Linguistics - chapter 1 and 2

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts, linguistic branches, and morphological definitions from Linguistics 150 (Week 1, Day 2).

linguistics

scientific study of language and the ways it work

learning about language

five branches of linguistics we will focus on

phonetics, phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax

phonetics

the study of human speech sounds, how sounds are produced and perceived

articulatory phonetics

production of human speech sounds, how speech organs make them

acoustic phonetics

physical properties and perception of sound waves

orthography

spelling system of a language,

does not consistently or accurately represent spoken sounds

bAdly versus villAge

phonology

study of how sounds are organized in a language, categorizing sounds and the different functions.

morphology

study of word structure and formation

morpheme

smallest or minimal meaningful unit of language that combine to form words

semantics

study of lexical (word) meaning

fatherly verses paternal

syntax

the study of a sentence formation

transparent morphology

morphological structure where the component morphemes and their meanings are easily identifiable and consistent

walk, walks, walked, walking

opaque morphology

morphological structure where historical shifts in meaning, usage, or pronunciation obscure the original constituent morphemes

reduce, deduce, seduce, induce

the four morpheme problems

a morpheme is not the same as a syllable

• syllable is vocal elements

• pregnant = 2 syllables pre-gn-ant = 3 morphemes

two different morphemes may be homophonous (sound same)

• in-capable in = ‘not’. v.s in - vade in = “into”

multiple morphemes may be synonymous (mean approx. the same thing)

• dei - god (latin) theo - god (greek). god - god (germanic)

historical meaning is not always the same as current (semantic change)

• WIFE: women - women of humble rank - female spouse

denotation

share same basic meaning

connotation

subtler secondary association of word (style, mood, familiarity)

native word

familiar, basic, shorter

borrowed words

formal, technical, longer

inherited

grammar and vocab passed down by speaker with minimal cumulative small changes

related

decend from same language

sociolinguistics

study of social factors in language variation and change

word analysis

parse the word, gloss the morphemes, posit a literal definition based on the glosses

parse

to divide the word into morphemes

• separate morphemes with slashes

• mark prefixes and suffixes with hyphens

• mark fillers with parentheses

• leave roots unmarked

gloss

write the meaning of each morphemes

• write all of the glosses for each morpheme

• for fillers, write filers

loanwords / borrowed words

words adopted by speakers of one language from a different language

• a consequence of cultural contact between two language communities

• pronunciation is often affected

most important factor in the growth of english vocabulary

tendency to borrow

where do english words come from

native sources (inherited)

borrowed sources (classic languages or other languages)

classical languages

greek, latin, french

why do languages borrow words

need - your language has no words for some concept

prestige - another language variety has higher social status