LING 200 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Shape, Grammar, Linguistics
Document Summary
Speakers of a language know which sounds are used in that language and which sounds are not. Speakers also know how sounds in their language can be combined into sequences/words. E(cid:454): (cid:862)i(cid:272)ed(cid:863) = aist / (cid:862)tea(cid:863) = ti. Good for all sounds found in human language. Speakers of a language know how to build words. Ex: english = cat (singular) vs. cat-s (plural) Just like the (cid:272)ase of (cid:862)f(cid:396)i(cid:374)k(cid:863), this k(cid:374)o(cid:449)ledge (cid:272)a(cid:374) (cid:271)e used to p(cid:396)edi(cid:272)t ho(cid:449) u(cid:374)k(cid:374)o(cid:449)(cid:374) (cid:449)o(cid:396)ds should behave. Because we know how english forms plural words, we can predict that the plural of the unk(cid:374)o(cid:449)(cid:374) (cid:449)o(cid:396)d (cid:862)(cid:449)ug(cid:863) should (cid:271)e (cid:862)(cid:449)ugs(cid:863) Speakers of a language know how to combine individual words into sentences. Speakers can tell that a structure has a correct structure even if the sentence is nonsense. Ex: 1) colorless green ideas sleep furiously = correct. 2) *ideas furiously green sleep colorless = incorrect. Structure of a sentence is independent of its meaning.
