Linguistic terminology terms | LETTER - O

What is an object?

Definition
Here are two senses for object:
An object, traditionally defined, is either a direct object or an indirect object. An object, in some usages, is any grammatical relation other than subject .

Kinds
Here are some kinds of objects:
What is a direct object? What is an indirect object? What is an oblique object?

Generic
An object is a kind of
What is a grammatical relation?

Sources
Crystal 1985 211
Hartmann and Stork 1972 155–156
Mish 1991 814
Comrie 1989 66

What is an object complement?

Definition
An object complement is a complement that is used to predicate a description of the direct object .

Examples (English)
The people made Ambrose bishop. The people considered Ambrose holy.

Generic
An object complement is a kind of
What is a complement?

Sources
Crystal 1985 60
Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985 55

What is obligative mood?

Definition
Obligative mood is a directive mood that signals the speaker 's estimation of the necessity that the proposition expressed in his or her utterance be brought about.

Examples (English)
You must do as I say. She has to leave.

Generic
Obligative mood is a kind of
What is directive modality?

Sources
Nida 1949 169
Chung and Timberlake 1985 247
Palmer 1986 98
Sharma 1982 189–190

What is an oblique object?

Definition
An oblique object is a grammatical relation proposed for a noun phrase clause constituent with the following characteristics:
Its nature and behavior are more readily describable in semantic terms than syntactic. It is likely to be the most constrained in the semantic roles it may individually express. It is likely to be marked by an adposition or case affix . It is not likely to be a target of syntactic rules, such as agreement with the verb , or strategies of relativization .

Example (English)
English prepositional phrases , as clause constituents, can be considered oblique objects. She was bitten by a spider.

Generic
An oblique object is a kind of
What is an object?

Sources
Andrews, A. 1985 81–82, 92, 127–128
Comrie 1989 66, 179

What is an obliterative overlap?

Definition
An obliterative overlap is an overlap that is intended to blot out some portion of the speech of another participant.

Generic
An obliterative overlap is a kind of
What is overlap?

Source
Moerman 1988 21–22

What is obviative person deixis?

Definition
Obviative person deixis is third person deixis that distinguishes a less important referent in the present stage of the discourse from a referent that is more important.

Generic
Obviative person deixis is a kind of
What is third person deixis?

Sources
Crystal 1985 212
Pei and Gaynor 1954 152
Hartmann and Stork 1972 168
Anderson, S. and Keenan 1985 262
Foley, W. and Van Valin 1984 333

What is an offprint?

Definition

An offprint is a separate reprint of an article that first appeared as part of a larger publication.

Adapted from:

Neufeldt 1991 941

What is an oh-receipt?

Definition
An oh-receipt is a move (such as the utterance of oh in English) that signals a sharp change in the state in the speaker’s knowledge, such as the
overcoming of a previous expectation, or achievement of a new understanding resulting from new information.

Generic
An oh-receipt is a kind of
What is a move?

Source
Greatbatch 1988 406

What is onomatopoeia?

Definition
Onomatopoeia is the use of a word that denotes a
sound suggested by the phonetic quality of the word, or thing that produces such a sound.

Examples (English)

gong
crackle
twitter

Source:

Corbett 1971 491

Generic
Onomatopoeia is a kind of
What is a trope?

Sources
Corbett 1971 490–491
Mish 1991 825

What is an onset?

Definition
An onset is the part of the syllable that precedes the vowel of the syllable.

Examples

Here are some examples of syllables divided into onsets and rimes :

Word	Onset	Rime
I		I
it		it
sit	s	it
spit	sp	it
split	spl	it
spoil	sp	oil
pie	p	ie

What is an ontological metaphor?

Definition
An ontological metaphor is a metaphor in which an abstraction, such as an activity, emotion, or idea, is represented as something concrete, such as an object, substance, container, or person.

Examples (English)

The following sentences express the

activity-as-container metaphor

How did Jerry get out of washing the windows?
Outside of washing the windows, what else did you do?
How did you get into window-washing as a profession?
I put a lot of energy into washing the windows.
I get a lot of satisfaction out of washing windows.

Source:

Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980 31

Kinds
Here are some kinds of ontological metaphors:
What is a container metaphor? What is an entity metaphor? What is a substance metaphor?

Generic
An ontological metaphor is a kind of
What is a conventional metaphor?

Source
Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980 25–33

What is an open class?

Definition
An open class is a grammatical class of words with a potentially unlimited membership. These words have content meaning.

Examples
Here are some examples of open classes:
adjectives nouns verbs

What is an open presupposed proposition?

Definition
An open presupposed proposition is a presupposition that contains a variable about which the utterance supplies information.

Example (English)

She gave something to Harry.

This proposition is presupposed by the contrastive stress in she gave the SHIRT to Harry and by the cleft sentence it was the SHIRT that she gave to Harry.

Source:

Prince 1986 209

Generic
An open presupposed proposition is a kind of
What is an actual presupposition?

Source
Prince 1986 209

What is an opposite lexical relation?

Introduction
Some cultures base their world view on the dichotomy of opposites. Other cultures recognize relatively few sets of opposite concepts.

Definition
An opposite lexical relation is an association between two lexical units which have the opposite core meanings in some contexts.

Examples (English)

Here are some kinds of opposites in English, their definitions, and example sets:

Kind	Definition and comment	Example set
Complements	Opposites that have mutually exclusive properties. For example, if people are not dead, they must be alive.	{(dead, alive), (true, false), (open, shut), (male, female)}
Antonyms	Opposites that are at two corresponding points or ranges of a scale. For example, if something is not long, it is not necessarily short. There is neutral ground on the scale.	{(long, short), (good, bad), (hot, cold), (warm, cool)}
Directional converses	Opposites marking the two directions along an axis.	{(east, west), (up, down), (convex, concave)}
Relational converses	Opposites which specify the relative positions of two entities on opposite sides or poles of a spatial or relational axis.	{(above, below), (in front of, behind)}; {(doctor, patient), (teacher, pupil), (master, servant), (husband, wife)}

Source:

Cruse 1986 199, 204, 223, 232

Underlying structure
The underlying structure of an opposite set is a set of pairs.

