Chapter 1 arbitrary Describes the property of language, including sign language, whereby there is no natural or intrinsic relationship between the way a word is pronounced (or signed) and its meaning. descriptive grammar A linguists description or model of the mental grammar, including the units, structures, and rules. An explicit statement of what speakers know about their language. Cf. prescriptive grammar, teaching grammar. grammar The mental representation of a speakers linguistic competence; what a speaker knows about a language, including its phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and lexicon. A linguistic description of a speakers mental grammar. lexicon The component of the grammar containing speakers knowledge about morphemes and words; a speakers mental dictionary. morphology The study of the structure of words; the component of the grammar that includes the rules of word formation. phonology The sound system of a language; the component of a grammar that includes the inventory of sounds (phonetic and phonemic units) and rules for their combination and pronunciation; the study of the sound systems of all languages. semantics The study of the linguistic meaning of morphemes, words, phrases, and sentences. sign languages The languages used by deaf people in which linguistic units such as morphemes and words as well as grammatical relations are formed by manual and other body movements. syntax The rules of sentence formation; the component of the mental grammar that represents speakers knowledge of the structure of phrases and sentences. Universal Grammar (UG) The innate principles and properties that pertain to the grammars of all human languages. Chapter 2 anomia A form of aphasia in which patients have word-finding difficulties. aphasia Language loss or disorders following brain damage. cortex The approximately ten billion neurons that form the outside surface of the brain; also referred to as gray matter. critical age hypothesis The theory that states that there is a window of time between early childhood and puberty for learning a first language, and beyond which first language acquisition is almost always incomplete. lateralization, lateralized Term used to refer to cognitive functions localized to one or the other side of the brain. magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) A technique to investigate the molecular structures in human organs including the brain, which may be used to identify sites of brain lesions. neurolinguistics The branch of linguistics concerned with the brain mechanisms that underlie the acquisition and use of human language; the study of the neurobiology of language. positron-emission tomography (PET) Method to detect changes in brain activities and relate these changes to localized brain damage and cognitive tasks. savant Individual who shows special abilities in one cognitive area while being deficient in others. Linguistic savants have extraordinary language abilities but are deficient in general intelligence. specific language impairment (SLI) Difficulty in acquiring language faced by certain children with no other cognitive deficits. Chapter 3 acronym Word composed of the initials of several words, e.g., PET scan from positron-emission tomography scan. compound A word composed of two or more words, e.g., washcloth, childproof cap. form Phonological or gestural representation of a morpheme or word. lexicon The component of the grammar containing speakers knowledge about morphemes and words; a speakers mental dictionary. meaning The conceptual or semantic aspect of a sign or utterance that permits us to comprehend the message being conveyed. Expressions in language generally have both form pronunciation or gesture and meaning. Cf. extension, intension, sense, reference. morpheme Smallest unit of linguistic meaning or function, e.g., sheepdogs contains three mor morphological rules Rules for combining morphemes to form stems and words. morphology The study of the structure of words; the component of the grammar that includes the rules of word formation. open class The class of lexical content words; a category of words that commonly adds new words, e.g., nouns, verbs. orthography The written form of a language; spelling. Chapter 4 complement The constituent(s) in a phrase other than the head that complete(s) the meaning of the phrase. In the verb phrase found a puppy, the noun phrase a puppy is a complement of the head verb found. deep structure Any phrase structure tree generated by the phrase structure rules of a transformational grammar. The basic syntactic structures of the grammar. direct object The grammatical relation of a noun phrase when it appears immediately below the verb phrase (VP) and next to the verb in deep structure; the noun phrase complement of a transitive verb, e.g., the puppy in the boy found the