language study exam 1

descriptivism

the view that no use of language is incorrect and that variation should be acknowledged and recorded rather than corrected

prescriptivism

The view that language should have a strict set of rules that must be obeyed in speech and writing
rules are made because of opposition

conventional

language ____ is because objects only have names because we all agree on them, not because they relate to the object itself

systematic

language is _____ because words must be arranged in a specific order in order to make sense

creative

Language is ____ because new words and new word orders are constantly being created

signifier

the linguistic form/string of sounds relating to an object

signified

the object that a word/sound is referring to

metathesis

switching of the order of two sounds, each taking the place of the other (aks)

Phenomes

The basic sounds that make up any language; the smallest unit of sound

phonology / phonetics

the study of speech sounds in language

vowels

sounds made with continuous airflow; shape of the mouth changes. Always voiced

consonants

Speech sounds that occur when the airflow is obstructed or stopped in some way by articulators. Can be voiced or unvoiced

allophones

variations of a sound that are phonetically distinct, but that native speakers of a language typically hear as "the same sound."

articulator

Structure involved in speech production, such as the tongue, lips, teeth, jaw, and soft palate.

alveolar ridge

the hard ridge behind the upper front teeth

palate

roof of the mouth

velum / soft palate

the soft area toward the rear of the roof of the mouth

International phonetic alphabet / IPA

the system of pronunciation created to represent the sounds found in all languages

assimilation

when sounds become similar to surrounding sounds so they can be pronounced easier/ more naturally

deletion

the removal/omission of a sound from a word

insertion

extra sounds are added to a word

morphology

is the study of word structure

bound morpheme

morpheme that always attaches to other morphemes, never existing as a word itself

free morpheme

a morpheme that can stand alone as a word

inflectional morpheme

the morpheme which is added to a word that does not change the grammatical function of the word. a noun remains a noun and a verb remains a verb
chair --> chairs (still a chair right?)

derivational morpheme

Meaningful unit combined with roots or stems to form new words with new derived meanings, with the potential to change the part of speech (e.g. "-ish" added to the noun "boy" results in an adjective "boyish")

compounding

combining two words to make a new word
backpack

prefixing

to attach a bound morpheme at the head of an already existing word

suffixing

Attaching a bound morpheme after a root

infixing

Attaching a morpheme inside a root

Alphabetism

when a word is formed from the initials of a phrase and the word is pronounced as the resulting sequence of letters

acronomy

abbreviations using the first letters of a group of words pronounced as a single word

clipping

A new word created by shortening an existing one. The meaning stays the same!

backformation

the removal of an affix from a word to create a new word that didn't exist, giving it a whole new meaning
babysiter --> babysit

blending

joining 2 or more words (one must be clipped) to make a combo word
smoke + fog = smog

shifting

when a word moves from one lexical category to another
Email→ started as a noun, now also a verb

reanalysis

re-analyzing the boundaries between morphemes
A napron → an apron
A nickname → an ekename

reduplication

a syllable structure phonological process that involves the repetition of a syllable of a word
knock-knock

syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

countable nouns

nouns that have a quantity that can be determined using numbers

uncountable nouns

are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself.

factors that affect verb forms

person, number, tense, aspect, voice, mood

indicative mood

A verb form/mood that makes a statement or asks a question.

imperative mood

mood used for commands

subjunctive mood

a verb form used to express a wish, a hypothesis, or a condition that is contrary to fact