Linguistic terminology terms | LETTER - A
Definition
|
Abessive case is a case that expresses the lack or absence of the
referent
of the
noun
it marks.
|
It has the meaning of the English
preposition
without.
|
Discussion
|
The term
abessive case
is used especially in studies of Finno-Ugric grammar. Its synonym
caritive case
is used in the description of some other languages, notably Caucasian ones.
|
Generic
|
Abessive case is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
Ablative case is a case that expresses a variety of meanings including
|
-
instrument
-
cause
-
location
-
source, and
-
time.
|
Discussion
|
The term
ablative case
is used especially in Latin grammar.
|
Generic
|
Ablative case is a kind of
|
|
What is an absolute adjective?
|
Definition
|
An absolute adjective is an adjective which functions as a
noun
.
|
Discussion
|
This term absolute adjective is applicable, by extension, to other parts of speech which are used similarly, such as possessive pronouns or numerals.
|
Examples (English)
|
-
The poor
-
The mystical in Blake’s poetry
|
Generic
|
An absolute adjective is a kind of
|
|
What is absolute social deixis?
|
Definition
|
Absolute social deixis is deictic reference to some social characteristic of a
referent
(especially a person) apart from any relative ranking of referents.
|
Discussion
|
Often absolute social deixis is expressed in certain forms of address. The form of address will include no comparison of the ranking of the
speaker
and
addressee
; there will be only a simple reference to the absolute status of the addressee.
|
Generic
|
Absolute social deixis is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
Absolute tense is a tense that refers to a time in relation to the moment of
utterance
.
|
Generic
|
Absolute tense is a kind of
|
|
What is absolute-relative tense?
|
Definition
|
Absolute-relative tense is a tense
|
-
that refers to a time in relation to a temporal reference point that, in turn, is referred to in relation to the moment of
utterance
-
in which the time and the reference point are not identical, and
-
the reference point and the moment of utterance are not identical.
|
Generic
|
Absolute-relative tense is a kind of
|
|
Discussion
|
Absolutive case is less likely to be formally indicated on the noun than
ergative case
is.
|
Generic
|
Absolutive case is a kind of
|
|
What is an abstract noun?
|
Definition
|
An abstract noun is a noun that denotes something viewed as a nonmaterial
referent
.
|
Discussion
|
An abstract noun is frequently treated as a
mass noun
.
|
Generic
|
An abstract noun is a kind of
|
|
What is accompaniment as a semantic role?
|
Definition
|
Accompaniment is the
semantic role
of a thing that participates in close association with an agent, causer, or affected in an event.
|
Example (English)
|
|
Generic
|
Accompaniment is a kind of
|
|
Discussion
|
An account is a frequent feature of dispreferred second parts.
|
Example (English)
|
B’s response
I’m supervising here
in the following adjacency pair is an account:
A: What about coming here on the way; or doesn’t that give you enough time?
B: Well no; I’m supervising here.
|
Definition
|
Accusative case is the case in nominative-accusative languages that marks certain syntactic functions, usually
direct objects
.
|
Generic
|
Accusative case is a kind of
|
|
What is acoustic phonetics?
|
Introduction
|
Acoustic phonetics is a technical area of linguistics. Phoneticians depict and analyze sound waves using machines and computer programs.
|
Definition
|
Acoustic phonetics is the study of sound waves made by the human vocal organs for communication.
|
Definition
|
Active voice is a voice that indicates a
subject
has the semantic function of actor.
|
Example (English)
|
The following sentence construction is in active voice. The subject
Jones
has the semantic function of actor.
Jones
built the house.
The above active construction contrasts with the following construction in
passive voice
, where
Jones
has the semantic function of actor but
house
is the subject:
The house was built by
Jones.
|
Generic
|
Active voice is a kind of
|
|
What is an actual implicature?
|
Example (English)
|
The expression
I think that some went
has two potential implicatures:
-
The matrix sentence
I think ...
has the potential implicature "I don’t know [that some went]."
-
The complement clause
... some went
has the potential implicature "not all went."
