Final Flashcards
What does “prescriptivist” mean?
There is one correct grammar
Everyone should speak the language in the same, “proper” way
There are rules that people should follow (prescribed)
Often based in latin or other languages
eg: no split infinitives, no prepositions at the end of sentences
What does descriptivist mean?
There are correct grammarS
language is constantly changing, people speak/write according to their context
What is the role of linguistics?
-to describe variations (dialects) that exist for specific reasons and purposes
-understanding the differences uncovers those purposes
What is code switching?
Changing your grammar (consciously or subconsciously) to fit in
What are linguistic semantics?
study of what words mean
Philosophy of language
Words mean something but are themselves nothing (signifier0 figner pointing at the moon, signified- the moon)
Words can mean different things at the same time
Different aprroaches to studying meaning and how we choose content words
May be literal meanings or underlying meanings (read between the lines)
How combinations of words convey meaning
How parts of a sentence work together
What is the topic of a sentence?
What the sentence is about
It is not always the subject
often first part of the sentence
When it is changed it is called a marked form
Topic: gives clues to the reader/listener
-this is what’s important
-this is what I’ll talk about next
What are thematic roles?
Agent- caused the action
Patient- is changed by the action (degrees of being a patient strong-weak)
Benefactive- receives something from another’s actions
Theme- undergo acts but are not changed by them
What are spatial roles?
Goal: destination point of the action
Locative: gives the static location of an action (usually in relation to something else, probably not in relation to you (deixis= [prepositions])
Directional: gives the direction that an action takes (implies movement action is currently happening)
What type of event is the verb in a sentence?
Material: indicates an action
Existential: something being or existing
Mental: thought processes or how we process info in our brains, how our senses interpret things we take in sensory
Verbal: how we interpret what someone is saying
What relationship to time (tense) is the verb
Present
-no affixes
Past
-ed, irregular forms (other ways to express time: auxillary +form of content verb)
Future (modal)
Present/past/future perfect
-to have + participle (past/present/future)
Present/past/future continuous
-to be + present participle
What words show time in sentences?
-Verbs are the main way to express time
-Adverbs and Adverbials- Today, tomorrow, last year, next month, etc (modify a verb- adverb, adverbials- modify a verb but have multiple words)
-Participles- form of a verb that’s used as either an adjective or a part of another verb tense
What is realis
Degrees of certainty (indicative mood)
What is irrealis
Degrees of uncertainty (subjunctive mood +)
Which words in a sentence express irrealis
irrealis is expressed in English through Modal verbs, advers, neation
Modal verbs: modify the content verb/ modal + bare infinitive
Adverbs: degree of certainty
Negation: requires a modal or auxillary with verbs/can be done with morphology or adverb
Why is future not really a tense?
because we can’t know the future
so any discussions of the future cannot be certain
the future by definition is irrealis
What is implicature?
Pragmatics- the speaker’s intentions; the meaning the speaker intended to convey
Semantics- the meaning of words; the many ways words convey meaning
H Paul Grice
Assumptions underlying all language exchanges
Conversation is oriented to these assumptions
-inferences based on what is said and assumptions
Implicate: convey meaning indirectly
Implicature: how we can understand people when they speak indirectly (The cooperative principle)
Cooperative Principle
Four Maxims: the maxim of quality, quantity, relevance and manner
What are the Four Maxims in the Cooperative Principle
Maxim of Quality: speak truthfully, specifically
-do not say what you believe to be false
-do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence
Maxim of Quantity:
-make your contribution as informative as is required for the current purposes of the exchange
-do not make your contribution more informative than is required
Maxim of Relevance
-make your contribution relevant to the topic and not giving info that is not needed
Maxim of Manner: express yourself clearly and specifically,
-avoid obscurity (being purposefully confusing)
-avoid ambiguity (vagueness)
-be brief
-be orderly
What are minimal pairs?
Words that differ by only one sound in the same position for each word
Pin & Bin
Nip & Nib
There are literally thousands of minimal pairs.
Here are more examples; what are the sounds being compared in each?
Sit & Seat
Hat & Cat
Hat & Chat
Know & Now
Back & Bag
Sea & She
Thin & Thing
With & Whizz
Lithely & Lively
Coffee & Copy
These are useful for understanding the differences in how letters are pronounced. That means they do not have to have the same spelling – you are comparing the sound, not the spelling.
What are dipthongs?
2 vowels together as 1 vowel
“long” vowels
spy, cow, low, toy
What is Canadian raising?
Vowel Shift on dipthongs /ay/ and /aw/ before voiceless obstruents: p, t, k, s, f
Use phonology to explain a phenomenon that happens in certain accents and use shape of the mouth to talk about it (where tongue goes and where sound comes from)
Phonological processes that affects the pronounciations of dipthongs
Onsets of the dipthongs /ay/ and /aw/ are raised to mid vowels when they come before voiceless consonants (tongue is raised closer to the roof of the mouth and the mouth is more closed)
Hypothesized to be a remnant of the Great Vowel Shift
What is a schwa?
a schwa (ə)
mid-central vowel sound in spoken languages represented by (ə). It’s a neutral vowel that occurs in unstressed syllables, such as the “a” in “about” or “e” in “moment”
What is a morpheme?
Free and bound
Free: basically the same as “word”
2 types: lexical – carries the message; content words
Functional- relationship of lexical; function words
Bound: cannot stand on their own- must be attached to a root (free) morpheme
Affixes:
-suffix: after the root
-prefix: before the rooth
3 types:
-derivational- change the form or meaning of a word
-changes the part of speech
-usually a suffix “ adding “ly” to the adjective “sudden” changes it to an adverb
-common derivational suffixes and some prefixes
* VerbNoun: -ment, -ance, -er, -ation, -ent, -ee, -ism, -age, -ive
* NounVerb: -ize, -ify, en-
* AdjectiveNoun: -ness, -cy
* VerbAdjective: -able, -esque, -ful, a-
* AdjectiveVerb: -en, -ory, be-
* NounAdjective: -al, -ar, -ic, -id, -ize
* Derivational – meaning
* Changes the lexical meaning
* Almost always a prefix
* Common derivational prefixes
* Changes positive to negative: A-, ante-, anti-, de-, dis-, ex-, il-, im-, in-, ir-, non-, un-, with-
* Other changes in meaning: Ambi-, auto-, bi-, circum-, di-, eco-, geo-, hyper-, intra-, maxi-, meta-, midi-, neo-, pan-, poly-, pro-, re-, semi-, sur-, trans-, tri-
-inflectional- change the grammar of a word but not the form or meaning
-doesn’t change part of speech or content meaning
-adds a grammatical element
-always suffix
-Very few:
* -s/-es: 3rd person sing (verb) or plural (noun)
* -ed: regular past & past participle
* -en: irregular past participle
* -ing: present participle
* -er: comparative
* -est: superlative
* -’s: possessive
What is an agglutinative language?
Lexical free morphemes more likely to be agglutinative (attached to other morphemes
Functional free morphemes more likely to stand alone
Adding free and bound morphemes to a root to create compound ideas
Modern English: not very agglutinative
Agglutination is bound morphemes
OE was more agglutinative than modern
Still remnants: houseboat, snowball, railroad
What are content words?
Nouns, main verbs, adjectives and adverbs
