English flashcards

All 48 cards

1. Card 1

   Define the structure of predication and provide an example.

   The structure of predication involves a subject combined with a predicate. An example is 'The healthy girl ate the breakfast, bread and butter,' where 'The healthy girl' is the subject and 'ate the breakfast, bread and butter' is the predicate.

2. Card 2

   Explain the structure of complementation with an illustrative example.

   The structure of complementation consists of a verbal element followed by a complement. An example is 'ate the food,' where 'ate' is the verbal element and 'the food' is its complement.

3. Card 3

   What is the structure of modification and how does it function?

   The structure of modification involves a head word accompanied by a modifier. The modifier provides additional information about the head word, as seen in 'healthy girl,' where 'girl' is the head word and 'healthy' is the modifier.

4. Card 4

   Describe the structure of coordination and give an example.

   The structure of coordination links equivalent grammatical units. An example is 'bread and butter,' where 'bread' and 'butter' are both nouns coordinated by 'and'.

5. Card 5

   Distinguish between grammatical function and syntactic categories.

   Grammatical function refers to the role constituents play in a sentence (e.g., subject, predicate, object, adverbial). Syntactic categories, on the other hand, name the grammatical class to which a constituent belongs (e.g., nouns, pronouns, verbs).

6. Card 6

   What is semantics, and what is its primary focus?

   Semantics is the scientific study of word meaning. Its primary focus is to understand how meaning is encoded and interpreted in language.

7. Card 7

   Explain lexical decomposition as a method in semantics.

   Lexical decomposition is a method that represents the sense of a word by breaking it down into its constituent semantic features. This approach allows for characterizing the meanings of a potentially infinite number of words using a finite set of semantic features.

8. Card 8

   Differentiate between speaker-sense and linguistic-sense within the study of sense.

   Speaker-sense refers to the speaker's intended, often non-literal, meaning in a specific situation, making it situationally dependent. Linguistic-sense, conversely, is the literal meaning of a linguistic expression as an inherent part of the language, making it situationally independent.

9. Card 9

   When is a word considered lexically ambiguous?

   A word is considered lexically ambiguous if it possesses more than one distinct sense. For instance, the word 'set' can have numerous different meanings depending on the context.

10. Card 10

    How does homonymy differ from polysemy?

    Homonymy occurs when two or more lexemes are phonologically and orthographically identical but have completely different, unrelated meanings (e.g., 'ball' as a round object vs. 'ball' as a social event). Polysemy, however, involves one lexeme whose meaning is metaphorically extended based on some similarity (e.g., 'leg' of a man vs. 'leg' of a table).

11. Card 11

    Define synonymy and provide a common example.

    Synonymy describes two words that have the same sense, meaning they share the same values for all their semantic features. Examples include 'conceal' and 'hide,' or 'big' and 'large.'

12. Card 12

    What is hyponymy, and how is it related to a superordinate word?

    Hyponymy is a semantic relationship where a word contains the meaning of a more general word, known as the superordinate. The hyponym's meaning includes all the superordinate's feature values plus some additional ones, such as 'oak' being a hyponym of 'tree'.

13. Card 13

    Explain the concept of antonymy in semantics.

    Antonymy refers to two words whose meanings differ only in the value for a single semantic feature. This can manifest in pairs that exhaust linguistic possibilities (e.g., 'dead/alive'), describe opposite ends of a dimension (e.g., 'hot/cold'), or describe relational opposites (e.g., 'buy/sell').

14. Card 14

    What is the difference between coreference and anaphora?

    Coreference occurs when two linguistic expressions refer to the same real-world entity (e.g., 'mercury' and 'the nearest planet to the sun'). Anaphora, on the other hand, is a specific type of coreference where a linguistic expression refers back to another linguistic expression (the antecedent) that precedes it, following an antecedent-pronoun pattern (e.g., 'If a man has talent and can't use it, he's failed.').

15. Card 15

    How does cataphora differ from anaphora?

    Cataphora is the inverse of anaphora; it is a linguistic expression that refers to another linguistic expression that follows it, establishing a pronoun-antecedent pattern. For example, in 'If you want some, there's coffee in the pot,' 'you' is the pronoun referring forward to 'coffee'.

16. Card 16

    Define deixis and explain its context-dependent nature.

    Deixis refers to expressions that have a constant meaning but whose referent changes depending on the speaker's personal, spatial, and temporal orientation in a given context. For example, 'meet me there tonight' depends on who 'me' is, where 'there' is, and when 'tonight' occurs.

17. Card 17

    Distinguish between linguistic truths and linguistic falsities.

