Linguistic terminology terms | LETTER - C

What is a cardinal numeral?

A cardinal numeral is a numeral of the class whose members are

• considered basic in form
• used in counting, and
• used in expressing how many objects are referred to.

• one
• two
• twenty
• one hundred

• What is a numeral?

Crystal 1980 52

Crystal 1987 416

Mish 1991 207

What is case?

Case is a grammatical category determined by the syntactic or semantic function of a noun or pronoun .

The term case has traditionally been restricted to apply to only those languages which indicate certain functions by the inflection of

• nouns
• pronouns, or
• noun phrase constituents , such as adjectives and numerals.

The term is sometimes extended to include such functions expressed by adpositions .

• What is abessive case?
• What is ablative case?
• What is absolutive case?
• What is accusative case?
• What is allative case?
• What is benefactive case?
• What is causative case?
• What is comitative case?
• What is dative case?
• What is delative case?
• What is elative case?
• What is equative case?
• What is ergative case?
• What is essive case?
• What is genitive case?
• What is illative case?
• What is inessive case?
• What is instrumental case?
• What is lative case?
• What is locative case?
• What is nominative case?
• What is partitive case?
• What is prolative case?
• What is superessive case?
• What is translative case?
• What is vocative case?

• What is a grammatical category?

Pei and Gaynor 1954 35

Crystal 1980 53–54

Anderson, S. 1985 179–180

Andrews, A. 1985 71–72

Mish 1991 211

Kuno 1973 4–5

What is cataphora?

Cataphora is the coreference of one expression with another expression which follows it. The following expression provides the information necessary for interpretation of the preceding one.

This is often understood as an expression “referring” forward to another expression.

• What is endophora?

Gutwinski 1976 67

Halliday and Hasan 1976 17

Crystal 1985 43

What is a causal relation?

A causal relation is an interpropositional relation in which the situation expressed by some proposition(s) is communicated as bringing about

• the situation expressed by some other proposition(s) (an external relation ), or
• the usage of some other proposition(s) in a reasoning or argument from a premise (an internal relation ).

• What is a logical relation?
• What is a means-purpose relation?
• What is a means-result relation?
• What is a reason-result relation?

• What is an interpropositional relation?

Longacre 1983 106–107

, Halliday and Hasan 1976 256–258

Hollenbach 1975 16

What is a causative?

A causative is a grammatical or lexical indication of the causal role of a referent in relation to an event or state expressed by a verb .

A causative may be indicated by a

• verbal affix
• component of meaning in the verb, or
• special construction .

• Herod had John killed.
• The sun solidified the mixture.

Crystal 1985 44–45

Elson and Pickett 1988 31

Faust 1973 70

What is causative case?

Causative case is a case which expresses that the referent of the noun it marks is the cause of the situation expressed by the clause .

• What is case?

Pei and Gaynor 1954 36

Andrews, A. 1985 95

Gove 1966 356

What is causer as a semantic role?

Causer is the semantic role of the referent which instigates an event rather than actually doing it.

The causer is usually the surface subject of the verb in a sentence.

• What is a semantic role?

Larson 1984 199–203

What is a center-periphery schema?

A center–periphery schema is an image schema involving

• a physical or metaphorical core and edge, and
• degrees of distance from the core.

• The structure of an apple
• An individual’s perceptual sphere
• An individual’s social sphere, with family and friends at the core and others having degrees of peripherality

• What is an image schema?

Johnson 1987 124–125

What is a centrifugal?

A centrifugal is an expression of place deixis that has a component of meaning indicating movement away from a deictic center .

• What is kinetic distinction?

Heath 1980 153

What is a centripetal?

A centripetal is an expression of place deixis which has a component of meaning indicating movement toward a deictic center .

• What is kinetic distinction?

Heath 1980 152

What is cessative aspect?

Cessative aspect is aspect that expresses the cessation of an event or state.

• What is aspect?

Pei and Gaynor 1954 37

Nida 1949 168

Elson and Pickett 1988 28

Anderson, Judi 1989 12

What is a chain of illocutionary commitments?

A chain of illocutionary commitments is a set of illocutionary acts which are ordered by the relationship of commitment between acts.

Searle and Vanderveken 1985 84

What is a circular definition?

A circular definition is a description of the meaning of a lexeme that is constructed using one or more synonymous lexemes that are all defined in terms of each other.

• fast —adj. 'swift; quick; speedy'
• swift —adj. 'rapid; fast'

Here is how the circularity can be resolved by the addition of an analytic definition and supplemental information :

• fast —adj. 'rapid in movement or action, often referring to the person or thing that moves; swift; quick; speedy'
• swift —adj. 'moving or capable of moving with great speed, often in a smooth and easy manner; rapid; fast'

What is a circumfix?

A circumfix is an affix made up of two separate parts which surround and attach to a root or stem .

The morphological process whereby this is achieved is called circumfixation.

