第一部分各章節(jié)提綱筆記

Chapter1InvitationstoLinguistics

1.1Whystudylanguage?

1.Languageisveryessentialtohumanbeings.

2.Inlanguagetherearemanythingsweshouldknow.

3.Forfurtherunderstanding,weneedtostudylanguagescientifically.

1.2Whatislanguage?

Languageisameansofverbalcommunication.ltisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsused

forhumancommunication.

1.3Designfeaturesoflanguage

Thefeaturesthatdefineourhumanlanguagescanbecalleddesignfeatureswhichcan

distinguishhumanlanguagefromanyanimalsystemofcommunication.

1.3.1Arbitrariness

Arbitrarinessreferstothefactthattheformsoflinguisticsignsbearnonatural

relationshiptotheirmeanings.

1.3.2Duality

Dualityreferstothepropertyofhavingtwolevelsofstructures,suchthatunitsofthe

primarylevelarecomposedofelementsofthesecondarylevelandeachofthetwolevels

hasitsownprinciplesoforganization.

1.3.3Creativity

Creativitymeansthatlanguageisresourcefulbecauseofitsdualityandits

recursiveness.Recursivenessreferstotherulewhichcanbeappliedrepeatedlywithoutanydefinite

limit.Therecursivenatureoflanguageprovidesatheoreticalbasisforthepossibilityofcreating

endlesssentences.

1.3.4Displacement

Displacementmeansthathumanlanguagesenabletheiruserstosymbolizeobjects,

eventsandconceptswhicharcnotpresent(intimeandspace)atthemomentof

conversation.

1.4Originoflanguage

1.Thebow-wowtheory

Inprimitivetimespeopleimitatedthesoundsoftheanimalcallsinthewildenvironment

theylivedandspeechdevelopedfromthat.

2.Thepooh-poohtheory

Inthehardlifeofourprimitiveancestors,theyutterinstinctivesoundsofpains,angerand

joywhichgraduallydevelopedintolanguage.

3.The"yo-he-ho"theory

Asprimitivepeopleworkedtogether,theyproducedsomerhythmicgruntswhich

graduallydevelopedintochantsandthenintolanguage.

1.5Functionsoflanguage

AsisproposedbyJacobson,languagehassixfunctions:

I.Referential:toconveymessageandinformation;

2.Poetic:toindulgeinlanguageforitsownsake;

3.Emotive:toexpressattitudes,feelingsandemotions;

4.Conative:topersuadeandinfluenceothersthroughcommandsandentreaties;

5.Phatic:toestablishcommunionwithothers;

6.Metalingual:toclearupintentions,wordsandmeanings.

Halliday(1994)proposesatheoryofmetafunctionsoflanguage.ltmeansthatlanguage

hasthreemetafunctions:

1.Ideationalfunction:toconveynewinformation,tocommunicateacontentthatis

unknowntothehearer;

2.Interpersonalfunction:embodyingalluseoflanguagetoexpresssocialandpersonal

relationships;

3.Textualfunction:referringtothefactthatlanguagehasmechanismstomakeanystretch

ofspokenandwrittendiscourseintoacoherentandunifiedtextandmakealivingpassage

differentfromarandomlistofsentences.

AccordingtoHuZhuanglin,languagehasatleastsevenfunctions:

1.5.1Informative

Theinformativefunctionmeanslanguageistheinstrumentofthoughtandpeople

oftenuseittocommunicatenewinformation.

1.5.2Interpersonalfunction

Theinterpersonalfunctionmeanspeoplecanuselanguagetoestablishandmaintain

theirstatusinasociety.

1.5.3Performative

Theperformativefunctionoflanguageisprimarilytochangethesocialstatusof

persons,asinmarriageceremonies,thesentencingofcriminals,theblessingofchildren,

thenamingofashipatalaunchingceremony,andthecursingofenemies.

1.5.4Emotivefunction

Theemotivefunctionisoneofthemostpowerfulusesoflanguagebecauseitisso

crucialinchangingtheemotionalstatusofanaudiencefororagainstsomeoneor

something.

1.5.5Phaticcommunion

Thephaticcommunionmeanspeoplealwaysusesomesmall,seeminglymeaningless

expressionssuchasGoodmorning,Godblessyou,Niceday,etc.,tomaintaina

comfortablerelationshipbetweenpeoplewithoutanyfactualcontent.

