Linguistics Exam 2

What is the difference between free and bound morphemes?

a free morpheme is a word that can stand on their own

a bound morpheme is a meaningful unit that cannot stand on their own (like a prefix or suffix)

What is the difference between content and function morphemes?

content morphemes carry the core meaning of a word

these include nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs (lexical categories)

function morphemes serve grammatical function

these include prepositions, determiners, auxiliary verbs (will/should), and some affixes

What is a prefix?

a prefix is an affix that gets attached to the beginning of a word

preparty, unforgettable, nonstop, bilabial

What is a suffix?

an affix that gets attached to the end of a word

joyful, joyous, running

What is an infix?

an affix that goes inside a word

English has (at least) 2 of these

-iz- to c-iz-ool for sch-iz-ool (adds swagger)

-freakin- absofreakinlutely (adds emphasis)

What is a circumfix?

an affix with 2 parts

one-part attaches to the front of a word

one-part attaches to the end of a word

none of these are productive, but some do occur in contemporary English

en-live-en, en-light-en, em-bold-en, em-bigg-en

What are the tests that can be applied to determine if an affix is inflectional or derivational?

test 1: does the addition of the affix change the lexical category of the word? (Inflectional affixes NEVER do, derivational affixes sometimes do)

test 2: Is the affix productive? Can it attach to most of the members of that lexical category? (Inflectional affixes are extremely productive, derivational affixes are not as productive)

test 3: When you add the affix, is the change clear and predictable? (Inflectional affixes are clear and predictable, derivational affixes are not always)

INFLECTIONAL always attaches LAST

How can languages vary systematically in morphological or syntactic rules? 

morphological- analytic (more likely to be separate or free morphemes) and synthetic (adding a lot of bound morphemes)

in synthetic languages prepositions could be a morpheme

syntactic- SVO, OVS, VOS

adjectives before or after noun depending on language

What are some examples of languages varying systematically in morphological or syntactic rules? 

look over language journals

What are coinages?

made-up words

snob, yeet, pooch

What are acronyms?

first letter of words in a phrase

scuba, egot

What are eponyms?

words connected to a name

kleenex, band-aid

What are blends?

combination of two words

brunch, hangry, spork

What are clippings? 

clip off part of a word

insta, exam, obvi, inspo

What are conversions?

shift lexical category

(N) google —> to google (V)

(v) to steal —> a steal (A)

What are borrowings?

words from other languages

aaribic: giraffe

german: pretzel, kindergarten

spanish: alligator

turkish: yogurt

yiddish: bagel

What is Grahm’s Law? How does it relate to euphemisms?

in economics: bad money drives out good

in linguistics: bad meanings (negative connotations) drive out good

What are some sociocultural variables that affect language use?

social class

ethnicity

education

cultural norms

context factors

What is the relationship between language and identity? 

language is a key tool to express and construct identity

influences how a person sees themselves and relates to others

What are the tests that determine constituency?

Replacement/substitution: synthetic categories can always be replaced with other phrases from the same category

Movement: words that form a constituent can be moved together to the beginning of a sentence (clefting- it was … that…)

Question and Answer: if you can form a grammatical answer to a question with a string of words, the answer is a constituent

semantic bleaching

when words lose some part of their meaning over time

stan or shit 

semantic degradation 

when words acquire a more negative meaning over time

idiot or lust 

taboo

things a society decides are not to be talked about in polite company

money, politics, religion, mental health

euphemisms

words that replace taboo words to help speakers avoid taking about “unpleasant” subjects

pass away, barf