Language Basics
What is linguistics?
This is the scientific study of language.
What is phonetics?
This branch of linguistics studies speech sounds physically.
What is the Indo-European language family?
English belongs to this language family.
What is a dialect?
This term means a variety of language spoken in a region.
What is Broca’s area?
This part of the brain is linked to speech production.
What is a phoneme?
This smallest unit of sound in a language can change meaning.
What is intonation?
This term describes the rhythm and stress of speech.
What is the Romance branch?
Spanish, French, and Italian belong to this subgroup of Indo-European languages.
What is code-switching?
This refers to switching between two languages in conversation.
What is Wernicke’s area?
This area is responsible for language comprehension.
What is syntax?
This term refers to the rules of sentence structure.
What are voiceless sounds?
These are sounds produced without vibration of vocal cords.
What is Latin?
This ancient Italic language is the ancestor of the Romance languages.
What is a pidgin?
This is a simplified language used for communication between groups.
What is aphasia?
This disorder affects the ability to speak or understand language.
What is morphology?
This branch studies word formation and structure.
What is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)?
This is the symbol system used to represent speech sounds.
What is the Slavic branch?
Russian and Polish belong to this branch of the Indo-European family.
What is a creole?
When a pidgin becomes a native language, it becomes this.
What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
This hypothesis suggests language influences thought.
What is semantics?
This is the meaning of a word or sentence.
What is assimilation?
This process happens when sounds influence each other in speech.
What is the Sino-Tibetan language family?
Mandarin Chinese belongs to this language family.
What is language evolution?
This term describes language change over time.
What is the critical period?
This period in childhood is considered crucial for language acquisition.