Friday, 13 April 2012

Next monday's lesson

Guys and Girls,
Next monday's class, ALL should come prepared with the following topics:-

i) Allomorphs
II) Singular / Plural noun
III) phrase structure
IV)Semantics / Pragmatic roles 

Have Fun With Language :)

11 comments:

  1. Others: Next week lesson.
    Allomorphs

    •"[A]n underlying morpheme can have multiple surface level allomorphs (recall that the prefix 'allo' means 'other'). That is, what we think of as a single unit (a single morpheme) can actually have more than one pronunciation (multiple allomorphs)

    Morphs and Allomorphs
    "[W]hen we find a group of different morphs, all versions of one morpheme, we can use the prefix allo- ( = one of a closely related set) and describe them as allomorphs of that morpheme.

    "Take the morpheme 'plural.' Note that it can be attached to a number of lexical morphemes to produce structures like 'cat + plural,' 'bus + plural,' 'sheep + plural,' and 'man + plural.'

    In each of these examples, the actual forms of the morphs that result from the morpheme 'plural' are different.

    Yet they are all allomorphs of the one morpheme. So, in addition to /s/ and /əz/, another allomorph of 'plural' in English seems to be a zero-morph because the plural form of sheep is actually 'sheep + ∅.' When we look at 'man + plural,' we have a vowel change in the word . . . as the morph that produces the 'irregular' plural form men."

    An allomorph is a different form of a Morpheme. The regular Simple Past ending is -ed.

    In the verb 'advised' the ending is pronounced /d/, but in 'walked' it is pronounced /t/ and in 'wanted' it is pronounced /i:d/. A verb ending in -e, like 'hire' only takes -d. These are different forms of the same thing; they are allomorphs of the simple past tense ending.

    First you need to know what a morpheme is. That's a unit of a language that can't be divided or reduced down.

    EG the word income is made of 2 morphemes, in + come. and incoming is made of 3 - in + com(e) + ing.

    An allomorph is any 2 morphemes that have the same purpose but are spelt or sound different.

    EG when you pluralise bat you get bats - with an 's' sound. When you pluralise bug you use an s but it has a 'z' sound. And the plural of bus is buses, pronounced 'bus-is'. So in this case 's', 'z' and 'is' are allomorphs.


    Thanks Tulasi Martin for the research

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  2. Phrase structure/tree diagrams...we'll be doing more exercises on Monday.
    Under semantics,read up on ,homographs,homonyms,heteronyms,synonyms,heteronyms,polysemous words,etc.
    As usual bring a good dictionary and of course your BFF The SUN....!

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  3. Allomorphs=
    Allomorph is variant form of a morpheme but it doesn’t change the meaning. Allomorph has different in pronunciation and spelling according to their condition. It means that allomorph will have different sound, pronunciation or spelling in different condition. The condition depends on the element that it attaches to.
    Example:Incapable, Illogical, Impossible, irregular

    Singular Noun Definition: When a noun means one only, it is said to be singular.
    Examples: boy, girl, book, church, box

    Plural Noun Definition: When a noun means more than one, it is said to be plural.
    Examples: boys, girls, books, churches

    Phrase=
    Any small group of words within a sentence or a clause.

    Semantic Role=
    A semantic role is the underlying relationship that a participant has with the main verb in a clause. Words are not just a “containers” of meanings. They fulfill different “roles” within the situation described by a sentences.
    For example: If the situation is a simple event such as "THE BOY KICKED THE BALL." The verb "kicked" describes an action. The noun phrases “the boy” and “the ball” describe the roles of entities such as people and things involved in the action.

    Pragmatics Role=
    Pragmatics is the study of meaning of words, phrases and full sentences, but unlike semantics which deals with the objective meanings of words that can be found in dictionaries, pragmatics is more concerned with the meanings that words in fact convey when they are used, or with intended speaker meaning as it is sometimes referred to.
    Example:
    A mother wishes her son to clean his room. She could say:

    "Clean your room."

