CSD 115
Dr. Niemkiewicz
FA23
Final Examination Study Guide
Cheat Sheet
For the final examination, you are permitted to bring a “cheat sheet”: one 8.5 x 11-inch piece of
paper with prepared notes into the exam. Notes are only permitted on one side of the paper,
and Dr. Niemkiewicz must inspect your notes before you begin the exam to check for any true
cheating attempts. You are also required to turn your notes in when you hand in your finished
exam. Construction of the cheat sheet is intended to be an individual effort. Students are NOT
permitted to share notes during the exam or duplicate their cheat sheet to share with another
student.
Disclaimer: This document is an optional resource intended to help organize and guide your
studying approach to prepare for the final examination. It is NOT a complete description of
everything discussed in class, nor is it an exhaustive list of information that may be included in
the exam. If you chose to use this guide, remember to also review your reading quizzes, class
notes (including learning objectives and review questions), in-class activities, and topic
assignments. Although the exam will primarily focus on specific details from information covered
after the mid-term, you may be expected to apply information learned in the first half of the
course as many concepts build upon each other.
Language Variation
*included on the final exam, as most questions from this topic were discarded from the midterm
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Is there a difference between a language “difference” and a language “disorder”? What
is that difference?
-A language difference is not the same thing as a language disorder. There is variation
among different linguistic levels. A disorder impacts someones form, use and function of
language in their everyday lives while differences don’t.
What is language variation?
-How languages differ from one another.
What is the study of sociolinguistics?
-Sociolinguistics focuses on how language and the society someone lives in interact and
affect one another.
Understand what language variation looks like at different linguistic levels:
o Phonetic/phonological variation- basic speech sounds can vary between people(.
Can be seen in ASL as well (phonetic). Hand-placement is different for formal vs
informal.
o Morphological variation- Changing how a word is being used. Ex:) I am being
said as I be, am, is by different people.
o Syntactic variation- Differences in grammar, properly setting up a sentence.
o Semantic (lexical variation)- Using different terms to refer to the same object.
May differ based on where someone is from, Ex:Soda vs coke vs pop.
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What are social dialects?
-Social dialects are variations in language that differ based on a few factors like SES,
age, gender, education, race or ethnicity.
Overt vs. covert prestige
-Overt prestige is a type of social dialect that is typically recognized as a more positive
way to speak.
Covert prestige is seen as a less positive way to speak in social circles. Although, it can
be seen as more positive and symbolize unity between groups of people by marking
social solidarity.
Social class & pronunciation
-People pronounce words and annunciate certain phonemes like the /r/ sound more or
less based on social class. There was an experiment done in 3 different department
stores that tested spontaneous vs careful speech.
/R/ and prestige
-The /r/ phoneme is usually annunciated differently by people depending on social class
or status. In England working class people pronounced this post vocalic r more than
middle/upper class people in England. In placed like New York it is reversed.
Gender and language use
-Depends on if you’re talking to people in the same social background. Among men and
women in the same social class women tend to finish their words more (ing vs in) and
use prestige speech. Women tend to bring in new word order and pronunciation by using
higher frequency of novel forms.
African American English- Rules of AAE are productive.
o Phonology- the /h/ sound in ‘th; is usually dropped so words like with will be said
as wit, this is an example seen at the end of words or phrases. Phonemic
differences can also occur when the “th” sound appears in the middle of a word
like birthday sounding like birfday. Final clusters or the last letter in a word will
often times be reduced or removed in AAE, the word hand would be said as han,
or the word list as lis.
o *Morphosyntax- A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a language.
Plurality markers are usually not present, the use of double negatives can be
seen and has been criticized. As well has the removal of to be turning into be to
signify a habitual action. Auxiliary verbs like is are replaced by “be, bin, etc”.
Phrases and sentences differ from SAE/GAE but it is still correct grammar wise
and syntactically.
o Stigmatization- Not every African American person uses AAE, not every person
who uses AAE is African American. AAE is linguistically complex and is
stigmatized because it’s seen as “sloppy” or uneducated speech because it is not
whats used in many professional settings.
Chicano English
o Phonology- The “sh” sound is pronounced sounding more like ch (shop-chop),
the /i/ in “in’” is pronounced more as an eee that elongated. “talkin’- talkeen”
o Intonation- Pitch gets louder towards the end of speaking. Uptalk tendency
especially during declarative statements.
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Semantics
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Theta/semantic roles
o Agent- The entity that’s starts the action
o Theme (aka patient)- The entity who undergoes the action
o Instrument- Inanimate object used to do do something
o Experiencer- Entity that experiences a psychological or mental state
o Location- Where something is taking place
o Source- Location an entity is coming from.
o Goal – Thing or entity something or someone is moving towards
o Beneficiary- Entity that benefits from an action
o *Be able to recognize/assign theta/semantic roles
*How do we define word meaning?
