1.1 Content

Question 1

explain language as a meaning making system (Ferdinand de Saussure’s theory)

Answer 1

he was a Swiss linguist
language consists of 2 parts:
- signifiers: material form of written words
- signified: concept associated with the words
e.g: ‘c’, ‘a’, ‘t’ makes a word associated with a small furry domesticated animal
- physical letters - signifier
- associated image - signified
could just have easily associated any other combination of letters with the same animal

Question 2

list & define the six factors to consider when deciding the function of language

Answer 2

context - time & place/circumstances in which the message is communicated
message - what is being communicated
addresser - person communicating the message
addressee - audience receiving the message
contact - means through which the addresser and addressee stay in contact
code - system of signs (a language) common to addresser and addressee

Question 3

list the six main functions of language

Answer 3

referential, emotive, conative, poetic, phatic, metalinguistic

Question 4

describe the referential function of language

Answer 4

sharing of information with an intended audience
the information may or may not be true but it is presented as factual
commonly uses declaritive sentences
can describe literal or abstract situations

Question 5

describe the emotive function of language

Answer 5

allows the user to express emotions and desires
relates to the addresser and their expression of emotion
emotion may or may not be real

Question 6

describe the conative function of language

Answer 6

directions, questions and commands
aims to cause the addressee to react in some way or to persuade the addressee, not always direct

Question 7

describe the poetic function of language

Answer 7

focuses on the formation of the message rather than the addresser or addressee
also known as aesthetic function - concerns the beauty/wit of the composition

Question 8

describe the phatic function of language

Answer 8

designed to create and maintain social connections
focuses on contact - somewhat meaningless outside the social context
often used to start and end conversations

Question 9

describe the metalinguistic function of language

Answer 9

describes language itself
allows speakers to check if they have used the right code and been understood

Question 10

explain register

Answer 10

the way in which the addresser intentionally alters language to suit a situation
can involve all features of language and levels of formality
described using semantic domain (group of words and their related meanings) from which the vocabulary is drawn

Question 11

explain tenor

Answer 11

the relationship between individuals communicating with each other
depends on various factors such as:
- professional roles of participants
- status between speakers (equal or not)
- relationship between participants (strangers or close)
described in various ways:
- level of consideration given by the participants (respectful, etc)
- amount of social distance between them (intimate or remote)
- scale: socially close - socially distant (not height words)
- status - power/prestige, social standing/rank

Question 12

explain audience

Answer 12

the intended set of listeners/readers
shapes language used, in mind when the addresser is composing

Question 13

explain context & the factors to consider when determining it

Answer 13

cultural: attitudes, values and beliefs of the author and audience, which shape how the text is delivered
situational: everything outside the text that shape how language is used
field - subject matter under discussion, which is often linked to semantic domain. helps determine the specificity of language used
language mode - written or spoken.
- written: traditionally more formal, has a standard language form - punctuation, grammar, conventional spelling
- spoke: more casual, long loosely connected ideas that don’t necessarily fit grammatical definitions
- however, the boundaries are being considered more simplistic as internet communication increases
setting - surroundings in which the text occurs (location, time)
text type - textbook, news report, post, video, etc

Question 14

explain authorial intent

Answer 14

what the author aims to do/achieve with the text
influences the language used and the preparedness of the text

Question 15

list the subsystems of language

Answer 15

morphology, lexicology, syntax, semantics, phonetics & phonology, discourse & pragmatics

Question 16

explain the subsystem morphology

Answer 16

the study of words and their parts
words consist of morphemes which tell us about the word’s origin and meaning
root morpheme - single morpheme that contains the words primary meaning
stem morpheme - what remains each time a morpheme is removed
e.g: ‘unbreaking’ -> ‘un-‘ morpheme, ‘breaking’ stem -> ‘break’ root, ‘ing’ morpheme
free morpheme - indivisible and can stand alone as a word (e.g: breaking)
bound morpheme - rely on root/stem to be used (e.g: un-, -ing)
affix - bound morpheme, categorised by how they attach

Question 17

explain affixes

Answer 17

bound morpheme, categorised by how they attach
- prefix - attaches to front
- suffix - attaches to back
- infix - attaches in side, not common in english but sometimes present in Australian english (e.g: abos-bloody-lutely)
inflectional - attaches grammatical properties such as tense but don’t affect the fundamental meaning/form of the root word
derivational - creates/derives new word from the root/stem its attached to, adds to/changes the meaning of the original word so it no longer performs the same role

