Linguistics Midterm Review

Vowel Frontness

The horizontal position of the tongue during vowel articulation; front vowels are pronounced with the tongue toward the front of the mouth, back vowels toward the back.

Vowel Height

The vertical position of the tongue during vowel articulation; high vowels have the tongue raised close to the roof of the mouth, low vowels have it lowered.

Diphthong

A complex vowel sound that glides from one vowel quality to another within the same syllable (e.g., /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /oʊ/).

/aɪ/

A diphthong starting with an open front vowel and gliding to a high front vowel (as in "buy").

/ɔɪ/

A diphthong starting with a mid-back rounded vowel and gliding to a high front vowel (as in "boy").

/oʊ/

A diphthong starting with a mid-back rounded vowel and gliding to a high back vowel (as in "go").

Word Formation Processes

Methods by which new words are created in a language.

Derivation

Adding affixes to create a new word with a new meaning or grammatical category (e.g., happy → happiness).

Inflection

Adding affixes to express grammatical relationships without creating a new word (e.g., walk → walked).

Compounding

Joining two or more words to create a new word (e.g., toothpaste).

Blending

Combining parts of two words into one (e.g., smog from smoke + fog).

Clipping

Shortening a longer word (e.g., fave from favorite).

Backformation

Creating a new word by removing a supposed affix from an existing word (e.g., edit from editor).

Coinage

Inventing a completely new word, often a brand name (e.g., Kleenex).

Borrowing

Taking words from another language (e.g., sudoku from Japanese).

Initialism

Creating a word from the initial letters of a phrase, pronounced as letters (e.g., FBI).

Manners of Articulation

How airflow is modified to produce different consonant sounds.

Stop

Complete closure in the vocal tract stopping airflow, then release (e.g., /p/, /b/).

Fricative

Narrow constriction causing turbulent airflow (e.g., /f/, /s/).

Affricate

A stop followed immediately by a fricative (e.g., /tʃ/ as in chair).

Nasal

Air flows through the nose due to lowered velum (e.g., /m/, /n/).

Approximant

Articulators approach each other but don’t create turbulent airflow (e.g., /w/, /j/).

Lateral Approximant

Air flows around the sides of the tongue (e.g., /l/).

/i/

High front unrounded vowel (as in beet)

/ɪ/

Near-high front unrounded vowel (as in bit)

/e/ or /eɪ/

Mid to near-high front unrounded vowel (as in bait)

/ɛ/

Mid front unrounded vowel (as in bet)

/æ/

Low front unrounded vowel (as in bat)

/ə/

Mid central unrounded vowel (schwa, as in sofa)

/ʌ/

Low-mid central unrounded vowel (as in but)

/u/

High back rounded vowel (as in boot)

/ʊ/

Near-high back rounded vowel (as in book)

/o/ or /oʊ/

Mid to near-high back rounded vowel (as in boat)

/ɔ/

Mid-low back rounded vowel (as in bought or caught)

/ɑ/

Low back unrounded vowel (as in father)

Syntax

The internal structure of sentences.

Clause

A complete thought, consisting of a subject and predicate.

Predicate

The part of a clause that tells something about the subject (usually includes the verb).

Constituent

A group of words that function as a unit within a sentence.

Noun Phrase (NP)

A phrase with a noun/pronoun as its head; can include determiners, adjectives, etc.

Verb Phrase (VP)

A phrase with a verb as its head; can include NP, PP, etc.

Prepositional Phrase (PP)

A phrase headed by a preposition, followed by an NP.

Specifier

A word that specifies the head noun (e.g., "the", "some").

Complement

A phrase that completes the meaning of a head.

Phrase Structure Rule

A formula that shows how phrases are structured (e.g., NP → Det N).

Semantics

The study of meaning in language.

Reference

The actual thing a word points to in the real world.

Sense

The meaning of a word beyond just its reference.

Entailment

When one sentence logically follows from another.

Paraphrase

Different sentences that have the same meaning.