Language

A system of structured representations and conventions supporting expression and interpretation. Its study distinguishes sound structure, grammatical organization and meaning without assuming that each maps one-to-one onto a single brain region.

Knowledge of word forms, meanings and their uses. Number of recognised words and depth or flexibility of knowledge are different dimensions.

Learning about unfamiliar words during engagement with text without direct vocabulary instruction. Small encounter-level gains can be measurable, but long-term extrapolations depend on reading amount, prior knowledge and test sensitivity.^[ref]

Richness and precision of knowledge about a word, including relations, context and multiple meanings.

The range of words known under a specified criterion. A recognition test and an expressive definition test need not identify the same boundary.

Language represented through a writing system, including reading and written production. Spelling, text generation and comprehension make partly different demands.

Generating and organising written text. Vocabulary, sentence formulation and discourse interact with spelling, transcription and planning demands.^[ref]

Processes producing the written form, including spelling and the mechanics of recording text. Dictated and independent composition differ in these demands as well as in available support.

Producing conventional written word forms. Immediate phonological plausibility, knowledge of a particular spelling and fluent written production are distinguishable achievements.

The conventional organisation of a writing system, including recurring patterns and relations to language.

The degree of complexity or inconsistency in mappings between written and spoken forms. Its consequences depend on the units and outcomes assessed; early pronunciation accuracy, fluency and comprehension need not show identical patterns.

An experimentally defined writing system with unfamiliar symbols and controlled mappings. It permits manipulation of learning history while requiring separate tests of generalisation to natural reading.^[ref]

The regularity with which a written pattern predicts a pronunciation or other linguistic outcome under a specified context. Frequency and consistency are different properties.

A unit in a writing system, distinguished from a particular font shape and from its spoken interpretation.

Language expressed or understood through speech. Phonology, vocabulary, grammar and discourse are distinct dimensions, and listening and speaking impose different task demands.

A natural language using structured visual-manual and other bodily signals. Sign languages have phonological organisation, meaning and syntax; they are not universal pantomime or merely a manual transcription of speech.

A configuration of the hand contributing to the form of a sign. Contrastive sublexical form need not be acoustic to participate in a phonological system.

A natural sign language studied in comparisons of sentence comprehension across sign and Japanese speech. Modality and language differences must be considered separately.

A natural sign language distinct from American Sign Language. Acquisition history and language proficiency matter to comparisons with spoken-language tasks.

A natural sign language central to many studies of deaf and hearing native signers. It is not structurally identical to English despite frequent bilingual use.

Accounts in which language influences aspects of cognition or perception. A task-specific effect of verbal resources is weaker than a claim that language is necessary for the existence of a sensory experience.

Spoken-language production and perception, involving acoustic, phonological, articulatory and higher-level information. Speech repetition and comprehension place different demands on these interacting processes.