1.5.6Recreationalfunction

Therecreationalfunctionmeanspeopleuselanguageforthesheerjoyofusingit,

suchasababy'sbabblingorachanter'schanting.

1.5.7Metalingualfunction

Themetalingualfunctionmeanspeoplecanuselanguagetotalkaboutitself.E.g.Icanuse

theword“book”totalkaboutabook,andIcanalsousetheexpression“thewordbook"totalk

aboutthesign"b-o-o-k“itself.

1.6Whatislinguistics?

Linguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage.ltstudiesnotjustonelanguageofanyone

community,butthelanguageofallhumanbeings.

1.7Mainbranchesoflinguistics

1.7.1Phonetics

Phoneticsisthestudyofspeechsounds,itincludesthreemainareas:articulatory

phonetics,acousticphonetics,andauditoryphonetics.

1.7.2Phonology

Phonologystudiestherulesgoverningthestructure,distribution,andsequencingof

speechsoundsandtheshapeofsyllables.

1.7.3Morphology

Morphologystudiestheminimalunitsofmeaning-morphemesandword-formation

processes.

1.7.4Syntax

Syntaxreferstotherulesgoverningthewaywordsarecombinedtoformsentencesinalanguage,

orsimply,thestudyoftheformationofsentences.

1.7.5Semantics

Semanticsexamineshowmeaningisencodedinalanguage.

1.7.6Pragmatics

Pragmaticsisthestudyofmeaningincontext.

1.8Macrolinguistics

Macrolinguisticsisthestudyoflanguageinallaspects,distinctfrommicrolinguistics,which

dealtsolelywiththeformalaspectoflanguagesystem.

1.8.1Psycholinguistics

Psycholinguisticsinvestigatestheinterrelationoflanguageandmind,inprocessing

andproducingutterancesandinlanguageacquisitionforexample.

1.8.2Sociolinguistics

Sociolinguisticsisatermwhichcoversavarietyofdifferentinterestsinlanguageand

society,includingthelanguageandthesocialcharacteristicsofitsusers.

1.8.3Anthropologicallinguistics

Anthropologicallinguisticsstudiestherelationshipbetweenlanguageandcultureina

community.

1.8.4Computationallinguistics

Computationallinguisticsisaninterdisciplinaryfieldwhichcentersaroundtheuseof

computerstoprocessorproducehumanlanguage.

1.9Importantdistinctionsinlinguistics

1.9.1Descriptivevs.prescriptive

Tosaythatlinguisticsisadescriptivescienceistosaythatthelinguisttriesto

discoverandrecordtherulestowhichthemembersofalanguage-communityactually

conformanddoesnotseektoimposeuponthemotherrules,ornorms,ofcorrectness.

Prescriptivelinguisticsaimstolaydownrulesforthecorrectuseoflanguageand

settlethedisputesoverusageonceandforall.

Forexample,"Don'tsayX."isaprescriptivecommand;"Peopledon'tsayX."isadescriptive

statement.Thedistinctionliesinprescribinghowthingsoughttobeanddescribinghowthings

are.Inthe18thcentury,allthemainEuropeanlanguageswerestudiedprescriptively.However,

modernlinguisticsismostlydescriptivebecausethenatureoflinguisticsasasciencedetermines

itspreoccupationwithdescriptioninsteadofprescription.

1.9.2Synchronicvs.diachronic

Asynchronicstudytakesafixedinstant(usuallyatpresent)asitspointofobservation.Saussure,s

diachronicdescriptionisthestudyofalanguagethroughthecourseofitshistory.E.g.astudyofthe

featuresoftheEnglishusedinShakespeareJstimewouldbesynchronic,andastudyofthe

changesEnglishhasundergonesincethenwouldbeadiachronicstudy.Inmodernlinguistics,

synchronicstudyseemstoenjoypriorityoverdiachronicstudy.Thereasonisthatunlessthe

variousstateofalanguagearesuccessfullystudieditwouldbedifficulttodescribethechanges

thathavetakenplaceinitshistoricaldevelopment.

1.9.3Langue&parole

Saussuredistinguishedthelinguisticcompetenceofthespeakerandtheactualphenomenaordata

oflinguisticsaslangueandparole.Langueisrelativestableandsystematic,paroleissubjectto

personalandsituationalconstraints;langueisnotspokenbyanindividual,paroleisalwaysa

naturallyoccurringevent.Whatalinguistshoulddo,accordingtoSaussure,istodrawrulesfroma

massofconfusedfacts,i.e.todiscovertheregularitiesgoverningallinstancesofparoleandmake

themthesubjectoflinguistics.

