Introductin

to Phonology
Part 1
STUDENT: MOHAMMED GHARIOUA
 What is phonolgy?

➢ Phonology is typically defined as “the study of

speech sounds” of a language or languages, and
the laws governing them.
➢ Phonology studies the ways in which speech
sounds form systems and patterns in human
language.
 Why do we need to study
phonology?
❖ Phonology plays a huge part in speech production and therefore
is used to examine and analyse this stage in a child's
development. We can analyse how children formulate language
and devise phonological theories of the connection between what
happens in the brain and the sounds they produce.
 Phonemes, phones and
allophones
❑A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in speech that is capable of conveying a
distinct meaning, such as the S of sing and the R of ring.
❑Adjective: phonemic.
❑We use a slash mark to indicate a phoneme /t / while we use a square bracket to
indicate each phonetic [ t ]
❑A phone is the phonetic representation of a phoneme (the actual sound).
❑ Allophones are different ways to pronounce the same phoneme while keeping the
same meaning. For instance, the phoneme /P / can be pronounced in /pʰ / and / P/.
❑ Aspiration changes meaning in Thai, but not in English.
❑Pʰen Pen ( No change in meaning ).
❑pʰ ai ( danger ) Pai ( to go ). Hence, the meaning is
changed. Therefore, /pʰ / and /p/ are phonemes in Thai,
but allophones in English.
 Minimal pairs

o twowords with similar sounds in their place of articulation and manner of

articulation, yet their voiceness is different. For example, Fast and vast.
oThat is to say, minimal pairs are used to decide which one of two sounds are
phonemes or allophones.
oTherefore, the words vast and fast are minimal pairs, and the sounds /f / and
/v / are phonemes.
 Overlapping distribution

o overlappingdistribution occurs when the sets of phonetic

environnements in which the sounds occur are partially or
completely identical. Of course, in different words.
oFor example, consider /b / and /d / :
o‘ lobe’ = /lob / ; ‘load’ /lod /.
o ‘knobs’ = /nabz / ; ‘nods’ /nadz /.
 Free variation

oFree variation in linguistics is the phenomenon of two or

more sounds appearing in the same environment without
a change in meaning and without being considered
incorrect by native speakers.
o/pʰ / and /p / are in free variation in English.
o This meansthat you whether or not you pronounce the aspirated /pʰ / at
the beginning of put, the listener will not get a different meaning.
o the word “either” can be pronounced as /ˈaɪðə/ and / ˈi:ðər /, yet the
meaning is always the same.
oThe same you can observe in the word Celtic which can be pronounced as
/ˈkeltik/ or as /ˈseltik/
oIn other words, free variation is a different pronunciation of the same word.
 Complementary distribution
oComplementary distribution is when two or more
sounds do not occur in the same sound
environment. For example, [ pʰen ], [ spin ], [ stop̚ ].
oThe replacement of one sound for the other will
not change the meaning of the word.
Introductin
to Phonology
Part 2
STUDENT: MOHAMMED GHARIOUA
 The syllables
➢ A syllable is a part of a word that contains sounds (phonemes) of a word. It usually has a
vowel in it, including diphthongs.

➢We usually divide words into syllables

➢For example : Stop= stop ( 1 syllable/ monosyllabic word).

Careful = Care.ful ( 2 syllables/ bisyllabic/ disyllabic word).

Expensive = ex. Pen. Sive ( 3 syllables/ trisyllabic word ).

Photographic = pho. To. Graph. Ic ( many syllables / polysyllabic words).

➢ In any syllable, the vowel is obligatory, and the consonants are optional.
 Elements of syllables
➢ Onset = initial ( at the beginning of the syllable).
➢ Rime ( ryhme) : the part of the syllable containing a vowel sound and everthing after it.
➢Rhyme (Coda) = final ( at the end of the syllable).
➢ Rhyme (Nucleus) = ( there is a vowel = short/long/diphthong).
➢Example :
Cat = /kaet/
o Onset = K
oNucleus = ae
oCoda = t
❖ Onsets in English can consist of : Zero, One, two or three consonants.
❖For example ‘’ a’’ ////:/ as Ray /reɪ/; pray /preɪ /.
❖Nucleus In English, the nucleus is usually a single vowel sound, whether that is a
long, a short vowel or a diphthong.
❖For example ‘’ Sin’’ as /sɪn/. Seen / siːn/.
❖Coda In English, the coda can consist of Zero, one, two, three or Four consonants.
❖For example ‘’ lee’’/ liː/; ‘’lean’’ / liːn/ ; ‘’link’’ / lɪŋk/; Length / leŋkθ/ ; lenghts /
lɛŋkθs/.
 What is the stress?
❑Stress is an additional or greater push of air in the pronounciation of some syllables.

❑Stress is symbolized by an apostrophe as in: happy /ˈhæpi/ where the first syllable is stressed,
and affect /əˈfekt/ where the stress is on the second syllable.

❑A stressed syllable combines three features:

✓It is l-o-n-g-e-r – For example, com p-u-ter.

✓It is LOUDER - For example, comPUTer.

