Linguistics Flashcards
Phonetics
the study of the production of sounds in speech.
Phonology
closely related to Phonetics, but looks at the sound and patterns of particular languages.
Intonation
the way the voice rises and falls in speech.
Stress
emphasis placed on syllables or words.
Morpheme
the smallest unit of meaning in a language.
The word player is made up of two morpheme: ‘play’(which is also a word on its own) and /er/(which cannot stand on its own).
Morphology
the study of how morphemes are combined to make words.
Syntax
examines how words are constructed into phrases or sentences.
Semantics
is the study of meaning in language. Looks at how words are put together to create meaning.
Voiced
letter pairs, which are made by vibrating the vocal chords (feel your neck as you make the sound /z/, it vibrates)
Voiceless
letter pairs, which are made without vibrating the vocal chords (feel your neck as your make the sound /s/, it doesn’t vibrate)
Place of articulation
the point where two speech organs come together to make a sound, like /s/ and /z/.
Nasalization
Some words in English require nasalization, in which air comes through the nose when making a sound such as /n/.
Aspiration
Some words in English require aspiration, in which a sound is made with a burst of air out of the mouth as in the /h/ in hope.
Connected speech
when speakers simplify sounds and run words together.
Assimilation
occurs when a speech sound changes due to the influence of nearby sounds; thus ELLs must study not only the individual sounds but also the unique sounds that result from combinations of letters.
Diphthong
an example of assimilation,
is the sound made when one vowel sound blends into another vowel sound in one syllable (as in the /ou/ sound in loud);
they pose a challenge to nonnative speakers because they add to the list of vowel sounds that must be learned.
Consonant clusters
groups of two or more consonants (as in /pl/ in place, /nt/ in bent, and /sp/ in whisper),
pose a challenge to ELLs, as they must know not only the sounds made by the individual letters but also the unique sounds formed by their pairs.
Epenthesis
A common mistake for ELLs,
when pronouncing Consonant Clusters some learners insert a vowel between the consonants where their is none (/pl/ in place, they add a vowel and say “puh-lace”).
Voicing
when a voiceless consonant changes to a voiced consonant because of nearby sounds, or voiced to unvoiced.
For example, the /f/ in ‘reefs’ is unvoiced so the /s/ sound is also unvoiced; however the /v/ in ‘leaves’ is voiced, so the /s/ is also voiced.
Elision
when sounds are omitted from the pronunciation of a word, usually because the omission makes the word easier to use in everyday speech.
For example, ‘mac and cheese’ is usually pronounced as “mac ‘n’ cheese”.
Metathesis
when sounds are rearranged in a word, as when ‘iron’ is pronounced “iern”.
Why would a student be having problems being understood when she says the words ‘think’, ‘wreath’, ‘the’, and ‘ruthless’?
they are not distinguishing between the voiced and unvoiced /th/ sounds.
Vowel reduction
the shortening or diminishing of a vowel sound, occurs with many unstressed vowels in English.
In which of the following would a speaker most likely have rising intonation?
A. Please bring some bread.
B. I am afraid.
C. Frankie and Johnny are waiting outside.
D. Do you want to watch a movie?
A. INCORRECT. This sentence would likely end with a falling intonation.
B. INCORRECT. see above
C. INCORRECT. Rising intonation would change it from a statement to a question.
D. CORRECT. You end a question with rising intonation.
Bound morpheme
must be attached to a word to have meaning (like /er/).
Free morpheme
can stand on its own (like ‘play’).
Stem/Root
is a base word, often a free morpheme, to which other morphemes can be added.
Affix
(either a prefix or a suffix) is a bound morpheme that can be added to a root word to change its meaning, grammatical function, tense, case, or gender.
Inflectional morphemes
are bound morphemes that do not greatly alter the meaning or part of speech of a word.
Derivational morphemes
create a word that has a new meaning or part of speech.
The 'build' part of the word rebuilding is... A. a bound morpheme. B. an affix. C. a diphthong. D. a stem or root.