Of the two potential implicatures, only
I don’t know that some went
is an actual implicature, because the other occurs in a
complement clause
that the
matrix clause
does not entail. If
some went
were uttered independently, as a
main clause
, its potential implicature ‘not all went’ would also be its actual implicature.
|
Kinds
|
Here are some kinds of actual implicatures:
|
|
Generic
|
An actual implicature is a kind of
|
|
What is an actual presupposition?
|
Example (English)
|
The utterance
John says that the king of France is bald
has two potential presuppositions:
-
There is someone identified as John.
-
There is a king of France.
Of these two, only the presupposition that there is someone identified as
John
is an actual presupposition, because the second presupposition is reported.
|
Kinds
|
Here are some kinds of actual presuppositions:
|
|
Generic
|
An actual presupposition is a kind of
|
|
What is an additive relation?
|
Definition
|
An additive relation is an interpropositional relation in which the
propositions
are judged either to be closely related or built one on another.
|
Examples (English)
|
-
and
Example:
|
Peter didn’t show up;
and
how about you?
|
-
further
-
moreover
-
also
|
Halliday and Hasan 1976
246 believe that the words
further,
moreover,
and
also
additionally indicate emphasis.
|
Kind
|
Here is a kind of additive relation:
|
|
Generic
|
An additive relation is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
An addressee is any of the immediate intended recipients of the
speaker
's communication, as grammaticalized in second person
morphemes
.
|
Generic
|
An addressee is a kind of
|
|
What is an addressee honorific?
|
Definition
|
An addressee honorific is an honorific in a system in which a level of status of the
addressee
relative to the
speaker
is expressed through a choice made among linguistic alternants, irrespective of whether the alternants refer to the addressee.
|
Examples (Javanese)
|
In Javanese, the following alternants all mean ‘house’:
Each form in the list successively expresses a higher status of the person spoken to.
|
Generic
|
An addressee honorific is a kind of
|
|
What is an adjacency pair?
|
Definition
|
An adjacency pair is a unit of conversation that contains an exchange of one
turn
each by two speakers. The turns are functionally related to each other in such a fashion that the first turn requires a certain type or range of types of second turn.
|
Examples
|
-
A greeting–greeting pair
-
A question–answer pair
|
Generic
|
An adjacency pair is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
An adjective is a word that belongs to a class whose members modify nouns. An adjective specifies the properties or attributes of a noun
referent
.
|
Discussion
|
Some languages have no formally distinct category of adjectives. In such languages, property concepts are expressed as either nouns or verbs.
|
An adjective generally
|
-
occurs in a
noun phrase
or as a stative predicate
-
may be intensified, and
-
may take comparative and superlative degrees.
|
Examples (English)
|
-
That cat is
big.
-
We will not drive the
old
car.
-
I am very
encouraged!
-
She is more
agile
than you.
|
Kinds
|
Here are some kinds of adjectives:
|
|
Generic
|
An adjective is a kind of
|
|
Discussion
|
This term is likely to be used by various authors in a variety of restricted senses.
|
Kind
|
Here is a kind of adjunct:
|
|
Generic
|
An adjunct is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
An adposition is a cover term for prepositions and postpositions. It is a member of a closed set of items that
|
-
occur before or after a
complement
composed of a noun phrase, noun, pronoun, or clause that functions as a noun phrase, and
-
form a single structure with the complement to express its grammatical and semantic relation to another unit within a clause.
|
Examples (English)
|
-
He went
to
the races.
-
He promised to help
with
whatever was the matter.
|
Kinds
|
Here are some kinds of adpositions:
|
|
Generic
|
An adposition is a kind of
|
|
What is an adpositional phrase?
|
Definition
|
An adpositional phrase is a
phrase
that has an
adposition
as its head.
|
Kinds
|
Here are some kinds of adpositional phrases:
|
|
Generic
|
An adpositional phrase is a kind of
|
|
What is advanced tongue root?
|
Definition
|
Advanced tongue root refers to the features of a sound made by drawing the root of the tongue forward. This feature distinguishes between tense vowels as [+ ATR] and lax vowels as [- ATR] (
Burquest and Payne 1993
18 ).
|
What is an adverb? (Linguistics)
|
Definition
|
Here are two senses for
adverb:
|
-
An adverb, narrowly defined, is a word belonging to a class of words which modify
verbs
for such categories as
-
time
-
manner
-
place, or
-
direction.
