Meaning in Language: An Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts introduced in the lecture on semantics and pragmatics.

Semantics

The study of meaning in language, focusing on the relationship between words and what they represent.

Pragmatics

The branch of linguistics that studies how context influences the interpretation of meaning.

Linguistics

The scientific study of language, including its structure, meaning, and context.

Expletive Insertion

The phenomenon of inserting an expletive into a host word to create amalgams, often for emphasis.

Amalgam

A combination of two or more words or morphemes into a single form, often for stylistic purposes.

Prescriptivism

An approach to language that emphasizes rules and norms for correct usage, often critiquing deviations.

Unconscious Knowledge

Knowledge that speakers possess about their language that they are not explicitly aware of.

Syllable Boundary

The division points in a word where syllables occur, which can affect language phenomena like expletive insertion.

Frame Sensitivity

The property of certain phrases that makes their acceptability dependent on the context or frame in which they appear.

Primary Stress

The syllable in a word that receives the most emphasis during pronunciation, influencing forms like expletive insertion.

Naturalness Judgments

Speaker intuitions about whether certain linguistic forms are acceptable or odd based on their linguistic knowledge.

Hypothesis Testing

The method by which linguists formulate, evaluate, and revise theories about language based on empirical data.

Meanings of Negation

The different interpretations that can arise from sentences that include negation, such as ‘not all’ versus ‘none’.

Negative Concord

A grammatical construction where multiple negative forms are used in a sentence, typically conveying a single negation.

Formal Semantics

A subfield of linguistics that employs mathematical tools to analyze meaning in language.

Linguistic Intuitions

The implicit knowledge and judgments that language users have about their language's grammaticality or acceptability.