language use survey n
an investigation which seeks to determine which languages are spoken in
different areas in a community or country, the function and uses of languages
in different domains of language use, and sometimes an assessment of the
proficiency of different language groups in terms of their minority and
majority language. For example in a multilingual country such as Singapore
with four official languages (English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil) a language
use survey would seek to determine who uses which languages, for what
purposes, and to what degree of proficiency.
language variation n
see variation
langue n
the French word for “language”. The term was used by the linguist Saussure
to mean the system of a language, that is the arrangement of sounds and words
which speakers of a language have a shared knowledge of or, as Saussure
said, “agree to use”. Langue is the “ideal” form of a language. Saussure
called the actual use of language by people in speech or writing “parole”.
Saussure’s distinction between “langue” and “parole” is similar to Chomsky’s
distinction between competenceand performance. But whereas for
Saussure the repository of “langue” is the speech community, for
Chomsky the repository of “competence” is the “ideal speaker/hearer”. So
Saussure’s distinction is basically sociolinguistic (see sociolinguistics)
whereas Chomsky’s is basically psycholinguistic (see psycholinguistics).
see also usage^1
larynx nlaryngeal adj
a casing of cartilage and muscles in the upper part of the windpipe (in the
throat) which contains the vocal cords.
see also place of articulation
latent trait theory n
see item response theory
lateral n
a speech sound (a consonant) which is produced by partially blocking the
airstream from the lungs, usually by the tongue, but letting it escape at one
or both sides of the blockage. For example, in English the /l/ in /lait/ light is
a lateral.
see also manner of articulation, place of articulation
language use survey