General Linguistics Flashcards
(42 cards)
Q: What is phonology?
A: Phonology is the study of the sound patterns of a language, focusing on how sounds function in a particular language or languages.
Q: What is a phoneme?
A: A phoneme is a meaning-distinguishing sound in a language. For example, changing the /b/ to /r/ in “bat” creates the new word “rat.”
A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language that can distinguish one word from another. For example, in English, the words “bat” and “pat” differ by a single phoneme: /b/ in “bat” and /p/ in “pat.” This single sound change alters the meaning of the word, illustrating the role of phonemes in language. 
Phonemes are abstract representations of sounds and may encompass a variety of actual pronunciations, known as allophones. These allophones are context-dependent variations that do not change the meaning of a word. For instance, the /p/ sound in “spin” (unaspirated) and “pin” (aspirated) are allophones of the same phoneme /p/ in English. 
The number and nature of phonemes vary across languages. English, for example, has approximately 44 phonemes, including both consonant and vowel sounds. Other languages may have more or fewer phonemes, reflecting the diversity of human speech sounds globally. 
Understanding phonemes is fundamental in fields such as linguistics, language education, and speech therapy, as they are crucial for distinguishing meaning and facilitating effective communication.
Q: What is an allophone?
A: An allophone is a variation of a phoneme. For example, in Spanish, the phoneme /b/ can be pronounced as [b] or [β], and the meaning of the word does not change.
Q: What is the difference between segmentals and suprasegmentals?
A: Segmentals are phonemes that form the sounds of speech, while suprasegmentals involve features like stress, intonation, and rhythm that can change the meaning of a word.
Segmentals
• Definition: Segmentals are the individual sounds, or phonemes, of a language, such as consonants and vowels. They are the basic “segments” of speech. • Examples: Sounds like /p/, /t/, /a/, and /o/ are segmental elements. • Function: Segmentals are responsible for forming the “building blocks” of words. Changing a segmental sound usually changes the word’s meaning (e.g., bat vs. pat).
Suprasegmentals
• Definition: Suprasegmentals are the features of speech that go beyond individual phonemes and affect larger units of speech, such as syllables, words, or phrases. They add “layers” of meaning or emphasis. • Examples: Common suprasegmental features include stress, intonation, pitch, rhythm, and tone.
Key Differences
• Level of Application: Segmentals apply to individual sounds, while suprasegmentals apply to larger units (syllables, words, phrases). • Role in Meaning: Segmentals distinguish basic word meanings, while suprasegmentals modify or add nuances to meaning, emotion, or emphasis.
In short, segmentals are the sounds we combine to make words, while suprasegmentals affect how those words are pronounced, perceived, and understood in context.
Q: What are minimal pairs?
A: Minimal pairs are words that vary by only one phoneme, such as “bat” and “rat” or “cat” and “bat.” They highlight distinct sounds in a language.
Q: What are syllables and clusters?
A: Syllables are units of sound that contain a vowel or vowel-like sound, and clusters refer to groups of consonants that can appear before or after the vowel in a syllable, like “brat” (CCVC) or “bank” (CVCC).
Q: What is coarticulation?
A: Coarticulation occurs when one sound is made at almost the same time as another due to the speed of speech, as seen in assimilation (e.g., “I can go”) and elision (e.g., “She opened the door” where /d/ in “opened” may not be heard).
Q: What is morphology?
A: Morphology is the study of the basic meaning-carrying forms of language, focusing on how words are formed and how meaningful “chunks” of language operate.
units called morphemes, which are the smallest grammatical units in a language. For example, the English word “unhappiness” consists of three morphemes: “un-” (a prefix indicating negation), “happy” (the root), and “-ness” (a suffix forming a noun).
Q: What is a morpheme?
A: A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning or grammatical function. For example, in the word “playing,” both “play” (free morpheme) and “-ing” (bound morpheme) are morphemes.
Q: What is an affix?
A: An affix is a bound morpheme attached to a free morpheme to create a new word. Affixes can be prefixes (e.g., “disobey”) or suffixes (e.g., “talking”).
Q: What is the difference between derivational and inflectional morphology?
A: Derivational morphology creates new words or changes a word’s meaning (e.g., “player” from “play”), while inflectional morphology modifies a word to indicate grammatical functions like tense or number (e.g., “-s” for plural or “-ed” for past tense).
Q: What is a root in morphology?
