Signup and view all the answers

According to evidence for Semantic Grammar Approaches, what do listeners begin to analyze immediately when processing sentences?

The semantic roles played by content words Signup and view all the answers

What are the three basic forms of Aphasia?

Broca's, Wernicke's, and Conduction Aphasia Signup and view all the answers

Which level of language analysis involves determining the semantic roles of words and computing meaning based on those roles?

Semantics Signup and view all the answers

What does Chomsky's Transformational Grammar aim to describe?

Universal aspects of syntactic knowledge Signup and view all the answers

What is the main focus of Whorf's Hypothesis?

The relationship between language and thought Signup and view all the answers

What aspect of language involves the ability to talk about things other than the present moment?

Displacement Signup and view all the answers

Which level of language analysis involves the arrangement of words to show their relationships in a sentence?

Syntax Signup and view all the answers

What does Case Grammar involve?

Determining the semantic roles of words and computing meaning based on those roles Signup and view all the answers

What is Chomsky's argument regarding Competence vs. Performance?

Competence is a purer basis for understanding linguistic knowledge Signup and view all the answers

What are Dysfluencies in the context of language?

Irregularities in speech and people's intuitions about acceptability of sentences Signup and view all the answers

What concept allows a small number of units to generate an infinite number of words in language?

Productivity (generativity) Signup and view all the answers

What does Morphology primarily involve?

The smallest units of meaning in a language Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

o Language involves both Displacement and Productivity: Displacement refers to the ability to talk about things other than the present moment, and Productivity (generativity) is the inherent novelty of language as we generate new sentences. o Five Levels of Language Analysis: Phonology, Syntax, Semantics, Morphology, and Conceptual Belief. o Phonology: The sounds of language and the rules for combining them. English has about 46 phonemes; sounds are influenced by place, manner, and voicing. Categorical perception allows us to perceive the same sounds as belonging to the same category. o Syntax: Arrangement of words to show their relationship in a sentence. Syntactic Grammar describes how words are sequenced to form meaningful sentences. Chomsky's Transformational Grammar aims to describe the universal aspects of syntactic knowledge. o Semantics and Morphology: Retrieving word meaning from memory and relating words to one another. Morphemes, the smallest units of meaning, can be free or bound. Case Grammar involves determining the semantic roles of words and computing meaning based on those roles. o Conceptual Belief (Competence vs. Performance): The internalized knowledge of language rules versus actual language behavior. Chomsky argues that competence is a purer basis for understanding linguistic knowledge. o Dysfluencies and Linguistic Intuitions: Irregularities in speech and people's intuitions about the acceptability of sentences. o Whorf's Hypothesis: The idea that language shapes thought; raises questions about the relationship between language and thought and the ability to think about ideas that are not named in our language. o Chomsky (1957): Argues that the study of linguistic competence is more essential than performance. o Phonology: + Sounds of language + Rule system for combining them + English has about 46 phonemes + Uses place, manner, and voicing to influence the range of phonemes + Categorical perception allows us to perceive the same sounds as belonging to the same category + Productivity allows a small number of units to generate an infinite number of words + Speech perception involves the problem of invariance, as sounds are not invariant o Syntax: + Arrangement of words to show their relationships + Syntactic Grammar describes how words are sequenced to form meaningful sentences + Universal aspects described by Chomsky's Transformational Grammar + Constituents of the sentence and the relationships among them + Ambiguous sentences can have multiple deep structures + Transformational rules convert deep structures into surface structures + Limitation: Makes meaning a secondary factor to the syntactic component o Semantics and Morphology: + Retrieving word meaning from memory + Generates meaning based on the relationships between words + Morphemes: smallest units of meaning - Free morphemes can stand alone - Bound morphemes contribute to word meaning but are not words themselves + Case Grammar involves determining the semantic roles of words and computing meaning based on those roles + Deep structure involves the relationships among the various constituents of the sentence o Competence vs. Performance: + Internalized knowledge of language rules + Actual language behavior + Chomsky argues that competence is a purer basis for understanding linguistic knowledge o Dysfluencies and Linguistic Intuitions: + Irregularities or errors in otherwise fluent speech + Chomsky’s approach to studying language- involves asking people to judge whether a sentence is “acceptable” o Whorf's Hypothesis: + Language shapes the way we think about the events in the world around us + Raises questions about the relationship between language and thought + Can we think about ideas that our language doesn’t name?

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Description

Test your understanding of the major topics covered in Chapter 9, including linguistic universals, phonology, syntax, lexical and semantic factors, and the relationship between brain and language. Also assess your knowledge of introductory definitions in linguistics and psycholinguistics.