    This is direct and with clear semantic meaning. Alternativly, the mother could say:

    "It's like a pig sty in your room."

    This implies a similar meaning but is indirect and therefore requires pragmatic inference to derive the intended meaning. The 'understood' communication is still "clean your room".

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  4. Semantics (also known as semasiology)is the study of meanings of words and sentence. It is a wide subject within the general study of language. The study of semantics includes the study of how meaning is constructed, interpreted, clarified, obscured, illustrated, simplified negotiated, contradicted and paraphrased.

    Homographs are words with different pronunciation, meanings and origins but the same spelling. They are not to be confused with homonyms, homophones and heteronyms. In order to work out which pronunciation and which meaning is appropriate, you need to be aware of the context. Here are a few homographs and their meanings:

    agape – with mouth open OR love
    bass – type of fish OR low, deep voice
    bat - piece of sports equipment OR an animal
    bow – type of knot OR to incline
    down – a lower place OR soft fluff on a bird
    entrance – the way in OR to delight
    evening – smoothing out OR after sunset
    fine – of good quality OR a levy
    learned – past tense of learn OR knowledgeable
    minute – tiny OR unit of time
    moped – was gloomy OR motorcyle
    number – more numb OR numerical value
    row – line OR argument OR propel a boat
    sewer – drain OR person who sews
    wave – move the hand in greeting OR sea water coming into shore
    wound – past tense of wind OR to injure

    Homonyms can be defined as two or more words that share the same spelling, or the same pronunciation, or both, but have different meanings.
    Eg.:
    bank: a financial institution
    bank: a slope bordering a river

    Heteronyms is a word with the same spelling as another or others, but with different meaning and pronunciation.
    Eg.: tear, a drop of water from the eye
    tear, to rip

    Synonyms are words that are similar or have a related meaning to another word.
    Eg.:
    Happy: Content, Joyful, Mirthful, Upbeat
    Baffle: confuse, deceive
    Honest: Honorable, Fair, Sincere, Trustworthy
    Valid: authorized, legitimate
    Hold: cling, Clench, Wait, Grip, grasp, clasp

    Polysemous words can be defined as words having more than one meaning.
    Eg.:
    a) 'FIX'. It has many meanings such as 1.attach, 2.Arrange 3.Get ready (food or drinks) 4.repair 5. punish, 6.set right (the hair)
    b) Table (a piece of furniture, dining table, facts / numbers, maths, (multiplication / addition tables, (V) to present
    c) Funny: amusing, Strange, suspicious / illegal, crazy, , entertaining, witty, humorous, comic, hilarious

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    Replies
    1. Hmm,lots of information...well done,Sheila and Alfina...use this during discussion in class tomorrow...

      Delete
  5. 1. Allormorph
    -a set of meaningful linguistic units and vary in shape or pronunciation according to
    their conditions of use, but not as to meaning.
    -For example :the negative prefix in has several allomorphs
    In-capable
    Il-logical
    Ir-reverent
    2. Singular
    -A Singular noun means one item only.
    Examples of singular nouns are bed, boy, girl, book, house and cat.
    Plural
    -The plural in English is very easy. Add '-s' to any singular word
    Examples of plural nouns are beds,girls,books, houses and cats

    3. Phrase structure
    -The most basic type of sentence is the simple sentence, which contains
    only one clause. A simple sentence can be as short as one word
    Examples: Melt!
    Ice melts.
    The ice melts quickly.

    4. Semantic
    -Semantics is the study of meaning
    Examples:the word "deer" meant "wild animal" or "beast", so the meaning of
    "We plan to hunt deer" has a different meaning then than it does now.

    -pragmatic roles-Studies the ways in which context contributes to meaning
    Examples:the preposition “on” (on top of, above, or other relationships
    as in on fire, on heat, on duty, on the fiddle or on
    the telly).

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  6. SYNONYMS

    Synonyms are different words which have the same meaning, or almost the same meaning.

    The words stones and rocks are synonyms.

    Synonyms can be nouns, verbs, adverbs or adjectives, as long as both are the same part of speech.