Question 18

explain lexicology

Answer 18

the study of words - their form, meaning and behaviour in a language
how a word is used, interacts with others and what it means
important to consider word class: noun (n), pronoun (pn), verb (v), auxiliary verb (aux), modal verb (mod), adjective (adj), adverb (adv), preposition (prep), conjunction (conj), determiner (det), interjection (interj)

Question 19

explain nouns

Answer 19

names of people places, things, qualities, ideas & concepts
common: refer to things generically, written with a lower-case mid-sentence
proper: specific, always capitalised and not usually modified by adjectives, etc

Question 20

explain pronouns

Answer 20

can replace nouns in a sentence
aren’t actually nouns, refer to some other element
enables to avoid repeating nouns - vary language while staying on topic and can make a text more cohesive
categories:
- subject - replaces subject noun
- object - replaces object noun
- reflexive - contains suffix -self/-selves, refers to another noun/pronoun in the same sentence
- possessive - indicates possession/ownership, stands alone without modifying another word
- interrogative - used to introduce a question (what, which, who, whom & whose)
- relative - helps introduce a relative clause in a larger sentence by relating to the noun it modifies (which, what, who, whom, whose & that)
- demonstrative - refers to a particular place, person or thing, replaces the entire noun phrase

Question 21

explain verbs

Answer 21

expressive actions, states or occurrences
in relation to time - past, present, future (marked by modal auxiliary)
can take 4 forms: simple, progressive, perfect, perfect progressive

Question 22

explain auxiliary verbs

Answer 22

‘helping’ verb - supports the main verb of a sentence
primary - usually used to construct grammatical tenses that can’t be otherwise made with inflectional morphemes on the main verb alone (be, have, do)
modal - express possibility, ability, intent, obligation, or necessity of an action occurring

Question 23

explain adjectives

Answer 23

describe and provide extra information about nouns

Question 24

explain adverbs

Answer 24

help describe, modify or qualify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, etc
commonly formed by adding ‘-ly’ suffix to adjectives
express elements such as the time, place and manner, cause and effect, degree, certainty & frequency

Question 25

explain prepositions

Answer 25

expresses the relationship between a noun and another word, phrase or element in a sentence e.g: of, with, at, from, into, for, out, during, on, by, between, apart from, back to, next to

Question 26

explain conjunctions

Answer 26

link words, phrases, clauses & sentences shows the relationships between words/phrases of the same class allows to form complex ideas and sentences useful to vary sentence structure in larger texts coordinator: helps place 2 or more side by side to show equality/equivalence - e.g: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

Question 27

explain determiners

Answer 27

a word placed in front of a noun to help clarify, specify quantity, or indicate possession categories: - article: before noun to provide information about the specifity or definiteness - quantifier: helps specify the quantity of the noun - demonstrative: indicates specific nouns in a sentence, helps provide information about the proximity (in space or time) of a noun in relation to the speaker/listener - possessive: used before a noun to express ownership or possession

Question 28

explain interjections

Answer 28

word/phrase that expresses feelings, sometimes requests/demands often highly expressive and emotive - add colour to language can stand alone, don't necessarily attach to words

Question 29

explain the 2 basic types of words & how they are created

Answer 29

1. provide content, especially semantic meaning 1.1. can be created as needed 1.2. open classes: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, interjections 2. function to help grammar/structure of the sentence 2.1. more restrictive, rarely allow new words 2.2. closed classes: pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, determiners, auxiliary and modal verbs

Question 30

explain syntax

Answer 30

the study of how words are ordered into phrases, clauses and sentences, the patterns used to organise words into structures that allow effective communication

Question 31

explain phrases & list the types

Answer 31

word/group of words related to each other that form a single structural unit which conveys meaning require other phrases/words to form a sentence noun phrase, verb phrase, prepositional phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase

Question 32

explain the types of phrases

Answer 32

- noun phrase: noun as head & modifiers - determiners: help describe/specify the noun, usually before - verb phrase: main verb and any modifiers - modifiers: primary & modal auxiliaries, infinitives, adverbs, complements, object noun phrases - prepositional phrase: preposition and noun phrase considered to be an object - preposition must come before noun phrase - modify nouns, verbs, adjectives in a larger phrase, clause or sentence - more prepositional phrases= more complex - adjective phrase: adjective as head and modifiers - describes the noun in a sentence, helps provide extra descriptions and enable more profound/complex descriptions - adverb phrase: adverb as head and modifiers - can modify a verb, adjective or another adverb - describe elements such as time, place, manner, frequency & degree

