TIG053 Språk och Tanke Flashcards
Phonology
The abstract cognitive aspects of sounds within a linguistic system.
It focues on how sounds function and interact to convey meaning within a particular language or languages
Phonetics
Deals with the physical properties and production of speech sounds.
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
A standardized system of symbols used to represent the sounds of spoken languages.
Phoneme
An abstract unit of sound in a language that can distinguish meaning.
Mental Cognitive Sounds, “produced” in our heads.
They are often “defined” by their constrastive quality, meaning that they can changing a phoneme can change a words meaning.
Language Dependent.
Ex. /p/ in “pat” and /b/ in “bat”
Phone
The raw, physical manifestations of speech sounds.
A physically produced speech sound, representing one version of a phoneme.
“Live” in our mouths.
Ex. All the different versions of the “tuh” sound (made with different movements, but we still hear as just “tuh”)
Ex. [p] in “pin” and [pʰ] in “spot” (they all have the phoneme /p/)
Allophone
Allophones are all the different Phones that correspond to a single phoneme.
Language-Dependent.
Ex. That will say, all the different sounds (that look totally different on a spectrogram, Phones) but which English-speakers all hear as a “tuh” (which linguists would call /t/) are called Allophones of /t/
Phonetic Features
Distinctive attributes or characteristics of speech sounds used to describe and differentiate between sounds in a language.
Ex. Place of Articulation (Bilabial, Labiodentals, etc.), Manner of articulation (Stops, Fricatives, etc.)
Natural Class
A set of sound with phonetic features in common.
Ex. In English, the natural class of voiced stops includes the sounds /b/, /d/, and /g/.
Complementary Distribution
Two different pronunciations of a phoneme always used in different places in words
Phonemes or Allophones that do not appear in the same context. Instead, one appears where the other does not, effectively “complementing” each other.
Ex. In English, the aspirated [pʰ] and unaspirated [p] sounds are allophones of the phoneme /p/. They occur in complementary distribution based on their phonetic context:
The aspirated [pʰ] sound typically occurs at the beginning of a stressed syllable in words like “pat” or “spin.”
The unaspirated [p] sound typically occurs after the /s/ sound, as in “spot” or “speak.
Minimal Pair
Two words that are identical in form except for a contrast in one phoneme in the same position in each word.
Ex. “Bat”/”Pat”
Minimal Set
A group of words that are identical in form except for a contrast in one phoneme in the same position in each word.
Ex. “Pat”/”Bat”/”Mat”
Phonotactics
The permissible combination of sounds in a language.
It involves studying the rules and patterns governing the arrangement of sounds in syllables, words, and phrases.
Phonological Encoding
Cognitive process in language production that involves the conversion of abstract linguistic information (Ex. words or sentences) into the specific phonetic or articulatory representations needed for speech.
The process of giving sound to the abstract form of the word.
Phonetic Plan
Refers to the stage in the process of generating spoken language where abstract linguistic representations are translated into specific motor commands for articulation.
Phonetic Similarity
Means that two sounds share some properties.
Ex. Acoustic Properties (Pitch, Intensity, Etc.), Articulatory Properties
Morphology
A subfield of linguistics that studies the structure and formation of words in language.
Morpheme
The smallest units of language that carry meaning
Allomorph
Refers to different phonetic realizations of a morpheme.
Alternate realizations of the same morpheme, meaning they represent the same underlying concept or grammatical function but appear differently in different contexts.
Ex. The plural morpheme in English, which can take different forms depending on the final sound of the noun it attaches to. For instance:
- The plural of “cat” is “cats” (/s/ allomorph).
- The plural of “dog” is “dogs” (/z/ allomorph).
- The plural of “bus” is “buses” (/ɪz/ allomorph).
Stem
Refers to the core or root of a word, to which affixes can be attached.
The stem carries the basic meaning of the word and often remains unchanged or undergoes minimal alteration when affixes are added.
Ex. In “Running” the stem is “Run-“
Ex. In “Happiness” the stem is “Happi-“
Affix
(Bound) Morpheme that is added to a word or a root to create a new word or a different form of a word.
1. Prefix: Added to the beginning
2. Infix: Added to the middle.
3. Suffix: Added to the end.
a. Derivational Affixes: Morphemes that are added to a base word or root to create a new word with a different meaning.
b. Inflectional Affixes: Morphemes that are added to convey grammatical information such as tense, number, or case.
c. Productive Affixes: The affixes that are most likely to be used on novel words or when a new word is coined in the language and inflected or derived forms are based on this. They are commonly used and can be freely applied to create new words or forms in a language
Prefix
Bound Morpheme.
Affix added to the beginning.
Infix
Bound Morpheme.
Affix added to the middle.
Suffix
Bound Morpheme.
Affix added to the end.
Derivational Affixes
Morphemes that are added to a base word or root to create a new word with a different meaning.
Typically changes the word-class of the word.
Ex. “Teach” (Verb) → “Teach-er” (Noun)
Inflectional Affixes
Morphemes that are added to convey grammatical information such as tense, number, or case.
Ex. “Cat” → “Cat-s”, “Run” → “Runn-ing”
Productive Affixes
The affixes that are most likely to be used on novel words or when a new word is coined in the language and inflected or derived forms are based on this.