• What is an affix? (Linguistics)

What is circumfixation?

Circumfixation is a morphological process whereby an affix made up of two separate parts surrounds and attaches to a root or stem .

• What is a morphological process?

What is a classifier?

A classifier is a word or affix that expresses the classification of a noun .

• What is a word?

• What is a noun class?

Crystal 1980 61

Mish 1991 246

What is a clausal implicature?

A clausal implicature is a quantity implicature which is inferred by an addressee concerning the truth of a proposition expressed in a particular subordinate or coordinate clause . The addressee infers that the proposition may or may not be true.

The complex or compound sentence of which the clause is a part does not indicate whether the proposition expressed by the clause is true or false.

There will be another sentence available which would entail that the proposition expressed by the clause is true. This sentence must be identical to the sentence under scrutiny except that, in one of its clauses, an expression has been substituted which is stronger than that used by the speaker.

If John were certain to be away, then the expression would have been something like I know John is away.

• What is a quantity implicature?

Levinson 1983 136–137

Gazdar 1979 57, 59–62

What is a clause?

A clause is a grammatical unit that

• includes, at minimum, a predicate and an explicit or implied subject , and
• expresses a proposition .

• What is an adverbial clause?
• What is a coordinate clause?
• What is an equative clause?
• What is an existential clause?
• What is a final clause?
• What is a finite clause?
• What is a main clause?
• What is a marking clause?
• What is a medial clause?
• What is a nominal clause?
• What is a nonfinite clause?
• What is a reference clause?
• What is a relative clause?
• What is a subordinate clause?

• What is a construction?

Crystal 1980 61–62

Hartmann and Stork 1972 37

Pike and Pike 1982 438

Mish 1991 246

What is a clause chain?

A clause chain is a group of clauses in which

• one clause, typically the final clause, is distinguished from the other clauses, typically medial clauses , by a difference of verb morphology, and
• each medial clause is marked to show whether or not its subject is the same as the subject of some reference clause . The reference clause may follow it or may be the final clause in the chain.

Temporal and causal relations between the clauses are typically signaled.

• What is a construction?

Longacre 1985 263–265

Longacre 1983 299

What is a cleft sentence?

A cleft sentence is a complex sentence in which a simple sentence is expressed using a main clause and a subordinate clause . In English the prototypical cleft sentence has the following form:

X can be a constituent of one of many varieties.

X and the subordinate clause together carry the same meaning as their corresponding simple sentence . However, the primary focus of the cleft construction is on an element, often marked by intonation, that introduces new information. This element appears either as X or in the subordinate clause.

Its corresponding simple sentence is No, I shall ignore his callousness. The primary focus of the cleft sentence may be marked by intonation, as in following sentences:

• No, it is his callousness that I shall ignore.
• No, it is his callousness that I shall ignore.

• What is a complex sentence?

• What is a pseudo-cleft sentence?

Crystal 1980 63

Levinson 1983 182–183

Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985 1383–1384

Sornicola 1988 343–344

Bromser 1984 327

Jespersen 1949 147–148

Delahunty 1984 74–88

What is a clitic? (Grammar)

A clitic is a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a word , but shows evidence of being phonologically bound to another word.

• Phonologically bound but syntactically free
• Function at phrase or clause level
• Cannot be integrated into standard discourse without being bound to some other form
• Often have grammatical rather than lexical meaning
• Belong to closed classes like pronouns, prepositions, auxiliary verbs, and conjunctions
• Usually attach to the edges of words, outside of derivational and inflectional affixes
• Often attach to several syntactic categories of words such as head noun, non-head noun, preposition, verb, or adverb
• Phonologically unstressed

A clitic may have a nonclitic alternant.

• The contraction of the morpheme is, as in

  What's going on?

• The possessive marker 's, as in

  The man in the black coat's book.

Here are the two kinds of clitics:

• proclitic, occurring at the beginning of a morpheme

• enclitic , occurring at the end of a morpheme

• What is a word?
• What is a morpheme type?

Here is a table that compares and contrasts clitics and affixes:

Crystal 1980 64

Hartmann and Stork 1972 38

Anderson, S. 1985 158

Klavans 1982 xi-xiv, 74–76, 83, 93–95, 100–101

Zwicky 1977 5

• What is an anaphoric clitic?

What is close future tense?

Close future tense is a tense that refers to a time shortly after the moment of utterance .

Close future tense typically refers to a time within a span ranging through the end of the time culturally defined as "tomorrow."

• What is future tense?

Dahl 1985 121

Comrie 1985b 94

What is a closed class?

A closed class is a grammatical class of words with limited membership. These words have primarily grammatical meaning.

• conjunctions
• demonstratives
• determiners
• pronouns
• auxiliary verbs (in English)

What is coding time?

Coding time is the time of

• an utterance , or
• the writing of a message.

Coding time may be used as the deictic center for expressions of time deixis .

Levinson 1983 54,62, 74

Fillmore 1975 44

What is collateral information?