✓It has a change in pitch from the syllables coming before and afterwards.
 How to cut a word into
syllables? (syllabification)
➢ These letters are vowels in English: A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y. It is said that Y is
"sometimes" a vowel, because the letter Y represents both vowel and consonant sounds.

➢Rule 1 : Two consonants placed side by side divide the word from the first Consonant. For
example, bb ss ff tt as in Buffet = Buf. Fet Or Buf- fet.

➢Rule 2 : when there is a vowel between two consonants then break the syllable after the
vowel. For example, as in Baby = Ba. by Or Ba- by / Frozen = Fro.zen Or Fro-zen.

➢Rule 3 : never split between two consonants that have the same sound when pronounced
together. For example, a cluster such as sh th ch wh as in Ship; this; chalk; which

➢ Rule 4 : In a sequence of two vowels the devision or break occurs between them. For
example, as in Chaos = cha. os Or cha- os / Biology = Bi. ol. o. gy. Or Bi- ol -o- gy.
 Open and closed syllables
o Open syllable : a vowel sound at the end of syllable.
For example, Me / to / No .
o Closed syllables : consonant sound at the end of the
syllable.
For example, Up / Cup / at.
 Consonant clusters
❖Cluster is a group of consonants ( two and above) which
come together in a word for example, /str/ at the
beginning of string.
❖We have onsets clusters and Coda clusters. For
instance, black ; throw ; stress; strong; sing ; king …..
 Co-articulation Effects

❑The process of making one sound at the same time as

the next sound.
❑Examples of co-articulation are :
✓ assimilation.
✓Elision.
❑ assimilation : is the influence of a sound on a neighboring sound. So, that the two sounds
become similar or the same.
❑Partial assimilation: similar segments

❑EX. 1: Five pounds

❑/v/ becomes /f/

❑[faifpoundz].
❑EX. 2: nothing but

❑/ŋ/ becomes /m/

❑[ˈnʌθɪm bʌt]
❑Complete assimilation: identical segments.
❑EX. 1: does she

❑/z/ becomes /ʃ/

❑[dʌʃʃi].
❑EX. 2: and more

❑/nd/ becomes /m/

❑[/æm mɔː/].
❑ Elision : deleting a sound.

❑In English , a vowel is elided when followed by a suffix that starts with a vowel.

Morocco (becomes) Moroccan (morocco+an).

❑Syncope: a vowel is dropped if it is close to a stressed vowel.

❑In English, a vowel is elided when it occurs after a stressed vowel.

camera [kæmrə] flattery [flætri].

❑Apocope: a schwa /ə/ appearing word final is dropped. It is more. It is more common in French.

❑It is the loss of one or more sounds or letters at the end of a word.

❑For example, Photograph becomes Photo.

Advertisement becomes Ad.

 In English the past (-ed)
❑ Voiceless sound + ed = t Voiceless (p /k /f /s/ʃ /tʃ /Ɵ)
Look = looked = lookt.
Finished = finished = finisht.
❑ Voiced sound + ed = d Voiced (b /g /d /v /l /r /m /n /z /Ʒ /ʤ /ð)
vowels
lived = lived = livd.
Planned = pland.
❑ t/d+ed = Id
Want = wanted = wantid .
Land = landed = landid.
 In English the (-s/-es)
pronunciation
❑ Voiceless sound + s = S Voiceless (p /k /f /s /ʃ /tʃ /Ɵ)

Cats = cats.
Bank = banks.
❑ Voiced sound + s = Z Voiced (b /g /d /v /l /r /m /n /z /Ʒ /ʤ /ð)

Dogs = Dogz. vowels

Animal = Animalz.
❑ Sibilant + es = IZ Sibilant sounds (s /z /Ʒ /ʤ /ʃ /tʃ )

❑Watches = watchiz .
❑Changes = changiz .
MORPHOLOGY
PART 1
Student : Mohammed Gharioua

ALPINE SKI HOUSE

 DEFINITIONS
▪ Morphology is the study of words and their parts. Morphemes, like prefixes, suffixes
and base words, are defined as the smallest meaningful units of meaning.
▪ Morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies the structure of words ( e.g the
structure of word- unhappiness ).
▪ Morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit ( cat, talk, No ).
▪ A morpheme is the smallest linguistic part of a word that can have a meaning. In
other words, it is the smallest meaningful part of a word. Examples of morphemes
would be the parts "un-", "break", and "-able" in the word "unbreakable".

