Language and Linguistics

Flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the Language and Linguistics lecture.

Linguistics

The scientific study of language.

Phonology

The study of how sounds are organized and used in languages.

Morphology

The study of the form and structure of words, including prefixes, suffixes, and roots.

Syntax

The set of rules that govern the structure of sentences, including how words and phrases are arranged.

Semantics

The study of meaning in language, including word meanings, implications, and relationships.

Pragmatics

The study of how language is used in context and the social aspects of communication

Phonemic Awareness

The ability to recognize and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.

Phonics

The relationship between letters and the sounds they represent, crucial for reading and writing.

Alphabetic Principle

The concept that letters represent sounds in words.

Parts of Speech

Categories of words based on their function in a sentence, including nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.

Declarative sentence

A sentence that makes a statement and ends with a period.

Interrogative sentence

A sentence that asks a question and ends with a question mark.

Imperative sentence

A command or request that ends with a period or exclamation point.

Exclamatory sentence

A sentence that expresses strong emotion and ends with an exclamation point.

"What a beautiful day!" is an example of a(n)

exclamatory sentence

"Close the door!" is an example of a(n)

imperative sentence

"Are you excited?" is an example of a(n)

interrogative sentence

"The sky is blue." is an example of a(n)

declarative sentence

What principle does this example illustrate?

A child understands that the letter E says /eh/ or /ee/ and the letter K says /k/ before they can read and write.

Alphabetic principle

This principle is fundamental to reading and writing in alphabetic languages, as it provides the foundational knowledge that each letter corresponds to a specific phoneme or sound

Alphabetic principle

True or false: Phonetics is one of the main areas of study within linguistics.

True

A main area of study within linguistics that relates to sound systems is…

Phonology

The study of word formation in linguistics is called…

Morphology

Which area of study in linguistics focuses on sentence structure?

Syntax

The branch of linguistics concerned with meaning is known as

Semantics

What area of linguistics is this an example of?

The word 'unhappiness' can be broken down into the prefix 'un-', the root 'happy', and the suffix '-ness'

Morphology

What area of linguistics is this an example of?

The word 'bank' can refer to a financial institution or the side of a river, demonstrating polysemy, where a single word has multiple meanings.

Semantics

What is a morpheme?

The smallest grammatical unit in a language that carries meaning

'Cats' contains two ______: 'cat' (the base or root) and 's' (a suffix indicating plural)

morphemes

How many morphemes are in the word “unhappiness”?

3 morphemes

'un-' (prefix meaning 'not')

'happy' (the root)

'-ness (suffix)

In the sentence “It's getting late, and I have an early morning tomorrow.”, a person states that it is getting late, but does not directly say that they want to go home or stop talking. What is this an example of in linguistics?

Pragmatics

In ____,  students start with individual sounds and gradually say them closer and closer together until they hear the word that is formed

Blending

•  “c……a…….t”

• “c…..a…..t”

• “c–a–t”

• “cat”

Is an example of

phoneme blending

In this _____ _____ activity, the teacher says the two syllables of each word and the students repeat and orally combine the syllables to make words. For example: “din - ner” → “dinner”

syllable blending

In ______, students orally say a word slowly and gradually separate it into parts

Segmenting

• fish

• /f/

• /i/

• /sh/

is an example of

phoneme segmentation

Phonological awareness refers to ___ language

oral

Phonics refers to ___ words

printed

Instruction of phonemic awareness should ____ any phonics lessons

precede

Phonemic awareness is largely a _____ _____, meaning training one’s ears to listen effectively and filter out needed information

listening activity

Mixing phonemic awareness and phonics can lead to _____ _____ and is _____ in developing reading and writing skills

student confusion; not productive

The ______ relationship is the ability to see a letter and attach a sound to it

Symbol-sound relationship

Sound-symbol relationship

The connections between phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (symbols or letters).

The example below demonstrates what kind of phonic relationship?

the sound /m/ is associated with the letter "m"

Sound-symbol relationship

A pronoun is

a word that can replace a noun

Mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs are examples of _____ pronouns

possessive

What type of pronoun is being used in these sentences?

• I am afraid of mice.

• The toaster gets really hot when it heats bread.

• My cats are friendly, so you can safely pet them.

