A

A subject of a transitive verb, a syntactic core argument.

ABLATIVE marker indicating movement away from the referent of the noun phrase to which it is attached.

ABSOLUTIVE case inflection marking intransitive subject (S) and transitive object (O).

ACCUSATIVE case inflection marking transitive object (O).

ACTIVE/STATIVE label covering SPLIT-S and FLUID-S systems.

ADJECTIVE class of words which typically refer to properties and have two main roles:

• (a) make a statement that something has a certain property through functioning in intransitive predicate slot or in copula complement slot; and

• b) help to specify the referent of the head noun in an NP by functioning as modifier to it.

ADPOSITION a marker of a (predominantly peripheral) grammatical relation which is realized as a separate phonological word or as a clitic, not as an affix.

AFFINAL kinship relation which involves a link by marriage.

AFFIX a bound form added to a root or stem.

AFFIXATION morphological process which involves adding an affix to a root or stem.

AGGLUTINATIVE a type of language whose words are readily segmentable into a sequence of morphemes, each of which typically conveys one piece of information.

AGREEMENT when two words (for example, noun and modifying adjective within an NP) are marked for the same grammatical category.

AIRSTREAM MECHANISM a system for initiating a flow of air which will facilitate speech.

ALIENABLE POSSESSION when the possessed does not have an inherent connection with the possessor.

ALLATIVE marker indicating movement towards the referent of the noun phrase to which it is attached.

ALLOMORPH one of several alternative forms of a morpheme.

ALLOPHONE one possible pronunciation of a phoneme.

AMBITRANSITIVE verb which can function in both a transitive and an intransitive clause; of type S=A or S=O.

ANALYTIC language whose words generally each have a small number of grammatical components.

ANAPHORA a pronoun or demonstrative referring to something which was explicitly stated earlier in the discourse, such as HE in JOHN CAME IN AND HE SAT DOWN.

ANTIPASSIVE valency-reducing derivation which puts underlying A argument into derived S function, and places underlying O argument in a peripheral function.

APPLICATIVE valency-increasing derivation which can operate on an intransitive clause,putting the original S argument into A function and moving an erstwhile peripheral argument into O function. And/or it may operate on a transitive clause, again putting an original peripheral argument into O function, and dealing in various ways with the original O argument.

ARCHIPHONEME unit resulting from the neutralization of a phonological contrast in a certain environment.

ARGUMENT, CORE an obligatory argument for a specific verb, which must be either stated or understood from the context.

ARGUMENT, PERIPHERAL non-core argument, which is optional; typically includes instrument, accompaniment, recipient, beneficiary, time, place, manner.

ARTICLE a type of determiner, whose prototypical role is to mark an NP as definite or indefinite. The label is used in special ways for particular languages.

ASPECT term used for composition (perfective/imperfective), sometimes also for boundedness, completion, etc.

ATELIC an event is unbounded and has no definite end point.

AUGMENTED pronoun paradigm in which one or more further participants are added to each term in a minimal paradigm.

AUXILIARY a grammatical form (sometimes called an auxiliary verb) which occurs together with a lexical verb. It typically inflects for some non-spatial setting categories, instead of the verb inflecting for these categories.

AVERSIVE case which is added to a noun or pronoun referring to something for fear of which the action described by the verb of the clause takes place or should take place. For example, Come away from the fire for fear of the flying sparks.

B

BENEFICIARY peripheral argument referring to someone who will benefit from an action, as in John wrote the letter [for Mary]BENEFICIARY.

BOUND FORM form which cannot occur alone but must be attached to some other form, e.g. un- in English.

BOUNDEDNESS (or TELICITY) grammatical category indicating whether or not an activity has a definite end point.

C

CASE a system of nominal inflections, marking the syntactic function of a noun phrase in its clause.

CATAPHORA a pronoun or demonstrative referring to something which is explicitly stated later in the discourse, such as HE in AFTER HE STOPPED SMOKING, JOHN LIVED TO A RIPE OLD AGE.

CAUSAL peripheral argument whose referent is responsible for a state or activity, as in John is sick [from eating rotten meat]CAUSAL.

