Definitions Flashcards
Phoneme
a speech sound that plays a role in a language and cannot be analyzed into smaller sounds, indicated by slash symbols
Morpheme
a unit of meaning that cannot be analyzed into smaller such units
Allophone
Any of several slightly different speech sounds that are regarded as contextual variants of the same phoneme
Experimental study
A study where researchers introduce an intervention and study the effects. Experimental studies are usually randomized, meaning the subjects are grouped by chance.
Case Study
A study where researchers identify people with an existing health problem (“cases”) and a similar group without the problem (“controls”) and then compare them with respect to an exposure or exposures.
Correlational Study
A study where researchers investigate relationships between variables without the researcher controlling or manipulating any of them.
Independent Variable
The variable in an experiment that is manipulated or is observed to occur before the dependent, or outcome, variable, in order to assess its effect or influence.
Dependent Variable
The outcome that is observed to occur or change after the occurrence of the independent variable in an experiment, or the effect that one wants to predict or explain in correlational research.
Phonology
The study of the system of speech sounds in a language or in language generally.
Morphology
The study of the form and structure of words. It is particularly concerned with the regular patterns of inflection and word formation in a language.
Syntax
A set of rules that describes how words and phrases in a language are arranged into grammatical sentences, or the branch of linguistics that studies such rules.
Pragmatics
The study of language in terms of its functional communicative properties
