UCLA LING 1 FINAL EXAM COMPREHENSIVE
INTRODUCTORY LINGUISTICS STUDY GUIDE
2026
◉ language as a tool.
Answer: language is a tool to communicate -- take feeling or thought
and express it / understand others
◉ language as knowledge.
Answer: you have a finite set of building blocks and rules that can be
used and exported infinitely
◉ expletive infixation.
Answer: tala-fu*kin-hasse
◉ phoenetics.
Answer: sounds in language
◉ phenology.
Answer: how sounds combine in language
◉ morphology.
,Answer: knowlege of word structure
◉ lexicon.
Answer: mental dictionary
◉ semantics.
Answer: knowing meaning of individual words
◉ linguistic competence.
Answer: what you know in your mind; what you can do; systematic
knowledge of the building blocks
◉ We know that the relation between the sound of a word and its
meaning is arbitrary because:
Different languages have different words that refer to the same
objects/concepts.
All languages have similar words that refer to some of the same
objects/concepts.
Onomatopoeic words are similar across languages.
Children acquire the language of their environment effortlessly.
Onomatopoeic words are in fact different across languages..
,Answer: Different languages have different words that refer to the
same objects/concepts.
◉ all language has __________ and _________ in common.
Answer: arbitrariness: the relationship between word and meaning
is arbitrary across languages
creativity: people use finite set of building blocks of language enable
people to create and understand an infinite set of novel sentences
◉ grammar development.
Answer: - children acquire language due to development AND
spontaneity
- children exhibit linguistic creativity
- children pass thru similar stages of language development
◉ grammar development stages
5 stages --> full language.
Answer: babbling
patterend babbling
single word utterances
2 word utterances
over generalizations
, full language by age 5
◉ universal grammar.
Answer: Noam Chomsky's theory that all the world's languages
share a similar underlying structure / are built from the same set of
principals
◉ 2 kinds of grammar.
Answer: descriptive and prescriptive
◉ descriptive grammar.
Answer: linguist's description or model of the mental grammar,
including the units, structures, and rules
ex. rules for grammar used by teachers
◉ descriptive grammar.
Answer: what people actually say
ex. dangling prepositions -- "where's the party at"
◉ 7 features of a standard language / prestige dialect.
INTRODUCTORY LINGUISTICS STUDY GUIDE
2026
◉ language as a tool.
Answer: language is a tool to communicate -- take feeling or thought
and express it / understand others
◉ language as knowledge.
Answer: you have a finite set of building blocks and rules that can be
used and exported infinitely
◉ expletive infixation.
Answer: tala-fu*kin-hasse
◉ phoenetics.
Answer: sounds in language
◉ phenology.
Answer: how sounds combine in language
◉ morphology.
,Answer: knowlege of word structure
◉ lexicon.
Answer: mental dictionary
◉ semantics.
Answer: knowing meaning of individual words
◉ linguistic competence.
Answer: what you know in your mind; what you can do; systematic
knowledge of the building blocks
◉ We know that the relation between the sound of a word and its
meaning is arbitrary because:
Different languages have different words that refer to the same
objects/concepts.
All languages have similar words that refer to some of the same
objects/concepts.
Onomatopoeic words are similar across languages.
Children acquire the language of their environment effortlessly.
Onomatopoeic words are in fact different across languages..
,Answer: Different languages have different words that refer to the
same objects/concepts.
◉ all language has __________ and _________ in common.
Answer: arbitrariness: the relationship between word and meaning
is arbitrary across languages
creativity: people use finite set of building blocks of language enable
people to create and understand an infinite set of novel sentences
◉ grammar development.
Answer: - children acquire language due to development AND
spontaneity
- children exhibit linguistic creativity
- children pass thru similar stages of language development
◉ grammar development stages
5 stages --> full language.
Answer: babbling
patterend babbling
single word utterances
2 word utterances
over generalizations
, full language by age 5
◉ universal grammar.
Answer: Noam Chomsky's theory that all the world's languages
share a similar underlying structure / are built from the same set of
principals
◉ 2 kinds of grammar.
Answer: descriptive and prescriptive
◉ descriptive grammar.
Answer: linguist's description or model of the mental grammar,
including the units, structures, and rules
ex. rules for grammar used by teachers
◉ descriptive grammar.
Answer: what people actually say
ex. dangling prepositions -- "where's the party at"
◉ 7 features of a standard language / prestige dialect.
