Data

Copy and paste the text below. It is read-only. Select All

Language Our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning. Phoneme In a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit. Morpheme In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix) Grammar In a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others. Semantics The set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also, the study of meaning. Syntax The rules for combing words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language Babbling Stage Beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language. One-Word Stage The stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2 during which a child speaks mostly in single words. Two-Word Stage Beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements. Telegraphic Speech Early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram - "go car" - using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting auxiliary words. Linguistic Determinism Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think.