Properties of Human Language Flashcards

1️⃣ Familiarise yourself with the flashcards:

Look through all the flashcards to see what's on both sides.
Make sure you understand the information on each card. If something's unclear, click the link to the revision notes at the bottom of the page for more details.

2️⃣ Test yourself:

Look at the question or prompt on each card and try to remember the answer before flipping it over.
Check the answer and make a note of any cards you find challenging and need to go over more.

3️⃣ Consistently Review and Practice:

Use spaced repetition: spend more time on the cards you struggle with and go over them more often.
Regularly review all the flashcards to help you better understand and retain the information over time.

Note: We may include questions that have multiple correct answers. It's useful to remember specific examples to understand these concepts better.

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What does displacement mean in human language?

It means we can talk about things that are not here and now, like yesterday, next week, far away places, or imaginary events.

We can join words in new ways to make endless new messages and ideas.

New words can be made or borrowed, so the list of words keeps growing.

Rules about word order change meaning. For example, "The dog chased the cat" is not the same as "The cat chased the dog".

Most words have no natural link to their meaning. For example, "dog" is "chien" in French.

Meaningless sounds (like b, a, and t) combine to make words (bat), and words combine to make sentences.

Language is made of separate units, like sounds and words, not one long continuous signal.

Words stand for objects, actions, and ideas. They carry clear meanings.

We can use language to talk about language itself, such as asking what a word means.

Language is learnt from other people in our group and passed on across generations.