What is the primary focus of descriptive linguistics?
Explanation
This question asks for the definition of descriptive linguistics, a fundamental area of study that analyzes the components of a language.
Other questions
In 2010, the state of Arizona passed a law that mandated police to arrest anyone who gives a reasonable suspicion of being what?
What is the key distinction between a human language and the communication systems of other animals?
According to the chapter's description of primate language studies, how many signs did the gorilla named Koko learn to use?
What is the significance of the FOXP2 gene variant in the context of human language evolution?
Which subfield of linguistics studies the development of language over time, including its changes and variations, to trace connections between languages?
What is the term for the study of the relationship between body movements and communication, such as facial expressions, gestures, and postures?
What is the central idea of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
In Keith Basso's ethnography 'Wisdom Sits in Places,' how did the Western Apache grandmother 'shoot an arrow' at her granddaughter who wore curlers to a ritual?
What was the primary challenge Laura Bohannan faced when trying to tell the story of 'Hamlet' to the Tiv elders in West Africa, as described in 'Shakespeare in the Bush'?
What is the term for all the words for names, ideas, and events that make up a language's dictionary?
The Nuer of Sudan, studied by E. E. Evans-Pritchard, developed more than how many words to distinguish different types of cattle?
According to the chapter, what term did the Oakland Unified School District use in 1996 for the distinct language spoken by many African American students, derived from the words 'ebony' and 'phonics'?
Which theoretical framework, used by linguist Deborah Tannen, suggests that conversations between men and women are a form of cross-cultural communication because they grow up in different linguistic worlds?
What is the core argument of the 'dominance model' of gendered communication?
According to the chapter, how is the distinction between a 'language' and a 'dialect' often determined?
What is a 'prestige language'?
What is the term for beliefs and conceptions about language that often serve to rationalize and justify patterns of stratification and inequality?
In William Labov's study of 'r' pronunciation in New York City department stores, what did he find about the speech patterns of sales clerks?
What is the term for switching back and forth between one linguistic variation and another, or one language and another, depending on the cultural context?
According to linguistic research cited in the chapter, African American English (AAE) is described as what?
In Bonnie Urciuoli's study of bilingual Puerto Ricans in New York City, the 'outer sphere' of communication is characterized by what?
What is Jane Hill's concept of 'Mock Spanish'?
Approximately how many languages are in use in the world today?
Linguistic anthropologists warn that as many as what proportion of the world's languages could be lost by the end of the twenty-first century?
According to 2019 data cited in the chapter, how many languages had fewer than ten speakers?
What is the term for the extinction of languages that have very few speakers?
What is the primary mission of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) and its partner, the Wycliffe Bible Translators?
How do John Palfrey and Urs Gasser define 'digital natives'?
What percentage of all digital connections linking people between continents flows through undersea fiber optic cables?
What are phonemes in descriptive linguistics?
The ability of nonhuman primates, like chimpanzees, to use known words to invent new word combinations is known as what?
According to the chapter, what is the term for a nonstandard variation of a language?
What percentage of the world's population had access to a cell phone, according to the chapter's discussion of the digital divide?
Linguistic anthropologist David Harrison uses the term 'language warriors' to refer to whom?
What is the study of the patterns and rules of how sounds combine to make morphemes called?
Which of the following is an example of paralanguage?
According to the chapter, how many states have passed 'English-only' laws that limit things like classroom instruction and driver's license exams?
What is the name of the language variation spoken in the Midwestern United States that has become the prestige language variation in the country?
According to the 2019 data presented in Table 4.2, what are the top two most spoken languages in the world by number of native speakers?
What does the linguistic concept of displacement, which has been observed in primates, refer to?
In his study of the use of the word 'no' in sexual relations, what does Don Kulick suggest might happen in a patriarchal culture?
How did the LiveAndTell company use technology to help preserve the Lakota language?
What is the digital divide, as described in the chapter?
In 2020, what percentage of people living in the least developed countries had Internet access?
What does a language continuum describe?
According to the chapter, approximately how many languages are spoken in the United States, including Native American languages?
How many international fiber optic cable systems are mentioned as moving data signals across the ocean floor?
What is a 'speech community'?
Children in the United States watch up to how many television commercials a year, according to a study cited in Chapter 2 but referenced in the context of language and culture?