 | Term | Definition |
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synchronic linguistics |
studying languages at a given point in time. descriptive, structural, prior to diachronic study |
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diachronic linguistics |
what happens to language over time? All irregularities have a diachronic explanation. |
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Internal reconstruction |
looking at the single language itself, done on the basis of morphophonemes |
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historical (i.e. diachronic) linguistics |
Principles of language change. Deductive |
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comparative (i.e. synchronic) linguistics |
inductive. answers the question y < ? (y is derived from ?) |
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semology |
study of semantics (connection with 'real world') |
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systematic |
rule-governed, nonrandom, predictable. (a property of language) |
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systemic |
total system divided into subsystems (e.g. semantics, morphology, syntax, phonetics)All languages are systemic. |
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Icon |
expresses mainly formal, factual similarity between the meaning and the meaning carrier (e.g. photos, onamateopaeic words, in a The sense) Subtypes are image, diagram, metaphor |
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Index |
Expresses mainly material relation (factual, existential contiguity). cause/effect. Material relation between meaning and form (now, here, I). |
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Symbol |
Based on a learned conventional relation, ascribed contiguity, or colligation, between form and meaning. (the shape is arbitrary) |
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linguistic sign |
a colligation (binding together) of sound and meaning |
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substance v. structure |
Substance is "-etic" (outside the system), while structure is "-emic" (within the system) |
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allophones |
variant forms of a given phoneme. (the different sounds are objectively different, e.g. lip, pill, please) |
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morpheme |
minimal unit of meaning |
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syntagmatic |
axis of successivities. Horizontal aspect. syntax |
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paradigmatic |
mutual substitutability, vertical relationship. (e.g. substituting different phonemes in front of /og/ as in bog, dog log). |
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phone |
individual minimal speech utterances (sounds) |
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morphophoneme |
phoneme sized chunk of grammatical material |
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suppletion |
when historically different forms come together to fill out a paradigm. (go: /gow/ ~ /wen-/) |
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phoneme |
set of phones which are phonetically similar and in either free variation or complementary distribution (pill, please, lip) |
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affective value |
free variation, changing phoneme for emphasis |
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morph |
an undividual uttered meaningful unit consisting of a set of syntactically ordered phonemes |
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morpheme |
set of morphs which are semantically similar and in either free variation or complementary distribution (morphology is concerned with meaning) |
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morphophoneme |
(both synchronic and diachronic) a phoneme sized unit on the grammatical level that indexes phonological alteration. Bespeaks an earlier stage in the language. |
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continuant sound |
i.e., fricative. a non-continuant sound is therefore a stop. |
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alternation |
in plurals: cats, dogs, bushes. different plural sounds after voiced sound (dogs), after sibilant (bushes), and voiceless sound (cats). |
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polyvalence |
difference b/t plural, possessive, 3rd person singular 's' in English. |