Question 33

explain clauses

Answer 33

a set of phrases that must at least contain a subject & a predicate subject: a main actor that plays a role with the verb predicate: the main verb of a clause and all its modifiers - the whole clause after the subject (including other clauses) object: provides extra information about the verb and subject - aren't always present, can be multiple - direct: noun phrase is directly affected by the verb - indirect: noun phrase is indirectly affected by the verb complements: word/set of words necessary to complete the meaning of a subject/predicate adverbial: provides extra information about the verb, optional combining clauses - done to vary sentence structure - subordinating when attaching to independent clause - coordinating by attaching to independent clause

Question 34

explain sentence types

Answer 34

categorised by their primary purpose: - declarative: framed as a statement of fact, doesn't have to be true or necessarily sensible - interrogative: framed in the form of a question, ends with a question mark (?), can be rhetorical - imperative: commands, instructions, requests, often framed so that the subject isn't stated as it is often the addressee - exclamative: express emotions, add emphasis - standard: uses 'what' or 'how' and often ends with an exclamation mark (!) - also any sentence with the purpose of expressing emotion and ending in !

Question 35

explain sentence structure

Answer 35

determined by whether the sentence comprises a complete clause, number of clauses, conjunctions that join them, etc - simple: single clause with a subject and predicate, contains all information required - compound: 2 or more independent clauses joined with a coordinator - complex: one independent clause, minimum 1 dependent clause joined to independent with a subordinator - independent ---- dependent OR dependent, ---- independent - compound-complex: 2 or more independent joined by coordinator, one or more dependent joined by subordinator - fragment: incomplete (missing subject or predicate) but makes sense with the whole text, often used in conversation

Question 36

explain semantics

Answer 36

the study of meaning, both logical and lexical (dictionary) semantic domains - a group/range of words with similar meaning - words from the same domain are often used to aid comprehension as lexically related words are quicker and easier understood inference - text contains information that isn't always overt - derived by inferring the authors intention, relies on cultural/social understanding of the context - allows to detect sarcasm, understand jokes, make meaning, etc

Question 37

explain phonetics & phonology and list prosodic features

Answer 37

phonetics - the study of how we make and classify speech sounds, no consideration of a person's language background phonology - the study of patterns speech sounds form in a language, how they are organised and variations within and between languages prosody - elements of speech that exist outside single sounds pitch, intonation, stress, tempo, volume

Question 38

explain pitch as a prosodic feature and list its symbols in a spoken transcript

Answer 38

the relative height (high-low) of auditory sound - naturally high - likely to be excited, scared, etc - naturally low - may want to sound serious or authoritative symbols in spoken transcript: - high pitch: ↑ ↑ - low pitch: ↓ ↓ - rising pitch: / - falling pitch: \

Question 39

explain intonation as a prosodic feature and list its symbols in a spoken transcript

Answer 39

patterns of pitch variation across phrases, clauses and sentences - falling: may indicates surety, absoluteness and finality - rising intonation often indicates a question - Australians and New Zealanders often uses the High Rising Terminal (HRT) - rising intonation used on declaratives with no question implied, considered a method of engaging and being inclusive symbols in spoken transcript: - continuing intonation: , - final intonation: . - questioning/rising intonation: ? - falling intonation/pitch: \

Question 40

explain stress as a prosodic feature & list its symbols in a spoken transcript

Answer 40

intensity placed upon a syllable in a word creates emphasis, can change the sentence's semantic meaning symbols in spoken transcript: - underlining stressed syllable/word

Question 41

explain tempo as a prosodic feature & list its symbols in a spoken transcript

Answer 41

pace/speed with which an intonation unit is delivered often linked to the communication of emotion or intent within a conversation effect relies on context symbols in a spoken transcript (musical terms): - fast (allegro): - slow (lento):

Question 42

explain volume as a prosodic feature & list its symbols in a spoken transcript

Answer 42

the relative increase/decrease in decibels across an intonation unit - increase on a single syllable can create stress - longer increase should be considered in context symbols in a spoken transcript (musical terms): - loud (forte): - soft (piano):

- especially loud (fortissimo): - especially soft (pianissimo): - increasingly louder (crescendo): - increasingly softer (diminuendo):

Question 43

explain discourse & pragmatics

Answer 43

discourse - a text longer than a sentence pragmatics - how we use language naturally to communicate paralinguistic features - elements of speech such as vocal effects and non-verbal communication - vocal effects e.g: coughing, laughing, whispering - non-verbal communication e.g: body language, gaze, gesture - when not part of the speaker's natural voice, creakiness and breathiness can also add meaning