-
An adverb, broadly defined, is a word belonging to a class of words which modify any constituent class of words other than
nouns
, such as
-
verbs
-
adjectives
-
adverbs
-
phrases
-
clauses, or
-
sentences.
Under this definition, the possible type of modification depends on the class of the constituent being modified.
|
Discussion
|
The general class
adverb
is a mixture of very different kinds of words, which cover a wide range of semantic concepts and whose syntactic distribution is disparate. The definition of the lexical category
adverb
is language-specific, based on syntactic distribution.
|
Many words traditionally called adverbs in English, such as degree words (very, awfully) and negatives (not), are set up as distinct word-classes in linguistic studies.
|
Examples (English)
|
-
He went
fast.
-
She
slowly
shut the door.
-
Nearly
in a rage, he left.
|
Kinds
|
Here are some kinds of adverbs:
|
|
Generic
|
An adverb is a kind of
|
|
What is an adverb? (Grammar)
|
Definition
|
An adverb is a lexical category whose members have the same syntactic distribution and typically modify
adjectives
, other adverbs,
verbs
, or whole clauses or sentences.
|
Discussion
|
The general class
adverb
is a mixture of very different kinds of words, which cover a wide range of semantic concepts and whose syntactic distribution is disparate. The definition of the lexical category
adverb
is language-specific, based on syntactic distribution.
|
Tip:
|
Any word with lexical content that does not clearly fit the categories
noun,
verb,
or
adjective
is usually considered an adverb.
|
|
Examples (English)
|
True adverbs in English are words that can be modified by degree words such as the following:
|
-
possibly
-
quickly
-
well
-
far
|
Nonexamples (English)
|
Many words traditionally called adverbs in English are not in the same lexical category as true adverbs because they do not have the same syntactic distribution as true adverbs and cannot be modified by degree words.
|
-
very
-
not
-
here
-
there
-
now
-
then
-
yesterday
|
Syntactic distribution of adverbs
|
|
The following categories are not adverbs in English because they do not have the same syntactic distribution as true adverbs:
|
|
-
Degree words
In the following sentences
smoothly,
a true adverb, and
very,
a degree word, do not have the same syntactic distribution:
-
She ran very smoothly.
-
*She ran smoothly very.
-
*She ran quickly smoothly.
-
Negation words
In the following sentences
quickly,
a true adverb, and
not,
a negation word, do not have the same syntactic distribution:
-
She quickly shut the door again.
-
*She not shut the door again.
-
Run quickly around the bases.
-
?Run not around the bases.
|
|
What is an adverbial clause?
|
Definition
|
An adverbial clause is a clause that has an
adverb
-like function in modifying another clause.
|
Discussion
|
An adverbial clause is likely to be distinct in its syntax or verb morphology.
|
Example (English)
|
He kept quiet
in order to avoid trouble.
|
Generic
|
An adverbial clause is a kind of
|
|
What is an adverbializer?
|
Definition
|
An adverbializer is a subordinating conjunction that
|
|
Discussion
|
In some languages, an adverbializer
|
-
may also serve as an
adposition
, and
-
may be optionally or obligatorily paired with a
conjunction
marking the main clause.
|
Generic
|
An adverbializer is a kind of
|
|
What is an affix? (Linguistics)
|
Kinds
|
Here are some kinds of affixes:
|
|
Comparison of kinds of affixes
|
Here is a table showing some kinds of affixes with examples:
|
Affix
|
Relationship to root or stem
|
Example
|
prefix
|
Occurs in the front of a root or stem
|
un
happy
|
suffix
|
Occurs at the end of a root or stem
|
happi
ness
|
infix
|
Occurs inside of a root or stem
|
b
um
ili 'buy' (Tagalog, Philippines)
|
circumfix
|
Occurs in two parts on both outer edges of a root or stem
|
ka
baddang
an
'help' (Tuwali Ifugao, Philippines)
|
simulfix
|
Replaces one or more phonemes in the root or stem
|
m
a
n + plural > m
e
n
|
suprafix
|
Superimposed on one or more syllables in the root or stem as a suprasegmental
|
stress in the words 'produce,
n.
and pro'duce,
v.
|
|
Generic
|
An affix is a kind of
|
|
What is an affix? (Grammar)
|
Kinds
|
Some languages have
zero affixes
, whereby meaning is conveyed by the absence of an affix.
