Five-year-old Donna uses shorter, simpler sentences when talking to her baby brother. She speaks in a very informal way with her friends and uses a more formal language with her father's friends. Donna is demonstrating her grasp of
A) pragmatics.
B) morphology.
C) syntax.
D) phonology.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Donna's ability to vary her language use based on social context shows an understanding of pragmatics, or how language is used in social situations. Morphology refers to the structure of words, syntax refers to the structure of sentences, and phonology refers to the sounds and sound patterns of language, none of which are directly relevant to Donna's language use in social situations.

Five-Year-Old Donna Uses Shorter, Simpler Sentences When Talking to Her