1.9.4Competenceandperformance

AccordingtoChomsky,alanguageuser'sunderlyingknowledgeaboutthesystemofrulesis

calledthelinguisticcompetence,andtheactualuseoflanguageinconcretesituationsiscalled

perfonnance.Competenceenablesaspeakertoproduceandunderstandandindefinitenumberof

sentencesandtorecognizegrammaticalmistakesandambiguities.Aspeaker?scompetenceis

stablewhilehisperformanceisofteninfluencedbypsychologicalandsocialfactors.Soaspeaker?

sperformancedoesnotalwaysmatchhissupposedcompetence.Chomskybelievesthatlinguists

oughttostudycompetence,ratherthanperformance.Chomsky'scompetence-performance

distinctionisnotexactlythesameas,thoughsimilarto,Saussure'slangue-parole

distinction.Langueisasocialproductandasetofconventionsofacommunity,whilecompetence

isdeemedasapropertyofmindofeachindividual.Saussurelooksatlanguagemorefroma

sociologicalorsociolinguisticpointofviewthanChomskysincethelatterdealswithhisissues

psychologicallyorpsycholinguistically.

1.9.5Eticvs.emic

BeingeticmeansresearchersJmakingfartoomany,aswellasbehaviorallyand

inconsequential,differentiations,justasoftenthecasewithphoneticsvs.phonemics

analysisinlinguisticsproper.

Anemicsetofspeechactsandeventsmustbeonethatisvalidatedasmeaningfulvia

finalresourcetothenativemembersofaspeechcommunityratherthanviaappealtothe

investigator^ingenuityorintuitionalone.

Followingthesuffixformationsof(phon)eticsvs(phon)emics,thesetermswere

introducedintothesocialsciencesbyKennethPike(1967)todenotethedistinction

betweenthematerialandfunctionalstudyoflanguage:phoneticsstudiestheacoustically

measurableandarticulatorilydefinableimmediatesoundutterances,whereasphonemics

analyzesthespecificselectioneachlanguagemakesfromthatuniversalcataloguefroma

functionalaspect.

Chapter2SpeechSounds

2.1Speechproductionandperception

Phoneticsisthestudyofspeechsounds.ltincludesthreemainareas:

1.Articulatoryphonetics-thestudyoftheproductionofspeechsounds

2.Acousticphonetics-thestudyofthephysicalpropertiesofthesoundsproducedinspeech

3.Auditoryphonetics-thestudyofperceptionofspeechsounds

Mostphoneticiansareinterestedinarticulatoryphonetics.

2.2Speechorgans

Speechorgansarethosepartsofthehumanbodyinvolvedintheproductionofspeech.The

speechorganscanbeconsideredasconsistingofthreeparts:theinitiatoroftheairstream,the

producerofvoiceandtheresonatingcavities.

2.3Segments,divergences,andphonetictranscription

2.3.1Segmentsanddivergences

AstherearemoresoundsinEnglishthanitsletters,eachlettermustrepresentmore

thanonesound.

2.3.2Phonetictranscription

InternationalPhoneticAlphabet(IPA):thesystemofsymbolsforrepresentingthepronunciationof

wordsinanylanguageaccordingtotheprinciplesoftheInternationalPhoneticAssociation.The

symbolsconsistsoflettersanddiacritics.SomelettersaretakenfromtheRomanalphabet,some

arespecialsymbols.

2.4Consonants

2.4.1Consonantsandvowels

Aconsonantisproducedbyconstrictingorobstructingthevocaltractatsomeplaces

todivert,impede,orcompletelyshutofftheflowofairintheoralcavity.

Avowelisproducedwithoutobstructionsonoturbulenceoratotalstoppingofthe

aircanbeperceived.

2.4.2Consonants

Thecategoriesofconsonantareestablishedonthebasisofseveralfactors.Themost

importantofthesefactorsare:

1.theactualrelationshipbetweenthearticulatorsandthusthewayinwhichtheair

passesthroughcertainpartsofthevocaltract(mannerofarticulation);

2.whereinthevocaltractthereisapproximation,narrowing,ortheobstructionof

theair(placeofarticulation).

2.4.3Mannersofarticulation

1.Stop/plosive:Aspeechsoundwhichisproducedbystoppingtheairstreamfrom

thelungsandthensuddenlyreleasingit.InEnglish,[

]arestopsand[]arenasalstops.