Personal

What type of pronoun is being used in these sentences?

• I need to find a person who can read Swedish.

• She doesn’t want to eat a meal that is too spicy.

• This book, which ends on a cliffhanger, is really exciting.

relative

Relative pronouns

connect dependent clauses to independent clauses.

An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that

doesn’t specifically identify who or what it is referring to

These are examples of ____ pronouns

• some, somebody, anyone, anywhere, nothing, everybody

indefinite

Demonstrative pronouns are used to

point to specific things

What type of pronoun is being used in these sentences?

• This is my favorite shirt.

• I don’t know what that is, but it definitely isn’t friendly.

• I need you to fix these.

Demonstrative

Reflexive pronouns are used as

an object of a verb that refers to the same person or thing as the subject of the verb.

What type of pronoun is being used in these sentences?

• Ken looked at himself in the mirror.

• I like to cheer myself up with desserts.

• The silly clowns made fools of themselves.

Reflexive

What type of pronoun is being used in these sentences?

• That toy on the shelf is mine.

• All of the houses in our neighborhood look the same, but ours is the only one with a satellite dish.

• Wendy and Ronald separated the french fries into two piles: the left one was hers and the right one was his.

Possessive

Linking verbs

Do not describe actions, rather, they describes a state of being

to be, to become, and to seem are examples of _____ verbs.

linking

In these examples, what type of verb was being used?

• Pete is my favorite dog.

• That car was incredibly fast.

• I am happy that I passed my math exam!

• The house smells like the ocean breeze.

• Nancy feels a bit sick today.

linking

Helping verb “help” the main verb in a sentence by …

adding detail to the main verb

Helping verbs can either be auxiliary, meaning

They can clarify WHEN an action happens (verb tense)

These are examples of _____ verbs

• I am having another piece of pizza.

• He had asked if he could take that blanket.

• Dave has been working on the task all day.

auxiliary (helping)

These are examples of _____ verbs

• You should go home and lie down.

• I wish I could sing.

• I might eat pizza for dinner.

modal

When helping verbs are modal, it means

they express possibility, ability, suggestion, necessity, or permission

Helping verb or linking verb?

I have seen you around school.

Helping verb (seen is the main verb)

Helping verb or linking verb?

You look wonderful today.

Linking verb (look is the main verb)

Helping verb or action verb?

Trey has many friends at this company.

Action verb (has is the main verb)

Helping verb or action verb?

We do want to help our community.

Helping verb (want is the main verb, do is helping)

“Whatever a fox can do to a box” - He can go up, around, over, under, in, on, through

Is an example of

Preposition

Conjunction

join together two or more words, phrases or clauses

Interjection

adds excitement or emotion to a sentence, usually at the beginning of a sentence

“Yay! We won the game!”

is an example of what part of speech?

Interjection

In a sentence, a predicate is

Part of the sentence that contains the verb and more info about the subject

In a sentence, a subject refers to

who or what the sentence is about

Clauses are

groups of words that contain a subject and a verb, which can either be independent or dependent.

“I was a little girl in 1995” is a(n) independent/dependent clause

independent clause

“Because I was a little girl in 1995” is a(n) independent/dependent clause

dependent clause

• is a complete thought.

• can stand by itself.

An independent clause

• is an incomplete thought

• cannot stand by itself.

A dependent clause

These are examples of _____ sentences:

• Johnny rode his bike to school.

• Who is your best friend?

• She ate her lunch, took a walk, and went back to work.

Simple

Compound sentence

contains two independent clauses, joined by a coordinating conjunction or a semicolon.

These are examples of _____ sentences:

• She wanted to go on vacation, so she saved up her money.

• I am going home; I intend to stay there.

Compound

Complex sentence

independent clause and 1 or more dependent clauses, linked using a subordinating conjunction

These are examples of _____ sentences:

• She went to class even though she was sick.

• As John was arriving to work, he realized he forgot his lunch.

• While I enjoy classical music, I prefer rock and roll because I play the drums.

Complex

Phonetics studies ____

sounds

Phonology studies ____

sound systems

Morphology studies ____

word formation

Syntax studies ____

sentence structure

Semantics studies ____

meaning

Pragmatics studies ____

contextual language use