Semantics and Pragmatics Flashcards
Arbitrariness
The absence of any physical correspondence between linguistic signals and entities to which they refer.
Code-switching
Changing from the use of one language or variety to another (language mixing)
Cohesion
THe formal linkage between the elements of a discourse or text (the pronoun is ‘cohesive’ in “The man left. HE…”.
Content Word
A type of word that has an independent, ‘dictionary’ meaning (chair, run)
Context
The linguistic environment of an element, or the non-linguistic situation in which language is used.
Cooperative Principle
A tacit agreement between speakers to follow the same set of conventions (‘maxims’) when communicating.
Displacement
The ability of language to refer to contexts removed from the speaker’s immediate situation (I was angry yesterday)
Eponym
The name of a person after whom something, e.g. a place, a book title, is named
Felicity Condition
The criteria that must be satisfied if a speech act is to achieve its purpose
Function Word
A word whose role is largely or wholly to express a grammatical relationship (to, a)
Iconic
Said of signals whose physical form corresponds to features of the entities to which they refer (as in onomatopoeia, e.g. cuckoo)
Indirect Speech Acts
An utterance whose linguistic form does not directly reflect its communicative purpose (using “It’s cold in here” to mean ‘Close the window”)
Language
The systematic, conventional use of sounds, signs, or written symbols in a human society for communication and self-expression. They symbolic aspects of language, excluding phonetics (and often phonology)
Malapropism
An inappropriate word, used because of its similarity in sound to the intended word (a paradigm of virtue)
Overgeneralization
A learner’s extension of a word meaning or grammatical rule beyond its normal use (men to mens, gooses, etc)