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 2

 PREFIXES & SUFFIXES DEFINITIONS
▪ Prefix : an element added at the beginning of a word to change its
meaning (e.g un, non,re, ir ).
Happy = unhappy.
Write = re-write.
▪ Suffix : an element added at the end of a word to change its meaning or
change the classification of the word (e.g ment, ed, ness ).
Sick = sickness.
Walk = walked. ALPINE SKI HOUSE 3
 SUFFIXES MAKING NOUNS
▪ -ment : agreement/ government/ arrangement……….
▪ -ion : action/ objection/ corruption……………..
▪ -ation : information/ Contemplation/ aspiration………….
▪ -ure : failure/ closure/ pressure…………..
▪ -sion : decision/ explosion/ admission…………….
▪ -ance : acceptance/ attendance/ resistance……………
▪ -ence : reference/ difference/ dependence………
▪ -ty : ability/ flexibility/ possibility……..
▪ -hood : brotherhood/ childhood………
▪ -y : discovery/ delivery/ recovery………………
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 4
 SUFFIXES MAKING NOUNS

▪ -ship : partnership/ friendship/ citizenship…………

▪ -age : marriage/ carriage…………….
▪ -ness : sickness/ illness/ darkness……
▪ -al : arrival/ refusal/ approval………….
▪ -th : growth/ death/ truth……………
▪ -er : teacher/ computer/ driver…………..
▪ -or : visitor/ advisor/ collector…………
▪ -ian : musician/ magician…………
▪ -ist : typist/ biologist/ sociologist…………
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 5
 SUFFIXES MAKING ADJECTIVES

▪ -ful : useful/ harmful/ careful/ faithful…………..

▪ -less : useless/ harmless/ careless………….
▪ -able : dependable/ breakable…………..
▪ -ible : possible/ flexible/ terrible…………
▪ -ous : dangerous/ advantageous……….
▪ -ic : historic/ classic/ democratic………….
▪ -al : national/ natural/ personal……….
▪ -y : windy/ sunny/ foggy/ cloudy………..
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 6
 SUFFIXES MAKING VERBS

▪Ify : magnify/ terrify/ simplify………

▪-ize : generalize/ emphasize…………
▪-en : broaden/ darken/ shorten……….
▪-ate : originate/ liberate/ regulate…………

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 7

 ADJECTIVE PREFIXES

▪ Anti = ( against ) antibiotic/ antibodies…………..

▪ Un = ( not ) unhappy/ uncomfortable /unlucky………
▪ Im = (not ) impolite/ impossible/ immoral……….
▪ Ir = ( not ) irresponsible/ irrational………….
▪ Il = ( not ) illegal/ illiterate/ illegitimate……………
▪ In = ( not ) incorrect/ inaccurate/ inappropriate…………
▪ Mis = ( wrong ) misunderstand/ misbehave………….
▪ Ex = ( former ) ex-president/ ex-wife/ ex-supervisor……………
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 8
 BRANCHES OF MOROPHOLOGY
▪ Lexical or derivational morphology ( prefixes and suffixes ) :
✓Prefixes don’t change the class of words while suffixes some do and
some do not.
✓Concerns the construction of new base words, especially complex ones
that come from multiple morphemes.

✓Studies the way in which new items of vocabulary can be built up out of
combinations of elements ( happy; unhappy; happiness ).
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 9
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 10
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 11
▪ Inflectional morphology ( only suffixes ) :
✓ suffixes don’t change the class of words.
✓Concerns the breaking apart of words into their parts, such as how
suffixes make different verb forms.

✓Studies the ways words vary in their form in order to express a

grammatical contrast (talk ; talks; talking; talked ).
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 12
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 13
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 14
 FREE AND BOUND MORPHEMES
➢ Free morphemes:
➢morphemes which can stand by themselves as single words, e.g. open and tour.

➢The free morphemes can be generally considered as the set of separate English
word-forms. They are normally called the root

➢When they are used with bound morphemes, the basic word-form involved is
technically known as the stem.
Open.
re-open. ALPINE SKI HOUSE 15
➢ Bound morphemes:

➢Morphemes which cannot normally stand alone, but which are typically

➢attached to another form, e.g. re-, -ist, -ed, -s.

➢This last set is known as Affixes. So all affixes in English are bound morphemes.

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 16

➢ For example,
➢Undressed : un- = prefix (bound).
dress = stem (free).
-ed = suffix (bound).

➢ Carelessness : care = stem (free).

-less = suffix (bound).
-ness = suffix (bound).
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 17
 STEM VS ROOT
➢ A root : is the part of word form that remains when all derivational and inflectional
affixes have been removed.
➢A stem : is the part of word form that remains when all inflectional suffixes have
been removed.
word Root Why? Stem Why?

untouchables touch Un-able-s untouchable -s removed

removed
touched touch -ed removed touch -ed removed

agreements agree -ment, -s removed agreement -s removed

drives drive -s removed drive -s removed

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 18
 BASE WORD

➢ A base word : is a word without any affixes. It can stand on its own and has a
meaning.
➢For example, Cycle ( base word ).
• Bicycle ( prefix ).
• Tricycle ( prefix ).
• Recycle ( prefix ).
• Cyclist ( suffix ).
• Recyclable ( prefix+suffix ).
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 19
 WHEN DOES IT GET COMPLICATED?
❑Sometimes the ‘’root’’ and the ‘’base’’ are the same thing. Take the word ‘’
winner’’.
The base ( smallest word with meaning ) is « win ».
The root is also « win ».
❑That’s why some people consider ‘’base’’ and ‘’ root’’ the same thing. Also,
take the word « wins », when the inflectional « s » is removed, we get the ‘’
stem’’ « win ».
❑So for some words ( usually the short ones ), the root, base and stem are the
same.
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 20
FREE MORPHEMES AND THEIR CATEGORIES.