|
Compare and contrast: Affix and root or stem
|
Here is a table that compares and contrasts affixes and roots or stems:
|
Affixes
|
Roots or Stems
|
Usually have grammatical meaning (but derivational affixes may have lexical meaning).
|
Usually have lexical meaning.
|
Are usually members of closed syntactic classes.
|
Are usually members of open syntactic classes.
|
Are always
bound
.
|
May be
bound
or
free
.
|
|
Definition
|
Affixation is the morphological process whereby an
affix
is attached to a
root
or
stem
.
|
Example (English)
|
In English, the plural morpheme suffix is added to
job,
rat,
and
kiss
to form the following forms:
|
Generic
|
Affixation is a kind of
|
|
What is agent as a semantic role?
|
Definition
|
Agent is the
semantic role
of a person or thing who is the doer of an event.
|
Discussion
|
An agent is usually the grammatical
subject
of the
verb
in an active clause. A
prototypical
agent is conscious, acts with volition (on purpose), and performs an action that has a physical, visible effect.
|
Examples (English)
|
-
The boy
ran down the street.
-
He was chased by
the dog.
|
Generic
|
Agent is a kind of
|
|
See also
|
See the following to contrast agent with force:
|
|
What is an agglutinative language?
|
Definition
|
An agglutinative language is a language in which words are made up of a linear sequence of distinct
morphemes
and each component of meaning is represented by its own morpheme.
|
Example: Chukchi (Northeastern Siberia)
|
t*E -meyN*E -levt*E -p*E*ft -*Erk*En
1 Sg -great -head -ache -Imperfective
I have a fierce headache.
|
|
This example consists of one word made up of five morphemes.
|
|
Contrast
|
The opposite of a highly agglutinative language is a highly
fusional
language.
|
Definition
|
Agreement refers to a formal relationship between elements whereby a form of one word requires a corresponding form of another.
|
|
What is alethic modality?
|
Definition
|
Alethic modality is modality that connotes the speaker’s estimation of the logical necessity or possibility of the
proposition
expressed by his
utterance
.
|
Discussion
|
The adjective
alethic
is also used in expressions of specific degrees of alethic modality, such as
|
-
alethic possibility,
or
-
alethic necessity.
|
Example (English)
|
Alfred is a bachelor; thus he
must
be unmarried.
|
Generic
|
Alethic modality is a kind of
|
|
What is an alienable noun?
|
Definition
|
An alienable noun is a noun that
|
-
refers to something viewed as not permanently or necessarily possessed, and
-
is thus not obligatorily expressed as possessed in a language that also has
inalienable nouns
.
|
Generic
|
An alienable noun is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
Allative case is a case that expresses motion to or toward the
referent
of the
noun
it marks.
|
Discussion
|
The term
allative case
has been used in studies of Finnish and Eskimo. Its synonym
additive case
has been used especially in studies of Basque.
|
Generic
|
Allative case is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
An allegory is an extended metaphor, especially a story in which fictional characters and actions are used to understand and express aspects of concepts relating to human existence.
|
Kind
|
Here is a kind of allegory:
|
|
Generic
|
An allegory is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
An allomorph is one of two or more complementary morphs which manifest a
morpheme
in its different phonological or morphological environments.
|
Discussion
|
The allomorphs of a morpheme are derived from phonological rules and any morphophonemic rules that may apply to that morpheme.
|
Examples (English)
|
The plural morpheme in English, usually written as '-s', has at least three allomorphs:
|
-
[-s] as in [hQts] 'hats'
-
[-z] as in [d&u0254gz] 'dogs'
-
[«z] as in [bŒks«z] 'boxes'
|
Generic
|
An allomorph is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
An allophone is a phonetic variant of a
phoneme
in a particular language.
|
Examples (English)
|
-
[p] and [pH] are allophones of the phoneme /p/.
-
[t] and [tH] are allophones of the phoneme /t/.
|
Examples (Spanish)
|
-
[b] and [B] are allophones of the phoneme /b/.
