Vocabulary File 5.0

Question 1

Syntax

Answer 1

A component of mental grammar that deals with constructing phrasal expressions out of smaller expressions. Also a name for the subfield of linguistics that studies how expressions can combine to form larger expressions.

Question 2

Grammatical

Answer 2

A term used to describe a sentence that is in accordance with the descriptive grammatical rules of some language, especially syntactic rules. When some phrasal expression is constructed in accordance with the syntactic rules of a language, we say it is grammatical or syntactically well formed.

Question 3

Grammaticality Judgment

Answer 3

An instance of a native speaker of some language deciding whether some string of words corresponds to a syntactically well-formed or grammatical phrasal expression in their native language.

Question 4

Ungrammatical

Answer 4

Not in accordance with the descriptive grammatical rules of some language, especially syntactic rules. When some phrasal expression is not constructed in accordance with the syntactic rules of a language, we say it is ungrammatical or syntactically ill-formed.

Question 5

Phrasal Expression

Answer 5

A linguistic expression that results from the syntactic combination of smaller expressions. A multi-word linguist expression. A sentence is a special kind of phrasal expression.

Question 6

Lexical Expression

Answer 6

A linguistic expression that has to be listed in the mental lexicon, for example: single word expressions and idioms

Question 7

Syntactic Properties

Answer 7

Properties of linguistic expressions that dictate how they can syntactically combine with other expressions, namely, word order and co-occurrence properties

Question 8

Word Order

Answer 8

The linear order in which words can occur in some phrasal expressions. Also, the set of syntactic properties of expressions that dictates how they can be ordered with respect to other expressions.

Question 9

Syntactic Constituent

Answer 9

A group of linguistic expressions that function as a syntactic unit within some larger expression; the smaller expressions out of which some larger phrasal expression was constructed in accordance with the phrase structure rules.

Question 10

Substitution

Answer 10

In syntax, a constituency test that involves replacing a constituent with a single word (or simple phrase), such as a pro-form. In language processing, a production error in which one unit is replaced with another.

Question 11

Syntactic Category

Answer 11

A group of expressions that have very similar syntactic properties. All expressions that belong to the same syntactic category have more or less the same syntactic distribution.

Question 12

Syntactic Distribution

Answer 12

Refers to the set of syntactic environments in which an expression can occur. If two expressions are interchangeable in all syntactic environmemts, we say that they have the same syntactic distribution and therefore belong to the same syntactic category.

Question 13

Lexical Ambiguity

Answer 13

The phenomenon where a single word is the form of two or more distinct linguistic expressions the different meaning or syntactic properties.

Question 14

Homophony

Answer 14

The phenomenon by which two or more distinct homophones or non-phrasal linguistic expressions happen to have the same form, for example, sounds the same.

Question 15

Ambiguity

Answer 15

The phenomenon by which a single linguistic form (e.g., a word or a string of words) can be the form of more than one distinct linguistic expression. The form that is shared by more than one expression is said to be ambiguous.

Question 16

Agreement

Answer 16

The phenomenon by which certain expressions in a sentence (e.g., a verb and it’s subject) must be inflectionally marked for the same person, number, gender, etc.

Question 17

Adjunct

Answer 17

A linguistic expression whose occurrence in a sentence is optional; also called modifier.

Question 18

Mass Noun

Answer 18

In simple terms, a noun that cannot be counted and cannot (normally) be pluralized.

Question 19

Count Noun

Answer 19

In simple terms, a noun that can be counted and pluralized.

Question 20

Determiner

Answer 20

The name of a lexical category and a syntactic category that consist of expressions such as… the, a, this, all, etc. Syntactically, consistent of those expressions that when combined with an expression of category now to there right result in an expression of category noun phrase.

Question 21

Noun Phrase

Answer 21

The name of a syntactic category that consists of proper names, pronouns, and all other expressions with the same syntactic distribution.

Question 22

Intransitive Verb

Answer 22

The name for the set of lexical expressions whose syntactic category is verb phrase.

Question 23

Verb Phrase

Answer 23

The name of a syntactic category that consist of all expressions that, if combined with a noun phrase to their left, result in a sentence.

Question 24

Ditransitive Verb

Answer 24

The name of a syntactic Category that consist of those expressions but if combined with two expressions of category noun freeze to the right result in a verb phrase. A verb that needs two noun phrase complements.

Question 25

Argument

Answer 25

A linguistic expression that must occur in a sentence if some other expression occurs in that sentence as well. If the occurrence of an expression X in a sentence requires the occurrence expression Y in that sentence, we say that Y is an argument of X

Question 26

Cleft

Answer 26

A type of sentence that has the general form “It is/was X that Y”. Can be used as a constituency test

Question 27

Linguistic Expression

Answer 27

A piece of language with a form, meaning, and syntactic properties

Question 28

Topicalization

Answer 28

A syntactic process by which (in English) a syntactic constituent occurs at the beginning of a sentence in order to highlight the topic under discussion.

Question 29

Transitive Verb (TV)

Answer 29

The name of a syntactic category that consists of those expressions that if combined with an expression of category noun phrase to their right result in a verb phrase, a verb that needs a noun phrase complement.

Question 30

Verb Phrase Adjunct

Answer 30

A kind of adjunct that combines with an expression of syntactic category verb phrase with the resulting expression also being of category verb phrase.

Question 31

Co-occurrence

Answer 31

The set of syntactic properties that determine which expressions may or have to co-occur with some other expressions in a sentence.

Question 32

Lexicon

Answer 32

A mental repository of linguistic information about words and other lexical expressions, including their form and meaning and their morphological and syntactic properties. As a part of a descriptive, not mental, grammar, the lexicon is the representation of the mental lexicon, consisting of lexical entries that captures the relevant properties of lexical expressions.

Question 33

Morphosyntax

Answer 33

The name for syntax and morphology considered jointly as a single component of grammar.

Question 34

Noun Adjunct

Answer 34

A kind of adjunct that combines with an expression of syntactic category noun with the resulting expression also being of category noun.

Question 35

Object

Answer 35

A noun phrase that usually occurs immediately to the right of the verb in English. A noun phrase complement.

Question 36

Phrase Structure Tree

Answer 36

A visual representation of how phrases are constructed within a descriptive grammar, given the lexicon and the phrase structure rules.

Question 37

Phrase Structure Rule

Answer 37

A recipe for syntactically combining expressions of certain syntactic categories. Along with the lexicon, freestructure rules are a part of a descriptive grammar of some language.

Question 38

Pro-form

Answer 38

A word (e.g., a pronoun) that can replace a syntactic constituent.

Question 39

Principle of Compositionality

Answer 39

The notion that the meaning of a phrasal expression is predictable from the meanings of the expressions it contains and how they were syntactically combined.

Question 40

Sentential Complement Verb

Answer 40

The name of a syntactic category that consists of those expressions that if combined with a sentence to their right result in a verb phrase; a verb that needs a sentence as it’s complement.