CAUSATIVE valency-increasing derivation which prototypically operates on an intransitive clause, putting underlying S argument into O function and introducing a ‘causer’ as A argument.

CIRCUMFIX a type of affix made up of one part which precedes the root or stem (like a prefix) and one part which follows (like a suffix).

CLASSIFIERS a set of (free or bound) forms which serve to categorize most of the nouns of a language, typically in terms of shape, composition, arrangement, or function/use.

CLAUSE the description of some activity, state or property. Consists of an obligatory predicate which requires certain core arguments and may also have peripheral arguments.

CLITIC a surface element part-way between a word and an affix in its properties. It is typically a separate grammatical word which is attached to a contiguous phonological word.

COGNATES two forms which are historically related; that is, go back to a single original form.

COMITATIVE an affix (generally derivational, sometimes inflectional) added to a form with reference X, giving the meaning ‘with (accompanied by) an X’ or ‘having an X’.

COMITATIVE APPLICATIVE an applicative construction in which an original comitative argumentis placed in O function.

COMMON ARGUMENT an argument shared, in their underlying structures, by main clause and relative clause within a relative clause construction.

COMPARATIVE CONSTRUCTION typically involves comparing two participants (the comparee and the standard) in terms of some property (the parameter) this being marked by an index.

COMPLEMENT CLAUSE clause which fills a (normally core) argument slot in a higher clause.

COMPLEMENT-TAKING VERB a verb which may have a complement clause filling one of its (generally, core) argument slots.

COMPLEMENTARY DISTRIBUTION the occurrence of each of two or more items (sounds or forms) in mutually exclusive environments.

COMPLEMENTIZER grammatical form which marks a complement clause.

COMPLETION grammatical category covering perfect and imperfect.

COMPOSITION grammatical category covering perfective and imperfective.

COMPOUNDING morphological process which joins two roots to form one stem.

CONCORD when two words (for example, noun and modifying adjective within an NP) are marked for the same grammatical category.

CONJUGATION a class of verbs all of which take the same inflectional allomorphs.

CONJUNCT grammatical element showing that the subject is 1st person in a statement and 2nd person in a question.

CONSANGUINEAL kinship relation which does not involve marriage but is entirely through descent (a blood relation).

CONSTITUENT anything which fills a slot in a syntactic structure.

CONSTITUENT ORDER the order in which phrasal constituents occur within a clause (often mistermed word order).

CONSTRUCTION type of clause (or, sometimes, phrase) with specified properties.

CONTENT QUESTION question which enquires concerning a core or peripheral argument (including time, place, and manner), or predicate (referring to an action or state or property), through employing an interrogative word.

COPULA CLAUSE indicating a relational meaning between CS (copula subject) and CC (copula complement) functions.

COPULA COMPLEMENT (CC) the argument in a copula clause which is shown to be in a specified relation to the copula subject (typically, may be realized as a plain NP, an NP marked with a preposition, a possessive clause, an adjective, or a complement clause).

COPULA SUBJECT (CS) that argument in a copula clause which is topic for the discourse in which it occurs (generally realized by an NP or a complement clause).

CORE ARGUMENT an obligatory argument for a specific verb, which must be either stated or understood from the context.

COVERB word (generally non-inflecting) which may be combined with an inflecting verb to form a complex verbal lexeme.

D

DATIVE a case which typically marks the beneficiary of ‘give’, the addressee of ‘tell’, and the person to whom something is shown for ‘show’.

DECLARATIVE choice from a mood system used in a statement.

DEICTIC REFERENCE pointing to some participant, activity, or place within the context of speaking.

DEMONSTRATIVE grammatical element whose primary function is to point to an object in the situation of discourse; may also have anaphoric and/or cataphoric function.

DERIVATION optional morphological process which applies to a root or stem and derives a stem; may or may not change word class.

DETERMINER grammatical modifier within an NP, typically including demonstratives and articles.

DIACHRONIC DESCRIPTION description of how a language system changes through time.

DIPHTHONG vowel phoneme which has two or more phonetic components.

DIRECT SPEECH verbatim (or almost verbatim) quotation of what was said.

DISJUNCT grammatical element showing that the subject is not 1st person in a statement and not 2nd person in a question.

