Introduction to Language Review

A language is ________________________ .

• a broad term simply referring to human patterned verbal behavior in general

• a structured system of communication used by humans

• another word for a dialect

Grammar ......

• Refers to the rules of how to write a composition correctly

• Provides a system of rules that tell us how to combine the units of our language    

• Is a characteristic of all animal communication systems

A dialect that mostly develops as a result of differences in class, ethnicity, gender, age, and/or particular social situations is referred to as a:

• social dialect

• regional dialect

• genderlect or ethnilect

Dialects develop ......

• more often in small-scale societies with few people

• more often in large-scale societies with many people

• equally often in small-scale and large-scale societies

A pidgin is .....

• a dialect like Black English in North America

• the mother tongue, or principle language, of a society

• a simplified makeshift language that develops to fulfill the communication needs of people who have no language in common

• a common species of bird

When a pidgin language becomes the mother tongue of a population, linguists refer to it as a(n):

• Gullah

• Creole

• Ebonics

Productivity refers to....

• an animal's ability to produce effective messages for survival

• the ability by both humans and animals to talk about abstract topics

• the unique human capability to use language to create an infinite number of messages

The elements of language are composed of, or can be broken into, distinct smaller linguistic units. What is this feature called?

• displacement

• duality

• discreteness

Which one of the following properties of language is being referred to when we say there are a large number of meanings for a limited set of sounds?

• duality

• displacement

• arbitrariness

Which term is used to describe the ability of human language users to discuss topics which are remote in space and time?

• reciprocity

• arbitrariness

• displacement