Collateral information expresses a nonevent, something that did not or has not yet happened.

• denial: John did not drown
• question: will John drown?
• prediction: John's going to drown

Grimes, J. 1975 :64–70

What is a collective noun?

A collective noun is a noun that refers to a group of entities that may be considered either as individuals or as one larger entity.

A collective noun may

• agree grammatically with the verb either as a singular noun or as a plural noun, and
• take either a singular or plural pronoun .

• Club

  Examples:

  It is a large club. They are a large club.

• Gang

  Examples:

  The gang’s all here. The gang are all here.

• What is a noun?

Crystal 1980 68

Hartmann and Stork 1972 41

Pei and Gaynor 1954 41

Mish 1991 259

What is a collocate?

Collocates are lexemes that co-occur with each other in natural texts.

Collocates may be characterized as follows:

• Syntactically and semantically permissible

  Example:

  'There was green grass growing everywhere.'

• Syntactically permissible but semantically impermissible (commonly referred to as collocational clashes )

  Example:

  'There were green ideas growing everywhere.'

• Syntactically impermissible but semantically permissible

  Example:

  'There was green grass grows everywhere.'

• Syntactically and semantically impermissible

  Example:

  'There was green ideas grows everywhere.'

Collocates may also be characterized as follows:

• Syntactically and semantically permissible, but incidental, as in live metaphors

  Example:

  'The barn was painted red like a tomato.'

• Syntactically and semantically permissible, but fixed in usage, as in dead metaphors

  Example:

  'He turned as red as a beet.'

What is comitative case?

Comitative case is a case expressing accompaniment.

It carries the meaning "with" or "accompanied by."

• What is case?

Anderson, S. 1985 186

Pei and Gaynor 1954 42

Dixon 1972 12

Gove 1966 455

What is a command?

Here are two senses for command:

1. A command is an illocutionary act that has the directive illocutionary point of getting another to do or not to do something.
2. A command is a syntactic sentence type in a language that is used primarily to express such illocutionary acts, and is described as having imperative form.

The meaning for the term command does not appear to extend to such utterances as It’s hot in here. This utterance might have the intended perlocutionary effect of getting the addressee to open a window, but it does not have that as a directive illocutionary point.

• Turn off the radio, please.
• Would you turn off the radio?

• What is an illocutionary act?

Hartmann and Stork 1972 41

Crystal 1985 55

What is a comment?

A comment is the portion of a sentence that provides information about the topic .

Hartmann and Stork 1972 41

Crystal 1980 69–70

Andrews, A. 1985 77

What is a commissive illocutionary point?

A commissive illocutionary point is the illocutionary point of a speaker committing to bring about the state of affairs described in the propositional content of the utterance .

According to certain analyses, a commissive illocutionary point is one of the five basic purposes that a speaker can have in making an utterance.

• What is an illocutionary point?

Searle and Vanderveken 1985 38–39

Crystal 1985 57

What is commissive modality?

Commissive modality is a deontic modality that connotes the speaker 's expressed commitment, as a promise or threat, to bring about the proposition expressed by the utterance .

If the usage of the term commissive modality is extended beyond solely grammaticalized means of expression, it becomes nearly synonymous with commissive illocutionary point .

This statement is understood as the speaker’s own commitment to avoid delays.

• What is deontic modality?

Palmer 1986 115–116

What is commitment between illocutionary acts?

Commitment between illocutionary acts is a condition in which the speaker 's commitment to one illocutionary act necessarily means the commitment to some other illocutionary act, regardless of the context of utterance .

• The performance of an act of demanding commits one to an act of requesting
• The commitment to a promise commits one to an act of asserting that one is not saying one does not promise
• The commitment to a conjunctive illocutionary act commits the speaker to each of the elementary illocutionary acts contained within it

Searle and Vanderveken 1985 25, 81, 84

What is a common noun?

A common noun is a noun that signifies a nonspecific member of a group.

Pei and Gaynor 1954 42

What is a complement?

Traditionally, a complement is a constituent of a clause, such as a noun phrase or adjective phrase, that is used to predicate a description of the subject or object of the clause.

• What is an object complement?
• What is a subject complement?

In generative syntax, a complement is a phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.

A selected, or subcategorized, phrase is obligatory, as contrasted with adjuncts , which are optional. For instance, the direct object of a transitive verb is obligatory and therefore a complement, whereas adverbial modifiers are generally optional, and therefore non-complements. However, the distinction is not always clear, particularly for oblique arguments. Neither is the distinction clear in languages in which complements can be freely omitted if they are understood from the context. Omission must be distinguished from pronominalization; pronouns may generally be considered to be complements. However, in some languages pronouns have been grammaticalized as verbal affixes , in which case the question of whether they are complements or not becomes a theory-internal question. (See Baker 1996 , chapter one for discussion of this issue.)