❖ There are a number of English words in which the element which seems to be the
‘stem’ is not, in fact, a free morpheme. (receive, reduce,repeat )

❖We can recognize the bound morpheme re-, but the elements –ceive, -duce and –
peat are clearly not free morphemes.

❖It may help to work with a simple distinction between forms like-ceive and –duce as
‘bound stems’ and forms like dress and care as ‘free stems’.

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 21

❖Free morphemes fall into two categories :

❖Content morphemes (lexical morphemes) :

❖They carry the ‘content’ of messages we convey.

❖Nouns: girl, woman, house, motorcycle, cat,

❖Adjectives: happy, tall, green, sincere.
❖Verbs: close, watch, teach, ride. ALPINE SKI HOUSE 22
❖Functional morphemes :

❖They serve a relational, grammatical or semantic function.

❖Conjunctions: and, but, or, while, because.

❖Prepositions: at, in, near, above.
❖Articles: a, an, the.
❖Pronouns : I, they, her, this ,these ;etc….. ALPINE SKI HOUSE 23
THANK
YOU FOR
YOUR
ATTENTION
Mohammed Gharioua
+212613181955
[email protected]

ALPINE SKI HOUSE

MORPHOLOGY
PART 2
Student : Mohammed Gharioua

ALPINE SKI HOUSE

 Morph & eme

shape meaningful

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 2

 Phon & eme

Sound Meaningful

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 3

 MORPHS AND ALLOMORPHS
➢If we consider ‘phones’ as the actual phonetic realization of ‘phonemes’,
then we can propose morphs as the actual forms used to realize
morphemes.
➢Thus, the form cat is a single morph realizing a lexical morpheme.
➢The form cats consists of two morphs, realizing a lexical morpheme and
an inflectional morpheme (‘plural’).
➢There are ‘allophones’ of a particular phoneme, so we can recognize
allomorphs of English.
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 4
➢ Allomorphs : is a variant form of a morpheme without changing the
meaning.

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 5

 TYPES OF ALLOMORPHS

➢Additive Allomorphs : we add suffixes.

Morphrmes Examples Additive Allomorphs
• Past tense -ed Walk = walked /-t /
Live = lived /-d /
Want = wanted /-id /

• Plural –s/es Book = books /-s /

Teacher = teachers /-z /
Box = boxes /-iz /

• Verb /3rd person Walk = walks /-s /

singular –s/es Live = lives /-z /
Finish = finishes /-iz /
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 6
➢ Replacive Allomorphs : replaces letters within the word to create irregular past tense forms or
irregular plural forms.
Morphemes Examples Replacive Allomorphs

• Irregular Past tense Write = wrote /o / replaced / i /

Drink = drank /a / replaced / i /
Build = built /t / replaced / d /

• Irregular Plural Man = men /e / replaced /a /

Woman = women /e / replaced /a /
Foot = feet /ee / replaced /oo /

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 7

 ➢ Suppletive Allomorphs : a complete change in the shape of a word. Suppletion is the replavement of
one stem with another, resulting in an allomorph of a morpheme which has no phonological
similarity to the other allomorphs.
Morphemes Examples

Go ( morpheme ) Go = went [ not goed ]

Be ( morpheme ) Be = is / are [ not bes ]

Good ( morpheme ) Good = better / comparative [not gooder ]

Good ( morpheme ) Good = best / superlative [ not goodest ]

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 8
 ➢Zero Allomorphs : no change in the shape of a word. But difference in
Meaning.

Morphemes Examples

Cut ( morpheme ) Cut = Cut [ not cuted ]

Shut ( morpheme ) Shut = Shut [ not Shuted ]

sheep ( morpheme ) Sheep = sheep / plural [ not sheeps ]

Deer ( morpheme ) Deer = deer / plural [ not deers ]

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 9
 WORD FAMILY

➢ A group of related words that are

formed from the same word For
example, ‘’ help’’, ‘’helper’’, ‘’helpful’’,
‘’helpless’’, etc.
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 10
 WORD FAMILY TYPES

❑ 1- Root word : Signal

Significance

Signify
Signature
Significant

Signatory Sign
Design assign
Resign
assignment
Designer
Resign ALPINE SKI HOUSE 11
ation
❑ 2- Common Sounds :

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 12

❑ 3- Derivational & inflectional Affixes :
1) Cover +s = Covers
2) Cover +ed = covered
3) Cover +ing = covering
4) Dis+ cover = Discover
5) Dis+ cover+ed = Discovered
6) Un+ cover = uncover
7) Un+ cover+ed = uncovered
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 13
8) Un+ cover+ing = uncovering
9) re+ cover = recover
10) re+ cover+ s = recovers
11) re+ cover+ ed = recovered
12) re+ cover+ ing = recovering
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 14
 EXAMPLE ( SHAPE )

Word Class Examples

Verb To shape, shapes, shaped, shaping

Noun shape/ shaper /shapelessness / shaping

Adjective shaped / shapeable / shapeless

Adverb shapelessly

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 15

THANK
YOU FOR
YOUR
ATTENTION
Mohammed Gharioua

+212613181955
[email protected]

ALPINE SKI HOUSE

 SEMANTICS
PART 1
Student : Mohammed Gharioua

ALPINE SKI HOUSE

 WHAT IS SEMANTICS ?

