Definitions Flashcards
Semiotics
the study of how signs and symbols are used to create meaning.
Linguistics is a sub discipline of Semiotics.
Semantics
Is a sub discipline of linguistics, which studies how human language is used to create meaning.
Lexical semantics
the study of meaning of individual words (in and out of context).
Language
in English both means langue, human way of speaking, and language as in computer language for example.
Lexicology
the study of words, their history, definition, derivation and use
E.g. dictionaries are made by lexicologists.
Semantics
the study of meaning in language (words, phrases, sentences, discourse)
In semantics there are no “rules”, compared to other fields.
Collocation
words that go together
e.g. “play” gets meaning because of its collocation.
Structuralism
meaning is created through a combination of conceptually independent pieces (double articulation)
Phonetics
- Articulatory : production, sound production in the mouth > voices / unvoiced stops / fricative
- Acoustic : how sound travels through the air
- Auditory : the human ear receives sounds of human language, perception
Phonology
how sounds are used to create meaning
Morphology
the smallest meaningful units of language (morphemes free or bound)
double articulation
The use of combinations of a small number of meaningless elements (phonemes) to produce a large number of meaningful elements.
morphemes
the smallest unit of language carrying meaning
two types : free or bound
free morpheme
- lexical
- functional (at, and, a, in, on)
bound morpheme
- derivational > new dictionary entry
- inflectional > grammatical relationships (plural, 3rd s, past tense, progressive, possession, comparatives) no change of grammatical class
Syntax
systematic rules governing language structure
Pragmatics
- the role of context, which can induces meaning
- meaning is flexible and highly subject to context
> Grice’s Cooperative Principle
locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary acts
Grice’s cooperative principle
the idea that under normal circumstances, the person you are talking is trying to understand you and being understood, that they are genuine and honest.
- quality
- quantity
- relevance
- manner
Discourse analysis
- an approach to the analysis of texts : cohesion, coherence, turn taking…
coz a perfectly grammatical sentence can mean nothing
Language history and change
Diachronic linguistic, across time, etymology
Language Variations
synchronic linguistic, differences happening at the same time, regional and social variations accents, dialects
Sociolinguistics
language in a social context, cf. the Labov “fourth floor” experiment.
Psycholinguistics
- how the brain manages to learn and use human languages ; language as a cognitive function.
Sign by De Saussure
Arbitrary nature of the sign
Sign = significant + signifier
langue vs. parole
= competence vs. performance
Charles Pierce scheme
- Sense
- Reference
- Word
