UCLA LING 1 FINAL EXAM (Weeks 1-10) – Qs And As
Why is there an arbitrary relation between form (sounds) and meaning
(concepts) Correct Ans - - different sounds in different languages can
represent the same meaning (ex. house vs casa)
- same sounds in different languages can represent different meanings (taka
can mean hawk in japanese or money in bengali)
Sound symbolism Correct Ans - words whose pronunciation suggests
their meaning
What is onomatopoeia and why are they different in different languages
despite association with the same objects/actions Correct Ans - -a
word that imitates the sound it represents
- sounds differ from language to language to reflect the sound system of the
language (gobble gobble vs glu-glu in Turkey)
Creative aspect of language Correct Ans - being able to produce an
infinite number of sentences never spoken before and to understand
sentences never heard before
Grammar Correct Ans - - set of unconcious rules that are responsible
for our linguistic creativity
- allows us to recognize which sentences are acceptable vs unacceptable
Linguistic competence Correct Ans - our knowledge of words and
grammar (what we know)
Linguistic performance Correct Ans - how we use knowledge in actual
speech production and comprehension
Why does linguistic performance not reflect linguistic competence?
Correct Ans - we may stammer, pause, or produce slips of the tongue
unintentionally and are able to correct ourselves
Phonology Correct Ans - the rules for combining sounds to make
words
morphology Correct Ans - rules of word formation
,syntax Correct Ans - rules for combining words into sentences
semantics Correct Ans - rules for assigning meaning
lexicon Correct Ans - mental dictionary
descriptive grammar Correct Ans - type of grammar that is more
concerned with how language is ACTUALLY USED rather than the rules of
grammar that might be taught in school
prescriptive grammar Correct Ans - type of grammar that is more
concerned with how language SHOULD be used rather than what is actually
used
prestige dialect Correct Ans - variety of the language spoken by people
in positions of power
teaching grammar Correct Ans - a set of language rules written to help
speakers learn a foreign language or a different dialect of their language.
why are sign languages the best evidence for language universals Correct
Ans - - components of sign language are similar to spoken languages
- system of gestures = system of sounds
- slips of the hand = slips of the tongue
dialect Correct Ans - a variety of language whose grammar differs in
systematic ways from other varieties
- differences can be lexical, phonological, syntactic, and semantic
dialect continuum Correct Ans - - there is no sudden major break
between dialects
- dialects merge into one another
dialectal leveling Correct Ans - movement toward greater uniformity
and less variation among dialects
regional dialects Correct Ans - dialect that forms when various
linguistic difference accumulate in a geographic region
, accents Correct Ans - regional phonological or phonetic distinctions
example of phonological differences between dialects Correct Ans - -
british english vs american english
- chewsday vs tuesday
example of lexical differences between dialects Correct Ans - - soda vs
pop
- shades vs curtains
example of syntactic differences between dialects Correct Ans - "John
and Mary will eat" vs "John will eat and Mary"
dialect areas Correct Ans - concentrations defined by different word
usages and varying pronunciations
isogloss Correct Ans - a boundary that separates regions in which
different language usages predominate
social dialects Correct Ans - dialect differences that seem to come
about because of social factors
standard dialect Correct Ans - dominant or prestige dialect
- ex. SAE
arbitrariness of standard usage (aka why is there nothing inherently better or
worse about one pronunciation to another?) Correct Ans - r-less
pronunciation is more prestigious in British English vs r-drop is considered
substandard in American English
genderlects Correct Ans - different ways of talking for males and
females
- women tend to use more formal/polite forms more frequently than men
labov study Correct Ans - - sociolinguistic analysis in NYC that focused
on the rule of r-dropping and its use by upper, middle, and lower class
speakers
Why is there an arbitrary relation between form (sounds) and meaning
(concepts) Correct Ans - - different sounds in different languages can
represent the same meaning (ex. house vs casa)
- same sounds in different languages can represent different meanings (taka
can mean hawk in japanese or money in bengali)
Sound symbolism Correct Ans - words whose pronunciation suggests
their meaning
What is onomatopoeia and why are they different in different languages
despite association with the same objects/actions Correct Ans - -a
word that imitates the sound it represents
- sounds differ from language to language to reflect the sound system of the
language (gobble gobble vs glu-glu in Turkey)
Creative aspect of language Correct Ans - being able to produce an
infinite number of sentences never spoken before and to understand
sentences never heard before
Grammar Correct Ans - - set of unconcious rules that are responsible
for our linguistic creativity
- allows us to recognize which sentences are acceptable vs unacceptable
Linguistic competence Correct Ans - our knowledge of words and
grammar (what we know)
Linguistic performance Correct Ans - how we use knowledge in actual
speech production and comprehension
Why does linguistic performance not reflect linguistic competence?
Correct Ans - we may stammer, pause, or produce slips of the tongue
unintentionally and are able to correct ourselves
Phonology Correct Ans - the rules for combining sounds to make
words
morphology Correct Ans - rules of word formation
,syntax Correct Ans - rules for combining words into sentences
semantics Correct Ans - rules for assigning meaning
lexicon Correct Ans - mental dictionary
descriptive grammar Correct Ans - type of grammar that is more
concerned with how language is ACTUALLY USED rather than the rules of
grammar that might be taught in school
prescriptive grammar Correct Ans - type of grammar that is more
concerned with how language SHOULD be used rather than what is actually
used
prestige dialect Correct Ans - variety of the language spoken by people
in positions of power
teaching grammar Correct Ans - a set of language rules written to help
speakers learn a foreign language or a different dialect of their language.
why are sign languages the best evidence for language universals Correct
Ans - - components of sign language are similar to spoken languages
- system of gestures = system of sounds
- slips of the hand = slips of the tongue
dialect Correct Ans - a variety of language whose grammar differs in
systematic ways from other varieties
- differences can be lexical, phonological, syntactic, and semantic
dialect continuum Correct Ans - - there is no sudden major break
between dialects
- dialects merge into one another
dialectal leveling Correct Ans - movement toward greater uniformity
and less variation among dialects
regional dialects Correct Ans - dialect that forms when various
linguistic difference accumulate in a geographic region
, accents Correct Ans - regional phonological or phonetic distinctions
example of phonological differences between dialects Correct Ans - -
british english vs american english
- chewsday vs tuesday
example of lexical differences between dialects Correct Ans - - soda vs
pop
- shades vs curtains
example of syntactic differences between dialects Correct Ans - "John
and Mary will eat" vs "John will eat and Mary"
dialect areas Correct Ans - concentrations defined by different word
usages and varying pronunciations
isogloss Correct Ans - a boundary that separates regions in which
different language usages predominate
social dialects Correct Ans - dialect differences that seem to come
about because of social factors
standard dialect Correct Ans - dominant or prestige dialect
- ex. SAE
arbitrariness of standard usage (aka why is there nothing inherently better or
worse about one pronunciation to another?) Correct Ans - r-less
pronunciation is more prestigious in British English vs r-drop is considered
substandard in American English
genderlects Correct Ans - different ways of talking for males and
females
- women tend to use more formal/polite forms more frequently than men
labov study Correct Ans - - sociolinguistic analysis in NYC that focused
on the rule of r-dropping and its use by upper, middle, and lower class
speakers
