Linguisitcs Exam 2

study of meaning in human language

where two phonologically distinct forms share one or more of their meanings

ex. gift-present

a single pronunciation is associated with two or more unrelated meanings

ex. bank

a single pronunciation is associated with 2+ meanings that are distinct but related

ex. pool

one word subsitutes for some other object or attribute

ex. crown for king

words are opposite in meaning

ex. alive/dead - complementary pairs

big/small - gradable pairs

give/recieve - relational opposites

the meaning of individual words

How larger objects (clauses, sentences) come to mean what they do. Relatedly, how formal logic can be used as a tool to study language

semantic change - used to describe the process by which a word connotation becomes elevated (improved)

ex. terrific, bad, pimpin'

semantic changed - used to describe the process by which a word connotation becomes degraded

ex. villian

semantic change - used to describe the extension of the semantic sphere

semantic change - used to describe the reduction of the semantic sphere

statements that are always true

statements that are always false

thematic role - the doer of the action

what undergoes a state of change

the endpoint of a change in location or posession

where the action originates

the means used to accomplish the action

the one recieving sensory input (a living entity that undergoes a sensory, cognitive, or emotional experience)

ex. John felt happy.

study of meaning in context (not derived from linguistic knowledge)

1) Contain a performative verb
2) be in the simple present tense
3) have a first person subject

ex. command vs. put

the sound system of language

the inventory of sounds that are meaningful and distinct

the rules for how those sounds can combine together

the environments in which we find the two sounds
do not overlap.

the environments in which we find the two sounds do overlap

a pair of words that differ in 1 phone (shows that phones are phonemes)

ex. seal and zeal

a sound process becomes more like a neighboring sound with respect to some phonetic property

adjacent sounds become less alike with respect to some phonetic property

a segment not present at the phonemic level (mental representation) is added at the
phonetic level

a segment present at the phonemic level (mental representation) is eliminated at the phonetic level

rules of metathesis change the order of
sounds

Sometimes one sound changes, and that triggers another sound to change in order to remain distinct

soda-pop

(r) in English

(ae) in American English

himself/hisself; themselves/theirselves

"the car needs washed" "might could"

positive anymore (how are you feeling anymore)

plot dialect differences geographically

a line drawn on the map to
separate the different areas.

a) levels of linguistic structure
b) region
c) social factors (gender, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status)

phonological alternations that apply “on the fly” in a
given language, or variation that is evidence of a
change in progress

changes take place in language over time

the style which is most regular in its structure

1) rapid and anonymous surveys
2) sociolinguistic interviews: minimal pairs, word isolation, short narrative
3) participant observation

referred to a particular languaged used widely for trade in medieval times. Now used to refer to any language that is used by speakers of a diverse language to communicate with each other

ex. English in India

a rudimentary language with simple grammatical rules and vocab taken from a lexifier language - generallly short lived because either people learn each others first language, or a lingua franca is found, or the pidgin becomes a child's first language

ex. Chinese pidgin English