vocab Flashcards
1
Q
Language
A
meaningful, intentional system of human communication whose components are arbitrary and conventional
2
Q
Speech community
A
the collective speakers of a language
3
Q
Linguistics
A
the scholarly study of a language, a language is usually equated with its spoken form
4
Q
Historical linguistics
A
the study of language through time
5
Q
grammar
A
the way in which a language is organized
6
Q
phonology
A
the system that organises the sounds of a language
7
Q
morphology
A
the system that organises meaningful units of a language into words
8
Q
syntax
A
the system that joins words into longer units such as phrases
9
Q
lexicon
A
the vocabulary of words in the language
10
Q
descriptivist (approach)
A
studies linguistic behaviour as a natural phenomenon and posits rules based on consistent, systematic patterns in language practice.
11
Q
Prescriptivist (approach)
A
seeks to regulate language practice.
12
Q
morpheme
A
smallest meaningful unit of a language
13
Q
free morpheme
A
Free morpheme: a morpheme that can stand on its own ex:bad
14
Q
bound morpheme
A
must be used in combination with other morpheme(s) to be meaningful ex:ly
15
Q
bases
A
free morphemes to which other morphemes are added
16
Q
affix
A
bound morpheme added to a base
17
Q
root
A
first base of a word
18
Q
etymology
A
the history of words
19
Q
derivational affixes
A
affixes that usually add to or change the meaning of a word when they are attached.
20
Q
word class
A
a category that determines how the word functions syntactically
21
Q
inflectional affix
A
an affix that does not change the wor’d meaning, but adds grammatical information about its syntactic function ex: plural form or changing verb tense
22
Q
dental suffix
A
a past tense marker in germanic languages, consisting of a suffix that contains the phonemes /t/ or /d/ (-ed and its variation) ex: weak verbs
23
Q
ablaut
A
In indo-european languages, changing the root vowel of a word to mark a morphological feature such as past tense ex: strong verbs
24
Q
comparative form
A
an inflectional form of an adjective that indicates more ex: bigger
25
superlative form
an inflectional form of an adjective that indicates ‘most’
26
periphrasis
adding separate words before the base word ex: the title of the book is _ instead of the book’s title is_
27
auxillary verb
a verb that is added before the main verb in periphrastic constructions
28
perfect aspect
action has been completed; marked by auxiliary verb have and the past participle ex: the have asked us
29
progressive aspect
the action is continuing, marked by auxiliary verb be and the present participle ex: they are asking us
30
future aspect
action will happen after time of utterance, marked by auxiliary verb will ex: they will ask us.
31
modal (auxiliary)
an auxiliary verb that indicates grammatical mood, i.e. the relation of the situation described to reality ex: might in might go
32
phrase
basic unit of syntax. Consists of a head: the word that defines what kind of phrase it is
33
clause
a combination of a noun phrase and a verb phrase
34
lexicography
the discipline of dictionary-making
35
headword (lemma)
a lexeme that serves as a dictionary entry
36
lexeme
A word and its inflected forms; the headword of a dictionary entry.
37
lexicon
The set of all lexemes in a language.
38
lexicology
The study of lexical items (words)
39
semantics
the (study of the) meanings of words.
40
"native" lexemes
A word that has been in the lexicon of a language throughout the history of the language.
41
borrowing
Process of adding new words to a lexicon by taking them from another language.
42
grammaticalization
a process by which the syntactic function of a lexeme becomes more important than its original meaning. Ex “a” used to just be a form of the numeral “one”
43
affixing (derivation)
the process of forming new words by adding affixes to bases Ex. adding affix “un” to “kind”, making “unkind”
44
Borrowing
Process of adding new words to a lexicon by taking them from another language.
45
Conversion (zero derivation, functional shift)
the process of forming a new lexeme by changing its word class without changing its form. Ex. the verb “empty” came from the adjective
46
loanwords
A word borrowed from another language.
47
compounds
A lexeme formed by combining two or more lexemes without changing their forms.