-
[d] and [D] are allophones of the phoneme /d/.
|
What is an alternative question?
|
Definition
|
An alternative question is a question that presents two or more possible answers and presupposes that only one is true.
|
Example (English)
|
Would you like chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry ice cream?
|
Generic
|
An alternative question is a kind of
|
|
What is an alternative relation?
|
Definition
|
An alternative relation is an interpropositional relation in which at least one of the connected
propositions
is held to be true, but not necessarily, or perhaps not even possibly, all of them.
|
Examples (English)
|
-
or
-
alternatively
-
on the other hand
(some uses)
|
Kinds
|
Here are some kinds of alternative relations:
|
|
Generic
|
An alternative relation is a kind of
|
|
What is an ambiguous consonant sequence?
|
Definition
|
An ambiguous consonant sequence is a phonetic string (segment or sequence) that may be interpreted as
|
-
a single consonant, or
-
two successive consonants.
|
Kinds
|
Here is a table of some kinds of ambiguous consonant sequences with an example of each:
|
Ambiguous consonant sequence
|
Example
|
Affricate
|
[tƒS]
|
Complex consonants
-
Labiovelar
-
Alveopalatal
-
Voiceless sonorant
-
Retroflexed consonant
|
|
Modified consonants
-
Labialized
-
Palatalized
-
Velarized
-
Aspirated
-
Prenasalized
-
Postnasalized
-
Glottalized
|
-
[kW]
-
[tJ]
-
[lì]
-
[kH]
-
[<k]
-
[b<]
-
[t?]
|
|
What is an ambiguous phonetic transition?
|
Definition
|
An ambiguous phonetic transition is a phonetic segment, found between two distinct segments, that may serve only a connective function phonetically and may, therefore, not be a phonologically distinct segment.
|
Kinds
|
Here are some kinds of ambiguous phonetic transitions with an example of each:
|
Ambiguous phonetic transition
|
Example
|
Transition glide before or after non-open vowels
|
[iJa]
|
Transition vowel
|
[m
«
n]
|
Voicing transition
|
[s
z
a]
|
|
What is an ambiguous segment?
|
Definition
|
An ambiguous segment is a
phone
that may or may not function as the nucleus of a
syllable
.
|
Discussion
|
An ambiguous segment may also be described as functioning as either a vowel or a consonant, depending on its position in a syllable.
|
Examples
|
Here is a table that gives a description of some kinds of ambiguous segments with examples of each:
|
Ambiguous segment
|
Examples
|
Intervocalic glides and close vowels
|
[i], [u], [j], [w]
|
Mid vowels (if there are no corresponding close vowels found in the same context)
|
[e], [o]
|
Voiceless segments
|
[h], [Q8], [E8]
|
Nasals/nasalized segments
|
[n], [n`], [®â]
|
Liquids
|
[l], [l`]
|
Velar and bilabial voiced fricatives
|
[Ä] (which may correspond to [&u0268]); [B] (which may correspond to [u])
|
Retroflexed vowels and approximates
|
[eÕ], [&u0279]
|
|
Nonexamples (Close vowels in certain environments)
|
Close vowels (for example, [i] and [w]) are not usually considered ambiguous in the following environments:
-
Between two consonants
-
Between a consonant and a word boundary
-
When they are stressed
-
When they bear tone
|
What is an ambiguous sequence?
|
Definition
|
An ambiguous sequence is a phonetic string, a segment or sequence, that may function as
|
-
two phonological units, or
-
a single unit.
|
Kinds
|
Here are some kinds of ambiguous sequences:
|
|
What is an ambiguous vowel sequence?
|
Definition
|
An ambiguous vowel sequence is a phonetic string (segment or sequence) that may be interpreted as a
|
-
diphthong
-
two separate vowels, or
-
a vowel and a consonant.
|
Kinds
|
Here are some kinds of ambiguous vowels sequences with an example of each:
|
Ambiguous vowel sequence
|
Example
|
Vocalic sequence in which one member is close
|
[ai]
|
Complex vowel
|
[y]
|
Modified vowels
-
Nasalized
-
Retroflexed
-
Breathy
-
Laryngealized (creaky)
|
|
|
What is the Americanist system?
|
Definition
|
The Americanist system is a phonetic alphabet designed by Kenneth L. Pike and Eunice Pike after the model of Edward Sapir and Morris Swadesh.
|
Also known as:
|
-
SIL phonetic alphabet
-
Pike system
|
|
What is an amplification relation?
