UCLA Ling 1 Final Exam with Correct Solutions 2024
language as a TOOL - Answer -Speakers encode meanings into sounds,
Listeners decode speech sounds (or hand shapes) into meaning
language as a type of KNOWLEDGE - Answer -You have a finite set of building blocks and rules.
You know how to use them.
This is unconscious knowledge.
You understand the inventory of sounds in your language: Phonetics.
You understand the sound patterns in your language, what sequences are possible: Phonology.
lexicon - Answer -your mental dictionary,
you know words that are not in any written dictionary, and may never be
morphology - Answer -the "rules" that allow you construct words
syntax - Answer -How to build good PHRASES and SENTENCES
semantics - Answer -Meanings of words and how to use them
Education? - Answer -Being a fully competent native speaker of a language is independent of educational
level.
Being more (or less) educated does not make a person a "better" (or "worse") native speaker.
linguistic competence - Answer -What you know in your mind
What you can do
Systematic
linguistic performance - Answer -What actually comes out of your mouth
What you do do
Subject to physical limitations such as breath, fatigue, nerves, etc.
Slips of the Tongue are performance errors.
Features of Language - Answer -1. Arbitrariness: The relationship between a word and its meaning is
arbitrary. (This is why the sounds used to name the same object vary across languages.)
,2. Creativity: Speakers use a finite set of building blocks and rules to create and understand an infinite
set of novel sentences. (Sentences cannot simply be memorized or learned by imitation.)
Creativity is a universal property of human language.
Language Universals - Answer --All languages have ways of forming questions.
-All languages have means for negating an utterance.
-All languages have means for indicating when an action takes place.
-All languages possess a set of discrete sounds (or gestures).
-All languages permit displacement—the ability the talk about things other than the here and now.
-All languages exhibit stimulus-freedom, the ability to say anything at all—including nothing—in any
circumstances.
descriptive grammar - Answer -linguist's description or model of the mental grammar
What speaker's rules actually are
speaker's grammar
linguist's grammar
prescriptive grammar - Answer -rules of grammar (often based on Latin) used by teachers
What speaker's rules should be
lateralization - Answer -language is "lateralized" to the left hemisphere
Without access to the left cerebral hemisphere, normal language processing cannot occur.
Dichotic Listening Tests - Answer -Different sounds are played in both ears
Subject reports hearing only one
Sound from right ear is almost always reported
Conclusion: at least auditory processing of language seems to be in the left hemisphere
Split Brain Patients - Answer -In severe cases of epilepsy, the corpus callosum is sometimes severed
As a result, the two hemispheres can not share information
Linguistic responses are not possible if stimulus was presented to the right hemisphere (left visual field).
Wada Tests - Answer -One hemisphere of a patient's brain is temporarily put to sleep.
, Patient then asked to read words &/or numbers, identify objects, & respond to questions.
Result? An inability to produce language when left side is anesthetized.
aphasia - Answer -a disruption in language abilities (production and/or comprehension) due to brain
injury
Tan's Brain - Answer -Patient named Louis Victor Lebourgne, but nicknamed 'Tan'.
His utterances were limited to a single syllable, "tan", usually twice.
Couldn't produce language.
1861: Paul Broca examined Tan's Brain (post-mortem).
Came to the conclusion that the loss of language ability was linked to the local damage in "Broca's area".
Broca's aphasia - Answer -Speech is broken and halted (telegraphic speech)
Words make some sense, but the structure is incorrect
a.k.a. agrammatic aphasia
Comprehension in Broca's aphasics is mostly in tact, but there are problems with complex sentences
Lesions found in particular part of the LH
(frontal lobe)
Semantics (meaning): Okay
Syntax (structure): Not okay
Comprehension: Mostly OK
Writing: Few words, but they do make sense.
wernicke's aphasia - Answer -speech is fluent, but doesn't make much sense
•grammar usually not affected
•problem w/ word choice and meaning •Neologisms-newly created words •comprehension severely
impaired
•a.k.a. semantic aphasia
Semantics (meaning): NOT okay
• Syntax (structure): okay
language as a TOOL - Answer -Speakers encode meanings into sounds,
Listeners decode speech sounds (or hand shapes) into meaning
language as a type of KNOWLEDGE - Answer -You have a finite set of building blocks and rules.
