itwl midterm exam

Prescriptivism

The belief that some language is not only better but that the use of this better language should also be legislated and enforced in society.

Descriptivism

All language, standard, and nonstandard, is equally complex and patterned.

Language impermanence

Languages are constantly changing over time. Meanings of words can change, grammar, pronunciation.

Borrowing

When one language takes words from another language. (for example, cafe from French, piano from Italian).

Back-formation

When a new word is created by removing a prefix or suffix from an existing word. (example: laziness>lazy. editor>edit).

Clipping

Shortening a longer word to create a new, more informal version of it. (example: telephone>phone. Advertisement>ad.).

Abbreviation

The process of shortening a word or phrase by using only the initial letters or parts. (Example: Doctor>dr. United States>USA).

Pejoration

The process by which a word develops a negative or less favorable meaning or connotation over time.

Amelioration

The process by which a word takes on a more positive or favorable connotation or meaning over time.

Conversion

The process of changing a word from one part of speech to another without altering its form.

Plosive

A type of speech sound produced by blocking and then releasing air, creating a burst of sound. (example: p, b, t, d).

Fricative

A type of speech sound produced by forcing air through a narrow constriction, creating a hissing or buzzing sound. (examples: f, v, s, z).

Affricate

A speech sound that begins as a plosive and then releases into a fricative. (example: "ch" in church. "J" in judge).

Sonorant

A speech sound that is produced with continuous, smooth airflow and without significant obstruction. (example: m, n, l, r).

Bilabial

Refers to speech sounds that are produced by bringing both lips together (p, b, m).

Labiodental

Refers to speech sounds produced by touching the bottom lip to the upper teeth.

Alveolar

refers to speech sounds produced by placing the tongue against the alveolar ridge, which is located just behind the upper front teeth (t, d, s, z)

Glottal stop

a speech sound produced by briefly blocking airflow at the glottis. (example: uh-oh)(not very common in English)

Lexicon

a complete set of words and their meanings in a language or a specific person's vocabulary.

Cherology

the study of the structure, grammar, and meaning of sign languages

Phonology

the branch of linguistics that studies the sound systems of languages, like how sounds function and interact within a particular language

Phoneme

the smallest unit of sound in a language that can distinguish words. (the words pat and bat just differ from one phoneme)

Syntax

how words are organized into sentences

Content words

nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs

Function words

determiners, coordinators, prepositions

Noun

examples: mom, bread, dog (person, place or thing)

Verbs

things of action. ex: laugh, loves, baked

Free morphemes

can stand alone as a word

Bound morphemes

meaningful units of language that must be attached to another morpheme to make a word. Examples: -ness, re-

Infectional morphemes

add or change the grammatical meaning of a word

Tense

the time an action occurs about when it is written

Perfect

no fixed beginning or ending point, and not bound by time

Perfective

fixed point, bound by time

Voice

relationship of the action or state expressed in the verb and its participants, expressed in the noun

Active voice

doer of the verb is the focus

Passive voice

object of the verb is the focus

Mood

the speaker's intention for how the listeners should interpret the utterance

Indicative mood

statement of fact. Stating how things are exactly. "I brush my teeth in the morning."

Interrogative mood

asks a question. "Do you brush your teeth in the morning?"

Imperative mood

commands and instructions. "Brush your teeth in the morning."

Subjunctive mood

suggests uncertainty or lack of reality(like wishes and possibilities. "I would hope or suggest that you brush your teeth every morning..."

First-person

talk about oneself, either alone or with others

Second-person

refers to people or persons to who the speaker is speaking

Third-person

refers to someone outside the immediate conversation

Gender

Corresponds to the biological sex of a noun. Masculine and feminine

Case

The way nouns function grammatically in sentences. Indicated with word order or inflectional morphemes. Seven common cases.

Phone

the actual sound produced

Phonemes

the sound categories we have in languages

Syntax (word order)

American English is usually subject verb object, similar to Russian and German. Turkish is not always SVO.