2.Fricative:Aspeechsoundwhichisproducedbyallowingtheairstreamfromthe

lungstoescapewithfriction.Thisiscausedbybringingthetwoarticulators,

e.g.theupperteethandthelowerlip,closetogetherbutnotclosesenoughtostop

theairstreamscompletely.InEnglish,[

Jarefricatives.

3.(Median)approximant:Anarticulationinwhichonearticulatoriscloseto

another,butv/ithoutthevocaltractbeingnarrowedtosuchanextentthata

turbulentairstreamisproduced.InEnglishthisclassofsoundsincludesI

].

4.Lateral(approximant):Aspeechsoundwhichisproducedbypartiallyblocking

theairstreamfromthelungs,usuallybythetongue,butlettingitescapeatoneor

bothsidesoftheblockage.[]istheonlylateralinEnglish.

Otherconsonantalarticulationsincludetrill,taporflap,andaffricate.

2.4.4Placesofarticulation

1.Bilabial:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththetwolips.

2.Labiodental:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththelowerlipandtheupper

frontteeth.

3.Dental:Aspeechsoundwhichismadebythetonguetiporbladeandtheupper

frontteeth.

4.Alveolar:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththetonguetiporbladeandthe

alveolarridge.

5.Postalveolar:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththetonguetipandthebackof

thealveolarridge.

6.Retroflex:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththetonguetiporbladecurledback

sothattheundersideofthetonguetiporbladeformsastricturewiththebackof

thealveolarridgeorthehardpalate.

7.Palatal:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththefrontofthetongueandthehard

palate.

8.Velar:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththebackofthetongueandthesoft

palate.

9.Uvular:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththebackofthetongueandtheuvula,

theshortprojectionofthesofttissueandmuscleattheposteriorendofthe

velum.

10.Pharyngeal:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththerootofthetongueandthe

wallsofthepharynx.

11.Glottal:Aspeechsoundwhichismadewiththetwopiecesofvocalfoldspushed

towardseachother.

2.4.5TheconsonantsofEnglish

ReceivedPronunciation(RP):ThetypeofBritishStandardEnglishpronunciationwhichhasbeen

regardedastheprestigevarietyandwhichshowsnoregionalvariation.lthasoftenbeenpopularly

referredtoas“BBCEnglishoruOxfordEnglishvbecauseitiswidelyusedintheprivatesector

oftheeducationsystemandspokenbymostnewsreadersoftheBBCnetwork.

AchartofEnglishconsonants

Placeofarticulation

Mannerof

Labio-Post-

articulationBilabialDentalAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottal

dentalalveolar

Stop

Nasal

Fricative

Approximant

Lateral

Affricate

Inmanycasestherearetwosoundsthatsharethesameplaceandmannerof

articulation.Thesepairsofconsonantsaredistinguishedbyvoicing,theoneappearingon

theleftisvoicelessandtheoneontherightisvoiced.

Therefore,theconsonantsofEnglishcanbedescribedinthefollowingway:

[p]voicelessbilabialstop

[b]voicedbilabialstop

[s]voicelessalveolarfricative

[z]voicedalveolarfricative

[mJbilabialnasal

[nJalveolarnasal

[1Jalveolarlateral

[jjpalatalapproximant

[h]glottalfricative

[r]alveolarapproximant

2.5Vowels

2.5.1Thecriteriaofvoweldescription

1.Thepartofthetonguethatisraised-front,center,orback.

2.Theextenttowhichthetonguerisesinthedirectionofthepalate.Normally,three

orfourdegreesarerecognized:high,mid(oftendividedintomid-highand

mid-low)andlow.

3.Thekindofopeningmadeatthelips-variousdegreesofliproundingor

spreading.

4.Thepositionofthesoftpalate-raisedfororalvowels,andloweredforvowels

whichhavebeennasalized.

2.5.2Thetheoryofcardinalvowels

Cardinalvowelsareasetofvowelqualitiesarbitrarilydefined,fixedandunchanging,

intendingtoprovideaframeofreferenceforthedescriptionoftheactualvowelsof

existinglanguages.

Byconvention,theeightprimarycardinalvowelsarenumberedfromonetoeightas

follows:CVI[],CV2[],CV3[],CV4[].CV5[],CV6[],CV7[],CV8[].

