W2 Structure of Language Flashcards
What are the five levels of studying language?
Phonetics/Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics.
What is a phoneme?
The smallest unit of sound in a language that can distinguish meaning.
What is a minimal pair?
A pair of words that differ by only one sound, leading to different meanings (e.g., pin/bin).
What is the difference between phonetics and phonology?
Phonetics studies the physical properties of sounds, while phonology studies how sounds function within a specific language system.
What are morphemes?
The smallest meaningful parts of words (e.g., “trees,” “rewriting,” “unhelpful”).
What are inflectional morphemes?
Bound morphemes that provide grammatical information (e.g., plural -s, past tense -ed).
What does the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) do?
Provides a standardized representation of sounds across languages, avoiding inconsistencies in spelling.
What are syllables?
Rhythmic units of words, which can be monosyllabic, bisyllabic, or polysyllabic.
What is syntax?
The study of word order and rules for combining words into sentences.
What is the “Wug” test?
A test used to assess children’s knowledge of morphological rules by asking them to pluralize a fictitious creature called a “wug.”
What are derivational morphemes?
Bound morphemes that create new meanings or change grammatical functions (e.g., un- + happy).
What is semantics?
The study of literal meaning and the relationships between words.
What is the basic structure of English sentences?
Subject-Verb-Object (SVO).
What is the difference between synonyms and antonyms?
Synonyms are words with similar meanings, while antonyms are mutually exclusive pairs with opposite meanings.
What is pragmatics?
The study of how language is used to achieve goals and the context-dependent meanings of utterances.