|
Definition
|
An amplification relation is an elaboration relation in which a
proposition
substantially repeats the content of an earlier one and adds further information.
|
Example (English)
|
He went away; I saw him go away.
|
Generic
|
An amplification relation is a kind of
|
|
What is an analytic definition?
|
Discussion
|
The obligatory components that are specified in an analytic definition are also referred to as
core, central, criterial,
or
diagnostic
by semanticists and lexicographers.
|
Examples
|
-
doctor
—"a person licensed to practice medicine"
-
eat—
"to take into the body, through the mouth, something which may be thought of as food"
|
Nonexamples
|
-
doctor—
"physician; surgeon"
-
eat
—"consume; devour"
|
Defining a lexical unit using a
synonym
or
generic
term alone is not sufficient to distinguish it from similar words.
|
Definition
|
Anaphora is
coreference
of one expression with its
antecedent
. The antecedent provides the information necessary for the expression’s interpretation.
|
This is often understood as an expression “referring” back to the antecedent.
|
Discussion
|
The term
anaphora
is also sometimes used to include both anaphora, as defined here, and
cataphora
. When it is used that way, it becomes synonymous with
endophora
.
|
Example (English)
|
In the following sequence, the relationship of the pronoun
he
to the noun phrase
a well-dressed man
is an example of anaphora:
A well-dressed man
was speaking;
he
had a foreign accent.
|
Kind
|
Here is a kind of anaphora:
|
|
Generic
|
Anaphora is a kind of
|
|
What is an anaphoric clitic?
|
Definition
|
An anaphoric clitic is a morphologically
bound morpheme
that
|
-
refers to a previously mentioned constituent, and
-
fills the position of a noun phrase in a clause and is in complementary distribution with full noun phrases.
|
Examples (Yagua, Peru)
|
The anaphoric clitic
sa-
is a bound morpheme that can only appear immediately before the verb stem. It is in complementary distribution with noun phrases.
|
-
sa - mura7@a7@y
3SG-sing
-
manungo mura7@a7@y
Manungo sings
-
*manungo sa - mura7@a7@y
|
|
What is an anchored entity?
|
Definition
|
An anchored entity is a brand-new entity that is linked to another
referent
which is not brand new by means of the inclusion of a referring expression in the
noun phrase
.
|
Example (English)
|
In the following expression,
guy
(brand new) is anchored to the speaker (not brand new) by the phrase
I work with:
A
guy I work with
says he knows your sister.
|
Generic
|
An anchored entity is a kind of
|
|
What is an animate class?
|
Definition
|
An animate class is a category of
nouns
having human or animal
referents
.
|
Discussion
|
In some languages, the animate class is a grammaticalized noun class.
|
Generic
|
An animate class is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
An antanaclasis is a pun in which a word is repeated with a different meaning each time.
|
Example (English)
|
Your argument is sound, nothing but sound.
(Benjamin Franklin, cited by
Corbett 1971
482 )
|
Generic
|
An antanaclasis is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
An antecedent is a word, phrase, or clause referred to
endophorically
by another expression which precedes or follows it.
|
Examples (English)
|
-
In the following construction,
the boy
is the antecedent of
who:
-
The boy
who
pitched the game is worn out.
-
In the following construction,
a towel
is the antecedent of
one:
-
If you need
one,
there’s
a towel
in the top drawer.
|
Definition
|
Anthimeria is the use of a member of one word class as if it were a member of another, thus altering its meaning.
|
Example (English)
|
In the following example,
unhair
is an example of anthimeria. Although
hair
is normally used as a
noun,
in this instance it takes an
-un
prefix and is used as a
verb
:
“I’ll
unhair
thy head.”
(Shakespeare’s
Antony and Cleopatra,
II, v, 64, cited by
Corbett 1971
484 )
|
Generic
|
An anthimeria is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
An anthology is a collection of of poems, stories, songs, articles, or other literary passages chosen by a compiler.
|
What is an anticipatory illocution?
|
Definition
|
An anticipatory illocution is an
illocutionary act
that has the direct
illocutionary force
of a question about the conditions necessary for the appropriateness of some other illocutionary act. The anticipatory illocution thus has the indirect illocutionary force of the latter.
|
Example (English)
|
Would you like some more coffee?
