LING 2005

Linguistics

The scientific study of language(s).

Descriptive statements

Describe how language is used, reporting observations objectively, without judgments.

Prescriptive statements

Make judgments about language correctness.

Grammar

Description of the structure of language(s).

Lexicon

The set of words in a language and our knowledge about these words.

Phonetics

The science dealing with the physical character of sounds.

Phonology

The science dealing with the sound system of specific languages.

Phoneme

The smallest building block that can change the meaning of a word.

Morphology

The science dealing with the structure of words.

Morpheme

The smallest building blocks that carry meaning.

Syntax

The science dealing with how words are put together into larger chunks.

Morphosyntax

Combination of Morphology and Syntax.

Semantics

The science dealing with the meaning of words and utterances.

Pragmatics

The science dealing with the use of words in social contexts.

Linguistic Competence

Innate knowledge speakers obtain from their language.

Metalinguistic Awareness

Awareness of your language’s structure and grammar.

Universality

What all languages have in common.

Inaccessibility

The ability to judge grammaticality without understanding why.

Word classes

Categories of words, such as nouns, adjectives, and verbs.

Adverb

Adds to the verb, describing a verb.

Determiner

Specifies the noun you’re referring to.

Preposition

Describes a location or position.

Open Class Words

Change more; new words are created, allowing creativity.

Closed Class Words

New words rarely enter this class and can't stand alone.

Gender in nouns

Marker indicating masculine, feminine, or neutral.

Root

The core of a word that carries the meaning.

Affix

A small bound morpheme that is not in a word class category.

Infinitive

A form of the verb typically used with another verb.

Derivation

Modification of a word’s function or meaning.

Inflection

Modification of a word’s form to indicate grammatical information.

Free morpheme

A word that can stand alone.

Bound morpheme

A morpheme that must be attached to a root.

Allomorph

Variants of a morpheme in pronunciation.

Tense

Grammatical category providing information about the time of an event.

Aspect

Properties of an event or situation denoted by the verb phrase.

Reduplication

All or part of the base is doubled.

Perfective

A point in time expressing a completed action.

Imperfective

An action not completed, repeated, or ongoing.

Concrete noun

A noun we can see, touch, or manipulate.

Abstract noun

A noun that represents ideas or concepts.

Content Morpheme

Morphemes that provide specific meaning.

Function Morphemes

Morphemes used for grammar.

Definite noun

Indicates something known or specific.

Indefinite noun

Indicates something new or unknown.

Conversion (zero derivation)

Changes an existing word to a different syntactic category without form change.

Phrase

A unit consisting of one or more words.

Clause

A unit consisting of one or more phrases.

Sentence

A unit consisting of one or more clauses.

Agreement

Inflection to mark properties of another category.

Deixis

Use of certain words to specify time, place, or person whose denotation changes with context.

“space”