The complement/ adjunct distinction cross-cuts the core / oblique distinction, since there are obliques which are complements, and other obliques which are adjuncts. Also, while the subject of a clause is often considered a core argument of the verb, it is not normally considered to be a complement. This is because in most (perhaps all) languages, the subject appears to be a clause-level constituent, rather than a constituent of the verb phrase. However, it should be noted that this argument presupposes that the verb and its object belong to the same phrase-level constituent, while the subject is outside that constituent, an analysis which leaves the status of subject and object in VSO languages unclear.

• Robin read the book . (direct object complement of the verb)
• Robin gave it to me . (indirect object complement of the verb)
• Erin put it on the shelf . (obligatory locative complement of the verb--one cannot say, *Erin put it. )
• This problem seems quite difficult . (adjective phrase complement of the verb)
• They doubted whether it was possible . (sentential complement of the verb)
• ...under the table (noun phrase complement of a preposition)
• ...hard to understand (verb phrase complement of an adjective)

• We gave up quickly. ("quickly" is an adjunct modifier of the verb phrase)
• They'll leave, I suspect. ("I suspect" is a parenthetical modifying the entire clause)

• What is a syntactic function?

Mish 1990 269

Crystal 1985 60

Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985 55, 741–742

Jackendoff 1977

Andrews 1985 : 89–92

What is a complement clause?

A complement clause is a notional sentence or predication that is an argument of a predicate .

The term complement clause is extended by some analysts to include clauses selected by nouns or adjectives .

• We thought that you were coming.
• For you to come would be a mistake.
• I wonder whether you are coming.

• Elsie fled to escape the hurricane. (a purpose clause that is not an argument of a predicate)
• Milton came on stage juggling balls. (a manner clause that is not an argument of a predicate)
• The mouse ate the cheese that was laying out. (a relative clause that modifies a noun and is not itself an argument of a predicate)
• The plumber arrived who we had called earlier. ( who we had called earlier is a relative clause—see the discussion)

Relative clauses are not complement clauses. Relative clauses modify a noun phrase, whereas complement clauses are arguments which are selected by a verb, noun, or adjective. In some languages, relative clauses have a gap--a missing NP argument--which is understood to refer to the NP that the relative clause modifies. For instance, in "the person that saw you," the subject of the clause "saw you" is missing, but is understood to be "the person" that the NP as a whole refers to. Complement clauses do not usually have such a gap. For instance, in "the fact that he saw you," the clause "he saw you" does not have any missing arguments. This distinction, however, cannot be used in languages in which it is possible to omit the subject or other clausal arguments freely. This distinction is also not useful in languages which have internally headed relative clauses.

Adverbial clauses are also not complement clauses. Adverbial clauses may modify any verb phrase or sentence, provided they fit semantically, and fill the same role that a purpose, manner, locative or temporal adverb would fill; whereas complement clauses are specifically selected as complements (arguments) by verbs, adjectives or nouns.

• What is a nominal clause?

Crystal 1985 60

Longacre 1985 237

Noonan 1985 42, 65

Schachter 1985 50

What is complementary distribution?

Complementary distribution is the mutually exclusive relationship between two phonetically similar segments . It exists when one segment occurs in an environment where the other segment never occurs.

The rationale for complementary distribution comes from one of the principles of phonemics:

A phoneme is made up of certain features that are basic to it. When this phoneme occurs in certain phonetic environments, one or more of its features may undergo changes caused by those environments.

The phones [p] and [pH] are in complementary distribution. [pH] occurs syllable-initially in a stressed syllable, but [p] never does, as demonstrated here:

The phones [b] and [B] are in complementary distribution. [b] occurs only at the beginning of words, while [B] occurs between vowels, as demonstrated here:

What is a complementizer?

A complementizer is a conjunction which marks a complement clause .

• I know that he is here.
• I refuted the supposition that he is here.
• I am doubtful that he is here.

• What is a subordinating conjunction?

Schachter 1985 50

Crystal 1985 60

What is a complex illocutionary act?

A complex illocutionary act is an illocutionary act that

• has a negated illocutionary force
• is performed conditionally, or
• is conjoined with another illocutionary act

• What is a conjunctive illocutionary act?
• What is an illocutionary conditional?
• What is an illocutionary denegation?

• What is an illocutionary act?

Searle and Vanderveken 1985 3, 74

What is a complex sentence?

A complex sentence is a sentence which includes

• at least one main clause , and
• at least one subordinate clause .

• What is a cleft sentence?
• What is a pseudo-cleft sentence?

• What is a sentence?

Crystal 1980 75

Hartmann and Stork 1972 45

Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985 719

Mish 1991 269

What is a compound?

A compound is a word containing a stem that is made up of more than one root .

Blackboard contains a stem that refers to "a large, smooth, usually dark surface on which to write or draw with chalk". However, the stem is made up of two roots, black and board.

What is a compound discourse?

A compound discourse is a discourse that contains sections belonging to two or more kinds of discourse.