They are commonly used and can be freely applied to create new words or forms in a language.
Ex. In English, “-ize” (“Terror-ize”, “Hospital-ize”)
Grammatical Gender
Nouns are either masculine or feminine
Ex. In Spanish, “El Sol” and “La Luna”
Multiword Unit
A linguistic concept where two or more words are commonly used together as a single, cohesive unit of meaning.
Multiword units have meanings that are distinct from the sum of their parts.
Ex. “Kick the Bucket”, “Actions speak louder than words”, “Under the Weather”
Accommodation
Refers to the adjustment or modification of a linguistic form to match another linguistic element within a particular context.
Word-Forms
Refer to the different ways a word can appear based on variations in its structure.
Ex. Inflected Form (Indicate Grammatical, “Walk” → “Walked”), Compound Form (“Fire” + “Man” → “Fireman”)
Function Words
Also known as Grammatical Words or Closed-Class.
A type of word that primarily serves a grammatical function in a sentence rather than conveying specific lexical meaning.
Ex. “The”, “A”, “My”, “But”
Nonword (Nonsense Word)
A form that does not exist as a word in the language in question
Lemma
The base or dictionary form of a word.
Refers to the particular form that is chosen by convention to represent the lexeme.
Ex. “Run”, “Jump”
Slots-and-Fillers Account
Account of language production that says that first a frame is developed at some level of processing and then relevant items are slotted into the frame.
Ex. In the lexical insertion stage of production, the speaker might want to talk about dog, chase and cat and have the frame “The N V the N”. The slots (shown by N for noun and V for verb) received the fillers “dog”, “chase” and “cat”.
Lexeme
An abstract unit of meaning that represents a set of related words sharing a common core meaning.
Refers to the set of all the inflected or alternating forms in the paradigm of a single word.
Ex. The lexeme for the word “run” includes all its inflected forms such as “running,” “ran,” and “runs,” as well as derived forms like “runner” and “runnable.”
Morphologically Complex
Words that consist of more than one morpheme.
Ex. “Unhappiness”
Inflectional Morphology
Involves adding affixes to a word to indicate grammatical features such as tense, aspect, mood, number, case, or comparison.
Derivational Morphology (Derivation)
Involves adding affixes to a word to create a new word with a different meaning or belonging to a different word class (part of speech).
Bilabial
Place of Articulation.
Consonants.
A consonant produced by using both lips.
Labiodental
Place of Articulation.
Consonants.
A consonant produced with the upper teeth and the lower lip.
Alveolar
Place of Articulation.
Consonants.
A consonant produced with the front part of the tongue on the alveolar ridge.
Dentals
Place of Articulation.
Consonants.
A consonant produced with the tongue tip behind the upper front teeth.
Interdentals
Place of Articulation.
Consonants.
A consonant produced with the tongue tip between the upper and lower teeth.
The tongue tip is between the teeth.
Palatals (“Alveo-Palatal”)
Place of Articulation.
Consonants.
A consonant produced raising the tongue to the palate.
Velars
Place of Articulation.
Consonants.
A consonant produced by raising the back of the tongue to the velum.
Labio-Velar
Place of Articulation.
Consonants.
The articulation is between the back of the tongue and the soft-palate.
Glottal
A sound produced in the space between the vocal folds
Stop
Manner of Articulation.
Consonant.
Consonant sounds produced by completely obstructing the airflow in the vocal tract, then releasing it suddenly.
Fricative
Manner of Articulation.
Consonant.
Consonant sounds produced by forcing air through a narrow channel in the vocal tract, creating friction or turbulence.
Affricate
Manner of Articulation.
Consonant.
Affricates are consonant sounds that begin with a stop closure and then realease into a fricative position. They involve a gradual release of the airflow.
Nasal
Manner of Articulation.
Consonant.
Consonant sounds produced by lowering the soft palate, allowing air to flow through the nasal cavity while blocking the oral cavity.
Liquid
Manner of Articulation.
Consonant.
Consonant sounds characterized by a partial closure in the vocal tract, allowing air to flow around the sides.
Glide
“Semivowels”, they are consonant sounds that closely resemble vowels in their articulation, they involve a smooth transition from a more constricted to a more open articulation.
Consonant
A speech sound produced by restricting the airflow in some way.
Ex. “K”, “R”
Vowel
A sound produced through the vocal folds without constriction of the airflow in the mouth.
1. Short Vowel
2. Long Vowel
3. Diphthongs
4. Weak Vowels
Short Vowel
Vowels that are pronounced relatively briefly (compared to long vowels).
They must be followed by a consonant.
Ex. “cat” (/kæt/)
Long Vowels
Vowels that have phonetically a longer articulation.
Can occur at the end of a word with no following consonant.
Ex. “cake” (/keɪk/)
Diphthongs
Vowels that have phonetically a longer articulation.
Vowel sounds where the tongue glides from one vowel quality to another withing a single syllable.
Ex. “boy” (/bɔɪ/)
Weak Vowels
Vowels that are phonetically shorter. Can only occur in unstressed syllables. Have a reduced quality.