D. Correct. ‘BUILD’ is the root/stem of this word.
Which of the following statements is/are true?
A. A morpheme is the smallest unit on meaning in a language.
B. All words are morphemes, but not all morphemes are words.
C. An affix is a free morpheme.
D. Both A and B are true statements.
D. Correct.
Syntax
examines how words are arranged into phrases and sentences.
Noam Chomsky
writer on linguistics, whose theories of ‘transformational grammar’ revolutionized the study of language by turning the focus away from semiotics and meaning, toward the system of rules that dictate the proper sentence construction.
Syntax is concerned with which of the following?
A. how words are combined to convey meaning
B. stages of second-language acquisition
C. ensuring transfer of language skills from L1 to L2
D. how words are formed into phrases or sentences
D. CORRECT. Syntax is closely aligned with grammar.
Connotation
is the emotional association of a word. (best way to learn for ELLs is to immerse themselves in English media thru audio, video, and books)
Denotation
is a word’s actual dictionary definition.
Idiom
is a group of words whose meaning cannot be deduced from the meaning of the individual words in the group; put together the words take on a new meaning. (example; to jump on the bandwagon)
Semantics could be applied to which aspect of everyday English?
A. the use of quotation marks in quoted speech
B. the use of idioms
C. the pronunciation of vowels
D. the use of commas with conjunctions
B. CORRECT. An idiom’s meaning is connotative and thus a matter of semantics.
Which of the following statements, said while eating Cajun food for the first time at a friend’s house, would suggest that an ESOL student has a good grasp of connotative understanding?
A. This cuisine is delicious.
B. This slop is delicious.
C. This feed is delicious.
D. This stuff that people and animals eat is delicious.
A. CORRECT. The use of the word ‘cuisine’ demonstrates an understanding of the positive connotations of the word.
Pragmatics
examines the meaning in context.
Utterances
speech acts of one or more words that contain a single idea and are surrounded on both sides by silence.
Sociolinguistics
the study of language and its relation to society and culture, is significant because of its influence on language policy.
Language Policy
is the set of actions a government takes to regulate what language(s) is/are spoken in the given country.
Regional and Social Dialects
are language variations that are common to the people in a certain region or social group.
Pidgin languages
develop when people of two or more languages need to communicate, which is a grammatically simplified mode of communicating that uses elements of both languages. It is not native to an area or group; rather, it is a language of necessity that allows speakers of different languages to communicate, usually for trade.
Creole
is when a pidgin language becomes nativized, and people begin to speak it as their first language.
While her class is working on a science project, the teacher overhears a native English speaker and a Spanish-speaking ESOL student communicate using an impromptu siple language that seems to have both English and Spanish words. What would their 'language' be called? A. a pidgin B. a social dialect C. a regional dialect D. Universal Grammar
A. CORRECT. A pidgin is a grammatically simplified mode of communicating that may use elements of two or more languages.
In an ESOL classroom, the teacher makes an effort to use authentic audio materials that feature English speakers from England, India, Australia, and the United States as well as nonnative English speakers from Europe and Africa. Which concept would explain why this is a good strategy?
A. inter-language
B. Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) model
C. Language Experience Approach (LEA)
D. World Englishes
D. CORRECT. the concept that there are English speakers with various accents all over the world is p[art of World Englishes.
Communicative Competence
means being able to speak a language both appropriately in a social context as well as correctly in terms of the rules and structure. Broken down into four distinct areas; Linguistic Competence, Sociolinguistic Competence, Discourse Competence, and Strategic Competence.
Linguistic Competence
refers to one’s knowledge of the linguistic components of a language such as morphology, syntax, and semantics.
Sociolinguistic Competence
involves using the language in a socially appropriate way and understanding ‘register’
Discourse Competence
is the ability to effectively arrange smaller units of language like phrases and sentences into cohesive works like letters, speeches, conversations, and articles.
Strategic Competence
is the ability to recognize and repair breakdowns in communication through strategic planing and/or redirecting.