Asetofsecondarycardinalvowelsisobtainedbyreversingthelip-roundingforagive

position:CV9-CV16.[IamsorryIcannottypeoutmanyofthese.Ifyouwanttoknow,you

mayconsultthetextbookp.47.

2.5.3Vowelglides

Pure(monophthong)vowels:vowelswhichareproducedwithoutanynoticeable

changeinvowelquality.

Vbwelglides:Vowelswherethereisanaudiblechangeofquality.

Diphthong:Avowelwhichisusuallyconsideredasonedistinctivevowelofa

particularlanguagebutreallyinvolvestwovowels,withonevowelglidingtotheother.

2.5.4ThevowelsofRP

[]highfronttenseunroundedvowel

f1highbacklaxroundedvowel

f]centrallaxunroundedvowel

f]lowbacklaxroundedvowel

2.6Coarticulationandphonetictranscription

2.6.1Coarticulation

Coarticulation:Thesimultaneousoroverlappingarticulationoftwosuccessive

phonologicalunits.

Anticipatorycoarticulation:Ifthesoundbecomesmorelikethefollowingsound,as

inthecaseoflamp,itisknownasanticipatorycoarticulation.

Perseverativecoarticulation:Ifthesounddisplaystheinfluenceofthepreceding

sound,asinthecaseofmap,itisperseverativecoarticulation.

Nasalization:Changeorprocessbywhichvowelsorconsonantsbecomenasal.

Diacritics:Anymarkinwritingadditionaltoaletterorotherbasicelements.

2.6.2Broadandnarrowtranscriptions

Theuseofasimplesetofsymbolsinourtranscriptioniscalledabroadtranscription.Theuseof

morespecificsymbolstoshowmorephoneticdetailisreferredtoasanarrowtranscription.The

formerwasmeanttoindicateonlythesesoundscapableofdistinguishingonewordfromanother

inagivenlanguagewhilethelatterwasmeanttosymbolizeallthepossiblespeechsounds,

includingeventheminutestshadesofpronunciation.

2.7Phonologicalanalysis

Phoneticsisthestudyofspeechsounds.ltincludesthreemainareas:articulatoryphonetics,

acousticphonetics,andauditoryphonetics.Ontheotherhand,phonologystudiestherules

governingthestructure,distribution,andsequencingofspeechsoundsandtheshapeof

syllables.Thereisafairdegreeofoverlapinwhatconcernsthetwosubjects,sosometimesitis

hardtodrawtheboundarybetweenthem.Phoneticsisthestudyofallpossiblespeechsoundswhile

phonologystudiesthewayinwhichspeakersofalanguagesystematicallyuseaselectionofthese

soundsinordertoexpressmeaning.Thatistosay,phonologyisconcernedwiththelinguistic

patterningofsoundsinhumanlanguages,withitsprimaryaimbeingtodiscovertheprinciplesthat

governthewaysoundsareorganizedinlanguages,andtoexplainthevariationsthatoccur.

2.8Phonemesandallophones

2.8.1Minimalpairs

Minimalpairsaretwowordsinalanguagewhichdifferfromeachotherbyonlyonedistinctive

soundandwhichalsodifferinmeaning.E.g.theEnglishwordstieanddieareminimalpairsasthey

differinmeaningandintheirinitialphonemes/t/and/d/.Byidentifyingtheminimalpairsofa

language,aphonologistcanfindoutwhichsoundsubstitutionscausedifferencesofmeaning.

2.8.2Thephonemetheory

2.8.3Allophones

Aphonemeisthesmallestlinguisticunitofsoundthatcansignaladifferenceinmeaning.Anyof

thedifferentformsofaphonemeiscalleditsallophones.E.g.inEnglish,whenthephoneme//

occursatthebeginningofthewordlikepeak//,itissaidwithalittlepuffofair,itis

aspirated.Butwhen//occursinthewordlikespeak//,itissaidwithoutthepuffof

theair,itisunaspirated.Boththeaspirated[]inpeakandtheunaspirated[=]inspeakhave

thesamephonemicfunction,i.e.theyarebothheardandidentifiedas//andnotas//;theyare

bothallophonesofthephoneme//.

2.9Phonologicalprocesses

2.9.1Assimilation

Assimilation:Aprocessbywhichonesoundtakesonsomeorallthecharacteristics

ofaneighboringsound.

Regressiveassimilation:Ifafollowingsoundisinfluencingaprecedingsound,we

callitregressiveassimilation.

Progressiveassimilation:Ifaprecedingsoundisinfluencingafollowingsound,we

callitprogressiveassimilation.