You know how to use them.
This is unconscious knowledge.
You understand the inventory of sounds in your language: Phonetics.
You understand the sound patterns in your language, what sequences are possible: Phonology.
lexicon - Answer -your mental dictionary,
you know words that are not in any written dictionary, and may never be
morphology - Answer -the "rules" that allow you construct words
syntax - Answer -How to build good PHRASES and SENTENCES
semantics - Answer -Meanings of words and how to use them
Education? - Answer -Being a fully competent native speaker of a language is independent of educational
level.
Being more (or less) educated does not make a person a "better" (or "worse") native speaker.
linguistic competence - Answer -What you know in your mind
What you can do
Systematic
linguistic performance - Answer -What actually comes out of your mouth
What you do do
Subject to physical limitations such as breath, fatigue, nerves, etc.
Slips of the Tongue are performance errors.
Features of Language - Answer -1. Arbitrariness: The relationship between a word and its meaning is
arbitrary. (This is why the sounds used to name the same object vary across languages.)
,2. Creativity: Speakers use a finite set of building blocks and rules to create and understand an infinite
set of novel sentences. (Sentences cannot simply be memorized or learned by imitation.)
Creativity is a universal property of human language.
Language Universals - Answer --All languages have ways of forming questions.
-All languages have means for negating an utterance.
-All languages have means for indicating when an action takes place.
-All languages possess a set of discrete sounds (or gestures).
-All languages permit displacement—the ability the talk about things other than the here and now.
-All languages exhibit stimulus-freedom, the ability to say anything at all—including nothing—in any
circumstances.
descriptive grammar - Answer -linguist's description or model of the mental grammar
What speaker's rules actually are
speaker's grammar
linguist's grammar
prescriptive grammar - Answer -rules of grammar (often based on Latin) used by teachers
What speaker's rules should be
lateralization - Answer -language is "lateralized" to the left hemisphere
Without access to the left cerebral hemisphere, normal language processing cannot occur.
Dichotic Listening Tests - Answer -Different sounds are played in both ears
Subject reports hearing only one
Sound from right ear is almost always reported
Conclusion: at least auditory processing of language seems to be in the left hemisphere
Split Brain Patients - Answer -In severe cases of epilepsy, the corpus callosum is sometimes severed
As a result, the two hemispheres can not share information
Linguistic responses are not possible if stimulus was presented to the right hemisphere (left visual field).
Wada Tests - Answer -One hemisphere of a patient's brain is temporarily put to sleep.
, Patient then asked to read words &/or numbers, identify objects, & respond to questions.
Result? An inability to produce language when left side is anesthetized.
aphasia - Answer -a disruption in language abilities (production and/or comprehension) due to brain
injury
Tan's Brain - Answer -Patient named Louis Victor Lebourgne, but nicknamed 'Tan'.
His utterances were limited to a single syllable, "tan", usually twice.
Couldn't produce language.
1861: Paul Broca examined Tan's Brain (post-mortem).
Came to the conclusion that the loss of language ability was linked to the local damage in "Broca's area".
Broca's aphasia - Answer -Speech is broken and halted (telegraphic speech)
Words make some sense, but the structure is incorrect
a.k.a. agrammatic aphasia
Comprehension in Broca's aphasics is mostly in tact, but there are problems with complex sentences
Lesions found in particular part of the LH
(frontal lobe)
Semantics (meaning): Okay
Syntax (structure): Not okay
Comprehension: Mostly OK
Writing: Few words, but they do make sense.
wernicke's aphasia - Answer -speech is fluent, but doesn't make much sense
•grammar usually not affected
•problem w/ word choice and meaning •Neologisms-newly created words •comprehension severely
impaired
•a.k.a. semantic aphasia
Semantics (meaning): NOT okay
• Syntax (structure): okay