Ex. “cotton” (/ˈkɒ.tən/)
Fronted
Place of Articulation.
Tongue Position.
Vowels.
The tongue is positioned towards the front of the mouth, closer to the front teeth.
Backed
Place of Articulation.
Tongue Position.
Vowels.
The tongue is positioned towards the back of the mouth, closer to the throat
Closed
Place of Articulation.
Degree of Openness of the Mouth
Vowels.
A relatively small degree of openness of the mouth. The tongue is high up (towards the roof of the mouth). The tongue is tense.
Open
Place of Articulation.
Degree of Openness of the Mouth
Vowels.
A relatively large degree of mouth opening. The tongue is towards the base of the mouth. The tongue is more relaxed.
Voiced Sounds
Speech sounds produced with vibration of the vocal folds.
Ex. /b/, /z/
Voiceless Sounds
Speech sounds produced without vibration of the vocal folds.
Ex. /s/, /f/
Syllable
A unit of sound consisting of a vowel and optional consonants before or after the vowel. They are the building blocks of words.
Ex. “but”, “ter”, “fly” are syllables in “Butterfly”
Syllable Structure
How the segments making up a word or utterance are hierarchically organized into syllables
1. Onset
2. Nucleus
3. Coda
This can vary between languages.
Onset
Syllable Structure
The part of the syllable before the vowel
One or more consonants.
Rhyme (“Rime”)
Syllable Structure.
The part of the syllable containing the vowel plus any following consonant(s).
1. Nucleus (“Peak”)
2. Coda
Nucleus (“Peak”)
Syllable Structure.
The vowel in a syllable.
It has to have a Nucleus.
Coda
The part of a syllable after the vowel.
One or more consonants.
Open Syllable
A syllable that ends with a vowel (or nucleus) and has no coda.
Ex. “Go”, “She”
Closed Syllable
A syllable that ends with a consonant (has a coda).
Ex. “Cat”, “Net”
Consonant Cluster
Two or more consonants in sequence.
Ex. “bl” in “blast”
Trachea
Windpipe
Larynx
Voice Box.
Located in the neck at the top of the trachea and below the pharynx.
Vocal Folds (or Vocal Cords)
Thin strips of muscle in the larynx which can be open, in voiceless sounds, or close together, creating vibration in voiced sounds.
The “Glottis”
Located within the larynx, place a part in the regulation of airflow during respiration.
Pharynx
A muscular tube-shaped structure that serves as a passage for both air and food.
Uvula
A small, fleshy, cone-shaped structure that hangs down from the middle of the soft palate at the back of the throat
Palate
Refers to the roof of the mouth and is divided into two main parts: the hard palate and the soft palate (velum).
Velum (Soft Palate)
A flexible, muscular flap of tissue located at the back of the roof of the mouth. It separates the nasal cavity from the oral cavity.
The Hard Palate
The bony front portion of the roof of the mouth.
It forms the rigid, arched structure that separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity.
Alveolar Ridge
A raised, bony ridge located behind the upper front teeth in the mouth.
Coarticulation
The process of making one sound virtually at the same time as the next sound.
Assimilation
The process whereby a feature of one sound becomes part of another during speech production.
Nasalization
Pronunciation of a sound with air flowing through the nose, typically before a nasal consonant
Elision
The process of leaving out a sound segment in the pronunciation of a word.
Ex. “I’m” instead of “I am”
Tip-of-the-Tongue (TOT) Phenomenon
A psychological experience where an individual is unable to retrieve a known word or piece of information from memory, even though they are aware that they know it and feel that it is on the verge of being remembered.
Tongue Twisters
A sequences of sounds, words, or phrases that are challenging to pronounce, especially when spoken rapidly.
The likelihood of an error occurring is related to aspects of the production process.
Ex. “She sells seashells by the seashore.”
Real Word Bias (Lexicality Effect)
A phenomenon where models or algorithms may exhibit a bias towards recognizing and generating commonly used, “real”, words more accurately than rare or unconventional words.
Anomia
Difficulties in word-finding or word-retrieval. Difficulty recalling specific words, names, or terms, even though they may be able to describe the concept or object they are trying to name.
Similar to TOT Phenomenon
Malapropism
Speech error where the word produced is similar to the intended word in its sound shape, but not necessarily in its meaning
Ex. “Medication” used instead of “meditation”
This can happen during Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon.
Ex. “He is the very pinnacle of politeness” → “He is the very pineapple of politeness”
Lexical Stress Errors
Errors where the correct word has been produced, but with the wrong stress pattern.
Spoonerism
Wordplay/error in which the initial sounds or letters of two words are swapped to create a humorous or playful result.
Ex. “The Lord is a shoving leopard” (“The Lord is a loving sheopard”)
Mis-Selection Errors
Speech-/word error where the wrong element is inserted into the structure being produced.
1. Substitution
2. Blends
Involve words that are semantically related (words which have a clear meaning relationship to one another).
Mis-Ordering Errors
Speech-/word errors where linguistic units are entered in the wrong position in a structure.
1. Anticipation
2. Perseveration
3. Exchange
Substitution
Error of Mis-Selection.
One word replaces another word. Phonetic similarity.