A: A root is the core part of a word without any affixes. For example, in the word “players,” “play” is the root.
Q: What is a stem?
A: A stem is the root with any added derivational morphemes but before any inflectional morphemes. For example, in “players,” “player” is the stem.
Q: What are allomorphs?
A: Allomorphs are variations of a morpheme that communicate the same inflectional information. For example, “-s” in “cats” and “-es” in “couches” both indicate plural in English. In Spanish, “-o” in “hablo” and “-oy” in “estoy” are allomorphs indicating the first person singular.
Plural Allomorphs
1. -s as in cats /s/ 2. -es as in buses /ɪz/ 3. -s as in dogs /z/
The plural morpheme has three allomorphs: /s/, /z/, and /ɪz/, depending on the final sound of the noun.
Past Tense Allomorphs
4. -ed as in walked /t/ 5. -ed as in buzzed /d/ 6. -ed as in wanted /ɪd/
The past tense morpheme has three allomorphs: /t/, /d/, and /ɪd/, depending on the final sound of the verb.
Negative Prefix Allomorphs
7. in- as in inaccurate 8. im- as in impossible 9. il- as in illegal 10. ir- as in irregular
These allomorphs of the negative prefix adjust based on the initial sound of the root word.
Derivational Allomorphs
11. -ation as in information 12. -ion as in collision 13. -tion as in action
Each of these endings is a variation of the same derivational morpheme and indicates the process or result of an action.
Comparative Allomorphs
14. -er as in taller 15. more as in more intelligent
These are different ways to form comparatives in English, one as a suffix and the other as a separate word, depending on the syllable length or structure of the adjective.
Superlative Allomorphs
16. -est as in tallest 17. most as in most interesting
Q: What is syntax?
A: Syntax is the study of the structure and order of components within phrases and sentences, traditionally associated with grammar.
Q: What is generative grammar?
A: Generative grammar is a set of rules for a language that allows the creation of all well-formed sentences. These rules generate an infinite number of grammatically correct sentences.
Q: What is the difference between deep and surface structure in syntax?
A: Surface structure refers to the outward form of a sentence, while deep structure refers to its underlying syntactic meaning. Two sentences with different surface structures can share the same deep structure.
In syntax, deep structure and surface structure refer to different levels of sentence representation in a linguistic theory proposed by Noam Chomsky. These concepts help explain how sentences can have similar meanings but different forms or vice versa.
Deep Structure
• Definition: The deep structure (or underlying structure) is the abstract, basic syntactic structure of a sentence that conveys the core meaning. It is the conceptual or logical representation of a sentence’s meaning, without concern for how it’s actually spoken or written. • Role: Deep structure is more about meaning and relationships between elements. It’s often considered the “starting point” in sentence formation.
Surface Structure
• Definition: The surface structure is the final syntactic form of a sentence, representing how it’s actually spoken, written, or understood on the surface level. It’s the outward appearance of the sentence, after transformations from the deep structure. • Role: Surface structure is concerned with the sentence’s physical form and word order, especially after any syntactic rules (like transformations) have been applied to reach this form.
Examples
1. Example 1: Active and Passive Sentences • Deep Structure: Both sentences below have a similar deep structure because they convey the same essential meaning: the relationship between “the cat” and “the mouse.” • Surface Structure: • The cat chased the mouse. (active voice) • The mouse was chased by the cat. (passive voice) • Here, the surface structure changes due to the transformation (active to passive), but the underlying meaning (deep structure) remains similar. 2. Example 2: Ambiguity • Deep Structure: One surface structure can correspond to multiple deep structures, leading to ambiguity. • Surface Structure: • The spy saw the man with the telescope. • This sentence has two possible interpretations (deep structures): • The spy used a telescope to see the man. • The spy saw a man who was holding a telescope. • Here, the surface structure is the same, but the deep structure differs based on interpretation. 3. Example 3: Questions vs. Statements • Deep Structure: A question and a statement can share a similar deep structure, differing only in the transformation for question formation. • Surface Structure: • Statement: You are going to the store. • Question: Are you going to the store? • The surface structure changes due to the transformation into a question, but the deep structure is similar in terms of meaning.
In summary, deep structure is about the meaning and underlying relationships in a sentence, while surface structure is about the actual, observable form of the sentence. Transformational rules bridge the two, allowing sentences to vary in form (surface structure) while retaining similar or related meanings (deep structure).