DISSIMILATION change by which one sound becomes more dissimilar to some neighbouring sound.

DUAL term in a grammatical number system referring to two entities.

DURATIVE (also called CONTINUOUS or PROGRESSIVE) an event seen as unfolding over a period of time.

E

E a syntactic function which constitutes an extension to the core in an extended intransitive or an extended transitive clause.

ENCLITIC clitic which is attached to the end of a word.

ERGATIVE case inflection marking transitive subject (A).

EVIDENTIALITY grammatical system providing information about the evidence on which a report is based.

EXCLUSIVE non-singular first person pronoun, referring to speaker and one or more other people who do not include the addressee.

EXTENDED INTRANSITIVE clause type with two core arguments, in S (intransitive subject) and E (extension to core) functions. Verb which occurs in the predicate of such a clause.

EXTENDED TRANSITIVE (or DITRANSITIVE) clause type with three core arguments, in A (transitive subject), O (transitive object), and E (extension to core) functions. Verb which occurs in the predicate of such a clause.

EXTENT grammatical category covering punctual and durative.

F

FLUID-S system where some verbs may have their S argument marked like A (Sa) or like O (So) with a (generally, predictable) difference in meaning.

FOCAL CLAUSE that clause in a linking construction which carries the mood of the sentence.

FOCUS an argument accorded prominence within a clause.

FORMAL MARKEDNESS if a term in a grammatical system has zero realization (or a zero allomorph) it is said to be formally unmarked. Other terms in the system are formally marked.

FREE FORM a form which constitutes a grammatical word without any morphological processes having to be applied.

FUNCTIONAL LOAD OF A CONTRAST the extent to which that contrast is utilized within that language.

FUNCTIONAL MARKEDNESS a term in a grammatical system which is employed in neutral or unspecified circumstances (or when a contrast is neutralized) is said to be functionally unmarked. Other terms in the system are functionally marked.

FUSIONAL a type of language whose words involve a number of grammatical elements fused together (that is, not segmentable in surface structure).

 

G

GENDER small closed system of noun classes one of whose semantic distinctions is masculine/feminine.

GENITIVE marker of an intra-NP possessive relation, which is added to the possessor item.

GOAL APPLICATIVE an applicative construction in which an original goal argument is placed in O function.

GRAMMATICAL WORD a unit on the hierarchy of grammatical units (just below phrase) defined on grammatical criteria. Generally (but not necessarily always) coinciding with phonological word.

H

HEAD obligatory nucleus of a phrase which determines the grammatical profile of the whole phrase (for example, gender of a noun phrase).

HETERORGANIC sequence of sounds which have different place of articulation, for example -nb-.

HOMORGANIC sequence of sounds which have the same place of articulation, for example -mb-.

I

IDEOPHONE word class which generally has special phonology (often involving inherent reduplication and onomatopoeia). Typically relating to manner, colour, sound, smell, action, state, or intensity.

IMPERATIVE choice from a mood system used in a direct command.

IMPERFECT something which began in the past and is still continuing.

IMPERFECTIVE ASPECT focussing on the temporal make-up of an event.

INALIENABLE POSSESSION when the possessed has an inherent connection with the possessor, and cannot be given away.

INCLUSIVE non-singular first person pronoun, referring to speaker and one or more other people who do include the addressee.

INDIRECT SPEECH a report of what someone else has said (often cast into the reporter’s own words).

INFLECTION morphological process which obligatorily applies to a root or derived stem of a certain word class, producing a grammatical word.

INSTRUMENTAL case inflection marking the referent of the NP to which it is attached as weapon, tool, or material used in the activity described by the verb.

INSTRUMENTAL APPLICATIVE an applicative construction in which an original instrumental argument is placed in O function.

INTERJECTION a conventionalized cry, typically indicating the speaker’s emotional response to something that has happened to them, or something which they have observed or become aware of.

INTERNAL CHANGE morphological process which involves changing a vowel (or, less frequently, a consonant) in the middle of a word, for instance, from take /teik/ to took /tuk/ in English.

INTERROGATIVE choice from a mood system used in a (content or polar) question.

INTERROGATIVE WORD word occurring in a content question which establishes it as a question.

