CSD 4400 Language Science Exam 2

semantics

the study of the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences

conceptual meaning

the basic, core meaning of a word; dictionary definition

associative meaning

the connotations or associations the word carries beyond its core meaning

semantic features

componential approach to meaning using binary features (+/-) to define a word (i.e. “boy” = +HUMAN, +MALE, -ADULT)

semantic/thematic role

the part a noun phrase plays in the situation described by a sentence

agent

the semantic role of the entity that performs the action

theme/patient

the entity that is involved in or affected by the action

instrument

the entity used to perform an action

experiencer

the entity that has a feeling, perception, or state

location

where the entity is

source

where an entity moves from

goal

where an entity moves to

synonymy

two or more words with closely related meanings

antonymy

two forms with opposite meanings

gradable antonyms

opposites that exist on a scale (big/small)

complementary antonyms

opposites where negating one implies the other (dead/alive)

relational antonyms

opposites that share meaning, one implying the reverse of the other (buy/sell)

hyponymy

when the meaning if one word is included in the meaning of another (“dog” is a hyponym of “animal”)

superordinate

the general term in a hyponymy relationship (“animal” is the superordinate for “dog”)

prototype

the most typical member of a category (“robin” as a prototype for “bird”)

homophones

words with different spellings/meanings but the same pronunciation (to/two/too)

homonyms

words with the same form (spelling/pronunciation) but unrelated meanings (bank - river vs financial)

polysemy

one word with multiple related meanings (head of a person vs of a company)

metonymy

using a word closely associated with a concept in place of concept itself (“the White House” for the U.S Administration)

collocation

words that frequently occur together (salt and pepper)

pragmatics

the study of how context contributes to meaning; what a speaker means, rather than what words/phrases literally mean

context

the physical, social, and linguistic environment surrounding an utterance that shapes its interpretation

deixis

words/phrases that require contextual information to be understood

person deixis

deictic reference to people (me, you, him)

spatial deixis

deictic reference to location (here, there)

temporal deixis

deictic reference to time (now, yesterday)

reference

an act by which a speaker uses language to identify something/someone

inference

additional information used by a listener to connect what is said to what must be meant

anaphora

subsequent reference to an already-introduced entity, typically using a pronoun

antecedent

the entity an anaphoric expression refers back to

presupposition

what a speaker assumes to be true or known by the listener

speech act

an action performed via an utterance (requesting, promising)

locutionary act

the basic act of producing meaningful linguistic expression

illocutionary act

the communicative force/intention behind an utterance (request, promise, warning)

perlocutionary act

the effect the utterance has on the listener

direct speech act

when the structure of a sentence directly reflects its communicative function (“close the door” as a command)

indirect speech act

when the structure of a sentence directly reflects its communicative function (“can you close the door?” as a request)

felicity conditions

the expected/appropriate circumstances for a speech act to be recognized as intended

cooperative principle

Grice’s idea that conversational participants cooperate to be mutually understood

maxim of quantity

be as informative as required, no more and no less

maxim of quality

say only what you believe to be true and have evidence for

maxim of relation (relevance)

be relevant to the conversation

maxim of manner

be clear, brief, and orderly; avoid ambiguity

conversational implicature

an additional, unstated meaning conveyed by a speaker that relies on the cooperative principle to be inferred

face

a person’s public self-image

positive face

the need to be seen as likable, connected, or a part of a group

negative face

the need for independence and freedom from imposition

face-threatening act (FTA)

an utterance that threatens another person’s self-image

politeness

language strategies used to show awareness of another’s face

psycholinguistics

the study of language processing and comprehension in the mind/brain

linguistic competence

an individual’s innate knowledge of language rules and structures

linguistic performance

the actual production and comprehension of language in real situations, including errors

slip of the tongue

an unintentional error in speech production

exchange error

two linguistic elements swap positions with each other (let the house out of the cat)

shift error

two linguistic elements swap positions with each other, without a corresponding swap (“writ it” for '“written it”)

anticipation error

a later sound/word is produced too early (“cot cup” for “hot cup”)

perseveration error

an earlier sound/word persists and replaces a later one (“tin tan” for “tin can”)

substitution error

one word/sound is replaces by an unrelated one (“fire distinguisher” for “fire extinguisher”)

blend error

two intended words merge into one (“stummy” for stomach/tummy)

speech production

the process of planning and articulating language, from concept to sound

speech perception

the process of interpreting and understanding incoming speech sounds

categorical perception

perceiving speech sounds as belonging to distinct categories despite continuous acoustic variation

top-down processing

using prior knowledge/context to interpret incoming language

bottom-up processing

building understands from the incoming sound/signal itself, without relying on context

garden path sentence

a sentence initially misparsed by the listener/reader before being reanalyzed (the complex houses married and single soldiers)

minimal attachment strategy

a parsing strategy that favors the simplest grammatical structure possible

main clause strategy

a parsing strategy that prioritizes interpreting a sentence as a main (independent) clause

lexical access

the process of retrieving a word from mental storage during comprehension or production

serial model

a processing model in which stages of language processing occur simultaneously infuence each other

parallel (interactive) model

a processing model in which multiple stages of language processing occur simultaneously and influence each other