• What is a dialogue discourse?

• What is a discourse?

Longacre 1983 14

What is a compound predicate?

A compound predicate is a predicate containing two or more coordinate or paratactic verbs or verb phrases .

• What is a predicate?

Hartmann and Stork 1972 46

Pei and Gaynor 1954 44

What is a compound sentence?

A compound sentence is a sentence composed of two or more coordinate clauses .

• What is a sentence?

Lyons 1968 266

What is a compulsion schema?

A compulsion schema is a force schema that involves an external force physically or metaphorically pushing, or tending to push, an object.

• What is a force schema?

Johnson 1987 45

What is conceptual extendedness?

Conceptual extendedness is a semantic relationship between senses of a lexeme as currently recognized by speakers of a language.

The progressive derivation of more figurative senses from the basic literal sense can be divided into three stages:

• primary
• secondary
• figurative

In LinguaLinks, a sense in the lexical database may be classified by one of these categories to help in comparing it with other senses. The relationship of a particular sense to the primary sense, however, is somewhere on a continuum of conceptual extendedness. The classification is subjective, therefore, and should not be considered precise.

• Primary
  • 'to gather or scrape together with or as with a rake'
  • 'to scratch or smooth with a rake, as in leveling broken ground'
• Secondary
  • 'to gather with great care'
  • 'to scratch or scrape'
  • 'to cover a fire with ashes (metonymy)'
• Figurative
  • 'to search through minutely; scour (metaphor)'
  • 'to direct gunfire along a surface such as a line of troops or the deck of a ship'
  • 'to look over rapidly and searchingly'

Neufeldt 1991 108, 110

Here is a nonexample of conceptual extendedness as illustrated by the English noun bank using only the primary senses of each lexeme:

These three lexemes were semantically related in Old High German. However, an English speaker today would not consider them to be semantically related at all, even though the words sound the same and are written the same. They are therefore considered to be homographs rather than three senses of the same lexeme.

What is a concession relation?

A concession relation is a relation of unexpectedness between propositions . Some proposition(s) in the relation are expressed as unexpected (the contraexpectation ) in light of some other proposition(s) (the concession ).

• Even though it was 5:00, the streets were clear.
• Yet
• Nevertheless
• Although

• Certain senses of

  • but, and
  • while

• What is a definite concessive relation?
• What is an indefinite concessive relation?

• What is a logical relation?

Beekman, Callow, and Kopesec 1981 104–106

Hollenbach 1975 17–18

Longacre 1983 134–135

Mann and Thompson 1987b 13–16

Matthiessen and Thompson 1987 26–27

Konig 1986 237

Halliday and Hasan 1976 250

What is a concrete noun?

A concrete noun is a noun that refers to what is viewed as a material entity.

• What is a noun?

Hartmann and Stork 1972 47

Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985 247

What is a conditional relation?

A conditional relation is a logical relation in which the illocutionary act employing one of a pair of propositions is expressed or implied to be true or in force if the other proposition is true.

• If you give her the ring, then you are married to her. I hereby pronounce you married. Are you married to her? Do marry her. If only you would marry her!

  Source:

  Johnson-Laird 1986 61

• Once admit that they have a case, and your moral superiority collapses.

  Source:

  Haiman 1986 218

• What is a biconditional relation?
• What is a counterfactual conditional relation?
• What is a negative conditional relation?

• What is a logical relation?

Beekman and Callow 1974 303–304

Halliday and Hasan 1976 258–259

Mann and Thompson 1987b 65–66

Johnson-Laird 1986 61–64

Comrie 1986 89

Haiman 1986 218–219

Ford and Thompson 1986 363–365

Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985 1091

Searle and Vanderveken 1985 5

What is a conjunction?

A conjunction is a word that

• syntactically links words or larger constituents , and
• expresses a semantic relationship between them.

A conjunction is positionally fixed relative to one or more of the elements related by it, thus distinguishing it from constituents such as English conjunctive adverbs .

• Coordinating conjunctions
  • and
  • or
  • but
• Subordinating conjunctions
  • because
  • when
  • unless

• What is a coordinating conjunction?
• What is a subordinating conjunction?

• What is a word?
• What is a relator?

Crystal 1980 80

Hartmann and Stork 1972 48–49

Pei and Gaynor 1954 45

Mish 1991 277–278

What is a conjunctive adverb?

A conjunctive adverb is an adverb that functions like a conjunction by expressing the relationship between independent sentences .

In English, a conjunctive adverb’s position in a sentence is flexible.

• I don’t like the job; still, I’ll take it.
• I don’t like the job; I’ll take it, still.

• What is an adverb? (Linguistics)

Pei and Gaynor 1954 45

Hartmann and Stork 1972 49

Crystal 1980 65

Mish 1991 278

What is a conjunctive illocutionary act?

A conjunctive illocutionary act is a complex illocutionary act that consists of the performance of two or more illocutionary acts in one utterance .