More likely to involve Antonyms (words that are opposite in meaning).
Ex. “Close it so it doesn’t go STALE” → “Close it so it doesn’t go FRESH”
Blend (Error)
Error of Mis-Selection.
Two words are merged.
More likely to involve Synonyms or Near-Synonyms (words that have very similar meanings).
Ex. “Stomach”/”Tummy” → “Stummy”
Anticipation (Error)
Error of Mis-Ordering.
Slip of the tongue.
A sound or word from later in the sentence is spoken too early.
A type of slip of the tongue in which a sound is used in a word in anticipation of that sound in a following word
Ex. “I’m not a candidate for a cabinet position…” → “I’m not a cabinet…”
Ex. As in “a tup of tea” (“cup of tea”)
Perseveration (Error)
Error of Mis-Ordering.
Slip of the Tongue
The opposite of anticipation.
It occurs when a sound or word from earlier in the sentence is repeated later.
Ex. “How many pints in a pi…liter?”
Ex. “Black bloxes” (“Black boxes”)
Exchange (Error)
Error of Mis-Ordering.
Two words swap places.
A type of slip of the tongue in which sounds in two words are switched
Ex. “Just put a piece of cardboard in it “ → “Just pieace a put of carboard in it”
Ex. As in “you’ll soon beel fetter” (“feel better”) = Initial sounds change places
Ex. As in “stick neff” (“stiff neck”) = Final sounds change places
Omission
Speech-/Word Error.
A word is left out.
Ex. “It is an extremely INTERESTING way to look things up” → “It is an extremely way to look things up”
Addition (Error)
Speech-/Word Error.
An extra word appears.
Ex. “He behaved like a fool” → “He behaved AS like a fool”
Free Morpheme
A free morpheme is a morpheme that can stand alone as a word expressing a meaningful unit of language by itself.
Units that can stand on their own.
Ex. “Dog”, “Happy”
Bound Morpheme
A bound morpheme is a morpheme that cannot stand alone as a word but must be attached to another morpheme to convey meaning.
Units that cannot stand on their own.
Ex. “-er”, “-ing”
Morphological Decomposition
Breaking up of complex words into their component parts before looking these up in the mental dictionary during word recognition.
Ex. “Unhappiness” is
“Un-“ is a bound morpheme that indicates negation or reversal.
“Happy” is a free morpheme, representing a state of joy or contentment.
“-ness” is a bound morpheme that forms a noun denoting a state or quality
Derived Words
Words that are formed from existing words through the addition of prefixes, suffixes, or other morphemes.
These morphological processes are used to create new words from existing ones, often to convey different meanings, grammatical functions, or nuances.
Ex. “Teacher” from “Teach”+”er”
Transparent Relationship
Transparent relationships exist between words if these relationships are obvious.
Ex. “Teacher” from “Teach” + “er”
Opaque Relationship
Relationships between words do not exist (are opaque) if the relationship is not obvious.
Ex. “Butterfly” from “Butter” and “Fly”
Rule-Based Recognition System
Idea that different word-formations are derived by rule.
Linguistic rules are explicitly defined to recognize and process language patterns or structures.
They rely on a set of predefined rules to analyze and interpret language input.
These rules may involve syntactic, semantic, or pragmatic aspects of language.
Full-Listing System (Hypothesis)
Idea that all forms of a word are listed in the mental dictionary rather than derived by rule.
Language input is processed using a precompiled list of known words or phrases.
This approach relies on extensive databases or lexicons containing information about words, including their meanings, syntactic properties, and possible contexts of use.
Pre-Lexical Analysis
Refers to the initial stage of language processing where raw input, such as text or speech, undergoes basic preprocessing before more sophisticated linguistic analysis takes place.
This stage involves converting the raw input into a format that is suitable for further analysis by computational linguistic tools and algorithms.
The operations that are carried out on the speech input in order to organize it into useful unit.
Analysis of the input sound wave or the visual input that extracts relevant units for looking up entries in the mental lexicon.
Diphones
Consists of two phonemes or segments of speech that are separated by a boundary, typically at the midpoint of a phoneme.
Typically consonant-vowel or vowel-consonant pairs.
Ex. /p-ɪ/: This diphone represents the transition from the consonant /p/ to the vowel /ɪ/. It captures the sound produced when transitioning from the “p” sound to the “ih” sound as in the word “pit.”
Ex. The transition from the “k” sound to the “æ” sound in the word “cat.” This transition forms a diphone representing the two consecutive phonemes /k/ and /æ/.
Strong Syllable (Stressed Syllable)
A syllable in a word that is pronounced with greater emphasis or force than the surrounding syllables.
Ex. In the word “banana,” the stress is typically placed on the second syllable: ba-NA-na.
Weak Syllable (Unstressed Syllable)
Unstressed syllables are syllables within words that are pronounced with less emphasis or prominence compared to stressed syllables.
Ex. In the word “banana,” the stress is typically placed on the second syllable: ba-NA-na, making the other syllables unstressed
Segmentation
Refers to the process of dividing continuous streams of language into smaller, meaningful units.
These units can vary depending on the specific task and level of analysis but often include words, phrases, sentences, or phonemes.
