Linguistics Final

word order

which particular sequences of expressions are allowable in a given language

English is a ___ language

SVO (subject, verb, object)

co-occurrence conditions

what an expression can/must appear with

arguments

elements that are required by the verb to make the sentence grammatical and complete

ex. Tomorrow is another day

adjuncts

optional modifiers that add extra information (time, manner, place, etc.) but the sentence would still be grammatical without them

ex. Jasper wants to go for a run tomorrow

syntactic constituent

a group of words that function together as a single unit, can usually be replaced, moved, or questioned as a whole, and are more tightly connected to each other than the rest of the sentence

3 major tests for constituency: short answer test

if a group of words can serve as a short answer to a question, it’s likely a constituent

ex. “What did Jasper eat?” A: “A sandwich”

3 major tests for constituency: clefting test

restructure sentence using “it is/ was X that”

ex. original - Jasper ate a sandwich.

clefted - It was a sentence that Jasper ate.

3 major tests for constituency: pro-form substitution

replace the string with a pronoun or other pro-form

ex. Jasper ate a sandwich.

Jasper ate it.

Phrase structure rules

formal rules that describe how words and phrases combine to form large constituents in a sentence written in the form: X → Y

X

syntactic category like NP, VP, S

Y

a single word (ex. N → dog) OR a sequence of categories (ex. NP → Det N)

entailment

sentence 1 entails sentence 2 if whenever S1 is true, S2 must also be true

ex. S1: All dogs bark

S2: Sally’s dog barks.

Mutual entailment

two sentences entail each other

ex. S1: John is a bachelor.

S2: John is an unmarried man.

incompatibility

two sentences can’t both be true at the same time

ex. S1: John is a bachelor.

S2: John is married man.

compatibility (no entailment)

two sentences can both be true at the same time, but one doesn’t logically follow from the other

ex. S1: Hamsters make great pets

S2: Arthur is a mechanic

These sentences are unrelated, but they don’t contradict each other. Both could be true simultaneously

proposition

the core meaning expressed by a sentence which can be true or false

• needs a predicate (an action/state)

• needs an argument (who/what the predicate applies to)

• ex. Morgan was excited about the party

pragmatics

the study of those parts of meaning which arise from language use

felicitous response

appropriate, sensible in context

infelicitous response

irrelevant, misleading in context

maxim of quality

be truthful, only say things you believe are true and have good evidence for

maxim of relevance

be relevant, say things related to the topic

maxim of quantity

provide the right amount of information

maxim of manner

be clear, speak in a way that avoids confusion

maxim flouting

an utterance that appears to violate Gricean’s maxims but in doing so conveys information relevant to the conversation

ex. “How was the exam?” “It was good. I only cried 3 times.”

speech acts

things people “do” with their utterances

assertion

convey info

ex. John cleaned the bathroom.

question

elicit info

ex. Who cleaned the bathroom?

request

elicit an action/info

ex. Please clean the bathroom.

order

demand an action

ex. Clean the bathroom.

promise

commit the speaker to an action

ex. I promise to clean the bathroom.

threat

a promise the speaker presumably doesn’t want

ex. If you don’t clean the bathroom, I’ll scream.

performative speech act

an utterance where the speaker performs an action by uttering certain words (the saying is the doing)

ex. “I apologize” “I promise” “I pronounce”

syntactic categories: sentence (S)

a complete thought that typically contains a subject and a predicate

ex. The cat chased the mouse.

syntactic categories: noun phrase (NP)

a phrase built around a noun, possibly including determiners and modifiers

ex. a bright red balloon

syntactic categories: noun (N)

a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea

ex. mountain

syntactic categories: determiner (Det)

a word that introduces a noun and specifies reference

ex. the or this (this book is interesting)

syntactic categories: adjective (Adj)

a word that describes or modifies a noun

ex. a fragile vase

syntactic categories: verb phrase (VP)

a phrase centered around a verb, possibly including objects and modifiers

ex. is running through the park

syntactic categories: transitive verb (TV)

a verb that requires a direct object

ex. she painted the wall

syntactic categories: ditransitive verb (DTV)

a verb that takes 2 objects (usually direct and indirect)

ex. he offered her a seat

syntactic categories: sentential complement verb (SV)

a verb that takes an entire sentence as its complement

ex. she claimed that he was innocent

syntactic categories: adverb (Adv)

a word that modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs often indicating manner, time, or degree

ex. he spoke silently

syntactic categories: preposition (P)

a word that shows the relationship between a noun and other elements

ex. the dog hid under the table

syntactic categories: prepositional phrase (PP)

a phrase starting with a preposition and ending with its object

ex. under the old bridge

aphasia

the loss of ability to use language due to stroke or brain injury

broca’s aphasia

difficulty producing speech: speech is non-fluent, effortful, and telegraphic (short phrases, missing grammar)
ex. “Uh…want…water…please.” The person knows what they want to say but can’t form full sentences

wernicke’s aphasia

difficulty understanding language: speech is fluent but nonsensical (word salad), poor comprehension, and inability to recognize errors
ex. patient speaks fluently but says things like “The sky is green with happiness.”

conduction aphasia

impaired repetition: speech is fluent and good comprehension, cannot repeat words or phrases accurately
ex. if asked to repeat “hospital” they might say “hostipal”

alexia

a loss in the ability to read

agraphia

a loss in the ability to write

lexical access

the process of recognizing a word upon hearing it spoken/seeing it signed/reading it

idiolect

a person’s unique way of using their native language(s)

dialect

any variety of a language spoken by a group of people (speech community) that is characterized by systematic differences from other varieties

mutual intelligibility

can speakers of two language varieties understand each other