• What is a complex illocutionary act?

Searle and Vanderveken 1985: 4, 74

What is a conjunctive verb?

A conjunctive verb is a verb form which is used specifically in a conjoined clause .

A conjunctive verb has a verb form which differs from that of the clause to which it is conjoined.

• What is a verb? (Linguistics)

Bybee 1985 187

What is a connective?

Here are two senses of connective:

1. A connective, in its most common usage, is an expression having a function similar to that of a conjunction .

2. A connective, broadly defined, is any linguistic unit that links two other constituents together.

   Examples:

   Conjunctions Copulas Conjunctive adverbs

• and
• or
• but
• whereas
• in case
• thus
• the result is
• so much that

Crystal 1985 66

Rudolph 1988 97–98, 110–111

What is a consonant?

A consonant is a sound made by a partial or complete closure of the vocal tract.

A consonant is produced by an interaction between a passive articulator and an active articulator. The active articulator is brought into contact with or in close proximity to the passive articulator.

Here are the two parameters for identifying consonants:

• manner of articulation
• place of articulation

The production of consonants can be modified. For more information,

• What is a vowel?
• What is an articulation process?

What is a consonant modification?

A consonant modification is an addition or alteration to the basic way that a consonant is articulated.

What is a constituent?

A constituent is one of two or more grammatical units that enter syntactically or morphologically into a construction at any level.

• What is an immediate constituent?
• What is an ultimate constituent?
• What is a construction?
• What are discontinuous constituents?
• What is a morpheme?
• What is a zero?

Crystal 1985 68

Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985 38

Mish 1991 281

What is a construction?

A construction is an ordered arrangement of grammatical units forming a larger unit.

Different usages of the term construction include or exclude stems and words.

• [subject + verb + object] forms a clause
• [determiner + noun] forms a noun phrase
• [adjective + noun + plural marker] forms a compound noun

• What is an apposition?
• What is a clause?
• What is a clause chain?
• What is direct speech?
• What is an elliptical construction?
• What is an endocentric construction?
• What is an exocentric construction?
• What is an idiom?
• What is indirect speech?
• What is a phrase?
• What is a sentence?
• What is a serial verb construction?
• What is a stem?
• What is a word?

• What is a constituent?

Crystal 1980 85–86

Hartmann and Stork 1972 51

Mish 1991 281

Pike and Pike 1982 440

Fleming 1988 263

What is a container metaphor?

A containment metaphor is an ontological metaphor in which some concept is represented as

• having an inside and outside, and
• capable of holding something else.

• I’ve had a full life.
• Life is empty for him.
• Her life is crammed with activities.

• Get the most out of life.

• What is an ontological metaphor?

Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980 29–30, 51

What is a containment schema?

A containment schema is an image schema that involves a physical or metaphorical

• boundary
• enclosed area or volume, or
• excluded area or volume.

A containment schema can have additional optional properties, such as

• transitivity of enclosure (whereby if one object is enclosed by a second, and that by a third, the first is also enclosed by the third)
• objects inside or outside the boundary
• protectedness of an enclosed object
• the restriction of forces inside the enclosure, and
• the relatively fixed position of an enclosed object.

• What is an image schema?

Johnson 1987 21-22

What is the context of an expression?

The context of an expression or a text is the social situation in which something is said. It includes any information relevant to understanding the appropriate use of an expression or the interpretation of a text.

The context of an expression answers the following questions:

• Who said it? Who was addressed?
• What were the circumstances? What was the occasion?
• When was this word or expression used? When was the text given?
• Where was it spoken?
• Why was it spoken?
• How was it spoken? How was it received?

In Javanese, the social context of an expression is very important. The difference in social status between the speaker and the hearer determines the choice of speech register.

Formal register

When speaking to someone with a higher status, you use a formal register.

Informal register

When speaking to someone with a lower status, you use an informal register:

Note that both expressions mean the same thing. It is, therefore, very important in data collection to record the social context of an expression.

Anderson, S. and Keenan 1985 274–275

What is a continuant?

A continuant is a sound produced with an incomplete closure of the vocal tract.

All vowels and fricatives are continuants.

stop .

Crystal 1991 :80

What is a continuer?

A continuer is a move that returns speakership to another participant.

It shows that the speaker

• recognizes that the other participant is forming a lengthy unit of talk, and
• allows the participant to continue.

• uh huh
• mm hm
• yeah

• What is a move?

Greatbatch 1988 411

What is continuous aspect?

Continuous aspect is an imperfective aspect that expresses an ongoing, but not habitual, occurrence of the state or event expressed by the verb .

• What is progressive aspect?

• What is imperfective aspect?

Comrie 1976a 12, 26

Dahl 1985 94

Bills, Vallejo, and Troike 1969 21

What is a contoid?

A contoid is a sound made with enough closure of the oral cavity to produce audible friction in the mouth.

It has the potential to be analyzed phonemically as a consonant.

