Origins of Language

  -The study of what speakers mean, or “speaker meaning,” is called   pragmatics .  Invisible Meaning      -Refer to how we recognize what is meant even when it is not actually said or written. For this to happen, to happen, speakers (or writers) must be able to depend on a lot of shared assumptions and expectations when they try to communicate.       -For example, when you read the sign that said "Heated Attendant PARKING" you don’t normally think that the sign is advertising a place where you can park your “heated attendant.” Alternatively, the sign may indicate a place where parking will be carried out by attendants who have been heated.   Context      -Refer to when we use the meanings of the words, the context in which they occur, and some pre-existing knowledge of what would be a likely message as we work toward a reasonable interpretation.      -When we look at the picture, we dont think that it ...

  The Essence of Syntax           The study of syntax focuses on the rules and procedures that determine sentence structure. By using a limited set of constraints to produce an unlimited number of sentences, it illustrates the relationships between various sentence patterns and assists in differentiating between them. Surface vs. Deep Structure           Sentences' surface structure describes their various forms, yet their deep structure communicates the sentences' underlying meaning. For instance, "The child ate the cake" and "The cake was eaten by the child" have different surface structures but the same underlying structure. Structural Ambiguity           Sentences may have multiple meanings, which makes them unclear. For example, "The professor discussed the book with the student" could indicate that the professor and the student discussed the book together, or that the book was the topic ...

                                -The study of words, phrases, and sentences' meanings is known as semantics. Semantic analysis always makes an effort to concentrate on the meaning that words typically convey rather than what a specific speaker may believe or wish the words to convey at a given time. Meaning           Semantics is the study of meaning in language, focusing on different aspects of meaning. The two primary types of meaning are referential meaning and associative meaning. Referential Meaning           Referential meaning refers to the widely accepted, objective, or factual meaning of words, rather than their subjective or personal meaning. Associative Meaning (Emotive Meaning)           Associative meaning, also known as emotive meaning, encompasses the feelings or reactions that words evoke ...

          English , like other languages, has a set of guidelines , or rules, for how words come together to build a meaning. These guidelines, aka grammar, describe how to construct correct phrases and sentences (grammatical sequences) and avoid nonsensical combinations (ungrammatical sequences). By understanding grammar, we ensure everyone using English can communicate clearly. 2 Traditional Grammar English grammar uses specific words like "article," "adjective," and "noun" to sort and categorize other words. These words actually come from how people figured out old languages like Latin. They just used the same labels for English The Parts of Speech Definition :  Nouns: a word such as boy, bicycle, or freedom used to describe a person, thing, or idea. We begin proper nouns with a capital letter (Cathy, Latin, Rome)  Article : a word such as a, an or the used with a noun Adjective : a word such as happy or strange used with a noun to provid...