LING FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
Concept - Correct Answers -(Meaning)
Sound (speech sounds) - Correct Answers -(Form)
Arbitrary - Correct Answers -If you do not know the language, you will not understand
the meaning of a word based on the sound because... the relationship between speech
sounds and the meanings they represent in the languages of the world is (for the most
part) ARBITRARY
Mimetic - Correct Answers -similar to miming
Iconic - Correct Answers -with a NONARBITRARY relationship between form and
meaning
Conventional - Correct Answers -Signs that may have originally been mimetic/iconic
change historically as do words, and the iconicity is lost (therefore becoming
CONVENTIONAL).
Sound symbolism - Correct Answers -found in words whose pronunciation suggests the
meaning. Ex. the word "hiss" (these words have ICONICITY)
Onomatopoeic - Correct Answers -the sounds of the words supposedly imitate the
sounds of nature/animals etc. The sounds still differ from one language to another. For
ex. cockadoodledoo (rooster's crow) in English and kukuriku in Russian.
Linguistic Competence vs. Performance - Correct Answers -"Competence": what we
know
"Performance": what we actually say
Descriptive Grammar - Correct Answers -A set of rules about a language based on how
it is actually used. Doesn't tell you how you should speak (right/wrong), but describes
your basic linguistic knowledge.
Prescriptive Grammar - Correct Answers -A set of rules based on how people think
language should be used. Grammar "purists" believe that language change is corruption
and there is a correct way everyone should speak.
Grammatical - Correct Answers -sentence conforms to the rules of both grammars
Ungrammatical - Correct Answers -deviates from the rules
, Dialect - Correct Answers -A variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular
group of the language's speakers.
Prestige Dialect - Correct Answers -The dialect that is considered most prestigious by
the members of that speech community. Often spoken by the most prestigious
members of that community (people who have political, economic, or social power).
Prescriptivism - Correct Answers -The view that one language or one form of a
language is better than another.
Standard Dialect - Correct Answers -A language variety used by a group of people in
their public discourse.
Teaching Grammar - Correct Answers -Different from a descriptive grammar (which
attempts to describe everything speakers know about their language). A teaching
grammar is used to learn another language or dialect. Used in school to fulfill language
requirements.
Gloss - Correct Answers -The meaning of a word being learned is given by providing a
gloss - the parallel word in someone's native language. (Ex. dog and chien)
Reference Grammar - Correct Answers -Written to help people find out the grammatical
facts of a language. Must be as comprehensive as possible
Universal Grammar - Correct Answers -The "laws" that pertain to all languages,
representing the universal properties of language. It is also a theory proposing that the
ability to learn grammar is hard-wired into the brain.
Language universals - Correct Answers -- Grammatical categories
- Features
- Subject comes before the object in 99% of languages
- Similar phonetic categories (CV)
- Nasal consonants in 97% of languages
- Word formation rules are similar
Less obvious language universals - Correct Answers -- Arbitrariness: no connection
between form and meaning (except onomatopoeia).
For example...
- Spanish: Kikiriki, English: cock-‐a-‐doodle-‐doo
- German: pack-‐pack Danish:rap-‐rap (duck)
- Conventionality: all speakers implicitly agree on forms to use.
- Productivity: constant creation of new sentences
- Linearity: one sign after the other
- Discreteness: not a continuum, we understand [p] or [b], nothing in between.
ANSWERS
Concept - Correct Answers -(Meaning)
Sound (speech sounds) - Correct Answers -(Form)
Arbitrary - Correct Answers -If you do not know the language, you will not understand
the meaning of a word based on the sound because... the relationship between speech
sounds and the meanings they represent in the languages of the world is (for the most
part) ARBITRARY
Mimetic - Correct Answers -similar to miming
Iconic - Correct Answers -with a NONARBITRARY relationship between form and
meaning
Conventional - Correct Answers -Signs that may have originally been mimetic/iconic
change historically as do words, and the iconicity is lost (therefore becoming
CONVENTIONAL).
Sound symbolism - Correct Answers -found in words whose pronunciation suggests the
meaning. Ex. the word "hiss" (these words have ICONICITY)
Onomatopoeic - Correct Answers -the sounds of the words supposedly imitate the
sounds of nature/animals etc. The sounds still differ from one language to another. For
ex. cockadoodledoo (rooster's crow) in English and kukuriku in Russian.
Linguistic Competence vs. Performance - Correct Answers -"Competence": what we
know
"Performance": what we actually say
Descriptive Grammar - Correct Answers -A set of rules about a language based on how
it is actually used. Doesn't tell you how you should speak (right/wrong), but describes
your basic linguistic knowledge.
Prescriptive Grammar - Correct Answers -A set of rules based on how people think
language should be used. Grammar "purists" believe that language change is corruption
and there is a correct way everyone should speak.
Grammatical - Correct Answers -sentence conforms to the rules of both grammars
Ungrammatical - Correct Answers -deviates from the rules
, Dialect - Correct Answers -A variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular
group of the language's speakers.
Prestige Dialect - Correct Answers -The dialect that is considered most prestigious by
the members of that speech community. Often spoken by the most prestigious
members of that community (people who have political, economic, or social power).
Prescriptivism - Correct Answers -The view that one language or one form of a
language is better than another.
Standard Dialect - Correct Answers -A language variety used by a group of people in
their public discourse.
Teaching Grammar - Correct Answers -Different from a descriptive grammar (which
attempts to describe everything speakers know about their language). A teaching
grammar is used to learn another language or dialect. Used in school to fulfill language
requirements.
Gloss - Correct Answers -The meaning of a word being learned is given by providing a
gloss - the parallel word in someone's native language. (Ex. dog and chien)
Reference Grammar - Correct Answers -Written to help people find out the grammatical
facts of a language. Must be as comprehensive as possible
Universal Grammar - Correct Answers -The "laws" that pertain to all languages,
representing the universal properties of language. It is also a theory proposing that the
ability to learn grammar is hard-wired into the brain.
Language universals - Correct Answers -- Grammatical categories
- Features
- Subject comes before the object in 99% of languages
- Similar phonetic categories (CV)
- Nasal consonants in 97% of languages
- Word formation rules are similar
Less obvious language universals - Correct Answers -- Arbitrariness: no connection
between form and meaning (except onomatopoeia).
For example...
- Spanish: Kikiriki, English: cock-‐a-‐doodle-‐doo
- German: pack-‐pack Danish:rap-‐rap (duck)
- Conventionality: all speakers implicitly agree on forms to use.
- Productivity: constant creation of new sentences
- Linearity: one sign after the other
- Discreteness: not a continuum, we understand [p] or [b], nothing in between.
