Parts of speech (word classes)
content words (open class)
noun - a thing, person, place,
event, substance, quality, idea
verb - an action, an occurance, a
state of being
adjective - modifier of nouns
adverb - modifier of verbs,
adjectives, clauses, etc.
function words (closed class)
preposition - relations between
nouns, sometimes clauses
postposition -
same, but after the noun
conjunction - connects two words,
phrases, or clauses
auxiliary verb
- a verb that give more detail to the main verb
determiner - common modifiers of
nouns that give details such as definiteness and quantity
pronoun - a "pro-form" that
substitutes for a noun or noun phrase
Phrases - coherent sequences of words
NP - noun phrase - a phrase with a noun as the head
(e.g. det - adj - noun)
VP - verb phrase - a phrase with a verb as the head
(e.g. aux - verb - adverb)
PP - prepositional phrase - a phrase with a
preposition as the head (e.g. prep - NP
adjectival phrase - a phrase that modifies a noun
adverbial phrase - a phrase that modifies a verb or
the entire sentence
Syntax - rules of grammar
Noam Chomsky - famous linguist
deep structure - the structure of
syntax closest to semantics, thought, and experience
surface structure - the structure
of syntax closest to speaking or listening
phrase structure trees - diagrams
of deep syntax
transformations - rules for
changing deep syntax into surface syntax in a specific language
Morphology - how words are built out of morphemes
morpheme - the smallest unit that relates sound and
meaning
derivational - morphemes that
make new meanings
inflectional - morphemes that
signify grammatical nuances
bound morphemes - morphemes that
can't be used by themselves
free morphemes - morphemes that
can be used as stand-alone words
affixes - bound morphemes
prefixes - at the beginning of
stem morpheme
suffixes - at the end
circumfixes - both at the
beginning and the end
infixes - go into some inner part
of the stem
reduplication - change by
doubling a letter or syllable in the stem
compound (2+ free morphemes)
blending - change in morphemes in
the process of compounding
bound roots - compounds where one
or more of the original morphemes has lost its independent meaning
clitic - a free morpheme in the process of morphing
into a bound one
proclitic - becoming a prefix
enclitic - becoming a suffix
mesoclitic - between the stem and
some other affix
Language types (in terms of morphology)
analytic languages - most words are made up of
single morphemes plus strict word order
synthetic languages - considerable use of affixes
agglutinating - highly regular
synthetic languages
fusional (inflectional) -
synthetic languages where affixes have lost easy recognition
polysynthetic - most words made
up of many morphemes
Inflection - grammatical patterns in synthetic languages
definiteness - specific/known or less specific/new
number - singular, plural, dual
cases (declension) - noun variations, similar to
prepositions or postpositions
nominative - subject of the
sentence
vocative - addressing someone, or
calling someone's
attention ("Oh Caesar!")
accusative - direct object of the
verb's action
dative - indirect object (to
something or someone)
ablative - the source, from
something
locative - the location, in or at
somewhere
genitive - possession, of someone
instrumental - using something,
with something
sociative - in the company of,
with someone
gender - male/female, common/neuter,
animate/inanimate, etc.
pronouns
first person plural (we, us...)
exclusive -
we, but not you
inclusive -
we, including you
second person (you)
formal -
polite, used for elders, bosses, aristocracy...
familiar -
less polite, used for spouses, children, servants...
demonstrative - this and that
indefinite - some, a few, many...
interrogative - who, what, where,
when, how...
verbs
transitive - verbs with a direct
object
intransitive - verbs with only a
subject
tenses - past, present, future
aspect - older; relation of the
action to the rest of the text
perfect - the
action is finished, completed
imperfect -
the action is on-going
mood (or mode) - indication of
the mood of the speaker
indicative -
basic description of reality
conditional -
the reality of one event depends on the reality of another
subjunctive -
when there is doubt or uncertainty regarding the reality
imperative - a
command
voice - the direction of
the action
active -
subject performs the action (basic)
passive - the
action is performed upon the subject
person - indicates if the verb's
subject (and sometimes object) is me, you, or someone else (and
singular or plural)
participle - a form of the verb used in compound
sentences, or as an adjective or noun
past/passive - the action is
passive and in the past
present/active - the action is
active and in the present
infinitive - form of the verb used as an abstract
noun
adjectives
comparison - more, most, less,
least; variations used to relate two or more nouns
adverbs - often constructed from adjectives with an
affix
numerals
cardinal - the quantity
ordinal - the order
prepositions/postpositions - sometimes conjugated
for person and number
Semantics - the study of meaning in language
synonymy - two words with the same meaning
homonymy - two words that sound the same, but have
different meanings
antonymy - two words with opposite meanings
binary - you can be one or the
other, but not both
scalar - a dimensional relation,
where you can be somewhere inbetween
relational - opposites in a
relationship (e.g. husband and wife)
componential analysis - analyzing words for the
meaning components
entailment - relationship of
words where if you are one, you must be the other too, but not the
other way around (e.g. husband and man)
adjectives
intersection - "crossing" of the
noun class and the adjective class (blue suit = the intersection of
blue things and suit things)
relative -
when the meaning of the adjective changes relative to the class of
nouns (big midget vs big giant)
idioms - a sentence where the
meaning is not literal
semantic diagrams
predicate - events, the semantic
version of a verb, adjective, or preposition
argument - objects, the semantic
version of a noun
predication - the semantic
version of a sentence
two-place - a
predicate with two arguments
one-place - a
predicate with one argument
zero-place - a
predicate with no arguments ("It's" raining)
qualifying predication - modifies
an argument
embedded predication - a
predication taking the place of an argument
cognitive structure - theories as to the structure
of thought
is, isa, has - three examples of
relationships in cog structures
thematic roles ("the case for
case") - another approach, based on something similar to the cases of
nouns