Word Structure, provides a complete introduction to morphology, the study of the structure of words. Word Structure: * examines how words work as part of the language system * encourages readers to take an objective and analytic approach * refers to a wealth of languages, including Turkish and Latin, to illustrate points raised * provides clear and succinct summaries at the end of each unit.
Method of teaching decoding and spelling to children and adults with reading abilities at grade level 3 or higher based on the Orton-Gillingham and Project READ programs wherein students learn word content, structure, and process but understanding Latin roots, orthographic features, and word useage.
Analyzing Grammar is a clear introductory textbook on grammatical analysis, designed for students beginning to study the discipline. Covering both syntax (the structure of phrases and sentences) and morphology (the structure of words), it equips them with the tools and methods needed to analyze grammatical patterns in any language. Students are shown how to use standard notational devices such as phrase structure trees and word-formation rules, as well as prose descriptions. Emphasis is placed on comparing the different grammatical systems of the world's languages, and students are encouraged to practice the analyses through a diverse range of problem sets and exercises. Topics covered include word order, constituency, case, agreement, tense, gender, pronoun systems, inflection, derivation, argument structure and grammatical relations, and a useful glossary provides a clear explanation of each term. Accessibly written and comprehensive, Analyzing Grammar is set to become a key text for all courses in grammatical analysis.
This book explores effects of speech perception strategies upon morphological structure. Using connectionist modeling, perception and production experiments, and calculations over lexica, Jennifer Hay investigates the role of two factors known to be relevant to speech perception: phonotactics and lexical frequency. Hay demonstrates that low probability phoneme transitions across morpheme boundaries exert a considerable force toward the maintenance of complex words, and argues that the relative frequency of the derived form and the base significantly affects the decomposability of complex words. While many have claimed that high frequency forms do not tend to be decomposed, Hay asserts that this follows only when such forms are more frequent than the bases they contain. The results of Hay's experiments illustrate the tight connection between speech processing, lexical representations, and aspects of linguistic competence. The likelihood that a form will be parsed during speech perception has profound consequences, from its grammaticality as a base of affixation, through to fine details of its implementation in the phonetics.
What kinds of words can exist in natural languages? How are sentences constructed? What is the relationship between a word and the sentence in which it appears? How do language learners figure all this out? Presenting over a decade of original research, Words and Structures collects four influential papers that address the theory of words, the structure of sentences, and the relationship between the two. Jane Grimshaw sheds new light on the fundamental questions of the nature of word meanings, sentence structure, and language acquisition. Those interested in the puzzles of language learning but dissatisfied with current theories and models will find this an indispensable volume on the subject.
Highly proficient speakers of a second language who began acquisition as adults are rarely the object of second language acquisition research. In the study described in this book, the speech of 36 advanced learners of German, 20 of whom were considered to have "near-native" proficiency was recorded, transcribed and analyzed according to the "Quaestio Model". The focus of the study was the information structure of the learners' spoken texts and its implications for word order. The study revealed differences in the information structure of texts of learners and native German speakers even for those learners whose performance was nearly indistinguishable from L1 German speakers. The author discusses possible reasons for these differences, suggests implications for second language acquisition theory and draws up lesson plans for using the insights brought forth by the study for the second language and translation classrooms.
This handy, engaging, and gently humorous guide tackles the important subject of word structure. It looks at a variety of topics, such as suffixes, prefixes, root words, and the use of dictionaries, and shows how understanding the structure of words can improve a person's reading, writing, and speaking.
TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks as well as studies that provide new insights by building bridges to neighbouring fields such as neuroscience and cognitive science. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing.