Devoicing:Aprocessbywhichvoicedsoundsbecomevoiceless.Devoicingofvoicedconsonants

oftenoccursinEnglishwhentheyareattheendofaword.

2.9.2Phonologicalprocessesandphonologicalrules

Thechangesinassimilation,nasalization,dentalization,andvelarizationareall

phonologicalprocessesinwhichatargetoraffectedsegmentundergoesastructural

changeincertainenvironmentsorcontexts.Ineachprocessthechangeisconditionedor

triggeredbyafollowingsoundor,inthecaseofprogressiveassimilation,apreceding

sound.Conscquently,wecansaythatanyphonologicalprocessmusthavethreeaspectsto

it:asetofsoundstoundergotheprocess;asetofsoundsproducedbytheprocess;asetof

situationsinwhichtheprocessapplies.

Wecanrepresenttheprocessbymansofanarrow:voicedfricativevoiceless/

voiceless.Thisisaphonologicalrule.Theslash(/)specifiestheenvironmentinv/hichthechange

takesplace.Thebar(calledthefocusbar)indicatesthepositionofthetargetsegment.Sotherule

reads:avoicedfricativeistransformedintothecorrespondingvoicelesssoundwhenitappears

beforeavoicelesssound.

2.9.3Ruleordering

2.10Distinctivefeatures

Distinctivefeature:Aparticularcharacteristicwhichdistinguishesonedistinctivesoundunit

ofalanguagefromanotheroronegroupofsoundsfromanothergroup.

Binaryfeature:Apropertyofaphonemeorawordwhichcanbeusedtodescribethephoneme

orword.Abinaryfeatureiseitherpresentorabsent.Binaryfeaturesarealsousedtodescribethe

semanticpropertiesofwords.

2.11Syllables

Suprasegmentalfeatures:Suprasegmentalfeaturesarethoseaspectsofspeechthatinvolve

morethansinglesoundsegments.Theprincipalsuprasegmentalfeaturesaresyllables,stress,tone,

andintonation.

Syllable:Aunitinspeechwhichisoftenlongerthanonesoundandsmallerthanawhole

word.

Opensyllable:Asyllablewhichendsinavowel.

Closedsyllable:Asyllablewhichendsinaconsonant.

Maximalonsetprinciple:Theprinciplewhichstatesthatwhenthereisachoiceastowhereto

placeaconsonant,itisputintotheonsetratherthanthecoda.E.g.Thecorrectsyllabificationofthe

wordcountryshouldbe//.Itshouldntbe//or/

/accordingtothisprinciple.

2.12Stress

Stressreferstothedegreeofforceusedinproducingasyllable.Intranscription,araised

verticalline[]isusedjustbeforethesyllableitrelatesto.

Chapter3Lexicon

3.1Whatisword?

I.Whatisalexeme?

Alexemeisthesmallestunitinthemeaningsystemofalanguagethatcanbedistinguishedfrom

othersimilarunits.ltisanabstractunit.ltcanoccurinmanydifferentformsinactualspokenor

writtensentences,andisregardedasthesamelexemeevenwheninflected.E.g.theword“write”

isthelexemeof“write,writes,wrote,writingandwritten.v

2.Whatisamorpheme?

Amorphemeisthesmallestunitoflanguageintermsofrelationshipbetweenexpressionand

content,aunitthatcannotbedividedintofurthersmallerunitswithoutdestroyingordrastically

alteringthemeaning,whetheritislexicalorgrammatical.E.g.theword“boxes”hastwo

morphemes:"box”and“es,"neitherofwhichpermitsfurtherdivisionoranalysisshapesifwe

don'twanttosacrificeitsmeaning.

3.Whatisanallomorph?

Anallomorphisthealternateshapesofthesamemorpheme.E.g.thevariantsoftheplurality"”

makestheallomorphsthereofinthefollowingexamples:map-maps,mouse-mice,ox-

oxen,tooth-teeth,etc.

4.Whatisaword?

Awordisthesmallestofthelinguisticunitsthatcanconstitute,byitself,acomplete

utteranceinspeechorwriting.

3.1.1Threesensesof“word”

1.Aphysicallydefinableunit

2.Thecommonfactorunderlyingasetofforms

3.Agrammaticalunit

3.1.2Identificationofwords

1.Stability

Wordsarethemoststableofalllinguisticunits,inrespectoftheirinternalstructure,i.e.the

constit