Introduction to Linguistic Concepts - PDF

Introduction to Linguistic Concepts Phonology The study of sound patterns in languages and how they function to create meaning. Key Concepts: - Phonemes: Smallest units of sound that distinguish meaning (e.g., /p/ vs /b/ in "pat" vs "bat") - Allophones: Variations of the same phoneme (e.g., aspira...

Introduction to Linguistic Concepts Phonology The study of sound patterns in languages and how they function to create meaning. Key Concepts: - Phonemes: Smallest units of sound that distinguish meaning (e.g., /p/ vs /b/ in "pat" vs "bat") - Allophones: Variations of the same phoneme (e.g., aspirated [pʰ] in "pin" vs unaspirated [p] in "spin") - Syllable structure: Organization of sounds within syllables (onset, nucleus, coda) - Stress and intonation: Patterns of emphasis and pitch in speech Morphology The study of word structure and formation. Types of Morphemes: 1. Free morphemes: Stand alone as words (e.g., "cat," "run") 2. Bound morphemes: Must attach to other morphemes - Prefixes: un-, pre-, re- - Suffixes: -ing, -ed, -tion Common Morphological Processes: 1. Inflection: Grammatical modifications - Plural formation: dog → dogs - Tense marking: walk → walked - Comparative forms: tall → taller 2. Derivation: Creating new words - teach → teacher - happy → unhappy - legal → legalize Syntax The study of sentence structure and grammatical relationships. Key Components: 1. Phrases: - Noun Phrases (NP): the red book - Verb Phrases (VP): is running quickly - Prepositional Phrases (PP): under the table 2. Sentence Structures: - Simple: Subject + Verb + Object - Compound: Independent clause + Independent clause - Complex: Independent clause + Dependent clause Basic Rules: - Word order patterns (SVO in English) - Agreement (subject-verb, number) - Dependency relationships Word Formation Processes 1. Compounding Combining two or more words: - blackboard (black + board) - smartphone (smart + phone) - bedroom (bed + room) 2. Blending Merging parts of words: - brunch (breakfast + lunch) - smog (smoke + fog) - podcast (iPod + broadcast) 3. Clipping Shortening words: - exam (examination) - phone (telephone) - gym (gymnasium) 4. Conversion Changing word class without affixation: - email (noun → verb) - text (noun → verb) - empty (adjective → verb) 5. Derivation Adding affixes: - happiness (happy + -ness) - unsuccessful (un- + success + -ful) - modernize (modern + -ize) 6. Acronyms and Initialisms - NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) - ROM (Read Only Memory) - ASAP (As Soon As Possible)