LINGUISTICS EXAM 4 QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS.
What is meaning? How can we describe it from different points of view?
meaning → reference/donation = relation between ling expression and the entity it refers to in
extraling reality (singer is a person who sings); fact about the world or situation under discussion
conceptual meaning = covers those basic essential components of meaning - tree is a tall plant
with branches and leaves
vs. associative meaning = different people may associate some word with different entity than its
conceptual meaning - for me personally a tree can be Martin
What is the primary aim of linguistics?
study of lng → explanation of some phenomena - the phenomena applies to the already collected
data but also for the to be collected data
ling disciplines are divided into 3 categories - which?
1) Core (phonetics)
2) applied (pedagogy)
3) inter-disciplinary (neurolinguistics)
What are 3 major characteristics of lng?
1) explicitness = clarity of assumptions, clear and consistent use of terminology, metalanguage
2) systematicity = standard and metodical procedures are to be followed
3) objectivity = no bias, influence from the researcher, enough data, representative selection
How do we divide the levels of lng?
1)extralinguistics
1a) linguistics
1aa) semantics
1ab) lexicogrammar - phonology, graphology etc.
,Phonetics studies ?
phonetics deals with sounds, = the science of human speech with no specific reference to its
function in sound system
Phonology studies ?
phonology deals with phonemes, = studies the functional aspects of sounds
In phonetics, we develop precise description of the sound on the base of what three
perspectives ?
1) articulatory = how sounds are formed in mouth, the glottis, the nasal cavity
2) acoustic = what are they like when measured while travelling through the air
3) auditory = how they are perceived by the listener
Name phonetical units.
1) consonants - usually don't form the nucleus of a word, divided into pulmonic/non-pulmonic,
voiced/voiceless c.
2) vowels - usually forme the nucleus of the word, pronounced as one = monophthong (a), two
vowels pronounced together = diphthong (oi, ui), divided into back/front, high=close/low=open,
cardinal vowels
3) suprasegmentals
4) diacritics
What is a phoneme?
the smallest element in a sound system used to distinguish the meaning (BrE -44 phonemes - 20
vowels + 24 consonants)
What are minimal pairs?
pairs of words that differ only in one phoneme - back/pack, cap/cab
What is markedness?
, - refers to the presence/absence of some feature / the usual or unusual state - phrase "How old are
you?" is unmarked, while "How young are you?" is marked
(unmarked = usual, marked = unusual)
What are the four sources of lng origin? Describe them.
1) THE DEVINE SOURCE
- higher power created the lng, God given lng
2) THE NATURAL SOUND SOURCE
- three theories - bow-bow; pooh-pooh; yo-he-ho
3) THE PHYSICAL ADAPTATION
- physical changes in the skull and breathing system - teeth, lips, mouth, brain, larynx, pharynx,
tongue
4) THE GENETIC SOURCE
- genetic predisposition to learn and speak lng
What are the five properties of lng + two types of signals?
PROPERTIES
1) DISPLACEMENT= referring to place and time - being able to talk about past and upcoming
events, even about things we're not sure that exist - Santa, Bermuda Triangle, God
2) ARBITRARINESS = lng has no universal form, you cannot predict the meaning of a word by
its look
3) PRODUCTIVITY = creativity, open-endness, continuous creating of new words with new
meaning
4) CULTURAL TRANSMISSION = lng is passed on by generations, humans are born with
predispositions to speak, but our background defines how and what we learn
5) DUALITY = DOUBLE ARTICULATION = human lng is built in two layers - 1st is
physically achieved → producing morphemes; 2nd is combining them into words, different
combinations (b, n, i → bin, nib)
SIGNALS
1) COMMUNICATIVE SIGNALS = people get to know about us directly from what we say - "I
CORRECT ANSWERS.
What is meaning? How can we describe it from different points of view?
meaning → reference/donation = relation between ling expression and the entity it refers to in
extraling reality (singer is a person who sings); fact about the world or situation under discussion
conceptual meaning = covers those basic essential components of meaning - tree is a tall plant
with branches and leaves
vs. associative meaning = different people may associate some word with different entity than its
conceptual meaning - for me personally a tree can be Martin
What is the primary aim of linguistics?
study of lng → explanation of some phenomena - the phenomena applies to the already collected
data but also for the to be collected data
ling disciplines are divided into 3 categories - which?
1) Core (phonetics)
2) applied (pedagogy)
3) inter-disciplinary (neurolinguistics)
What are 3 major characteristics of lng?
1) explicitness = clarity of assumptions, clear and consistent use of terminology, metalanguage
2) systematicity = standard and metodical procedures are to be followed
3) objectivity = no bias, influence from the researcher, enough data, representative selection
How do we divide the levels of lng?
1)extralinguistics
1a) linguistics
1aa) semantics
1ab) lexicogrammar - phonology, graphology etc.
,Phonetics studies ?
phonetics deals with sounds, = the science of human speech with no specific reference to its
function in sound system
Phonology studies ?
phonology deals with phonemes, = studies the functional aspects of sounds
In phonetics, we develop precise description of the sound on the base of what three
perspectives ?
1) articulatory = how sounds are formed in mouth, the glottis, the nasal cavity
2) acoustic = what are they like when measured while travelling through the air
3) auditory = how they are perceived by the listener
Name phonetical units.
1) consonants - usually don't form the nucleus of a word, divided into pulmonic/non-pulmonic,
voiced/voiceless c.
2) vowels - usually forme the nucleus of the word, pronounced as one = monophthong (a), two
vowels pronounced together = diphthong (oi, ui), divided into back/front, high=close/low=open,
cardinal vowels
3) suprasegmentals
4) diacritics
What is a phoneme?
the smallest element in a sound system used to distinguish the meaning (BrE -44 phonemes - 20
vowels + 24 consonants)
What are minimal pairs?
pairs of words that differ only in one phoneme - back/pack, cap/cab
What is markedness?
, - refers to the presence/absence of some feature / the usual or unusual state - phrase "How old are
you?" is unmarked, while "How young are you?" is marked
(unmarked = usual, marked = unusual)
What are the four sources of lng origin? Describe them.
1) THE DEVINE SOURCE
- higher power created the lng, God given lng
2) THE NATURAL SOUND SOURCE
- three theories - bow-bow; pooh-pooh; yo-he-ho
3) THE PHYSICAL ADAPTATION
- physical changes in the skull and breathing system - teeth, lips, mouth, brain, larynx, pharynx,
tongue
4) THE GENETIC SOURCE
- genetic predisposition to learn and speak lng
What are the five properties of lng + two types of signals?
PROPERTIES
1) DISPLACEMENT= referring to place and time - being able to talk about past and upcoming
events, even about things we're not sure that exist - Santa, Bermuda Triangle, God
2) ARBITRARINESS = lng has no universal form, you cannot predict the meaning of a word by
its look
3) PRODUCTIVITY = creativity, open-endness, continuous creating of new words with new
meaning
4) CULTURAL TRANSMISSION = lng is passed on by generations, humans are born with
predispositions to speak, but our background defines how and what we learn
5) DUALITY = DOUBLE ARTICULATION = human lng is built in two layers - 1st is
physically achieved → producing morphemes; 2nd is combining them into words, different
combinations (b, n, i → bin, nib)
SIGNALS
1) COMMUNICATIVE SIGNALS = people get to know about us directly from what we say - "I