INTONATION type of prosody realized by pitch, generally applying over clause or sentence.

INTRANSITIVE clause type with one core argument, in S (intransitive subject) function. Verb which occurs in the predicate of such a clause.

IRREALIS referring to something that didn’t happen (but could have happened) or which might happen.

ISOLATING a type of language most of whose words consist of one morpheme.

L

LABILE older name for ambitransitive.

LANGUAGE in the technical sense of linguists, a number of forms of speech are said to constitute a single language if they are mutually intelligible.

LENITION the replacement of a sound by another sound that has weaker manner of articulation (involving less muscular tension).

LEXEME (or LEXICAL ITEM) a root or underlying form.

LOCATIVE marker indicating position of rest at, on, or near the referent of the noun phrase to which it is attached.

LOCATIVE APPLICATIVE an applicative construction in which an original locative argument is placed in O function.

LOGOPHORIC PRONOUN used in a complement clause, this refers back to the subject of the matrix clause.

M

MINIMAL pronoun paradigm in which ‘me and you’ is a term on a par with 1st person singular and 2nd person singular (and, in some languages, 3rd person singular).

MODAL VERB a verb which indicates a modality.

MODALITY one of a number of choices (within irrealis) referring to some aspect of the future.

MOOD grammatical system indicating the pragmatic function of a sentence, covering indicative (for a statement), interrogative (for a question), and imperative (for a command).

MORA unit between phonemeand syllable, variously defined.

MORPHEME the minimum meaningful unit of speech.

MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESS process which applies to a root, forming a stem.

MORPHOLOGY that part of grammar which studies the structure of words.

N

NEUTRALIZATION when a certain grammatical or phonological contrast may not apply in a certain environment, it is then said to be neutralized.

NOMINAL HIERARCHY hierarchy of items which can be head of an NP, according as how likely they are to be in A rather than in O function.

NOMINALIZATION morphological derivation which forms a noun stem from a verb or adjective root or stem.

NOMINATIVE case inflection marking intransitive subject (S) and transitive subject (A).

NON-CANONICAL MARKING OF CORE ARGUMENTS when most of the instances of a core argument receive a certain marking, but there are a minority of instances which attract a different marking, this is termed non-canonical.

NON-SPATIAL SETTING covers the range of parameters which describe the setting for an activity or state other than those referring to spatial location. It typically includes evidentiality, reality, degree of certainty, phase of activity, completion, boundedness, temporal extent, composition (some of the last three, and more besides, may be called aspect), and tense.

NOUN word class whose primary function is as head of an NP; many of its members refer to concrete objects.

NOUN CLASSES grouping of all the nouns of a language into a number of small classes which comprise a small closed grammatical system. Noun class membership must be marked somewhere outside the noun itself.

NOUN INCORPORATION the incorporation of a noun (generally in underlying S or O function) into a verb to create a compound stem.

NOUN PHRASE (NP) a constituent which can fill an argument slot in clause structure. It has a noun or pronoun or demonstrative, etc. as head.

NUMBER grammatical system referring to quantity of referents, one of whose terms is singular. There will be one or more further terms.

O

O object of a transitive verb, a syntactic core argument.

P

PASSIVE valency-reducing syntactic derivation which puts underlying O argument into derived S function and places underlying A argument in a peripheral function.

PAUCAL NUMBER referring to a relatively smaller number, greater than two, in a {singular, dual, paucal, plural} grammatical number system.

PERFECT a past action which is completed but still has present relevance.

PERFECTIVE ASPECT an event regarded as a whole, without regard for its temporal constituency.

PERIPHERAL ARGUMENT a non-core argument, which is optional. Typically includes instrument, accompaniment, recipient, beneficiary, time, place, manner.

PERSON speech act participants; always including 1st person (speaker) and 2nd person (addressee), and sometimes also 3rd person (neither speaker nor addressee).

PERTENSIVE marker of an intra-NP possessive relation, which is added to the possessed item.

PHASE OF ACTIVITY whether beginning, continuing, ending, etc.

PHONEME the minimum segmentable unit of phonology.

PHONETICS articulatory and/or acoustic study of the sounds of speech.