Slip of the Ear
A processing error in which one word or phrase is heard as another
Misperception, resulting in the listener hearing something other than what the speaker intended.
Ex. As in hearing “great ape” when the utterance was “gray tape”
Parallel Model of Processing
When more than one option is processed or available at the same time.
Cohort Model of Word Recognition
Parallel Model of Processing.
Bottom-Up
A theoretical framework in psycholinguistics that explains how listeners recognize spoken words in real-time.
The model suggests that during spoken word recognition, listeners initially form a cohort—a set of candidate words—that match the initial sounds or phonemes they hear.
As more of the word unfolds, this cohort gradually narrows down until only the intended word remains.
Cohort
Refers to a group of words or linguistic items that share a common set of initial phonemes or letters and are activated simultaneously during language processing.
Ex. As you begin to say “Umbrella”, other words will be activated at the “Uh”-sound such as “Under”, “Umbilical”, “Up”, etc. As more of the word is heard, the words that are not “Umbrella” will be inhibited as they don’t match up.
Word-Initial Cohort
Refers to a specific subset of words that share the same initial phoneme or sequence of phonemes.
Connectionist Model
Connectionist models, also known as neural network models or parallel distributed processing (PDP) models, are computational models inspired by the structure and function of the human brain. These models consist of interconnected nodes (neurons) organized in layers, and they use distributed processing to simulate complex cognitive processes, including language processing, learning, and memory.
The terms “connectionist models” and “parallel models of processing” are often used interchangeably,
Interactive Activation (IA) Model
Connectionist Model (Parallel Model of Processing).
A theoretical framework in psycholinguistics that explains how listeners recognize spoken words in real-time.
Simulates how words are recognized in the mental lexicon based on the activation of interconnected nodes representing letters, phonemes, and words. The IA Model is based on the principles of interactive processing, parallel distributed processing, and competitive activation.
Framework for processing in which information spreads by way of activation from unit to unit within and between levels. It includes the concept of inhibition.
Inhibition
Prevalent in Interactive Activation (IA) Models.
Reduction in activation of recognition units such as words that might result for instance from competition between such units.
Serial Search Models
Theoretical frameworks used to describe how individuals process information in a step-by-step manner when searching through a set of items to identify a target item.
The speaker has access to one word at a time following a rather discrete and unidirectional flow of information between levels.
Directional Metaphor
A conceptual metaphor that involves using spatial orientation or directionality to convey abstract or metaphorical meanings.
Refers to the conceptualization of understanding or interpreting text in terms of movement or direction.
Left-to-Right Processing
Refers to the sequential manner in which information is typically processed or presented in languages that are written from left to right, such as English.
In left-to-right processing, information is presented in a linear fashion, starting from the left side and proceeding towards the right side
Lexical Access
Refers to the process by which individuals retrieve words from their mental lexicon, the mental repository of words and their meanings.
It is a fundamental aspect of language processing.
Getting hold of the information about a word that is stored in the mental lexicon.
Stage of word recognition at which stored information about a word becomes available for further processing.
Uniqueness Point
Step in the Recognition Process (= Knowing which word it is that we have heard).
In recognition of words in isolation from context, the point at which enough phonetic information has been heard to leave only one word-form as a possibility.
Recognition Point
Step in the Recognition Process (= Knowing which word it is that we have heard).
In word recognition, the moment at which it is clear what the word is. The position in the word on a left-to-right analysis of the input, and taking into account contextual constraints, at which it becomes distinct from other words.
Deviation Point
Step in the Recognition Process (= Knowing which word it is that we have heard).
The point at which a nonword becomes distinct from the existing words in the language.
Frequency Effect
Part of the Recognition Process (= Knowing which word it is that we have heard).
Refers to the finding that items or stimuli that occur more frequently in a given context are processed more quickly, accurately, or efficiently compared to less frequent items.
Recency Effect
Part of the Recognition Process (= Knowing which word it is that we have heard).
Relates to the finding that linguistic units such as words that have been used a short time ago are easier to recognize than those used longer ago.
Contingency of Choice
Lexical Access
Part of the Recognition Process (= Knowing which word it is that we have heard).
Notion that knowing you have heard one particular word depends on your having excluded other possible words.
Ex. Knowing you have heard the word “cat” depends not just on the sounds of “cat” , but also on knowing that you have not heard the words “cap” , “can” , “cash”
Ex. Hearing the nasalisation on the vowel in “spoon” makes it easier to recognise that word because it excludes words that don’t end in a nasal consonant, like “spook”
Neighborhood
Words that can be grouped together on the basis of their similarity to one another.
Ex. “Heat”, “Meat”, “Feat”
Ex. Word-Initial Cohort
Neighborhood Density
Refers to the number of neighbors a word has.
Measure based on the count of words that are similar to one another. This can have an effect on both the recognition and production of a word from that neighborhood.
A word with few phonologically similar words is said to have a sparse neighborhood, whereas a word with many phonologically similar words is said to have a dense neighborhood.
Metrical Segmentation Strategy (MSS)
One approach in spoken word recognition that suggests that in English word searches are started each time a strong or stressed syllable is encountered.
Process of breaking the speech input into units for processing/recognition on the basis of where the prosodically salient (prominent) units are.
