Syntax and Morphology Flashcards
Affix
A meaningful form that is attached to another form, to make a more complex word (un+kind+ness)
Aspect
The duration or type of temporal activity denoted by a verb, e.g. completion or non-completion of an action.
Auxiliary Verb
A verb used along with a lexical verb to make grammatical distinctions
Bound Form
A morpheme that cannot occur on its own as a word (de-, -tion)
Case
In an inflecting language, the form of a noun, adjective, or pronoun, showing its grammatical relationship to other words.
Chereme
The smallest contrastive unit in a sign language.
Deep Grammar Structure
An underlying level of grammatical organization that specifies how sentences should be interpreted.
Derivation
A major process of word formation, esp. using affixes to produce new words (act to action). The set of analytical steps required to generate a sentence.
Description
An objective and systematic count of the patterns and use of a language or variety.
Ellipsis
The omission of part of a sentence, where the missing element is understood from the context. (Where is the book? On the table).
Free Form
A minimal grammatical unit that can be used as a word without additional elements; also known as a free morpheme.
Generative
Said of a grammar that uses a set of formal rules to define the membership of (generate) the infinite set of grammatical sentences in a language.
Hierarchy
A classification of linguistic units into a series of successively subordinate keels, esp. an analysis of sentences into clauses, phrases, words, and morphemes.
Inflection
An affix that signals a grammatical relationship, e.g. case, tense (girl’s, walkED)
Modal
A verb that signals contrast in speaker attitude (mood), e.g. may, can.
Morpheme
The smallest contrastive unit of grammar (man, de-, -tion, -s)
Morphology
THe study of word structure, esp. in terms of morphemes.
Prescription
An authoritarian (prescriptive or normative) statement about the correctness of a particular use of language.
Productivity
The creative capacity of language users to produce and understand an indefinitely large number of sentences.
Recursive
Said of a grammatical rule that is capable of repeated application.
Syllable
An element of speech that acts as a unit of rhythm, consisting of a vowel, syllabic, or vowel/consonant combination.
Syntax
The study of word combinations; also, synthetics. The study of sentence structure.
Telegrammatic/Telegraphic
Said of speech that omits function words and dependent content words (Man kick ball).
Tense
A change in the form of a verb to mark the time at which an action takes place (past, present, etc.)
