Linguistic Typology and Nuuchahnulth Lecture Notes

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering linguistic typology, language families (specifically Nuuchahnulth), morphological types, universals, phonology, and grammatical relations.

Nuuchahnulth

A language belonging to the Wakashan language family found in British Columbia, Canada.

Polysynthetic

A morphological type where one word contains a large number of morphemes.

Reduplication

The repetition of part or all of a word to change its meaning, such as marking plurality.

Syntax

The study or arrangement of sentence structure.

Serial Verbs

A construction where multiple verbs appear together without connecting words like "and" or "to."

Predicate

The part of a sentence that describes what the subject is or does.

Typology

The comparative and scientific study of what is typical and what is unusual across human languages.

Genetic Classification

Categorizing languages based on historical relatedness and shared ancestry.

Absolute Universal

A linguistic feature that is found in every language, such as "all languages have vowels."

Statistical Universal

A linguistic feature found in most, but not necessarily all, languages.

Implicational Universal

A pattern where the existence of one feature ($X$) usually implies the existence of another ($Y$); structured as "if $X$, then $Y$."

Isolating Language

A language where words usually lack affixes and one word often corresponds to one morpheme.

Agglutinative Language

A language where words have many affixes, but each affix has one clear, separable job or meaning.

Fusional/Inflectional Language

A language where a single affix can express multiple meanings simultaneously.

Analytic

A language type characterized by low morphology, expressing meaning through separate words and word order.

Unidirectional

An implicational relationship where if $X$, then $Y$, but having $Y$ does not necessarily mean the language has $X$.

Postpositions

Grammatical elements that follow the noun phrase, such as saying "the house in" instead of "in the house."

Genitive

A grammatical category representing possession or ownership.

Grammaticalization

The historical process where a normal word evolves into a grammar marker over time.

Areal Bias

A sampling error occurring because languages geographically near each other tend to become similar through contact.

LOL Languages

An acronym for languages that are Literate, Official, and have Lots of speakers, leading to cultural bias in linguistics.

Probability Sample

A small sample group ($50$ to $75$ languages) used to find statistical patterns and test tendencies.

Variety Sample

A large sample group (hundreds of languages) intended to capture the maximum range of linguistic diversity.

Descriptive Categories

Categories used to describe one specific language on its own internal terms.

Comparative Concepts

Categories created by researchers to allow for the cross-linguistic comparison of different languages.

Realis

A grammatical mood indicating that an event is treated as real or actual.

Irrealis

A grammatical mood indicating that an event is hypothetical, described, or in the future.

Case

Grammatical marking that indicates a noun's specific role in a sentence.

Dative

A specific case that marks the recipient of an action.

Markedness

The concept that some forms are basic or default (unmarked), while others are more complex, restricted, or special (marked).

Economy

The principle that speakers prefer to communicate efficiently, avoiding extra words or sounds unless necessary.

Iconicity

The concept that language structure reflects conceptual experience, such as a plural meaning resulting in a longer word form.

Zero-coded

A linguistic form that has no visible or overt morphological marking.

Phoneme

A sound that can distinguish or change the meaning of a word in a specific language.

Segment

An individual speech sound, such as a specific consonant or vowel.

Lateral

A sound made where air flows around the sides of the tongue, such as the English $/l/$.

Allophone

A variant pronunciation of a phoneme that does not change the word's meaning.

Feature Economy

The tendency of languages to reuse existing phonological features to build patterns rather than creating entirely new ones.

Ejectives

Consonants produced with a distinct burst of air from the glottis.

Implosives

Consonants produced with inward airflow and movement of the larynx.

Affricate

A sound that begins like a stop consonant and releases like a fricative.

Retroflex

Sounds produced with the tongue curled back toward the roof of the mouth.

Applicative

A grammatical marker that creates a new direct object within a sentence.

Ergativity

A grammatical system where the subject of an intransitive verb ($S$) is marked the same as the object of a transitive verb ($O$).

Antipassive

A construction that removes the object and keeps the subject, serving as the opposite of a passive.