-Word meaning is defined by the verb; the verb identifies the theta role. Has to be done
or experienced by an entity.
Prototype & Stereotype
-Prototype is the default image that’s associated with a word while stereotypes are
characteristics of a prototype used to describe it. Prototypes can still differ based on
persons beliefs and experiences and are not set in stone.
Sense & reference
-Sense is the mental representation of a words meaning. This is general and categorical.
Sense is more personal than prototypes. Reference is using a name, word, or term in a
particular instance, like saying dog while looking at a dog physically in your presence.
Most words have both sense and reference.
Synonyms
-Words that have the same or similar meanings to one another where you can swap one
word out for another.
Hyponyms (superordinate, hyponym, co-hyponym)
-Hyponymy is how we group objects together based on shared qualities.
-Superordinates are broad and aka HYPERnyms
-Hyponyms are specific members of a broad class
-Co-hyponyms are things in the same broad category at the same level (EX:
Apples and Oranges are co-hyponyms, and the superordinate is fruit).
o Stacking hyponymous relationships
-You van have co-hyponyms and hyponyms within a superordinate like a
hierarchial/taxonomic relationship.
Antonymy (complementary, gradable, reverses, converses)
-Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings of one another.
-Complementary antonyms express an either-or relationship (wet/dry), (live/die)
and are non-grade-able (not on a ‘scale’).
-Gradeable antonyms that are on a ‘scale’, points on a continuum, one negative
doesn’t indicate another. (old/young), (happy/sad)
-Reverses are two words that mean the reverse of the other (dress/undress)
(expand/contract).
-Converses are words that are closely related and cant exist without the other
(buy/sell) (lend/borrow) (parent/child).
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Language and the brain
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Parts of the central nervous system
-The brain and spinal cord are the CNS
Main parts of the brain
-Cerebrum (largest part of brain), cerebellum, and the brain stem (mid brain, pons,
medulla)
Lateralization of brain control (contralateral control)
-The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and vise vera. Damage to
the left hemisphere results in RHD. Contralateral is below the neck while ipsilateral is
above the neck.
Lateralization of brain function (general & language)
-The left hemisphere of the brain the usual language dominant (for majority of the
population), it’s responsible for verbal memory, symbolic and analytical thought. The
right hemisphere is responsible for non verbal sounds, emotional thought, number
sequencing, concept perception, spatial ability. Specifically in terms of language, the left
hemisphere is responsible for speech, word finding, repetition, grammar, and auditory
comprehension while the right is responsible for discourse, metaphors, prosody, and
jokes.
What is the Wada test and what did we learn from experiments using the Wada test?
-The Wada test injected chemicals into either the left or right carotid arteries to turn off
one hemisphere of the brain at a time. After turning one side off they would test the
language and memory function of that person. The Wada test showed which hemisphere
was dominant for language but we also learned that certain activities are controlled more
by one side than the other.
Directional terms: anterior, posterior, superior, inferior, medial, lateral
-Anterior is forward or front, rostral also means front but mainly used to describe
animals.
-Posterior or caudal mean behind or back, caudal is used to describe animals
-superior is above
-inferior is below
-medial means towards the midline of something
-lateral means sides
Planes of the brain: horizontal/axial, coronal, sagittal
-Horizontal/axial plane is as if your brain was cut in half horizontally resulting in the top
half of the frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobe and a bottom half.
-Coronal plane is as if you were wearing a headband, results in a cross-sectionof the
brain.
-Sagittal plane is cutting the brain in half at the midline and the two hemispheres are
separated.
Cerebral cortex
-The surface of the brain that includes all the neurons. Responsible for man helping
integrate sensory function.
Neurons
-Brain cells that are made up of a soma or cell body, long chain or axon with dendrites in
the ends that can synapse onto one another. The DNA of a neuron is housed in the
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soma. Myelin insulates the axon to help speed up and send signals more smoothly. The
dendrites receive the messages.
Gray & white matter
-Gray matter are cell bodies and dendrites while the White matter are axons. White
matter helps different areas of the brain communicate and help each other. This makes
sense since signals are sent across the axons.
Corpus callosum
-Brain structure that’s a bundle of nerves that connects the left and right hemispheres.
Gyri, sulci, fissures
-Gyri are the raised bulges along the brain
-Sulci are deep grooves but Fissures are DEEPER grooves
o Cerebral longitudinal fissure
-Runs from the anterior to posterior part of the brain, groove on top of corpus
callosum.
o Lateral sulcus (Sylvian fissure)
-Separates the frontal and parietal lobe from the temporal lobe. The perisylvian
cortex is responsible for language.
o Central sulcus (Rolandic fissure)
-Separates the frontal and parietal lobe.
