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CTEL
Language Structure
25
Other
Professional
10/10/2010

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Term
phoneme
Definition
sound units that form words; ex: /sp/ in "speak"
(there are 34-45 phonemes in English)
Term
pitch
Definition
vibration of vocal chords ); either a rising or falling tone; if changes meaning, is known as "intonation"; languages that use pitch a lot to contrast meanings are called "tone languages".
Term
stress
Definition
increase in 'vocal activity' that can modify meanings of words; syllables in words are not normally said w/ equal stress. (ex: "checkbook")
Term
morphemes
Definition
the "building blocks of meaning" contained in each word; ex: "Abolitionist" = aboli + tion + ist + s; can be one or multi-syllabic
Term
free morphemes
Definition
stand-alone units of meaning (ex: through) not connected to other morphemes
Term
bound morphemes
Definition
sound units that occur ONLY in conjunction w/ other morphemes (ex: -ing, dis-, -ceive); most are affixes
Term
affixes
Definition
bound morphemes that are 'prefixes' (occurring at beginning of words) or 'suffixes' (at the end of words)
Term
prefix
Definition
bound morphemes that occur at beginning of words (ex: un- )
Term
suffixes
Definition
bound morphemes that occur at the ends of words (ex: -able or -ism)
Term
clipping
Definition
a process of shortening words but retaining the same meaning (ex: 'prof' instead of 'professor')
Term
acronyms
Definition
CIA, NASA etc.
Term
computer shorthand
Definition
IMHO, or CYL (catch you later)
Term
blends
Definition
words formed from parts of two different words (ex: smog, stagflation, brunch)
Term
syntax
Definition
refers to the structure of sentences and the rules that govern the formation of a sentence; not really formally taught, but internalized/constructed as native speakers acquire language
Term
grammar
Definition
more precise rules about how words go together in sentences; called "standard usage"; something that is correct in syntax may still be grammatically incorrect. "I ain't got no pencil"
Term
semantics
Definition
the study of the meanings of individual words, phrases, or sentences;
Term
borrowed words
Definition
words that English has adopted from other cultures/languages
Term
pragmatics
Definition
the study of communication in social context; includes three major communication skills: using language for diff. funtions; adapting lang. to the situation; following rules of conversation.
Term
cognates
Definition
words in two different languages, but are related to a same 'root' (usually Greek or Latin); ex: family, familia
Term
phonemes - positive transfer v. negative transfer
Definition
positive transfer = sound is found in both languages;
negative transfer = sound is not found in both lang.
Term
allophones
Definition
sounds in a language that do NOT make difference in meaning; ex: DOG, DAWG, DOUGH-G (regional pronunciation differences)
Term
grapheme
Definition
individual letter
Term
relationship b/w phoneme and grapheme
Definition
sometimes a phoneme (sound) has many graphemes (letters to denote it); AND, sometimes many phonemes can come from one grapheme.
Term
5 Components of all Language
Definition
1. pragmatics - communicative context
2. semantics - meanings of words
3. syntax - word order
4. morphology - units of meaning
5. phonology - elements of sound
Term
what pragmatics involves
Definition
things like: body language, intonation, stress, pitch, etc.
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