Accounts for some slips of the ear
Ex. Hearing “A coke and a Danish” as “A coconut Danish”.
Fixed Stress
The position of the stressed (strong) syllable of a content word is entirely predictable.
Possible Word Constraint (PWC)
Ensures that the speech input is exhaustively broken into words without leaving any residual sounds.
Ex. It is more difficult for English listeners to detect the real word “see” when they hear the nonsense word /siʃ/ than when they
hear the nonsense word /siʃub / because the residue “sh” in the first case is
not a possible word of English, but the residue “shub” in the second case is a possible word, though it happens not to exist as a current word of English.
Syntactic Structure (Sentence Structure)
Refers to the way words are organized in a language to form grammatically correct sentences.
Refers to the arrangement of words and phrases within a sentence to convey meaning. It encompasses the rules and principles governing how words are combined to form grammatically correct sentences in a language.
Lexis
Refers to the vocabulary or the collection of words in a language.
It encompasses all the words and phrases that speakers of that language use to communicate.
It includes both individual words (such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs) and multi-word expressions (such as idioms, collocations, and phrasal verbs).
Lexis forms the building blocks of language and is essential for expressing thoughts, ideas, and concepts.
Passive Vocabulary
Refers to the words and expressions that an individual understands or recognizes when encountered in reading or listening but may not actively use in their own speaking or writing.
Active Vocabulary
Refers to the words and expressions that an individual can readily use in their own speaking or writing.
These are the words that someone is comfortable incorporating into their communication because they understand their meanings, pronunciation, and usage in context.
Lexical Unit
Refers to a single word or a group of words that functions as a single semantic unit within a language.
Lexical units include individual words, morphemes, and multi-word expressions that carry meaning and can be combined to form larger linguistic structures
Lexical (Open-Class) Words
Also known as content words or open-class words.
A category of words in a language that carry meaning and contribute to the substantive content of a sentence.
Nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. A class where words often and easily get added to.
Grammatical (Closed-Class) Words
Also known as function words or closed-class words.
A category of words in a language that primarily serve grammatical or structural functions rather than conveying specific lexical meaning.
Articles, conjunctions and prepositions. A class that don’t freely admit new members, and if they do it takes a long time and not that often.
Saussure’s Theory of the Sign
The idea that signs have two fundamental parts
1. Signifier: The form of the “thing used” to stand for something else.
2. Signified: The thing/idea/concept to which the signifier refers.
The relationship between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary, meaning that there is no inherent connection between the two.
The choice of signifiers to represent particular concepts or meanings is conventional and culturally determined.
Different languages may use different signifiers to represent the same signified.
Semantics
The study of the meaning of words, phrases and sentences
1. Referential Meaning: The basic components of meaning conveyed by the literal use of words, also described as “objective” or “conceptual” meaning.
2. Associative (or Emotive) Meaning: The type of meaning that people might connect with the use of words that is not part of referential meaning. Feelings or reactions to words that may be found among some individuals or groups but not others.
Sub-Lexical
The idea that there are many core blocks of meaning within the one lexeme.
Refers to the analysis and processing of linguistic elements that are smaller than whole words.
Ex. Semantic Features Approach
Semantic Features (Approach)
A linguistic theory that focuses on analyzing the meaning of words by breaking them down into their component semantic features or attributes.
Basic elements, such as “human,” included as plus (+human) or minus (−human), used in an analysis of the components of word meaning.
Supra-Lexical
The idea that core block of meaning reside across individual lexemes.
Ex. Semantic (Thematic) Roles Approach
Semantic Roles (Approach)
Also known as Thematic Roles or Theta Roles.
A linguistic theory that focuses on the relationships between the elements of a sentence and the semantic roles they play in conveying meaning.
Refer to the abstract semantic functions or roles that elements of a sentence fulfill with respect to the action or state described by the verb.
They are not tied to specific grammatical categories or positions within a sentence but instead reflect the underlying conceptual structure of the event described by the verb.
1. Agent: The semantic role of the noun phrase identifying the one who performs the action of the verb in an event.
2. Theme (or the “Patient”): The semantic role of the noun phrase used to identify the entity involved in or affected by the action of the verb in an event.
3. Instrument: The semantic role of the noun phrase identifying the entity that is used to perform the action of the verb
4. Experiencer: The semantic role of the noun phrase identifying the entity that has the feeling, perception or state described by the verb
5. Location: The semantic role of the noun phrase identifying where an entity is.
6. Source: The semantic role of the noun phrase identifying where an entity moves from.
7. Goal: The semantic role of the noun phrase identifying where an entity moves to
Agent
Semantic Roles.
The semantic role of the noun phrase identifying the one who performs the action of the verb in an event.
Theme
Semantic Roles.
Refers to the element of a clause that the rest of the clause is “about.”
The theme is often the subject or the topic of the sentence, but it can also be other elements depending on the context.
Ex. In the sentence “The cat chased the mouse,” “The cat” is the theme because it is what the rest of the clause (the action of chasing) is about.
Instrument
Semantic Role.
The semantic role of the noun phrase identifying the entity that is used to perform the action of the verb.
