Semantics Key Terms and Phrases

Question 1

Morphology

Answer 1

the study of the internal structure of words

Question 2

Phonology

Answer 2

the study of how languages organize speech sounds and how they convey meaning

Question 3

Philosophy

Answer 3

the study of philosophical issues that arise in linguistics

Question 4

Psychology

Answer 4

the study of the psychological processes involved in language

Question 5

Phonetics

Answer 5

a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive speech sounds

Question 6

Syntax

Answer 6

the study of how words and phrases are combined to form sentences

Question 7

Pragmatics

Answer 7

studies how language is used in context, and how people interpret meaning in communication

Question 8

Linguistics

Answer 8

the scientific study of language

Question 9

Minimal Pairs

Answer 9

words that have different meanings but only differ by one sound

Question 10

Stress Effects

Answer 10

the emphasis placed on syllables within a word to help distinguish words and determine meaning

Question 11

Tonal Effects

Answer 11

the use of pitch to distinguish words or grammatical categories in a language

Question 12

Description

Answer 12

the study of how language is used and structured, without comparing it to other languages or considering its history

Question 13

Variation

Answer 13

the study of how language varies across groups of speakers, and how this variation is related to social factors

Question 14

Complexity

Answer 14

a multidimensional field of linguistics that studies the structural complexity of languages, dialects, and varieties

Question 15

Combination

Answer 15

a group of words that frequently appear together and convey a specific idea or concept

Question 16

Systematicness

Answer 16

the statistical relationship between the patterns of sound in a group of words and how they are used

Question 17

Cognitive Science

Answer 17

related fields that study how the mind works and how language is structured and used

Question 18

Artificial intelligence

Answer 18

a branch of AI that allows computers to understand, process, and generate human language

Question 19

Cognitive

Answer 19

a field of study that combines knowledge from linguistics, psychology, and other disciplines to explore how language relates to cognition

Question 20

Semiotics

Answer 20

the study of how people create and interpret meaning through signs and symbols, including linguistic and non-linguistic communication methods

Question 21

Lexical Relations

Answer 21

the ways words are related to each other in a language and are important for understanding the meaning of words

Question 22

Context of Use

Answer 22

the environment in which language is used, and the factors that shape the meaning of the words and sentences

Question 23

Unidirectional

Answer 23

o the idea that linguistic change occurs in one direction, such as from lexical words to grammatical words

Question 24

Bidirectional

Answer 24

going in two directions or having parts that go in two directions, usually opposite from each other

Question 25

Presuppose

Answer 25

an implicit statement that is assumed to be true in order to make sense of what is being said or written

Question 26

Homophony

Answer 26

when two or more words have the same pronunciation but different meanings

Question 26

Homography

Answer 26

a linguistic phenomenon where words have the same spelling but different meanings

Question 27

Homonymy

Answer 27

the relationship between words that have different meanings but are spelled or pronounced the same, or both

Question 28

Polysemy

Answer 28

when a word or phrase has multiple related meanings

Question 29

Morphemes

Answer 29

the smallest units of meaning in a language that can be strung together to form words