PHONOLOGICAL WORD a unit on the hierarchy of phonological units (just above syllable). Defined on phonological criteria. Generally (but not necessarily always) coinciding with grammatical word.

PHONOLOGY description of the phonetic contrasts which are used to distinguish between distinct words in a given language.

PHONOTACTICS statement of which consonants and vowels may correspond to each structural slot in syllable (and word) structure.

PHRASE a constituent which can fill a slot in clause structure — noun phrase in an argument slot and verb phrase in predicate slot.

PIVOT a topic which a recognizable as such by its grammatical properties.

PLURAL can have absolute or relative reference, depending on the type of number system it occurs in.

POCHAL a relatively smaller number greater than one, in a {singular, pochal, plural} grammatical system of number.

POLAR INTERROGATIVE question enquiring whether or not a proffered statement is correct. Can be answered by ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in languages which have such words (not all do).

POLARITY grammatical system whose terms are positive and negative.

POLYSYNTHETIC highly synthetic.

POSSESSIVE PHRASE a type of NP which is included within a larger NP and indicates the possessor with respect to the head of the larger NP, which is the possessed.

POSTPOSITION an adposition which follows the constituent for which it provides grammatical marking.

PRAGMATICS the practical consequences of the use of a given portion of language.

PREDICATE the central (and obligatory) structural element of a clause, generally realized by a verb phrase (with verb as head). It determines the number and type of core arguments required in the clause.

PREFIX an affix which precedes a root or stem.

PREPOSITION an adposition which precedes the constituent for which it provides grammatical marking.

PRIMARY VERBS refer directly to an activity or state.

PRIVATIVE an affix (generally derivational, sometimes inflectional) added to a form with referent X, giving the meaning ‘without an X’.

PROCLITIC clitic which is attached to the beginning of a word.

PRONOUN small closed class of grammatical items which relate to person (and usually also to number). Can be free forms or bound forms.

PROSODY a system of phonological contrasts which has scope over a sequence of segments.

PROTO-LANGUAGE putative single ancestor language for a group of modern languages that are held to be genetically related, each having developed by regular changes from the proto-language.

PUNCTUAL an event which happens more-or-less instantaneously.

Q

QUASI-APPLICATIVE a type of applicative construction for which there is no underlying construction in which the applicative argument appears in peripheral function.

 

R

REALIS referring to something that is believed to have happened or to be happening.

REALITY STATUS grammatical category covering realis and irrealis.

RECIPROCAL CONSTRUCTION clause describing several instances of an activity such that what is A argument in one instance is O argument in another.

REDUPLICATION morphological process which involves repeating all or part of a root (or stem or full word) before, after, or in the middle of it.

REFLEXIVE CONSTRUCTION clause in which underlying A and O arguments have the same reference.

RELATIVE CLAUSE clause which modifies the head of an NP. Relative clause and main clause share, in their underlying structures, a common argument.

ROOT unanalysable lexical element.

S

S subject of an intransitive verb, a syntactic core argument.

S=A AMBITRANSITIVE the S argument, when the verb is used intransitively, corresponds to the A argument, when it is used transitively.

S=O AMBITRANSITIVE the S argument, when the verb is used intransitively, corresponds to the O argument, when it is used transitively.

Sa subject of an intransitive verb (S) which is marked in the same way as the subject of a transitive verb (A).

SECONDARY CONCEPTS provide modification for a primary verb. May be realized as an affix or as a verb (a secondary verb).

SEMANTIC ROLE the types of participant involved with verbs of a certain semantic type.

SEMANTIC TYPE a set of words with similar meanings and grammatical properties.

SEMANTICS study of the meaning relations conveyed by the grammatical systems and lexical contrasts of a language.

SENTENCE no simple definition is feasible.

SERIAL VERB CONSTRUCTION has a predicate consisting of two (or more) verbs, each of which could make-up a predicate on its own, and whose combination is conceived of as describing a single action; there must be a single subject applying to the whole.

SHIFTER grammatical item whose reference changes depending on who is speaking (pronouns) or what the place or time is.

So subject of an intransitive verb (S) which is marked in the same way as the object of a transitive verb (O).