Experiencer
Semantic Roles.
The semantic role of the noun phrase identifying the entity that has the feeling, perception or state described by the verb.
Location
Semantic Roles.
The semantic role of the noun phrase identifying where an entity is.
Source
Semantic Roles.
The semantic role of the noun phrase identifying where an entity moves from.
Goal
Semantic Roles.
The semantic role of the noun phrase identifying where an entity moves to.
Lexical Relations
The relationships of meaning between words.
These relations play a crucial role in determining the meaning, usage, and organization of vocabulary.
Examples:
1. Synonymy
2. Hyponymy
3. Antonymy
4. Homonym
5. Polysemy
6. Homophones
7. Metonymy
8. Collocation
Synonymy
Lexical Relation of Similarity.
The lexical relation in which two or more words have very closely related meanings, or the same meaning.
Ex. “Happy” and “Joyful”
Hyponymy
Lexical Relation of Similarity.
The lexical relation in which the meaning of one word is included in the meaning of another.
Ex. “Rose” is a hyponym of “Flower”
Superordinate
Hyponymy.
The higher-level term in hyponymy.
Ex. “Flower”
Co-Hyponyms
Hyponymy.
Words in hyponymy that share the same superordinate.
Ex. “Rose” and “Dandelion” are co-hyponyms of the superordinate “Flower”
Prototype
(Part of the Prototype Theory).
The most characteristic instance of a category
Ex. “Robin” of the category of “birds”
Prototype Theory
A psychological theory of categorization within cognitive science and linguistics that suggests that concepts are organized in our minds around prototypical examples or central instances.
Paraphrase/Proposition
(Lexical Relation of Similarity).
To rephrase or convey the essence of a given statement or concept.
Antonymy
Lexical Relation of Dissimilarity
The lexical relation in which words have opposite meanings.
Ex. “Hot” and “Cold”
1. Gradable Antonymy
2. Binary/Complementary Antonymy
3. Converse/Reverse Antonymy
Gradable Antonymy
Lexical Relation of Dissimilarity
Words with opposite meanings along a scale.
Ex. “Hot” and “Cold”
Binary/Complementary/Non-Gradeable Antonymy
Lexical Relation of Dissimilarity
Antonyms which are direct opposites.
Not gradeable. The negative of one implies the other.
Ex. “Alive” and “Dead” (not alive implies dead)
Converse/Reverse Antonymy
Lexical Relation of Dissimilarity
Antonyms in which the meaning of one is the reverse action of the other.
Ex. “Buy” and “Sell”
Contradiction/Proposition
Lexical Relation of Dissimilarity
A statement, situation, or proposition that conflicts with or negates another statement, situation, or proposition.
Homonymy
Lexical Relation of Lexical Ambiguity.
Two words with the same form that are unrelated in meaning. They have separate histories and meanings but have accidentally come to have exactly the same form.
Ex. “Bat” can refer to a flying mammal or a piece of sports equipment used in baseball, but these meanings are unrelated
Polysemy
Lexical Relation of Lexical Ambiguity.
Refers to the phenomenon where a single word has multiple related meanings.
These meanings are often related to each other through a shared underlying concept or semantic domain.
Ex. “Bank” can refer to the side of a river (river bank) or a financial institution (bank), but both meanings are related to the concept of a place where something is stored or held
Homophones
Lexical Relation of Lexical Ambiguity.
Two or more words with different forms and the same pronunciation.
Ex. “Two”, “Too”, and “To”
Metonymy
Lexical Relation of Lexical Ambiguity.
A word used in place of another with which it is closely connected in everyday experience.
Ex. “Wall Street reacted positively to the news.” (referring to the financial industry or stock market)
Associative Relationship
Lexical Relationship.
Type of semantic relationship that words have with one another and which arises through their being used in the same contexts together or because the referents for these words are in the same semantic field.
1. Collocation
2. Semantically Related
3. Phonologically Related
Collocation
Lexical Relationship of Associative.
Words that typically occur together in a phrase or sentence.
Ex. “Fish” and “Chips”, or “Heavy” and “Rain”
Idiom
A phrase or expression whose meaning cannot be understood from the literal meanings of its individual words.
Idioms typically have a figurative or metaphorical meaning that is different from the literal interpretation of the words.
Ex. “Kick the bucket”, “Bite the bullet”
Semantic Primes
Fundamental words with which we can describe every other word in that language.
Refer to a set of basic, irreducible meanings that are assumed to be universal and innate across all languages.
These semantic primes are considered to be the foundational building blocks of human language, providing the basic concepts from which more complex meanings are constructed.
Ex. “I”, “You”, “Good”, “Bad”, “Mine”, Etc.
Corpus Linguistics
The study of language in use by analyzing the occurrence and frequency of forms in a large collection of texts typically stored in a computer.
Corpus
A large collection of texts, spoken or written, typically stored as a database in a computer.
Freudian Slips
Errors that are claimed to reveal repressed thoughts or feelings.
Lexical Morpheme
Free Morpheme.
A free morpheme that is a content word such as a noun or verb.
Ex. “Happy”, “Eat”
Functional Morpheme
Free Morpheme.
A free morpheme that is used as a function word.