    For example:
    - chair and seat (nouns)
    - go and leave (verbs)
    - quickly and rapidly (adverbs)
    - long and extended (adjectives)

    Synonyms need not be single words, as in war and armed conflict.

    Here are more synonyms:

    - tremendous and remarkable
    - cat and feline
    - baby and infant
    - sick and ill
    - quickly and speedily

    A word can have more than one synonym depending on which meaning you use for the word.
    For example:
    - expired could have the synonym no longer fresh, if you mean milk that's past its sale date.
    - expired could have the synonym dead, if you mean no longer alive.

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  7. ANTONYMS

    Antonyms are words which have opposite meanings.

    The words hot and cold are antonyms. So are up and down, and short and tall.

    A word can have more than one antonym, depending on which meaning you use for the word.
    For example:
    - short could have the antonym tall if you are referring to a person's height.
    - short could have the antonym long if you are referring to to the length of something.

    In many languages, including English, you can sometimes make antonyms by adding a prefix:
    - real and unreal are antonyms
    - flexible and inflexible are antonyms
    However, English is well known for its exceptions to the rules, so you have to watch out for words like flammable and inflammable, where this doesn't work ... they're synonyms!

    There are actually four types of antonyms:
    • Gradable antonyms are opposites at either end of the spectrum, as in slow and fast.
    • Complementary antonyms are absolute opposites, like mortal and immortal.
    • Relational antonyms are opposites where one word describes a relationship between two objects, and the other word describes the same relationship when the two objects are reversed.
    For example, parent and child, teacher and student, or buy and sell.
    • Auto-antonyms are the same two words that mean the opposite.
    For example, fast (moving quickly) and fast (stuck in place).

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  8. HOMONYMS and more ...

    A homonym ('same name') is a word that has the same pronunciation and spelling as another word, but a different meaning.

    For example, mean (an average) and mean (nasty) are homonyms. They are identical in spelling and pronunciation, but different in meaning.

    Here are some more homonyms:
    - punch (a drink) and punch (a hit)
    - dog (an animal) and dog (to follow closely)
    - bat (an animal) and bat (baseball equipment)

    Homonyms are by definition also homographs and homophones (see below).


    A homograph ('same writing') is a word that has the same spelling as another word, but a different meaning.

    For example, punch and punch are homographs, but so are bow (Robin Hood's weapon) and bow (the front of the ship). Homographs don't have to be pronounced the same way.


    A homophone ('same sound') is a word that has the same pronunciation as another word, but a different meaning.

    For example, punch and punch are homophones, but so are creak (the sound) and creek (a tiny river). Homophones don't have to be spelled the same way.

    Here are some more homophones:
    - there, their and they're
    - to, too, and two
    - led and lead (the metal)
    - weak and week

    Many puns rely on homophones for their humour.

    To summarize:
    • Homonyms sound the same and are spelled the same, and have different meanings.
    • Homographs are spelled the same (but need not sound the same), and have different meanings.
    • Homophones sound the same (but need not be spelled the same), and have different meanings.
    [Note: there is no universal agreement on these definitions. Some dictionaries or reference works may have alternate definitions.]

    ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' GUYS THIS IS EXTRA INFO...

    Heteronyms, or heterophones ('different name') are spelled the same, but have different pronunciations and meanings.

    For example, desert (to abandon) and desert (a dry region) have the same spelling, but are pronounced differently, and have different meanings.

    (Heteronyms are homographs that are pronounced differently ... or homographs that aren't homophones).


    Contronyms, or antagonyms have opposite meanings in different contexts.

    For example, cleave can mean to stick together, or to split apart.


    Capitonyms are spelled the same but have different meanings when capitalised.

    For example:
    - polish (to shine something) and Polish (from Poland). These are pronounced differently.
    - caterpillar (the insect) and Caterpillar (the machinery company). These are pronounced the same.

    Capitonyms may or may not be pronounced the same.

