Lecture 12 Flashcards
(12 cards)
Lexicalization
-Process whereby words are conventionalized
Ie they become a regular part of speakers lexicon
-lexicalization is different across languages and this is somewhat culturally dependent (but does not always indicate cultural significance!)
-common words for snow in Inuktitut:
Aput- snow on the ground
qana- falling snow
piqsirpoq- drifting snow
qimuqsuq- snow drift
Lexicalization
Common verbs pertaining to light in English
Glimmer. Glow. Shimmer. Glare. Glisten. Glitter. Shine. Flash. Gleam. Flicker. Flare. Sparkle
Lexicalization. Motion verbs
The rock ROLLED down the hill
The puck SLID across the ice
She LIMPED through the house
The smoke SWIRLED through the opening
Grammaticalization
The grammatical morphemes that arise in languages are not random.
They develop out of what speakers choose to say most frequently on a
day-to-day basis.
Old English be si:dan ‘by the side’ > beside
The development of grammatical forms from lexical material is called
grammaticalization.
Grammar is the product of the cognitive routinization of frequently
recurring patterns of expression.
Constructions that undergo grammaticalization are extended to more
and more contexts. As a result, their meaning becomes more general
and abstract.
full > spoonful > playful
Métonymie process
Change resulting from the frequent association of 2 elements
To be going to (physical displacement) > to be going to (future)
Repetition
Repetition contributes to rhythm of a story!
• Another strategy that is common to most skilled storytellers and mostly
refers to instances where two sentences both refer to the same event.
• Although there is referential overlap and some lexical parallelism,
typically the second sentence offers a slightly different view or
perspective.
• i.e. we’re not repeating just to repeat!
Direct speech
Giving a voice to the protagonists/characters is also a very effective
strategy amongst skilled storytellers.
• Direct speech is often conveyed by manipulation of pitch, pace,
loudness/intensity of syllables and phrases.
• Direct speech tells the story from the character’s point of view, the
character’s tenses, pronouns, deixis (anchoring in time, space, etc.).
• Indirect speech is from the narrator’s perspective
Deictic expressions
Words and phrases that change in meaning and what they refer to every time they’re used.
• Their meaning depends on who speaks them, when and where
Personal deixis
Personal pronouns for you and me (first and second persons, singular and plural)
Space Deixis
words and expressions whose meaning depends on the location of the person
who speaks them. (proximal – medial – distal)
• Here – there
• Here – there – over there
Temporal deixis
dependent on the time in which the utterances are anchored
• Today, yesterday, tomorrow
• Now, then, soon, later, ___ago, next___
In direct speech all deitic expressions are tied to
Character / protagonist and not the narrator