❑Semantics is the study of the meaning in a

language.
❑In linguistics, semantics is the subfield that is
devoted to the study of meaning at the levels
of words, phrases, sentences, and larger units
of discourse. ALPINE SKI HOUSE 2
 IMPORTANCE OF SEMANTICS
❖Semantics deals with meaning to make a clear understanding.
❖The true power of semantics is that it is less structured than syntax and easier way to
communicate information. If I had said ‘’the color of the sky is blue’’, or ‘’the sky is now blue’’,
or ‘’I see a blue sky ‘’, you would generally get the same meaning that the sky is blue. The
importance information in any of these variations are the words ‘’sky ‘’ and ‘’blue’’
❖Understanding the change in some words meaning over time. For example :
o the word “ nice” in the 1300s was used to mean “foolish”, but now it is a positive adjective.
o The word “ silly” was seen as “ happy” in the 1200s. However, in the 1500’s the meaning
shifted to refer to a person who is ‘ empty-headed’ or ‘lacking in common sense’.

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 3

 TWO TYPES OF MEANING

conceptual Associative

Literal use Associations

of a word attached to a
word

Blood : red liquid Blood : Catastrophe,

that flows through
Accident, killing,
the bodies of
humans and animals sacrifice

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 4

 REFERENCE VS REFERENT
➢Reference is an act ( language expression ) by which a speaker (or writer
) uses language to enable a listener (or reader ) to identify something in
the real world.
➢The referent is the actual thing in the world.
➢Examples : look! There is a tree in front of you. Hence, the word « tree »
is the reference.
Referent

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 5

 NON- PHYSICAL REFERENTS
❑ we mean by Non- physical Referents that there is no reference in real words.
❑It includes three categories : 1. Function words ( a / the / in / is )
2. Abstract Notions ( Love / Courage / confidence )
3. Myth creatures or people The unicorn usually
has the body of a horse with a single horn growing out of its forehead, goat beard, a
lion’s tail.

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 6

 EXTENSION AND INTENSION TERMS
✓A term is any word or arrangement of words that can serve as
the subject of a sentence.
✓The extensional meaning ( extension or denotation ) of a term
consists of the collection of objects that the term picks out; that
is, the objects to which the term refers.
✓The intensional meaning ( intension or connotation ) of a term
consists of the set of the attributes( or qualities ) shared by all
and only those objects to which the term applies.
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 7
 EXAMPLE

girls
Denotes
Extension ( Connotes
my friends ) Intension (
Attributes )

Positive / lovely
Fatimzahra / supportive
Soukaina /Friendly /
Amiable / funny

• Notice that these are Attributes that these girls have. ALPINE SKI HOUSE 8
 PROTOTYPE VS STEREOTYPE

• A prototype is a semantic relation that refers to the characteristic instance = the

simple clearest example.

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 9

• Stereotype : A list of characteristics describing a prototype.

stereotype prototype

The stereotype of
A prototype of
elephant is a list of
elephant is some
characteristics
types of an
which describes
elephant
the prototype
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 10
 TYPES OF LINGUISTIC REFERENCE
Coreference :
➢In linguistics, co-reference occurs when multiple expressions in a
sentence or document refer to the same entity.
Example : Aditya went to videorec to buy a DVD for himself. He had
frequented the store for many years now. Here, Aditya , himself and He
are coreferent. Also Videorec and store are coreferent.
Example : This is the previous president of France.
This is François Hollande.
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 11
 Anaphora :
➢ In linguistics, anaphora is a word that refers back to a previous word that
has already been mentioned. So, for example, the pronouns in the following
sentences are anaphors.
Example : The student studied really hard for her test. The student saw
herself in the mirror.

oCoreference deals with the relation of a linguistic expression to some entity

in the real world.
oAnaphora deals with the relation between two linguistic expressions.
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 12
 DEIXIS
❖An expression that has one meaning but refers to different entities as the
extralinguistic context changes.
❖Deictic expressions have a “pointing” function; they point to entities within the
context of the utterance.
1. For example, John said " I won lottery yesterday " John said that he had
won lottery the day before.
2. President Reagan believes that he is invincible. The expression he can refer either
to:
the President Reagan (anaphorically ).
to some other male in the context of the utterance (deictically ).
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 13
 SEMANTIC FEATURES
❑The semantic features are ' categories ' that allow us to classify the meaning of a
word.
❑they are usually represented with a headword and using the symbols '+' and '-' to
say if the word contains that feature.
❑There is no list of semantic features. Hence, We need the context to create one.
❑For example, The hamburger ate the boy. This sentence is syntactically good, but
semantically odd. So we have to replace it with The boy ate the hamburger.
❑This kind of noun that can be the subject of the verb ate must denote an entity that
is capable of ‘eating’.
❑Such an element may be as general as “ animate being”. ALPINE SKI HOUSE 14
EXAMPLE

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 15

THANK
YOU FOR
YOUR
ATTENTION
Mohammed Gharioua
+212613181955

[email protected]

