LING 443 - Chapter 1

Defining Language & Components of Langugae

Definition of Language

Symbolic system of signs conventional to (or agreed by) a group and is creative

System

Things that separately don’t have any meaning or function, but put together work towards making something alive or have meaning

Signs

Things that points to other things. Can be sounds or actions (eg. body language)

Lexicon

Vocabulary

How is language creative?

It is learned and has a grammar which allows speakers a lot of different options for creating different messages and meanings

What are “universal semantic features,” and what are some of them?

They shared meaning blocks that are present in every language, like opposites. For example Adults (+) and children (-). The + and - system is used.

What does phonology mean? What is phon in Greek?

The study of distinctive phonemes within a language.

Phon means sound or voice

Syntax

Structure of a sentence (how is it organized and how this order has a meaning)

Semantics

Meaning that different words carry. Determined by denotation and connotation.

Denotation

Literal, objective meaning

Connotations

Associations or emotions that a world (and the object it names) evokes.

Feeling associated with a world by an individual, group, or a culture.

Extension of a word

All the meanings to which the word refers.

Extension of dog includes all ‘Collies, Dalmatians, Dachshunds, etc.’

Intension of a Word

Set of properties or defining characteristics.

Intention of Dog is a ‘four-legged mammal belonging to the genus Canis.’

Morphology

Study of the form and formation of words in a particular language.

Morpheme

Smallest meaningful units of language

What is a root?

Carry the major meaning of the word. Most are free but some need to be bound.

Affix

Can be either prefixes or suffixes. Don’t carry the principal meaning of a word but create new words from existing ones, and signal gramatical distinctions (singular, plural, tense of a verb)

Derivation

The creation of a new word. Words change their whole meaning when added prefixes or suffixes.

Inflection

The word changes its gramatical meaning but not its general meaning

Compounding

When two (free) roots are bound together and make a new word

Synthetic Languages

Rely heavily on inflections (verb conjugations, gender, tense, gender, etc). Without them, the language doesn’t make sense. Like Latin, Spanish, German, Russian

Analytical languages

Rely more on the word order. Uses more auxiliary words and particles instead of modifying word forms. Like Vietnamese, Modern English, Chinese.