This illocutionary act has the direct force of a question about a condition for the appropriateness of offering coffee. However, the speaker believes that if the addressee would like some coffee, then an offer of coffee will be accepted. Thus, the question has the indirect force of an offer of coffee.
|
Generic
|
An anticipatory illocution is a kind of
|
|
What is antipassive voice?
|
Definition
|
Antipassive voice is a voice in an ergative-absolutive language in which
|
|
Discussion
|
Antipassive is a kind of valency decreasing operation that results in a very intransitive-like verb. The verb takes on the formal characteristics of intransitive verbs in that language.
|
Generic
|
Antipassive voice is a kind of
|
|
What is an antithesis relation?
|
Definition
|
An antithesis relation is a contrast relation in which
|
-
the contrasted
propositions
express events or states that are incompatible with each other, and
-
the
speaker
communicates positive regard (belief or preference) for one or the other.
|
Examples (English)
|
-
How I use my thumbs is not the problem, but heredity is.
-
Rather than winning them with our arms, we’d win them by our example.
(Christian Science Monitor, cited by
Mann and Thompson 1987a
8–9 )
|
Kind
|
Here is a kind of antithesis relation:
|
|
Generic
|
An antithesis relation is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
Antonomasia is
|
-
the use of a
proper name
to stand for something else having an attribute associated with that name, or
-
the use of a general term to stand for a
referent
having a proper name.
|
Examples (English)
|
-
The use of
a Solomon
to stand for "a wise man"
-
The use of
Land of Lakes
to stand for "Minnesota"
|
Generic
|
Antonomasia is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
An apostrophe is an address to
|
-
an absent person, or
-
a personified abstraction or thing.
|
Example (English)
|
O eloquent, just, and mighty Death!
(Sir Walter Raleigh’s
History of the World,
cited by
Corbett 1971
486 )
|
Definition
|
An apposition is a construction consisting of two or more adjacent units that have identical
referents
.
|
Examples (English)
|
-
My friend John
-
This excuse, that you didn’t get the word,
is a poor one
|
Generic
|
An apposition is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
An article is a member of a small class of determiners that identify a
noun
's
|
|
Examples (English)
|
-
The definite article
the
-
The indefinite article
a/an
|
Generic
|
An article is a kind of
|
|
What is an articulation process?
|
Definition
|
The articulation process is the modification of sound waves produced by the airstream, phonation, and oral-nasal processes.
|
What is an ascertainment relation?
|
Definition
|
An ascertainment relation is an internal alternative relation in which a following
proposition
presents an alternative circumstance where a preparatory condition, of the illocutionary act that includes the previous proposition, is not met. The alternative is presented to make a query about the defectiveness or nondefectiveness of the illocutionary act.
|
Examples (English)
|
-
Do you want a sandwich? Or, aren’t you hungry?
-
Congratulations with your new car. Or, aren’t you happy with it?
-
Shut up! Or, don’t you see I’m busy?
|
|
Generic
|
An ascertainment relation is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
Aspect is a grammatical category associated with
verbs
that expresses a temporal view of the event or state expressed by the verb.
|
Discussion
|
Aspect is often indicated by verbal affixes or
auxiliary verbs
.
|
Example (English)
|
He
is talking.
|
The
be
+
-ing
construction expresses progressive aspect.
|
Kinds
|
Here are some kinds of aspect:
|
|
Generic
|
Aspect is a kind of
|
|
What is an assertive illocutionary point?
|
Definition
|
An assertive illocutionary point is an illocutionary point in which the
speaker
purposes to present that the state of affairs described by the
propositional
content of the
utterance
is actual.
|
Generic
|
An assertive illocutionary point is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
Assumptive mood is an
epistemic mode
that signals the speaker's belief that his statement is based on facts about what is usually the case in such circumstances.
|
Examples (English)
|
The word
will
(
’ll
) in the following constructions indicates assumptive mood:
-
They’ll be on holiday at the moment.