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  9. Metonyms

    - A word that is used metonymically; a word that denotes one thing but refers to a related thing.
    - In simple words, Metonymy is the process of replacing one word with another, closely related word.

    Examples :
    - "lands belonging to the crown," "crown" is a metonym for "king." A crown (a royal headdress) is closely associated with a king; therefore, "crown" can figuratively substitute for "king."

    - "Washington or Uncle Sam are metonyms for the United States government".

    - "plastic is a metonym for credit card".

    - Referring to alcohol as 'the bottle'.


    Metonyms in sentence

    - "Strawberries and cream are my favorite dish." A dish is associated with its contents. Therefore, "dish" is a metonym for "food."

    - "She spent the evening reading Shakespeare." The author, of course, is associated with his writings. Here "Shakespeare" subtitutes for "Shakespeare's writings."

    - "Lend me your ear." In this example, "ear" is a metonym for "attention" because the ear is used to pay attention to someone else, hence the real meaning, "lend me your attention."

    - "He ogled the skirt at the next table." A skirt is associated with a woman. In this example, "skirt" figuratively substitutes for "woman."

    - "He spoke in some foreign tongue." The tongue is the organ of articulated language. Metonymically, "tongue" stands for "language."

    - "You can't fight city hall." City hall, literally just a building, is associated with the powerful figures exercising their authority over other people from the offices within the building. Here "city hall" is a metonym for all the powers of "city officialdom and bureaucracy."

    Retronyms

    - A term consisting of a noun and a modifier which specifies the original meaning of the noun.
    - It typically consists of the original term combined with a modifying word.
    - A new word or clarifying modifier which arises in response to changes in a language.

    FOR Examples:
    -coffee – regular, decaf, specialty
    -mail – email or snail
    -mother – biological, adoptive, or surrogate
    -oven – microwave, conventional, convection
    -restaurant – sit-down, take-out, fast-food
    -soap – bar, liquid, body wash, soft, gel
    -telephone – landline, cell, wireless
    -television – analog, digital, or HD

    More eg.:

    - Hockey now called Field hockey to distinguish between ice hockey and roller hockey.

    - World War I was originally called "The Great War".

    - Finfish used to distinguish true fish from shellfish.

    - Paper copy, hard copy with advent of computer documents.

    - Bar soap : The common cake of soap used in the tub or shower was familiarly called “soap” or “bath soap”; the term “bar soap” arose with the advent of soaps in liquid and gel form.

    - Coca-Cola Classic: Originally caled Coca-Cola, the name was changed when the original recipe was reintroduced after New Coke failed to catch on. This is an example of a retronym officially coined by a product’s manufacturer.

    - Hard phone: With the advent of the soft phone, physical telephones became known as hard phones.

    - Film camera: As opposed to digital camera.

    - Black-and-white television: Once called simply television, now the retronym is used to distinguish it from color television, which is now more commonly referred to by the unadorned term.

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  10. Allomorphs are different forms of the same morpheme, or basic unit of meaning. These can be different pronunciations or different spellings.

    Example
    There are three allomorphs of the morpheme -s in English. Compare the sound of the -s in ‘cats', ‘dogs' and ‘foxes'.

    A singular noun names one person, place, or thing.

    example: A lizard crawls on top of the rock.
    There is only one lizard in the sentence, so the word lizard is a singular noun.
    Also, there is only one rock in the sentence, so the word rock is a singular
    noun too.


    A plural noun names more than one person, place, or thing.
    example: Two rabbits ran through the trees.
    There is more than one rabbit, so the word rabbits is a plural noun.

    -They gave her a nice gift. singular
    -Answer the telephone, please. - singular
    -My crayons are broken. - plural
    -Have you seen my keys? - plural
    -That map is old. - singular

    phrase structure - the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences
    Ali is playing ball.

    Semantics is the study of meaning. For example, the word "deer" meant "wild animal" or "beast", so the meaning of "We plan to hunt deer" has a different meaning then than it does now. As another example, the word "awful" originally meant "full of awe" instead of "frightful" or "very bad", so it also would have very different meanings depending on the context.

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