SPLIT-S system where the S argument for some verbs is marked like A (Sa) and for other verbs S is marked like O (So); also called active/stative.

STATIVE/ACTIVE label covering split-S and fluid-S systems.

STEM the nucleus of a word, to which an inflectional process applies, forming a word.

STRESS (or ACCENT) a contrastive prosody generally having scope over a word, characterized by some or all of: loudness, vowel quality, pitch, and length.

SUBGROUP set of languages within a language family which descend from a single ancestor language, this being itself a descendent of the proto-language for the whole language family.

SUFFIX an affix which follows a root or stem.

SUPPLETION when a lexeme has two forms which are not cognate (as go and went in English).

SUPPORTING CLAUSE that clause in a linking construction which does not carry the mood of the sentence.

SYLLABLE a phonological unit centred on a nucleus (typically a vowel) which may be preceded and/or followed by one or more consonants.

SYNCHRONIC DESCRIPTION description of a language system at one point in time, without taking account of historical changes.

SYNTAX study of the organization and interrelation of the components of a grammar above the level of word.

SYNTHETIC language whose words generally each have a large number of grammatical components.

T

TELIC an event which is bounded and has a definite end point.

TEMPORAL EXTENT grammatical category covering punctual and durative.

TENSE grammatical category, with shifting reference, which refers to time.

TOPIC an argument which occurs in a succession of clauses in a discourse and binds them together.

TRANSITIVE clause type with two core arguments, in A (transitive subject) and O (transitive object) functions. Verb which occurs in the predicate of such a clause.

TRIAL term in a grammatical number system referring to three entities.

TRIPARITE MARKING when each of transitive subject (A), intransitive subject (S), and transitive object (O) receives a distinct surface marking.

V

VALENCY the number of core arguments a verb requires.

VALENCY-CHANGING derivations which may increase valency (causative, applicative) or decrease it (passive, antipassive, some varieties of reflexive and reciprocal, etc.).

VERB word class whose primary function is as head of a predicate. Most of its members refer to actions and states.

VERB PHRASE a constituent which can fill the predicate slot within a clause. Typically has a verb as its head.

VERBALIZATION morphological derivation which forms a verb stem from a noun or adjective root or stem.

VERBLESS CLAUSE similar to a copula clause but with the predicate slot left blank. It indicates a relational meaning between verbless clause subject and verbless clause complement.

VERBLESS CLAUSE COMPLEMENT (VCC) the argument in a verbless clause which is shown to be in a specified relation to the verbless clause subject (typically, may be realized as a plain NP, an NP marked with a preposition, a possessive clause, an adjective, or a complement clause).

VERBLESS CLAUSE SUBJECT (VCS) that argument in a verbless clause which is topic for the discourse in which it occurs (generally realized by an NP or a complement clause).

W

WORD the result of applying optional derivational processes to a root, and then any obligatory inflectional process to the resulting stem. Subtypes — phonological word, grammatical word. Unit at the intersection of morphology and syntax.

WORD ORDER the order in which words must or may occur in a phrase, in a clause, or in a sentence. (This label is often misleadingly used for (phrasal) constituent order.)

Y

YES/NO QUESTION.

Z

ZERO when one term in a grammatical system has no explicit marking it is said to have zero realization Ø). For example, in English a noun with singular number reference receives zero marking (for instance horse-Ø) whereas one with plural reference is marked by orthographic -s (horse-s).

ZERO ANAPHORA when anaphora is shown simply by leaving a gap. Compare anaphoric HE in JOHN CAME IN AND HE SAT DOWN with anaphoric Ø in JOHN CAME IN AND Ø SAT DOWN.

ZERO DERIVATION a word-class-changing derivation with zero marking. Compare noun hospital and verbalization hospital-ize, marked by –ize, with noun market and verbalization market-Ø, with zero marking.

 

The Basic Linguistic Theory nomenclature in accordance with:

Dixon, R. M. W. 2010a. Basic Linguistic Theory, vol. 1. Methodology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Dixon, R. M. W. 2010b. Basic Linguistic Theory, vol. 2. Grammatical Topics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Dixon, R. M. W. 2012. Basic Linguistic Theory, vol. 3. Further Grammatical Topics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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