-
That’ll be the postman.
|
|
Generic
|
Assumptive mood is a kind of
|
|
What is an attraction schema?
|
Definition
|
An attraction schema is a force schema in which an object exerts a force on another object, either physically or metaphorically, to pull it toward itself.
|
Examples (English)
|
Physical
-
Magnetism
-
Vacuum cleaner
-
Gravity
|
Metaphorical
|
Generic
|
An attraction schema is a kind of
|
|
What is attributable silence?
|
Definition
|
Attributable silence is conversational silence between
turns
that is assignable to a particular participant due to his having been selected by the previous speaker to speak next.
|
Generic
|
Attributable silence is a kind of
|
|
What is an attribution relation?
|
Definition
|
An attribution relation is an elaboration relation in which a
proposition
describes an attribute of a
referent
of another proposition.
|
Example (English)
|
A tall man came by; he was wearing an old navy jacket.
|
Generic
|
An attribution relation is a kind of
|
|
Definition
|
An audience is one or more persons who are part of the conversational group but who are not presently being
addressed
.
|
Generic
|
An audience is a kind of
|
|
What is an auditory evidential?
|
Definition
|
An auditory evidential is a nonvisual evidential that signals that the
speaker
's evidence for the truth of his statement is based on what he has heard.
|
Generic
|
An auditory evidential is a kind of
|
|
What is an authorized recipient?
|
Definition
|
An authorized recipient is an
addressee
, having a unique status or belonging to a socially defined group, with whom one or more distinctive linguistic forms is used.
|
Discussion
|
The use of distinctive linguistic forms for an authorized recipient expresses
absolute social deixis
.
|
Examples (English, Tunica)
|
An authorized recipient would be the appropriate person to receive a term of address such as
Your Honor
or
Mr. President.
|
Here is an example in Tunica of an authorized recipient:
|
In Tunica, there are two different words for
they
which are dependent upon the sex of the addressee.
(
Haas 1964
cited by
Levinson 1979
207 )
|
What is an authorized speaker?
|
Definition
|
An authorized speaker is a
speaker
that belongs to a socially defined group for whom the use of a distinctive class of linguistic forms is reserved.
|
Discussion
|
The use of distinctive linguistic forms expresses the
absolute social deixis
of the speaker’s membership in the group.
|
Example (Thai)
|
Thai men and women each use a different politeness particle when speaking.
(
Haas 1964
cited by
Levinson 1979
207 )
|
What is autosegmental phonology?
|
Definition
|
Autosegmental phonology is a non-linear approach to phonology that allows phonological processes, such as tone and vowel harmony, to be independent of and extend beyond individual consonants and vowels.
|
As a result, the phonological processes may influence more than one vowel or consonant at a time.
|
Multi-dimensional representations
|
Autosegmental phonology treats phonological representations as multi-dimensional, having several tiers. Each tier is made up of a linear arrangement of segments. The tiers are linked to each other by association lines that indicate how the segments on each tier are to be pronounced at the same time.
|
Examples (Mende, Sierra Leone)
|
In an autosegmental analysis of Mende, tone is not a property of individual vowels or
syllables
, but is a property of the word as a whole.
In the examples in the following table, the tone given in the left most column is the tone specified for all the words in that row, regardless of how many syllables a word contains.
Tone
|
1 syllable
|
2 syllables
|
3 syllables
|
H
|
nda@ ‘mouth’
|
ngu@lu@ ‘tree’
|
kE@lE@lE@ ‘fraction’
|
L
|
kpa$ ‘debt’
|
be$le$ ‘trousers’
|
kpa$ka$l"Ý ‘chair’
|
HL
|
mbu^ ‘owl’
|
ke@nya$ ‘uncle’
|
fe@la$ma$ ‘junction’
|
LH
|
mba& ‘rice’
|
na$vo@ ‘money’
|
nda$vu@la@ ‘sling’
|
LHL
|
mba ‘companion’
|
nya$ha^ ‘woman’
|
n"Ýk"Ûl"Ý ‘peanut’
|
|
Formal representation
|
|
Here are some examples of formal representations of HL Mende tone:
|
|
|
|
Definition
|
Auxesis is an exaggeration of the importance of a
referent
by the use of a referring expression that is disproportionate to it.
|
Example (English)
|
Referring to a scratch as a
wound.
|
Generic
|
Auxesis is a kind of
|
|
What is an auxiliary verb?
|
Definition
|
An auxiliary verb is a verb which
|
|
Generic
|
An auxiliary verb is a kind of
|
|