Frames

Here are some kinds of frames for opposites in English, with examples:

Kind	Frame	Example
Complements	If something is not X, then it has to be Y.	If something is not true, then it has to be false.
Antonyms	When measuring or judging in a certain way, something can be either X or Y, or it can be neither.	When measuring temperature, something can be either hot or cold, or it can be neither.
Directional converses	If something goes (or faces) X and it turns around, it goes (or faces) Y.	If something goes up and it turns around, it goes down.
	If something is X, oriented the other way it is Y.	If something is convex, oriented the other way it is concave.
Relational converses	Something is X (in relation to something else). If it is on the opposite side, it is Y.	Something is in front of the house. If it is on the opposite side, it is behind.
	An X and a Y make up an R relationship.	A husband and a wife make up a marriage relationship.

What is optative mood?

Definition
Optative mood is a volitive mood that signals wishing or hoping.

Example (Classical Greek)
Here is an example of optative mood (diacritical markings are not reproduced here):
ei gar genoime:n teknon anti sou nekros oh that become.1SINGULAR.AORIST.OPTATIVE son instead-of thou corpse ‘O that I might be a corpse, my child, instead of you!’
(Euripides, Hypolytus 1410 cited by Palmer 1986 117 )

Generic
Optative mood is a kind of
What is volitive modality?

Sources
Chung and Timberlake 1985 247
Nida 1949 168
Pei and Gaynor 1954 54, 154–155
Bybee 1985 166
Mish 1991 828
Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985 839
Palmer 1986 116–118
Crystal 1985 90

What is an ordinal numeral?

Definition
An ordinal numeral is a numeral belonging to a class whose members designate positions in a sequence.

Examples (English)
First Second Third

Generic
An ordinal numeral is a kind of
What is a numeral?

Sources
Crystal 1980 252
Hartmann and Stork 1972 159
Mish 1991 831

What is an orientational metaphor?

Definition
An orientational metaphor is a metaphor in which concepts are spatially related to each other, as in the following ways:
Up or down In or out Front or back On or off Deep or shallow Central or peripheral

Examples (English)

The following sentences express the

happy-as-up

and the

sad-as-down

metaphors:

I'm feeling up.
That boosted my spirits.
Thinking about her always gives me a lift.
I'm feeling down.
I fell into a depression.

Source:

Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980 15

Generic
An orientational metaphor is a kind of
What is a conventional metaphor?

Source
Lakoff, G. and Johnson 1980 14–15, 18

What is an other-initiated repair?

Definition
An other-initiated repair is a repair that results from a process that was begun by the addressee of the repaired utterance .

Examples (English)
The last turn is an example of an other-initiated self-repair: A: I need a new bolt for my oil filter. B: A BOLT? A: I mean for my oil PAN.
The last turn is an example of an other-initiated other-repair: A: I need a new bolt for my oil filter. B: You mean the PAN. A: Yeah...

Kinds
Here are some kinds of other-initiated repairs:
What is an embedded repair? What is exposed repair?

Generic
An other-initiated repair is a kind of
What is a repair?

Sources
Levinson 1983 340–341
McLaughlin 1984 211–212

What is an other-repair?

Definition
An other-repair is a repair made by a participant other than the one whose speech is repaired.

Example (English)
In the following exchange, the second turn is an other-repair: A: I need a new bolt for my oil filter. B: PAN, you mean. A: Right...

Generic
An other-repair is a kind of
What is a repair?

Source
Levinson 1983 340–341

What is an out-of-field distinction?

Definition
An out-of-field distinction is a distinction in place deixis that indicates that the location is not in visual range.

Generic
An out-of-field is a kind of
What is a field distinction?

Source
Denny 1978 73

What is an overall organization?

Definition
An overall organization is a schematic description of a kind of conversational encounter. It describes the types and order of a conversation’s turns and sequences .

Example (English)
Here is an example of the overall organization of a telephone call:
The typical features of a telephone call are as follows: It begins an opening section featuring a hello or identification of the answering party. This is followed by a hello and identification of the calling party, with an exchange of how are you. Then the first topic is announced, followed by topic closing and shifts to (preferably) related topics. This is followed by a closing section consisting of elements like passing turns of okay, an identification of the type of call [ Well, I just wanted to call and … ], more passing turns, and an exchange of good-byes.

Generic
An overall organization is a kind of
What is a sequence?

Source
Levinson 1983 308–317

What is overlap?

Definition
Overlap is simultaneous talk by two or more conversational participants, irrespective of its status in participants’ minds as an interruption.

Discussion
Analysts consider an overlap to result from factors such as the following:
The desire to start a turn before another so as not to miss the opportunity The desire to make a particular contribution while it is relevant Uncertainty as to whether the current speaker intends to continue

Kind
Here is a kind of overlap:
What is an obliterative overlap?

Sources
Moerman 1988 19–20, 25
Murray 1988 115

What is an oxymoron?

Definition
An oxymoron is a collocation of words that have contradictory or sharply incongruous meanings.

Examples (English)

conspicuous by his absence
cruel kindness
thunderous silence
make haste slowly

Source:

Corbett 1971 491

Generic
An oxymoron is a kind of
What is a trope?

Sources
Corbett 1971 491
Mish 1991 844