48
blends (portmanteau words)
combinations of two or more words that amalgamate. Ex motel= motor + hotel
49
back-formations
are the opposite of words formed by affixing they remove an affix to form a new word. Ex: deregulate is formed from deregulation
50
clipping
forms a new word by using only part of the original word phrase ex: exam from examination
51
acronyms
lexemes formed from the first letters of the words in a phrase, and pronounced as new words
52
initialisms
lexemes formed from the first letters of the words in a phrase, but pronounced as a sequence of separate letters. SOB = son of a bitch
53
calques
lexemes formed by translating each part of a phrase in another language ex: free verse from vers libre
54
onomatopoeia
forms words that imitate the sounds they represent Ex: Clash, Cuckoo
55
proper names
names for individuals, sometimes become words in the general lexicon Ex: Maverick (from Samuel Augustus Maverick), Tuxedo (from Tuxedo Park New York)
56
reduplication
forms words by repeating a root, often with one sound changed. Ex: Chit-chat, criss-cross
57
morphological misanalysis
forms new lexemes by analogy, but by misunderstanding the origins of the existing words. Ex Burger (originally clipped from Hamburg Steak, mistaken for ham+burger)
58
root creation
the invention of a new lexeme from no previous forms. Ex: Nylon
59
anglicised
Words changed from their original forms to fit the phonology of English
60
semantics
the meaning of a lexeme
61
semantic fields
sets of lexemes with related meanings
62
usage
the ways in which speakers (and writers) are most likely to use a word
63
taboo words
lexemes that speakers are expected to avoid in polite discourse
64
register
the level of formality in usage
65
slang
a very informal register of a language
66
colloquial
an informal register of a language.
67
writing
a static visual form of a language
68
script
print, and digital text
69
writing system
set of conventional written signs, or graphemes, used to communicate
70
graphemes
conventional sign which forms the basic unit of a writing system
71
syllabary
graphemes represent syllables
72
alphabet
a writing system in which each grapheme represents a phoneme
73
orthography
the written representation of language is called orthography
74
diagraph
combination of two graphemes
75
spelling reform
the attempt to improve the orthography of a language in some way
76
diachronic variation
shows the differences in th language at different historical times
77
synchronic variation
shows the difference in the language at the same historical time
78
regional dialect
form of english spoken by inhabitants f a particular geographical area
79
sociolect
form language used by members of a certain social class
80
standard
associated with written form, high level of prestige, supported by powerful social institutions, learned through formal education
81
vernacular
a language form used in everyday situations
82
bidialectical
using a standard variety in some situations and vernacular in others
83
dialect continuum
a group of language forms that are mutually intelligible to varying degrees
84
language form
a dialect or language
85
language contact
contact between people of different speech communities
86
primary language
native language, the language that you think in
87
secondary language
language you learn in addition to you primary language
88
fluency
the level of punctuality in a language
89
literacy
the ability to read and write fluently the usual written forms of a language
90
primary speaker of a language
person who uses the language as their primary. Secondary is similar but with secondary language
91
lingua franca
common language used by people from different linguistic backgrounds
92
arolect
higher social status and formal education
93
mesolect
lower social scale with differences from standard form
94
basilect
low social class, strongly influenced by primary language
95
occupational dialects
jargons, varieties of language that are specific to a particular type of activity
96
Transcribed
replaced with modern forms
97
Alliterative Verse
the rhythm depends on regular pattern of stressed syllables and the poetic lines are connected by the repetition of the initial sounds of the stressed syllables.
98
Cognate
a word that has the same etymological root as a word in a related language, but developed independently
99
protolanguage
a language that developed into other seperate forms
100
cognate languages
language forms descended from a common protolangauge.
101
language family
a group of cognate languages.
102
proto-germanic
protolangauge of germanic languages
103
proto-indo-european
protolanguage of the indo-european language family
104
protoform
reconstructed that is the hypothetical root of the cognate forms in related languages
105
Dialect leveling
A process by which differences between dialects are reduced.
106
glossaries
Bilingual dictionaries
107
inkhorn word
obscure loanwords meant to impress the reader. Borrowed from latin or greek Ex splendidious.
108
print
The mechanical reproduction of written texts by the repeated application of an inked engraved object to a medium such as paper.
109
do-support
the use of do as an auxiliary verb. Ex. deedes doe die vs. deeds die. Became an alternative way of marking negatives and questions. Supporting the sentence by adding do ex: do not
110
hardword
a loanword from another language.
111
manuscript
a document in which the text is written by hand, not printed by a machine
112
scribe
a person who writes the text of a manuscript
113
parchment
animal skin (usually of a sheep or calf) prepared as a writing surface
114
exemplar
manuscript from which another manuscript is copied
115
Autograph manuscripts
a manuscript in which the text is in the author’s own handwriting (as opposed to a copy made by a scribe)
116
scriptorium
workshop for medieval manuscript book production
117
declensions
noun, pronoun, or adjective inflection
118
dual form
an inflectional form for a group of two
119
conjugation
inflectional forms for verbs
120
epithet
a descriptive phrase
121
suppletion
replacement of some inflectional forms of a word with the equivalent forms of another word
122
prepositional phrase
first word must be preposition ex: of the utmost precision
123
reflex
later form of a word
124
productive
actively creating new forms
125
Kenning
In Old English poetry, a compact metaphor in the form of a short phrase or a compound word