4 main lobes of the brain
o Frontal—Brocas area located here. Neocortex or new brain, motor control
o Parietal- somatosensory, touch, and feeling. Receives and processes.
o Temporal-Wernickes areas located here.
o Occipital-Vision
Brodmann’s Areas (What Brodmann areas make up Broca’s area?)
-44&45 broadmann areas make up brocas area, pars operculeris and pars triangularis.
Relationship between brain structures & function
-There are two theories, holism and localization, both are right and wrong. Holism says
the brain works as a whole; Localization says one part of the brain is responsible for a
specific function.
Brain areas involved in language
o Inferior frontal gyrus (Broca’s area)
-Processing of speech and language in Broca’s area
o Precentral gyrus (motor homunculus)-Primary motor cortex , Somatotopical
-Depicts based on movement, proportion and complexity shown.
o Post-central gyrus (sensory homunculus)-Primary somatosensory cortex,
Somatotopical
-Map along the cerebral cortex of where each part of the body is processed.
Sensory homunculus doesn’t contain nerves. Depicts based on sensitivity to
touch.
o Inferior parietal lobule (supramarginal gyrus & angular gyrus)
-Supra-marginal gyrus is responsible for phonological processing
-Angular gyrus is responsible for reading comprehension and semantics
o Superior temporal gyrus (Heshl’s gyrus & Wernicke’s area)
-Heshls is tonotpically organized, primary auditory cortex Broadmans area 41 &
42
-Wernickes area controls ability to understand words Broadmans area 22
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o Temporal pole-Plays role in word comprehension BA 38
Connections between language regions
o Arcuate fasciculus -connects Broca’s and Wernickes area
o Extreme capsule-Connects Broca’s to inferior, middle, and superior parts of the
temporal lobe.
o Uncinate fasciculus -connects temporal pole and Broca’s area
Spatial vs. temporal resolution (Which methods have good/bad s/t resolution?)
-Spatial resolution is a measure of how accurately the recorded activity is localized
within the brain.
-Temporal resolution tells how closely the measured activity corresponds with the timing
of the neuronal activity.
EEG- Low spatial resolution, can’t localize signal. Sensitive to other signals. Great
temporal resolution. Non invasive
o N400-A spiked waveform seen usually when there’s a violation of context and
person realizes it. Semantic processing.
o iEEG-Great spatial and temporal resolution. Electrodes directly places on scalp.
Invasive procedure.
MRI & fMRI
MRI- Shows structure of brains, helps to diagnose issues like tumors, atrophy,
neurodegenerative disorders, etc. can also show differences in relative brain size overall
and in specific regions. Has high spatial resolution.
fMRI- Maps brain activity using a colorful contrast to measure oxygen changes in the
brain overtime. Has high spatial res but low temporal.
Focal vs. diffuse damage (which applies to TBI, stroke, dementia, etc.)
-Focal damage is in ONE area of the brain while Diffuse damage is in more than one
area of the brain. CHI have diffuse damage while OHI have focal damage. Stroke’s
Acute vs. progressive conditions (which applies to TBI, stroke, dementia, etc.)
TBI (closed vs. open)
Stroke (left vs. right hemisphere symptoms)
Neurodegenerative conditions
Language acquisition
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Compare/contrast the 3 proposals of how children acquire language
Critical period for language acquisition
Common language development milestones
Stages of language development
o Prelinguistic
o Linguistic
 Babbling
 Single-word
 Two-word
 Telegraphic
Consistent morphological order (be familiar with the concepts, don’t worry about the
order)
Mean length of utterance (MLU)
Brown’s stages of language development
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What is bilingualism? Why study it?
What were the early assumptions of bilingualism and why don’t we believe those
anymore?
Types of bilingualism: early vs. late
Language mode
Code-switching & borrowing
Language transfer
Pragmatics
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What is pragmatics?
Sentences vs. utterances
Context + 3 types
o Situational
o Social
o Linguistic
Deixis
Reference
Co-reference
Reflexive pronouns
Anaphora
Speech acts
Felicity conditions
o Question
o Requests
Relationship between speech acts & sentences
Performative speech acts
o Performative verbs
o Specialized performative verbs
o Performative speech acts & felicity
o Major requirements for performative speech acts
Direct and indirect speech acts
Discourse
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What is discourse?
Discourse analysis
Cohesion
o Cohesive ties
Coherence
Relationship between cohesion & coherence
o *cohesion does not imply coherence
Conversational analysis
Cooperative principle of conversation
Grice’s maxims
o Quantity
o Quality
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o Relevance
o Manner
Violating and flouting Grice’s maxims
Implicature
Entailment
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