Semantics: Thematic Roles
This is an introductory level tutorial, which only addresses the relationship between a verb and its NP arguments, including those found as object of an obligatory prepositional phrase. The explanations of the examples apply to Standard English. Semantics: Thematic Roles Intuition Human beings possess an innate ability to determine whether or not a sentence or phrase is grammatical. These … [Read more...]
Testimony LL
"Linguisticsnetwork has been a terrific resource for me, helping carve difficult concepts down to manageable size. The exercises and tutorials have aided me in my Phonetics & Phonology and Psycholinguistics courses, and numerous classmates have talked about how much of an aid the glossary was through the Intro course. It is incredibly helpful to have all the information we need -- at the level … [Read more...]
Testimony KB
Teaching Linguistics can be challenging, especially on an introductory level because many of the students have not yet had any previous experience with this type of material. Linguistics Network has been one of the most valuable learning tools for my students in Introduction to Linguistics. For any course that involves the study of linguistics, practice is essential. Similar to a math class, the … [Read more...]
Testimony- AL
LinguisticsNetwork is an amazing resource for all students pursuing any linguistically related field. Whether you are strictly linguistically focused or following the communication sciences route, the website is a critical resource. In the beginning stages of either major, we are all required to accumulate a linguistic background. Each course has a specific section on the website to further your … [Read more...]
Syntactic Constituency
Although language seems to be spoken linearly, since the only way we can do language is by having one word follow another, sentences and phrases are actually formed by attaching constituents to each other in a hierarchical construct. Consider the following sentence. (1) Harriet mistakenly went home with her cousin’s jacket. We know intuitively who did what. Furthermore, we know that … [Read more...]
Minimal Distinctions
Phonemes can be thought of as a bundle of features. Any sound you know, can be described by a list of distinctive features they bear such that if one feature is altered, the sound is altered. For instance, /s/ is a voiceless, alveolar fricative. By changing the voicing feature to ‘voiced’ we change the sound to /z/. Distinctive features enable us to: -classify phonemes into … [Read more...]
The Basics on Syllabic Structure
A syllable (σ) is a phonological unit of sonority. Sonority can be described by the degree of airflow obstruction and voicing that occurs during phonation. Sonority is inversely correlated with constriction of the articulators in the oral cavity. Sonorous sounds have a more ‘sing-able’ quality, that is they are more prominent in amplitude and length than less sonorous sounds. Sonority shows the … [Read more...]
Phonetics: Practicing the Description of Consonants in Standard English 1.1
Quiz is not finished. … [Read more...]
The Basics of Syntax
Syntax is the study of grammatical relationships between words and how they are combined to form phrases and sentences. The word ‘syntax’ has its roots in the Greek word syntaxis, which means ‘arrangement’. Syntacticians study patterns of sentence formation in order to better understand universal principles (those that apply to all languages) and those that apply to specific languages … [Read more...]