Chapter 04: Language and Communication

Languages developing out of the same parent language; for example, French and Spanish are daughter languages of Latin. 

The scientific study of a spoken language, including its phonology, morphology, lexicon, and syntax.

The existence of "high" (formal) and "low" (familial/informal) dialects of a single language, such as German. 

A linguistic capacity that allows humans to talk about hings and events that are not present. 

A set of words and distinctions that are particularly important to certain groups (those with particular foci of experience or activity), such as types of snow to Eskimos or skiers. 

Subdivision of linguistics that studies languages over time. 

The study of communication through body movements, stances, gestures and facial expressions. 

Vocabulary; a dictionary containing all the morphemes in a language and their meaning. 

Significant sound contrast in a language that serves to distinguish meaning, as in minimal pairs. 

The study of sound contrasts (phonemes) of a particular language. 

The study of speech sounds in general; what people actually say in various languages. 

The study of sounds used in speech. 

The ability to use the rules of one's language to create new expressions comprehensible to other speakers; a basic feature of language. 

Language ancestral to several daughter languages. 

Theory that different languages produce different ways of thinking. For example, the Hopi language doesn't distinguish between "was" or "is" because, for them, past and present are real and are expressed grammatically in the same way while the future remains hypothetical and has different grammatical expression. Opposing the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, it might be more accurate to say that changes in culture produce changes in language and thought rather than the reverse. 

A language's meaning system. 

Study of relationships between social and linguistic variation; study of language in its social context. 

Variations in speech in different contexts. 

Languages within a taxonomy of related languages that are most closely related. 

The arrangement and order of words in phrases and sentences. 

Words that resemble each other in all but one sound/phoneme

A language that blends elements of at least two parent languages and that emerges when two different cultures with different languages come in contact and must communicate. 

More mature than pidgins, having developed grammatical rules and native speakers (people who learn the language as their primary one during enculturation).