Introducing English Linguistics

tion
at the end) that link sections of the text, tying everything together.
universal grammar:
Noam Chomsky’s notion that there are features of grammar common to
all languages. For instance, all languages have first and second person
pronouns.
unmarked tone unit:
A tone unit in which the tonic syllable falls on one syllable of the last
content word
in the tone unit.
unvoiced:
A sound is unvoiced if during its articulation the vocal cords do not
vibrate. Sounds such as /p/, /f/, and /s/ are unvoiced.
Glossary
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utterance:
A linguistic construction that may not be grammatically well-formed but
that nevertheless has meaning and is communicative. For instance, if one
person utters I just won the lottery and a second person replies Wow, the
reply has meaning, even though it is not a grammatically formed sen-
tence with a subject and predicator.
verb phrase:
A phrase consisting of an obligatory lexical verb and optional auxiliary
verbs
.
voiced:
A sound is voiced if during its articulation the vocal cords vibrate. Sounds
such as /d/, /v/, and /z/ are voiced.
voicing assimilation:
A process whereby a voiced or unvoiced sound will cause a nearby sound
to also be, respectively, voiced or unvoiced. In English, if a noun ends in
an unvoiced sound (e.g. /t/ in hat /ht/), when a plural marker is added,
the marker is also unvoiced (e.g. /s/ at end of /hts/).
vowel reduction:
A process whereby a vowel such as /a/ in a word such as on is reduced to a
schwa /ə/ when it is unstressed.
wh-question:
A question, such as Who is leaving? or Where did they go?, that is typically
formed with a word beginning with wh- (how is an exception, as in How are
you doing?).
word classes:
The particular designations given to individual worlds. The major word
classes are noun, verb, adverb, adjective, and preposition.
word formation
Processes such as affixation and compounding that lead to the creation of
processes:
new words.
yes/no questions:
A type of interrogative sentence formed by inverting the operator and