Ex. “The”, “an”, “on”
Derivational Morpheme
Bound Morpheme.
A bound morpheme used to make new words or words of a different grammatical category.
Ex. Adding “-er” to “Teach” to create “Teacher”
Inflectional Morpheme
Bound Morpheme.
A bound morpheme used to indicate the grammatical function of a word. Also called an “inflection”.
Ex. “-ing” added to “Run” to create “Running”
Stem
The base form to which affixes are attached in the formation of words.
Ex. “Cat” to create “CATs”
Free Stems
Free Morpheme
Stems that can stand alone as words and are not required to be attached to any other morpheme.
Ex. “Form” to create “Deform”
Bound Stems
Bound Morpheme
Refers to a stem that cannot function as an independent word or morpheme and must be attached to other morpheme to create a complete word.
Ex. “vive” in “Revive”
Morph
A Morph is the phonological or orthographical shape of a morpheme
An actual form used as part of a word, representing one version of a morpheme.
Ex. The English past tense morpheme “-d” in the words “begged”, “walked” and “studied” is pronounced in three different ways, [-d], [-t] and [-id] as a result of their environments of occurrence.
= They are realized as three different morphs
Allomorphs
One of a closely related set of morphs.
Ex. The English past tense morpheme “-d” in the words “begged”, “walked” and “studied” is pronounced in three different ways, [-d], [-t] and [-id] as a result of their environments of occurrence. They are realized as three different morphs.
= The different realization of morphs is referred to as allomorphs.
Neologism
A new word
Etymology
The study of the origin and history of words
Borrowing
The process of taking words from other languages.
Ex “café” is borrowed from French
Loan-Translation/Calque
Neologisms. Borrowing.
A type of borrowing in which each element of a word is translated into the borrowing language.
Ex. “skyscraper” in English is a calque from the French “gratte-ciel,” where “gratte” means “scrape” and “ciel” means “sky.”
Compounding
Neologisms.
The process of combining two (or more) words to form a new word.
Ex. “Breakfast” + “Lunch” = “Brunch”
Blending
Neologisms. Compunding.
The process of combining the beginning of one word and the end of another word to form a new word.
Ex. “Smog” from “Smoke” + “Fog”
Clipping
Neologism.
The process of reducing a word of more than one syllable to a shorter form.
Ex. “Phone” from “Telephone”
Hypocorisms
Neologism. Clipping.
Word-formation process in which a longer word is reduced to a shorter form with “-y” or “-ie” at the end.
Ex. “William” → “Willy”
Backformation
Neologism. Clipping.
The process of reducing a word (such as a noun) to a shorter version and using it as a new word (such as a verb).
Ex. “Edit” from “Editor”
Conversion
Neologism.
The process of changing the function of a word, such as a noun to a verb, as a way of forming new words.
involves changing the grammatical category or function of a word without adding or subtracting any morphemes (in comparison to Backformation).
Ex. “Email” can be used as a noun (“Did you get the email I sent?”) or as a verb (“I will email you”)
Coinage
The invention and general use of totally new terms.
Ex. Trade names, Eponyms
Eponyms
Neologism. Coinage.
A word derived from the name of a person or place.
Ex. “Boycott” from the person Charles Boycott
Acronym
Neologism. Coinage.
A new word formed from the initial letters of the words. Pronounced as a phrase (compared to Initialism).
Ex. “NASA” from “National Aeronautics and Space Administration”
Initialism
A series of letters representing a phrase, with each letter standing for a word in the phrase.
Pronounced by saying each letter individually.
Ex. “BBC” from “British Broadcasting Corporation”
Analogy (Neologism)
A process of forming a new word that is similar in some way to an existing word.
Traditional Grammar
The description of the structure of phrases and sentences based on established categories used in the analysis of Latin and Greek.
It categories into
1. Parts of Speech: Ex. Nouns, Verbs, etc.
2. Syntax
Etc.
Nouns
Parts of Speech.
A noun is a word that represents a person, place, thing, or idea.
Examples include “dog,” “Paris,” “book,” and “happiness.”
Pronoun
Parts of Speech.
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun to avoid repetition.
Pronouns can represent specific persons or things (e.g., “he,” “she,” “it”) or be more general (e.g., “everyone,” “something”)
Verb
Parts of Speech.
A verb is a word that expresses an action, occurrence, or state of being.
Verbs can show action (e.g., “run,” “eat”), existence (e.g., “is,” “are”), or state (e.g., “become,” “seem”)
Adjective
Parts of Speech.
An adjective is a word that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun, providing additional information about its qualities or attributes.
Adjectives answer questions such as “What kind?” or “Which one?”
Examples include “red,” “tall,” and “happy.”
Adverb
Part of Speech.
An adverb is a word that modifies or describes a verb, adjective, or other adverb, indicating manner, time, place, degree, or frequency.
Adverbs answer questions such as “How?” “When?” “Where?” “How much?” or “How often?”
Examples include “quickly,” “often,” “here,” and “very”.
Preposition
Part of Speech.
A preposition is a word that establishes a relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence, indicating direction, location, time, or other spatial or logical relationships.
Examples include “in,” “on,” “at,” “under,” and “between.”