ALPINE SKI HOUSE

 SEMANTICS
PART 2
Student : Mohammed Gharioua

ALPINE SKI HOUSE

 LEXICAL RELATIONS
❑the definition :
o A lexical relation is a culturally recognized pattern of association that exists between
lexical units in a language.
❑why it's important? :
o Not only can words be treated as ' containers’ or as fulfilling ' roles ', they can also
have "relationships“. In every day talk, we frequently give the meanings of words in
terms of their relationships.
Conceal = hide
shallow X deep
Daffodil as "it's a kind of flower" ALPINE SKI HOUSE 2
 SYNONYMY
➢Synonyms are two or more forms, with very closely related
meanings.
➢Synonyms are two or more words with very similar or almost
identical meaning.
➢Examples of synonyms are the pairs:
Almost / nearly.
Buy / purchase.
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 3
Big / large.
 ANTONYMS
➢ Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings.
➢ Examples of Antonyms are the pairs:
Alive / dead ; Big / small ; Male / female ; Rich / poor ; Hot / cold ; True / false ; Long / short
➢ Antonyms are usually divided into two types, those which are ‘gradable’, and those which are ‘non – gradable’.
➢ Gradable antonyms: These pairs are called gradable antonyms because they do not represent a more / less relation.
Hence, since they are gradable, they allow comparison ( can be used in comparative and superlative ).
➢ Examples : Hot…. Warm…cold / Old….new / beautiful……..ugly / expensive…cheap.
➢ Non-gradable antonyms, ‘complementary pairs’ or Binary antonyms : Non gradable antonyms are opposites that
both opposites cannot be obtained together. Therefore, there are only two possibilities, either one or the other.
➢ Examples : "on and off“ / "dead and alive“ / " asleep and awake“ / "married and single “.

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 HYPONYMY
➢Hyponyms when the meaning of one word is included in the meaning of another.
Hypo = lower level
Hyper = higher level
Co = together
➢Examples : animal / dog ( the word « dog » is a hyponym of ‘‘ animal ’’ ) while ( the
word « animal » is a hypernym of ‘‘ dog’’.

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 HOMOPHONY, HOMONYMY, AND POLYSEMY
➢Homophones are two or more words which have different spelling but have the same
pronunciation.
o Examples : Bare / bear ; Meat / meet ; Right / write ; too / two ; Sea / see.
➢Homonyms are words ( written or spoken ) which has two or more unrelated meanings.
o Examples : bank ( of a river ) --- bank ( financial institution ) / bat ( flying creature ) --- bat (
used in sports ).
➢Polysemy can be defined as one from ( written or spoken ) having multiple meanings that
are all related by Extension.
o Examples : the word head, used to refer to the object on top of your body, at the top of a
company or department.
The word foot (of person, of bed, of mountain). ALPINE SKI HOUSE 6
METONYMY

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 OVERLAP
❖Two words overlap in meaning if they have the same value for some (but not all) of the semantic
features that constitute their meaning.
✓ For example, the word brother, father uncle and grandfather overlap in meaning. We can
characterize them as (+human/+male/ +kin ).
❖we were to further add Stallion and Pig to this list. Then the meanings of this would overlap by being
marked (+male).
❖With hyponymy, the meaning of one word is entirely included in the meaning of another.
✓ The meaning of pig is entirely included in the meaning of sow; i.e., all sows are pigs, but not all pigs
are sows.
❖With overlap, on the other hand, the meanings of two words intersect, but neither one includes the
other.
✓ The meanings of sister and niece intersect, but neither includes the other: Not all sisters are nieces,
and not all nieces are sisters ALPINE SKI HOUSE 8
 TRUTH IN INDIVIDUAL SENTENCES
❖Analytic Sentences ( ‫ ) جمل تحليلية‬: An analytic sentence is one that
necessarily true as a result of the words in it.
oExamples : The earth revolves around the sun.
Salmon are fish.
❖Synthetic Sentences ( ‫ ) الجمل التركيبية‬: Sentences that may be true or
false depending upon how the world is.
oExamples : John is from Ireland.
Georg is handsome.
My brother is Tall. ALPINE SKI HOUSE 9
 PRESUPPOSITION (TRUTH VALUE) / ‫االفتراض‬
‫القبلي‬
❑A presupposition is something the speaker assumes to be the case prior to making an
utterance. Speakers, not sentences, have presupposition.
❑Presupposition is something that a person believes to be true and he uses as the beginning of
an argument even though it has not been proved.
❑Example 1 : Mary’s daughter is beautiful ( There is a presupposition in the mind of the speaker
that mary has a daughter ). Hence, the speaker assumed that “ Mary has a daughter” before
he uttered the sentence ‘ Mary’s daughter is beautiful ’.
❑ Example 2 : 1. Huda’s son is clever ( P ) / 2. Huda has a son ( q ). Therefore, P presupposes q.
❑The symbole is P >> q
❑ Example 3 : If someone tells you that your brother is waiting outside, there is an obvious
presupposition that you have a brother.
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 10
 ENTAILMENT = ‫ االستلزام‬/‫االستتباع‬
❑An entailment is something that logically follows from what is asserted in the
utterance. Sentences, not speakers, have entailments.
❑Example 1 : utterance // Khalid is from Sfax.
Entailment // Khalid is from Tunisia ( but not vice versa, being from Tunisia
doesn’t entail that he is from Sfax. Myabe he is from Sousse or Kairouan ).
❑Example 2 : utterance // Rihab has been to Germany.
Entailment // Rihab has been to Europe ( but not vice versa ).
❑Example 3 : utterance // The boss was assassinated.
Entailment // The boss died ( but not vice versa ).
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 PRESUPPOSITION VS. ENTAILMENT
✓Speakers have presuppositions, while sentences have
entailments.
Explanation :
✓Speakers have presuppositions means that the speaker has the
intended meaning in mind.
✓Sentences have entailments means, the meaning that the
sentence conveys, not what the speaker means.
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 12
THANK
YOU FOR
YOUR
ATTENTION
Mohammed Gharioua

