Introduction to Linguistics

Syntax studies the level of language that lies between words and paragraphs.

Word order is the main device for showing the relationship among words in a language like English.

Case markers are used in English to indicate grammatical relationships.

In Latin, changing the position of words in a sentence always changes the meaning.

Sentences are constructed from individual words that are not related to each other.

The -um ending in Latin indicates the subject of the verb.

Syntax is the scientific study of language.

Linguistics helps us understand variations in language but not how language is used.

Phonetics and phonology are branches of linguistics that focus on sounds.

Morphology is the study of sentence structure in linguistics.

Semantics is the study of word meanings in linguistics.

The term 'syntax' comes from Latin and means 'splitting apart.'

Morphology is responsible for building up word forms by combining roots with other roots and with affixes.

Syntax only operates below the word level.

Meaning in language often depends on the context of morphology.

According to the traditional view, morphology and syntax are ordered in strict sequence, with syntax taking over before morphology does its work.

Semantics is concerned with the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences.

In the sentence 'My dog is playing in the yard,' the words 'is playing' have a closer relationship forming a verb than 'playing in the' which indicate location.