Contoids are pronounced with different manners of articulation.

Here is a table showing examples of different manners of articulation for contoids:

• What is a vocoid?

What is a contraction relation?

A contraction relation is an interpropositional relation in which information previously expressed is partially restated.

• What is a summary relation?

• What is an interpropositional relation?

Longacre 1983 20, 121

Beekman and Callow 1974 299

What is contrast in analogous environments?

Contrast in analogous environments is the difference between two phonetically similar segments that occur in two separate words and have similar adjacent sounds.

If neither segment has been modified or affected by its environment , the segments are separate phonemes .

The segments [p] and [b] contrast in analogous environments in the following words:

• [opa] 'it is finished'
• [aba] 'place'

The implication is that /p/ and /b/ are separate phonemes.

• What is contrast in identical environments?

What is contrast in identical environments?

Contrast in identical environments is the difference between two phonetically similar segments that occur in two separate words and have identical adjacent sounds.

If neither segment has been modified or affected by its environment , the segments are separate phonemes .

The segments [l] and [r] contrast in identical environments in the following minimal pair .

• [lip]
• [rip]

The implication is that /l/ and /r/ are separate phonemes.

The segments [s ] and [S] contrast in identical environments in the following minimal pair:

• [m&u0268su] 'swollen hand'
• [m&u0268Su] 'black, dark'

The implication is that /s/ and /S/ are separate phonemes.

• What is contrast in analogous environments?

What is a contrast relation?

A contrast relation is an interpropositional relation which expresses that a difference between one proposition and another is relevant.

• What is an antithesis relation?

• What is an interpropositional relation?

Longacre 1983 83–85, 88

Bickford and Daly 1996 100–102

Halliday and Hasan 1976 247, 252

Mann and Thompson 1987b 74–75

What is contrastive analysis?

Contrastive analysis is an inductive investigative approach based on the distinctive elements in a language.

• Intralingual

  • Analysis of contrastive phonemes
  • Feature analysis of morphosyntactic categories
  • Analysis of morphemes having grammatical meaning
  • Analysis of word order
  • Componential analysis of lexemes
  • Analysis of lexical relations

• Cross-linguistic

  • Comparative analysis of morphosyntactic systems
  • Comparative analysis of lexical semantics
  • Analysis of translational equivalence
  • Study of interference in foreign language learning

What is conventional implicature?

Conventional implicature is an implicature that is

• part of a lexical item’s or expression’s agreed meaning, rather than derived from principles of language use, and
• not part of the conditions for the truth of the item or expression.

• What is an actual implicature?

Levinson 1983 127–128

What is a conventional metaphor?

A conventional metaphor is a metaphor that is commonly used in everyday language in a culture to give structure to some portion of that culture’s conceptual system.

• The understanding of time as a resource

  Example:

  Time is running out.

• The understanding of life as a journey

  Example:

  It’s time to get on with your life.

• What is an ontological metaphor?
• What is an orientational metaphor?
• What is a structural metaphor?

• What is a metaphor?

Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980 66, 139

What is a conventional metonymy?

A conventional metonymy is a metonymy that is commonly used in everyday language in a culture to give structure to some portion of that culture’s conceptual system.

• The understanding of a reference to the face as standing for the whole person

  Example:

  We need some new faces around here.

• The understanding of a reference to the physiological response of increased body heat as standing for anger

  Example:

  Don’t get hot under the collar.

Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980 35–36, 38, 66, 139

What is conversation analysis?

Conversation analysis is an approach to the study of natural conversation, especially with a view to determining the following:

• Participants’ methods of

  • turn -taking
  • constructing sequences of utterances across turns
  • identifying and repairing problems, and
  • employing gaze and movement
• How conversation works in different conventional settings

Here are some examples of conventional settings in which conversation analysis could take place:

• Interviews
• Court hearings
• Telephone conversations
• Card games

• What is meaning and pragmatic function?

Levinson 1983 294–296

Hopper, Koch, and Mandelbaum 1986 169–170, 173

What is conversational implicature?

Conversational implicature is a nonconventional implicature based on an addressee’s assumption that the speaker is following the conversational maxims or at least the cooperative principle .

• What is a flouting implicature?
• What is a generalized implicature?
• What is a manner implicature?
• What is a particularized implicature?
• What is a quality implicature?
• What is a quantity implicature?
• What is a relevance implicature?
• What is a standard implicature?

• What is a nonconventional implicature?

Levinson 1983 101–104, 113–114

Grice 1975 45–46, 49–50

Crystal 1985 153

What is a conversational maxim?

A conversational maxim is any of four rules which were proposed by Grice 1975 , stating that a speaker is assumed to make a contribution that

• is adequately but not overly informative (quantity maxim)
• the speaker does not believe to be false and for which adequate evidence is had (quality maxim)
• is relevant (maxim of relation or relevance), and
• is clear, unambiguous, brief, and orderly (maxim of manner).

