This document provides notes on two chapters for an introduction to linguistics midterm test. It covers the key topics of what language is, linguistic knowledge and competence, and morphology. For chapter 1, it defines language and the components of linguistic knowledge, including sound systems, words, and sentences. It also discusses prescriptive versus descriptive grammar. Chapter 2 focuses on morphology, defining concepts like morphemes, prefixes, suffixes, and different word formation processes such as compounds, acronyms, and blends.

1. Notes on Introduction to Linguistics I
These are the main materials for the mid-term test.
1. Chapter 1 What is Language?
 Language is the method of human communication, either spoken or written,
consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way.
 Linguistic Knowledge includes:
 Knowledge of the Sound System: Knowing what sounds are in that language
and what sounds are not.
 Knowledge of Words: Knowing the sound units that are related to specific
meanings.
 Arbitrary relationship between form (sounds) and meaning (concept) of a
word.
 Onomatopoeic: Words whose pronunciations suggest their meanings.
 Knowledge of Sentences: Knowing how to form sentences.
 Linguistic Competence: What you know about a language.
 Linguistic Performance: How you use this knowledge in actual speech production
and comprehension.
 Prescriptive Grammar:
 1762; Bishop Robert Lowth; A Short Introduction to English Grammar with
Critical Notes.
 I don’t have none  I don’t have any
 You was wrong  You were wrong
 Mathilda is fatter than me  Mathilda is fatter than I
 Many of those rules were based on Latin grammar. Latin was assumed as the
respected scientific language in the 15th – 17th Centuries.
 Descriptive Grammar:
 1985; Randolph Quirk, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, and Jan Svartvik;
A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language.
 Based on a corpus of actual spoken and written English.
2. Chapter 3 Morphology: The Word of Language
 The development of monolingual dictionaries:
 1604; Robert Cawdrey; A Table Alphabetical; 2,500 entries.
 1755; Dr. Samuel Johnson; Dictionary of the English Language; two volumes.
 1828; Noah Webster; An American Dictionary of the English Language; two
volumes; 70,000 entries.
 Webster’s Third International Dictionary of English Language has over
450,000 entries.

2.  Content words: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs.
 Function words: Conjunctions, Prepositions, Articles, Pronouns,
 Morpheme: The minimal unit of meaning.
 Free morpheme: a single morpheme that constitutes a word and can stand
alone.
 Bound morpheme: a morpheme that must be attached to another morpheme.
 Prefix: An affix that occurs before a morpheme.
 Some examples of negative prefixes:
Prefix Added to Example
UN- adjectives unfair
NON- various classes non-smoker, nonsense, non-drip
DIS- adjectives, verbs, nouns disloyal, dislike, disfavour
A- adjectives, nouns amoral, asymmetry
 Degree and size prefixes:
Prefix Meaning Added to Example
Arch- highest, worst nouns archduke, arch-enemy
Super- above, better nouns, adjectives superman, supernatural
Over- too much verbs, adjectives overeat, overconfident
Hyper- extremely adjectives hyperactive
Sub- lower than adjectives substandard
Mini- little nouns minibus
 Suffix: An affix that occurs after a morpheme.
 Class preserving suffixation:
Suffix Meaning Example
-er occupation engineer
-ian occupation musician
-ist occupation violinist
-let small piglet
 Class changing suffixation:
 Verbs  Nouns
 Verbs  Adjectives
 Adjectives  Nouns
 Adjectives  Verbs
 Nouns  Verbs
 Nouns  Adjectives

3.  Derivational morpheme: deriving (creating) a new word with a new meaning.
 Inflectional morpheme: changing the form of a word because of the rules of
syntax.
 English inflectional morphemes:
Nouns
–s plural
–’s possessive
Verbs
–s third person singular present
–ed past tense
–en past participle
–ing progressive
Adjectives
–er comparative
–est superlative
 Word Coinage: Compounds, Acronyms, Back-formations, Abbreviations,
Eponyms, and Blends.
 Compounds: Two or more words joined together to a form a new word.
Home + work  homework
Pick + pocket  pickpocket
Note: The meaning of a compound is not always the sum of the meanings of its
parts.
Coconut oil  oil made from coconuts.
Olive oil  oil made from olives.
Baby oil  .........
cathouse  .........
blue-movies  .........
blue-chip  .........
 Acronyms: Words derived from the initials of several words.
National Aeronautics and Space Agency  .........
Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus  .........
.........  FYI
.........  TGIF
.........  a.k.a
 Back-formations: Creative reduction due to incorrect morphological analysis.
Editor (1649)  edit (1791)
Television (1907)  televise (1927)

4.  Abbreviations (Clipping): A word which is clipped.
Facsimile  fax
Hamburger  burger
Gasoline  .........
Advertisement  .........
Omnibus  .........
 Words from Names (Eponyms): Words derived from proper names or things.
Sandwich
Celsius
 Blends: Similar to compounds, but parts of the words are deleted.
Motor + hotel  Motel
Breakfast + lunch  .........
modulator, demodulator  .........
Deny Arnos Kwary
Lecturer of Linguistics
Airlangga University
http://www.kwary.net