ANTHRO 4 /
THE NATURE OF HUMAN LANGUAGE:
1. What do you know (whether
consciously or not) when you know the sound system of a language?
2. What do slips of the tongue
illustrate?
3. What is the difference between
phonetics and phonemics?
4. Which subsystem of language
refers to the sound‑meaning correspondence?
5. What kind of grammar did Bishop
Robert Lowth write? And Panini?
.6. Can you briefly explain what
the term arbitrariness means as it is used to describe a property of human
language?
7. Can you give a synonym for
arbitrary? and for iconic?
8. Which subsystem of language
relates to grammar?
9. What is meant by semantic
competence?
10. Can you name three language
universals?
11. What is meant by signifier?
and by signified?
12. What are onomatopoeia? Can you
give three examples? What are phonesthemes?
13. Children learning their native
language are especially active in forming phrases or sentences, which they have
never heard before. What are the names for this property of human language?
14. Which term is used to describe
the ability of human language‑users to discuss topics, which are remote
in space and time?
15. What is the property, which
relates to the fact that a language must be acquired (learned) by each new
generation?
16. Can you think of a property of
human language that is not unique to it but also found in animal systems of
communication?
17. What is the name of the
property referring to the fact that language is organized at two levels
simultaneously? What are these two levels?
18. Beyond the ability to produce
grammatical sentences, a speaker must have communicative competence. What is
meant by that phrase?
19. Give two examples of
prescriptions in English. Are these universal?
20. The following sentence is
ambiguous:
Susan and Suzanne have different
stress patterns.
Which subsystem of language must
you know to understand its two possible meanings?
Charles Hockett (1963) proposed
that prevarication (deception or misinforming) could be treated as a property
of human language. In discussing this property, he pointed out that
"linguistic messages can be false" and tnat "lying seems
extremely rare among animals.'' Can you give reasons for (or against) including
prevarication among the properties of human language?