The conversational maxims, along with the cooperative principle , partly account for conversational implicatures .

Levinson 1983 101–104, 113–114

Grice 1975 45–46, 49–50

Crystal 1985 153

What is the cooperative principle?

The cooperative principle is a principle of conversation that was proposed by Grice 1975 , stating that participants expect that each will make a “conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange.”

The cooperative principle, along with the conversational maxims, partly accounts for conversational implicatures . Participants assume that a speaker is being cooperative, and thus they make conversational implicatures about what is said.

Levinson 1983 101–104, 110–114

Grice 1975 45–46, 49–50

Crystal 1985 153

What is a coordinate clause?

A coordinate clause is a clause belonging to a series of two or more clauses which

• are not syntactically dependent one on another, and

• are joined by means of

  • a coordinating conjunction
  • a connective , or
  • parataxis .

• I will go home and he will go to work.
• John likes hamburgers, but Mary prefers hot dogs.
• We might go to Seattle, or we might go to California.

• What is a clause?

Crystal 1980 92

Hartmann and Stork 1972 54

Foley, W. and Van Valin 1984 243

Payne, J. 1985 3

Mish 1991 288

Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985 46

What is a coordinating conjunction?

A coordinating conjunction is a conjunction that links constituents without syntactically subordinating one to the other.

• and
• but
• or

• What is a correlative conjunction?

• What is a conjunction?

Hartmann and Stork 1972 54

Crystal 1980 76

Mish 1991 288

What is a copula?

A copula is an intransitivity verb which links a subject

• to a noun phrase
• adjective , or
• other constituent which expresses the predicate .

• The book is on the table.
• The weather seems good.

• What is a verb? (Linguistics)

Crystal 1980 93

Hartmann and Stork 1972 55

Schachter 1985 11

Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985 1171–1172

Mish 1991 289

Crystal 1980 213

Mish 1991 696

What is a core argument?

A core argument of a verb is a subject , direct object , or indirect object .

In John gave a donation to the Salvation Army, the core arguments are John, a donation, and Salvation Army.

• oblique object

What is coreference?

Coreference is the reference in one expression to the same referent in another expression.

• What is reference?

Crystal 1980 93

Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985 863

What is a correction relation?

A correction relation is an antithesis relation in which the speaker's expression of positive regard reinforces, redefines, or corrects one or the other of the contrasted propositions or groups of propositions.

• I would be glad if you came; in fact, I would be delighted.

  Source:

  Dijk 1981 280

• He showed no pleasure at hearing the news; instead he looked even gloomier.

  Source:

  Halliday and Hasan 1976 254

• What is an antithesis relation?

Halliday and Hasan 1976 254

Dijk 1981 270–271, 279–280

What is a correlative conjunction?

A correlative conjunction is either of a pair of coordinating conjunctions used in ordered fashion. Typically, one is used immediately before each member of a pair of constituents .

• What is a coordinating conjunction?

Pei and Gaynor 1954 49

Hartmann and Stork 1972 55

Mish 1991 293

What is a count noun?

A count noun is a noun whose possible referents are thought of as separate entities.

It thus has the ability

• to take a plural form

• to occur with distinctive determiners (such as a/an, many ), and

• to occur with cardinal numerals .

It does not have the ability, however, to occur with a determiner such as much.

Some nouns permit treatment as either count or mass nouns .

• What is a noun?

Crystal 1985 79

Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985 246

Mish 1991 298

What is a counteragent as a semantic role?

A counteragent is the semantic role of a force or resistance against which an action is carried out.

• What is a semantic role?

Lyons 1977a

What is a counterfactual conditional relation?

A counterfactual conditional relation is a conditional relation in which the form of expression of the antecedent and consequent marks them as imagined, nonfactual states or events.

Comrie 1986 :89–90 establishes that the putative English counterfactuals do not contain the nonfactuality of either the antecedent or the consequent as part of their inherent meaning. Thus, If you gave me a kiss, I’d buy you a beer does not express the impossibility of either the kiss or the beer. Additionally, in If the butler had done it, we would have found just the clues that we did in fact find, it is clear that the consequent is factual, and factuality of the antecedent is possible.

• What is a conditional relation?

Beekman, Callow, and Kopesec 1981 104

Longacre 1983 110

Longacre 1985 245–246

Comrie 1986 89–90

Crystal 1985 79–80

What is a counterforce schema?

A counterforce schema is a force schema that involves the active meeting of physically or metaphorically opposing forces.

• What is a force schema?

Johnson 1987 46

What is a cycle schema?

A cycle schema is an image schema which involves repetitious events and event series.

Its structure includes the following:

• A starting point
• A progression through successive events without backtracking
• A return to the initial state

The schema often has superimposed on it a structure that builds toward a climax and then goes through a release or decline.

• Days
• Weeks
• Years
• Sleeping and waking
• Breathing
• Circulation
• Emotional buildup and release

• What is an image schema?

Johnson 1987 119–121