    Linguistic truths are propositions that are necessarily true solely by virtue of the words used in the sentence, essentially being true by definition (e.g., 'A bachelor is an unmarried man'). Linguistic falsities are propositions that are necessarily false as a result of the words in the sentence, being false by virtue of the language itself (e.g., 'A bachelor is a married man').

18. Card 18

    What are empirical truths or falsities, and how do they differ from linguistic truths?

    Empirical truths or falsities are statements whose truth value (true or false) depends on the actual state of affairs in the extralinguistic world, not just the meaning of the words themselves. Unlike linguistic truths, which are true by definition, empirical truths require observation or knowledge of the world to verify.

19. Card 19

    Explain the concept of entailment in semantics.

    Entailment is a semantic relationship where the truth of one sentence necessarily implies the truth of another sentence. This relation is unidirectional, moving from a more specific statement to a more general one. For example, 'Martina bought apples' entails 'Martina bought fruits'.

20. Card 20

    What is a presupposition, and why is it important for judging truth?

    A presupposition is a proposition that must be assumed to be true in order to judge the truth or falsity of another sentence. For example, the sentence 'Martina no longer writes poetry' presupposes that 'Martina wrote poetry before.' If the presupposition is false, the original sentence's truth value becomes difficult to assess.

21. Card 21

    What is pragmatics, and what does it primarily study?

    Pragmatics is the study of language use in particular situations, focusing on how language is affected by its linguistic and physical context. It primarily studies the intended speaker-meaning, going beyond the literal sense of words.

22. Card 22

    Define implicature and provide an example of how it works.

    An implicature is an implied proposition or statement that is not explicitly part of an utterance and does not necessarily follow from it, but is inferred by the hearer. For example, if Mary says 'I guess I'd better hide the liquor' in response to 'Uncle Chester is coming over for dinner,' the implicature might be that Uncle Chester has a drinking problem.

23. Card 23

    Explain the Cooperative Principle and its role in conversation.

    The Cooperative Principle is the fundamental assumption that participants in a conversation are cooperating with each other to achieve mutual understanding. It suggests that speakers and hearers strive to be truthful, relevant, informative, and clear in their communication.

24. Card 24

    Describe the Maxim of Quality as part of the Cooperative Principle.

    The Maxim of Quality dictates that participants in a conversation should be truthful and ensure their statements are based on sufficient evidence. Essentially, speakers should not say what they believe to be false or for which they lack adequate evidence.

25. Card 25

    What does it mean to 'flout' a conversational maxim?

    To 'flout' a conversational maxim means to intentionally violate it, not to deceive, but for the purpose of conveying an unstated proposition or implicature. The speaker expects the hearer to recognize the violation and infer the hidden meaning.

26. Card 26

    Define 'Phoneme' and explain its significance in a language.

    A phoneme is an abstract minimal sound unit in a particular language. Its significance lies in its ability to distinguish different words within that language, meaning a change in a phoneme can alter the word's meaning.

27. Card 27

    How does the 'Minimal Pair Technique' help identify phonemes?

    The Minimal Pair Technique identifies phonemes by comparing words that are almost identical except for one sound in the same position. If this single sound difference leads to a change in word meaning, then the differing sounds represent distinct phonemes.

28. Card 28

    Distinguish between 'Articulatory Phonetics' and 'Acoustic Phonetics'.

    Articulatory Phonetics is the oldest branch and examines the articulatory organs and their role in producing speech sounds. Acoustic Phonetics deals with the physical properties of speech sounds as they travel through the air in the form of sound waves.

29. Card 29

    What is the primary task of 'Notation' in phonetics, and what system is commonly used?

    The primary task of Notation in phonetics is to provide a system of transcription symbols for making an accurate and unambiguous record of speech. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is the transcription system commonly used for this purpose.

30. Card 30

    Explain how vowel sounds are produced and a key characteristic they all share.

    Vowel sounds are produced by shaping the oral cavity to give the sound a particular color or timbre. A key characteristic they all share is that all vowel sounds are voiced.

31. Card 31

    What is the difference between a 'monophthong' and a 'diphthong'?

    A monophthong is a single vowel sound, such as [i] in 'seen' or [u] in 'food'. A diphthong, on the other hand, is a complex two-vowel sound that glides together, like [ei] in 'day' or [au] in 'bow'.

32. Card 32

    Define 'Syllable' in phonology and identify its core components.

    A syllable is a phonological unit consisting of one sound. Its core components are the onset (consonants before the rime) and the rime, which itself consists of a nucleus (usually a vowel) and an optional coda (any consonant following the rime).

33. Card 33

    How do 'Blend' and 'Digraph' differ in terms of sound production?

    A blend involves two or more consonants where, when combined, two distinct sounds are heard (e.g., 'bl' in 'blue'). A digraph also involves two or more consonants, but when combined, only one sound is heard (e.g., 'sh' in 'ship').