Q: What is structural ambiguity?
A: Structural ambiguity occurs when a sentence can have more than one interpretation due to its surface structure not clearly indicating which deep structure is intended.
Q: What is transformation in syntax?
A: Transformation describes how elements of a sentence’s deep structure can be rearranged to form different surface structures. For example, “Juan gave Mary a gift yesterday” can be transformed into “Did Juan give Mary a gift yesterday?”
Q: What is recursion in generative grammar?
A: Recursion is the ability to repeat structures an infinite number of times, such as prepositional phrases in “The flowers are on the table in the kitchen.”
Hierarchical Structure: Recursion facilitates the nesting of phrases within phrases, leading to complex sentence constructions. For example, in the sentence “The cat that chased the mouse that stole the cheese ran away,” relative clauses are recursively embedded.
The cat, who sat on the mat, which was next to the dog, that barked at the stranger, who was walking down the street, where the old oak tree stood, which had branches that stretched toward the sky, where the stars were shining brightly, illuminating the moon, which hung in the sky above the city, that was bustling with people, who were busy with their work, that they did in buildings, which towered over the streets, that were filled with cars, which honked loudly at each other, creating a cacophony of sounds, that echoed through the air, which was crisp and cool, making the cat, who sat on the mat, feel a sense of calm, as it watched the world go by, which continued on and on…
In this sentence, each new relative clause (like “who sat on the mat,” “which was next to the dog,” etc.) is embedded within the previous one, creating a long, continuous, recursive structure. Using recursion, you could continue adding clauses indefinitely, maintaining grammatical correctness by following the syntactic rules of English.
Q: What is semantics?
A: Semantics is the study of the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences. It is separate from syntax, as sentences can be syntactically correct but semantically nonsensical, such as “The cake ate the children.”
Q: What are semantic roles in a sentence?
A: Semantic roles classify words based on their function in a sentence. For example, the agent performs the action, the theme is affected by it, and prepositions introduce roles like location, source, or destination.
Common semantic roles include:
• Agent: The entity that performs the action. • Example: In “The chef cooked the meal,” “The chef” is the agent. • Patient (or Theme): The entity that undergoes the action or is affected by it. • Example: In “The chef cooked the meal,” “the meal” is the patient. • Experiencer: The entity that experiences a particular sensation or mental state. • Example: In “She felt a breeze,” “She” is the experiencer. • Instrument: The means by which an action is performed. • Example: In “He cut the bread with a knife,” “a knife” is the instrument. • Beneficiary: The entity for whose benefit the action is performed. • Example: In “She baked a cake for her friend,” “her friend” is the beneficiary. • Location: The place where the action occurs. • Example: In “They met at the park,” “the park” is the location. • Source: The starting point of an action. • Example: In “She moved from the city,” “the city” is the source. • Goal: The endpoint of an action. • Example: In “They walked to the store,” “the store” is the goal.
Q: What are lexical relations?
A: Lexical relations describe how word meanings are connected, such as synonyms (e.g., start/begin) and antonyms (e.g., tall/short), as well as hyponyms, where one word is a more specific example of another (e.g., dog/animal).
Q: What are homophones?
A: Homophones are words with the same pronunciation but different meanings and spellings, such as two/to/too and bare/bear. They are less common in Spanish due to its consistent letter-sound correspondence.
Here’s a list of some common homophones:
1. Affect / Effect 2. Air / Heir 3. Bare / Bear 4. Brake / Break 5. Buy / By / Bye 6. Cell / Sell 7. Cent / Scent / Sent 8. Close / Clothes 9. Deer / Dear 10. Die / Dye 11. Fair / Fare 12. Flour / Flower 13. For / Four / Fore 14. Hair / Hare 15. Here / Hear 16. Hour / Our 17. Its / It’s 18. Knew / New 19. Knight / Night 20. Know / No 21. Lead (metal) / Led (past tense of “lead”) 22. Mail / Male 23. Meat / Meet 24. Pair / Pear / Pare 25. Peace / Piece 26. Plain / Plane 27. Principal / Principle 28. Right / Write / Rite 29. Sea / See 30. Sew / So / Sow 31. Sight / Site / Cite 32. Son / Sun 33. Steal / Steel 34. Tail / Tale 35. Their / There / They’re 36. To / Too / Two 37. Vain / Vane / Vein 38. Waist / Waste 39. Wait / Weight 40. Wear / Where
