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    The Study of Language - George Yule

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    This document defines and explains key linguistic terms related to the different fields of linguistics. It discusses concepts from phonetics to semantics and pragmatics. Some of the terms defined include phoneme, morpheme, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and presupposition. The document also distinguishes between related terms like homophone and polysemy as well as allomorph and morpheme. Overall, the document provides concise definitions for fundamental concepts and terms across various areas of linguistics.

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    The Study of Language - George Yule

    Uploaded by

    Gene's
    1K views2 pages
    This document defines and explains key linguistic terms related to the different fields of linguistics. It discusses concepts from phonetics to semantics and pragmatics. Some of the terms defined include phoneme, morpheme, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and presupposition. The document also distinguishes between related terms like homophone and polysemy as well as allomorph and morpheme. Overall, the document provides concise definitions for fundamental concepts and terms across various areas of linguistics.

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    The Study Of Language - George Yule

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    This document defines and explains key linguistic terms related to the different fields of linguistics. It discusses concepts from phonetics to semantics and pragmatics. Some of the terms defined include phoneme, morpheme, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and presupposition. The document also distinguishes between related terms like homophone and polysemy as well as allomorph and morpheme. Overall, the document provides concise definitions for fundamental concepts and terms across various areas of linguistics.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    1K views2 pages

    The Study of Language - George Yule

    Uploaded by

    Gene's
    This document defines and explains key linguistic terms related to the different fields of linguistics. It discusses concepts from phonetics to semantics and pragmatics. Some of the terms defined include phoneme, morpheme, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and presupposition. The document also distinguishes between related terms like homophone and polysemy as well as allomorph and morpheme. Overall, the document provides concise definitions for fundamental concepts and terms across various areas of linguistics.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 2

    displacement One of the key characteristics of human language which enables it to refer to

    situations which are not here and now, e.g. I studied linguistics in London when I was in my
    twenties.

    duality A structural principle of human language whereby larger units consist of smaller building
    blocks, the number of such blocks being limited but the combinations being almost infinite. For
    instance all words consist of combinations of a limited number of sounds, say about 40 in either
    English or German. Equally all sentences consist of structures from a small set with different
    words occupying different points in the structures allowing for virtually unlimited variety.

    reflexivity The possibility of using language to talk about language; this is one of its
    delimiting characteristics with respect to other communication systems.

    phonetics is the study of human sounds

    phonology s the study of the sound system of a language or languages

    allaphone The realisation of a phoneme

    homophone Any set of words pronounced the same way, e.g. English poor and pour /pɔ:/
    (Received Pronunciation) and German Ferse and Verse.

    phoneme In traditional phonology the smallest unit in language which disinguishes


    meaning, e.g /k/ and /g/ as seen in coat and goat.

    phone Any human sound which has not been classified in the phonology of a language.

    morphology It is the study of the words as they express grammatical categories.

    allomorph A non-distinctive variant of a morpheme, e.g. -keit and -heit in German


    (Heiterkeit, Schönheit) which vary according to the final consonant of the base to which they are
    suffixed but share the same grammatical function of nominal derivation.

    morpheme The smallest unit in a grammar which can contrast with another and which carries
    meaning.

    syntax It is the study of sentence structure.

    grammar A level of linguistics which is concerned with the manner in which words
    combine together structurally to form sentences.

    semantics It is the study of meaning in language.

    homonym Any set of words which share their form but have different meanings, e.g. bar
    'legal profession' and bar 'public house'. The formal similarity is an accident of phonological
    development and the forms do not share a common historical root, contrast this situation with
    that of polysemy.

    pragmatics The study of language in use in interpersonal communication.

    presuppositon Any information which is taken for granted in a discourse situation, for instance
    the sentence Did you enjoy your breakfast? assumes that the interlocutor already had breakfast.

    language the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the
    use of words in a structured and conventional way

    linguistics the scientific study of language and its structure, including the study of grammar,
    syntax, and phonetics. Specific branches of linguistics include sociolinguistics, dialectology,
    psycholinguistics, computational linguistics, comparative linguistics, and structural linguistics.

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