34. Card 34

    What are 'Allophones' and how do they relate to phonemes?

    Allophones are systematic variations of a phoneme. They are specific properties of a phoneme that vary according to its position in a word, meaning they are different pronunciations of the same phoneme that do not change the word's meaning.

35. Card 35

    Explain the concept of 'Phonological Conditioning' in relation to allomorphs.

    Phonological conditioning refers to how the phonological differences between the allomorphs of a morpheme are often determined by their surrounding phonological environment. This means the specific sound context influences which allomorph is used.

36. Card 36

    Describe the phonological process of 'Assimilation' with an example.

    Assimilation is a phonological process where a sound becomes more like another nearby sound in terms of one or more of its phonetic characteristics. An example is 'input' becoming 'imput', where the /n/ assimilates to the bilabial /p/.

37. Card 37

    What is 'Dissimilation' and how does it contrast with assimilation?

    Dissimilation is a phonological process that results in two sounds becoming less alike in articulatory or acoustic terms. It contrasts with assimilation because instead of sounds becoming more similar, they become more distinct from each other, as seen in 'governor' becoming 'governor' (Haplology).

38. Card 38

    Provide an example of 'Deletion' and specify the type of deletion it represents.

    An example of deletion is 'handbag' becoming 'hanbag', which is a type of deletion known as Syncope. Deletion is a process that removes a weak segment from certain phonetic contexts, often in rapid speech.

39. Card 39

    Define 'Morpheme' and explain its significance in morphology.

    A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of language that cannot be subdivided without losing its meaning. In morphology, it is significant because words are composed of one or more morphemes, making them the fundamental building blocks of word formation.

40. Card 40

    Distinguish between 'Lexical Morphemes' and 'Grammatical Morphemes'.

    Lexical morphemes have meaning in and of themselves and are also known as content words (e.g., nouns, verbs). Grammatical morphemes have no sense in themselves but express relationships between lexical morphemes, also known as function words (e.g., prepositions, articles).

41. Card 41

    Explain the difference between 'Free Morphemes' and 'Bound Morphemes' with examples.

    Free morphemes can stand alone as words, such as 'talk' or 'sing'. Bound morphemes, on the other hand, cannot stand alone as words and must be attached to other morphemes, such as inflections or derivational affixes.

42. Card 42

    What is a 'Null/Zero Morpheme' and how does it function?

    A null/zero morpheme is a morpheme that is not physically present in the word but still carries grammatical meaning. It functions by indicating a grammatical category without an overt phonetic form, such as in the plural form of 'sheep' (where 'sheep' itself can be singular or plural).

43. Card 43

    Describe the word formation process of 'Derivation' and provide an example.

    Derivation is a word formation process that involves the addition of a derivational affix, which typically changes the syntactic category of the item to which it is attached. An example is adding '-ful' to the noun 'beauty' to create the adjective 'beautiful'.

44. Card 44

    How does 'Back Formation' differ from other word formation processes like derivation?

    Back formation creates a new word by removing what is mistakenly perceived as an affix from an existing word, often resulting in a change in syntactic form (e.g., 'teacher' (N) to 'teach' (V)). This differs from derivation, which adds an affix.

45. Card 45

    What is 'Compounding' and illustrate it with an example of different types of forms.

    Compounding involves creating a new word by combining two free morphemes. Examples include 'breakfast' (solid form), 'towel rack' (open form), and 'twenty-one' (hyphenated form).

46. Card 46

    Explain the concept of 'Graphophonology' and its primary concern.

    Graphophonology is concerned with graphophonemic awareness, which is the ability to match up letters or graphemes in the spellings of words to sounds or phonemes detected in their pronunciations. It focuses on the relationship between written symbols and spoken sounds.

47. Card 47

    Define 'Phrase' in the context of syntax and how it relates to sentences.

    In syntax, a phrase is an expression that acts as a constituent in a sentence and is an expansion of a head keyword. Phrases are the building blocks that compose sentences, which are not directly made up of individual words but rather these constituent phrases.

48. Card 48

    Describe the structure of a 'Noun Phrase' and provide an example.

    A noun phrase must contain a noun. This noun may be preceded by a determiner, an adjective phrase, or both, and it may be followed by a prepositional phrase. An example is 'The very honest man in the room'.

More flashcard decks

• English - drama: the island- anthol fugard flashcards (60 cards)
• English - the bloody chamber flashcards (60 cards)
• English- tutorial work flashcards (60 cards)
• English - Bluebeards egg flashcards (60 cards)
• English - 1984 flashcards (60 cards)
• English- drama: Antigone flashcards (59 cards)

Browse every shared deck