Revision Outcome 1, Unit 1 The Nature and Functions of Language VCE English Language Revision Outcome 1, Unit 1 The Nature and Functions of Language

Language Write down in your books what you think language is. At what age do you think that children ‘know’ a language? Is language just vocabulary?

Metalanguage Write down a definition of metalanguage What are the five subsystems which from the metalanguage in linguistics?

Subsystems

fnetiks nd fnolodgi Phonetics – the study of the speech sounds of all human languages Phonology – the study of the sound systems of language Important to listen to the sounds that are made and represent them with symbols that more accurately reflect them

Morphology and Lexicology Morphemes are the smallest unit of meaning Can be free or bound Free can stand alone Bound must be attached to another morpheme Prefix – attached to the front of a stem Stem – stand alone morpheme

Morphemes (cont.) Suffix – morpheme attached to the end of a stem Inflectional morphemes – give grammatical information Derivational morphemes – change the class of a word Give two examples of each of these

Word Classes Nouns – words that name things Verbs – action or state of being words Adjectives – describe nouns Adverbs – describe the action of a verb Prepositions – show how things are related Conjunctions – join clauses Pronouns – in place of nouns Articles – The, A, An.

Syntax The way we arrange words in a sentence Subject – the person or thing the sentence is about Predicate – what is said about the subject Phrase – group of related words Clause – group of related words containing a subject (noun) and predicate (verb)

Types of Clause Independent – (or main) clauses can stand on their own in a sentence Dependent – (or subordinate) clauses can’t stand on their own Relative clause – a dependent clause that describes the noun it relates to. It is introduced with who, which, that and relates to the noun in the main clause

Clauses and sentences Adverbial clauses – answer the questions how, when, where and why about the verb. Compound sentences – tow or more simple sentences joined by a conjunction or separated by a comma, semi-colon or colon. Complex sentences – main clause plus one or two subordinate clauses

Sentence Types Declarative – state facts Imperative – commands or orders Exclamative – expression of strong emotion Interrogative - questions

Semantics Study of meaning in language Connotation – associated meaning Denotation – dictionary meaning

Discourse Analysis Discourse – can be spoken or written; it is a connected series of utterances or sentences. To study or examine a discourse to show the structure or essence