Week 7 Flashcards
(17 cards)
Syntax Clauses and sentences
- Syntax: The set of rules to combine words into phrases, clauses and sentences
- Phrase: A grammatical unit smaller than a sentence, consisting of one or more words which share a syntactic function (Subject, Verb, Object, Adverbial, Complement)
- Clause: A linguistic unit that consists of a sequence of phrases (clause elements), containing at least a subject/agent and a verb. A clause can act as a stand-alone sentence. That is a sentence may consist of a single clause (simple sentence) or more than one clause (compound or complex sentence)
Sentence: Linguistic units consisting of one or more clauses. Sentences are constructed from phrases and clauses
Phrases and types of phrases
- Phrase: A grammatical unit smaller than a sentence, consisting of one or more words
- Phrases have a structure (e.g. np) as well as serve a function in a clause, or serve as a clause element (e.g. subject)
Types of phrases - Noun phrase (np)
- Prepositional phrase (prepp)
- Adjective phrase (adjp)
- Adverb phrase (advp)
Verb phrase (vp)
- Phrases have a structure (e.g. np) as well as serve a function in a clause, or serve as a clause element (e.g. subject)
What do phrases have
- Phrases have a head; the main agent/concept, which defines the type of phrase
e.g. the old man = a noun phrase because the head of the phrase (main agent) is the man
What do clauses have to have
Clause and sentence has to consist of at least a verb phrase and a subject (noun phrase)
Clause elements
- Beyond having a structure (e.g. np, adjp, advp, prepp, vp), phrases also have a function within the clause/sentence
- That is they serve a particular role in forming the meaning of a sentence
This is what we mean by a clause element - the function of a phrase within a clause: SVOCA
- That is they serve a particular role in forming the meaning of a sentence
Types of clauses
Declaratives:
- Clauses that make a statement, or declare something
- Clause structure in which the verb element is central (E.g. SVO)
- e.g. the man is hitting the ball
Interrogatives:
- Clauses that ask questions
Imperatives:
- Clauses that make a command
Subordinate
- A clause that is subordinate to a main clause
Active:
- Clauses which emphasize the agent or doer
Passive:
- Clauses in which the agent is reduced in prominence
Negation
Clauses that contain negatives
Declarative, interrogative and imperative clauses
Declarative: Clauses that make a statement
- Clause structure in which the verb element is central (e.g. SVO)
- E.g. the man is hitting the ball
Imperative clause: Clauses that make a command
- Clauses that act as commands
- e.g. ‘Stop right there’
Interrogative clause: Clauses that ask questions
- Often contain wh-interrogatives: Who, what, which, where, when, how
- e.g. what is the boy doing
Subordinate clauses
- Main clause: A clause that can stand alone a complete sentence (syntactically complete)
- Subordinate clause: Clauses which are subordinate of the main clause. Not syntactically complete sentences, but require a main clause to attach onto to make sense
Subordinate clause begin with a subordinate conjunction: because, so, as well as, after, although etc.
- Subordinate clause: Clauses which are subordinate of the main clause. Not syntactically complete sentences, but require a main clause to attach onto to make sense
Simple, compound and complex sentences
- Simple: A sentence made of a single clause, or main clause (e.g. the dog is eating dinner)
- Compound: A sentence constructed from 2 main clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (e.g. it will be hot today but raining tomorrow)
Complex: A sentence made 2 or more clauses, and contains a subordinate clause (e.g. she was happy that she won)
- Compound: A sentence constructed from 2 main clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (e.g. it will be hot today but raining tomorrow)
Phonemes and Phonology
- Phonology: the study of the sound systems of a particular language. Includes the rules regarding the organization of speech sounds for that language
- Phonetics: The study of the physical characteristics of speech sounds
Phoneme: Individual speech sounds of a language - Each language has its own set of phoneme
- Allophone: Variations of individual speech sounds (phonemes)
- Different languages have their own phonological systems
This determines which speech sounds are considered separate phonemes vs those which are allophones
- Phonetics: The study of the physical characteristics of speech sounds
How sounds of languages differ
- In addition to each language having its own set of or phonemes, additional phonological features also effect the sound of a different language
Phonotactic features:- The combinations of sounds and the word shapes permissible in any language
- e.g. in English, words contain many consonant clusters such as bl, sm, st and cl. However English would never have words with bg as this defies the phonotactics of English
- Each language has its own syllable structure. In English, syllable structures can be:
- V (vowel) or C (consonant) e.g. cat = (CVC)
Suprasegmental features
Stress:
- the emphasis of particular syllables within multisyllabic words.
- Stress is achieved through strong + weak syllables
Intonation: The rising and failing of the voice when speaking
- Refers to the utterance/sentence level phonological characteristics
Australian English speakers tend to use rising intonation at the end of sentences
Pragmatics
- The rules that govern with use of language within particular contexts
- It is the subsystem of language interested in how and why language is used the way it is within particular contexts (e.g. conversations, discourse, jokes, metaphors)
Conversation: - The exchange of ideas and information between people, with a key function to maintain social cohesion between members of a social group
Discourse: - Language beyond sentences including the cohesion between sentences
Conversations occur through use of discourse
- It is the subsystem of language interested in how and why language is used the way it is within particular contexts (e.g. conversations, discourse, jokes, metaphors)
Analysing Conversations
- Conversations operate by rules of pragmatics
We can understand and analyse conversations by considering- Grice’s cooperative Maxims
- Speech Acts (E.g. Halliday’s functions)
- Turn Taking (e.g. Turn construction unites TCU), transitional space, adjacency pairs, conversational scripts
Grices 4 conversational Maxims
- Quantity: Appropriate amount of information provided to ensure informativeness. Not too little, not too much
- Quality: Providing information which is you believe to be true, avoid saying things which lack adequate evidence
- Relation: Remaining relevant to the topic, including topic maintenance and appropriate questions/responses
Manner: Avoid obscurity and ambiguity of expression and vocabulary. Be orderly and timely/appropriately brief
Types of Speech Acts (Halliday’s functions)
- Statement: Acknowledgement, contradiction
- Question: Answer, Disclaimer
- Command: Compliance, Refusal
- Offer: Acceptance, Rejection
Conversational Turn-Taking
- Turns: Units of complete talk
- Turns are the backbone of a conversation
We might analyse: - Transitional space: Transitions between turn-taking
- Turn Construction Units (TCU): The number of utterance per turn. A TCU can be a word, phrase, clause, gesture
- Adjacency pairs: The use of phrases, sentences, or words that typically go together in conversations
Conversational scripts: The use of expected conversational routines or banter
- Turns are the backbone of a conversation