+212613181955
[email protected]

ALPINE SKI HOUSE

SYNTAX PART
1
Student : Mohammed Gharioua

ALPINE SKI HOUSE

 REMINDER
• Phonetics: is a branch of linguistics that studies how
humans make & perceive sounds.
• Phonology : study of sound systems and how sounds
combine.
• Morphology : study of how words are formed from
smaller parts (morphemes).
• Semantics : study of meaning of language.
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 2
 WHAT IS ‘‘ SYNTAX ’’ ?

❑Syntax : from Greek word ‘ ‘ syntax ‘’’ : syn ( together ) + taxis ( arrangement ).
❑Study of structure of language.
❑Refers to the way words are arranged together, and the relationship between them.
❑Representational device is tree structure.
❑Syntax is not about meaning! Sentences can have no sense and still be
grammatically correct. For example, Colorless green ideas sleep furiously ( Nonsense
), but grammatically correct.
* sleep ideas colorless furiously green ( grammatically incorrect ).

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 GRAMMAR VS. SYNTAX
❑ Grammar is broader than syntax. In fact, syntax is part of grammar.
❑The part of grammar dealing with words, phrases, clauses, and
sentences is known as Syntax.
❑In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules governing the
composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any language.
❑Grammar refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes
phonology, morphology, and syntax, often complemented by phonetics,
semantics, and pragmatics.
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 4
 WHAT IS A CONSTITUENT?

❑ In syntactic analysis, a constituent is a word or a group of

words that functions as a single unit within a hierarchical
structure.
❑We begin with a sentence ( S ) and divide it into two
constituents ( NP and VP ).
❑ In turn, the NP constituent is divided into two other
constituents ( Art and N ) and so on.
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 5
 TREE DIAGRAM
❑ in the past the analysis of the constituents was done this way horizontally and in
brackets. For instance, [ S[ NP[ D the] [ N boy]] [ VP [ V ate ] [ NP[ D his][ N apple] ].

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 6

 CONSTITUENCY TESTS

➢The replacement test:

oif you can replace a group of words with a single word
then we know that group forms a constituent.
a) The man from NY flew only ultra-light planes.
b) He flew only ultra-light planes.

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 7

➢The stand alone test:
o If the words can stand alone in response to a question, then they probably constitute
a constituent.
a) Paul ate at a really fancy restaurant.
b) Paul ate at a really fancy restaurant.

o If we ask the question “What did Paul do yesterday afternoon?”

a) Ate at a really fancy restaurant.
b)*Ate at.
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 8
➢The test of coordination:
o If you can coordinate a group of words with a similar group of words, then they
form a constituent.
a) [John] and [the man] went to the store.
b) *John and very blue went to the store.

o The rules we are going to consider in this chapter are called phrase structure rules
(PSRs) because they generate the phrase structure tree of a sentence.

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 9

 NOUN PHRASES (NPS)

❖ A phrase : is a sequence of words or a group of words arranged in a

grammatical construction, and functions as a unit in a sentence.
The old man ( NP ).
Very happy ( AdjP ).
• There are 5 common types of phrases :
✓ A noun phrase : refers to a phrase that is built upon a noun which functions
as the headword of the phrase. For example, The smart girl bought a book
from a tall man.
( NP ) ( NP ) ( NP )
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 10
 VERB PHRASES (VPS)
✓ A verb phrase : refers to a phrase that is composed of at least one verb and
its dependents in which the verb functions as the headword of the phrase. For
example, The boy has been playing and he found a doll.
( VP ) ( VP )
o Intransitive verb = an intransitive verb does not require a direct object to
express a complete thought ( They jumped ).
o Transitive verb = a transitive verb is used with a direct object ( they jumped
into the swimming pool ).
o Ditransitive verb = takes two objects ( direct object/ indirect object ). For
example, [ Rim told the children a story / Rim told a story to the children ].
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 11
 ADJECTIVE PHRASES (ADJPS)

✓ An adjective phrase : refers to a phrase that modifies a noun. It is built upon an

adjective which functions as the headword of the phrase. For example, she is
extremely happy today and much happier than before.
NP

