LING 1 Study Guide - Final Guide: Specific Language Impairment, Linguistic Prescription, Universal Grammar
Document Summary
Linguist: a specialist in the field of linguistics. Ex: someone who studies abstract properties of the sounds of speech. All languages have equal expressive power as communication systems (no primitive language) All languages follow rules of grammar: prescriptive grammar- rules imposed as a socially determined. Standard for determining how speakers should construct utterances: descriptive grammar- rules that native speakers of a language instinctively follow in constructing utterances in their language. 3 arguments against the claim that language was invented: absence of a relationship between general intelligence and language ability. Williams chatterbox syndrome~ fluent speech but far below normal intelligence. Specific language impairment~ normal intelligence but ungrammatical speech: acquisition of language by children, children invent language simply by exposure, physical organs specialized for language. Whorf hypothesis: the structure of our language determines how we see the world: issue: circular reasoning. Syntax: the way in which words are put together to form phrases & sentences.