D AdjP AdjP N
Big yellow
The book

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 12

 ADVERB PHRASES ( ADVPS )

✓ An adverb phrase : refers to a phrase that often tells us when, where, why and how
an event occured, In which the adverb functions as the headword of the phrase. For
example, Ali spoke English very quickly in the party last year.
( AdvP ) ( AdvP )
AdvP
Adv AdvP
Very Adv
well

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 13

 PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES ( PPS )
✓ A prepositional phrase : refers to a phrase that begins with a preposition, in which the
preposition functions as the headword of the phrase. For example, The man in the black
coat arrived by plane last night.
( PP ) ( PP )
PP
NP
Prep Quanti Noun
Of many colors

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 14

BASIC PHRASE STRUCTURE RULES

S NP VP

NP ( Det ) (Adj ) N ( PP)

VP V ( NP ) ( PP ) ( Adv )
PP P NP

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 15

EXAMPLE ON BASIC PHRASE STRUCTURE RULES

S
NP VP
Det N V PP
P NP
Det N
The girl laughed at the monkey

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 16

THANK
YOU FOR
YOUR
ATTENTION
Mohammed Gharioua

+212613181955

[email protected]

ALPINE SKI HOUSE

 SYNTAX PART
2
Student : Mohammed Gharioua

ALPINE SKI HOUSE

 TREE DIAGRAMS AUXILIARY

1.Auxiliary verbs : Modal Verbs ( can, could, should,

must etc. ).
2.Auxiliary Verbs : Verbs to be & Verbs to have.
▪Continuous ( is driving, are playing etc ).
▪Perfect ( have gone, has done etc ).
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 2
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 3
 TREE DIAGRAMS ADVERBS

➢ Frequency ( always, often, usually,

sometimes, never etc ).
➢Manner ( slowly, quickly, carefully etc ).
➢Time ( Soon, lately, recently, eventually,
early, late etc ).
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 4
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 5
 COMPLEMENT DEFINITION
❑ A complement is a word, phrase or clause that is necessary to complete the meaning of
a given expression.

o A complementizer
• The label complementizer refers to that part of speech which includes the words which
introduce complement clauses.
Examples are that and whether. If is a lso a complementizer when it means whether.
1. She said that she wasn’t coming.
2. I don’t know whether she will come.
3. She asked me if I was coming.
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 6
 COMPLEMENT VS. ADJUNCT
✓ Complements are not optional. You can’t remove them from your
sentence. They are essential to ensure understanding.
✓Adjuncts are optional as they are usually just descriptive. They give extra
information.
Examples :
1) I said that Riyadh is the capital of KSA. ( complement ) [ That clause-
Noun clause ]
2) Riyadh that is the capital of KSA is a big city. ( Adjunct ) [ Adjective
clause ] ALPINE SKI HOUSE 7
COMPLEMENT PHRASE

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 8

COMPLEMENT PHRASE EXAMPLE

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 STRUCTURAL AMBIGUITY
The boy saw the man with the telescope
o This sentence is ambiguous because it has two meanings :
1. The boy had a telescope and he saw the man with it.
2. The boy saw the man who had the telescope.

Now. Is the tree diagramming the same for both?

The answer is : NO. How?
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 10
STRUCTURAL AMBIGUITY EXAMPLE

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STRUCTURAL AMBIGUITY EXAMPLE

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 12

 CLAUSES

• A clause consists of a subject NP and a VP. The label we use for clause is
TP (which stands for tense phrase).
• This is our rule for clauses :
TP → NP VP

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 13

 SYMBOLS USED IN SYNTACTIC ANALYSIS
1. An arrow = Consists of
Example, NP Art+N / the cat.
2. A pair of round brackets ( ) = optional constituent
Example, NP Art ( adj ) N / the ( small ) cat.
3. Curly brackets { } = only one of the elements enclosed within the curly brackets must
be selected.
Example, NP { Art+ N, Pro, PN }.
4. *ungrammatical sentence
Example, *walked the boy to school.

ALPINE SKI HOUSE 14

 ABBREVIATIONS IN SYNTACTIC ANALYSIS
1. S = sentence ( the boy plays football every day )
2. NP = Noun pharse ( the girl )
3. Art = article ( a, an, the )
4. N = Noun ( fire, house, deer )
5. PN = proper Noun ( Ahmad, Souzana )
6. Pro = pronoun ( she, they , he )
7. VP = verb phrase ( plays football every day )
8. V = verb ( drink, smoke, travel )
9. Aux = auxiliary ( modals )
10. Cop = copula / be ( is , am, are, was, were )
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 15
11. PP = prepositional phrase ( at home )
12. P = Preposition ( for, at, in )
13. AdjP = Adjective phrase ( extremely happy, much careful )
14. Adj = Adjective ( small, big, short, tall )
15. AdvP = Adverb phrase ( very quickly, next year )
16. Adv = Adverb ( well, carefully, slowly )
17. Det = Determiner ( this, my, all, one, many, a lot of, etc )
ALPINE SKI HOUSE 16
THANK
YOU FOR
YOUR
ATTENTION
Mohammed Gharioua
+212613181955
[email protected]

ALPINE SKI HOUSE