Linguistic guide

 

A guide to Linguistic methods

Linguist – Another word for language

Before we begin I must run you through the basic methods to find out why we use certain linguistic patterns. Here they are:

Graphology – the text, what it looks like visually

Discourse structure – structure of the text

Lexis – Another way of saying ‘words’

Semantics – The meaning of words

Pragmatics – Implied meaning of words

Grammar – spelling, punctuation, structure of language

Phonology – The sound of language, how certain words are said. E.g.: advertising uses this a lot

 Now I will go over the key linguistic methods to help you to understand it further.

Graphology

The features that contribute to the appearance of a text on a page. Here’s a list of factors you should be looking for when searching for signs of graphology:

.Layout

.Font

.Size

.Style

.Paragraph size

.Colour of text

.Pictures/illustrations

.Subheadings

.Italics

Another feature you should look out for which is slightly more difficult than the others is juxtaposition.

Juxtaposition is the placement of two contrasting ideas. (Usually concepts though it can refer to physical objects) near each other. That would be great for you to remember, because I am sure it will help you score high in your exams.

 

Discourse structure

The way in which texts are organized and sequenced, for example:

.How does the text start?

.How does it finish?

.What’s in the middle?

Majority of people have preconceived ideas of how texts should be presented. In A-level English language you will have to change your views, if that is the case, because a piece of text can be presented in whatever form the writer intends.

Discourse structure applies to both written and spoken texts.

For example let’s look at the structure of a fairy tale.

Introduction

Characters introduced

Opportunity arises

Everything goes horribly wrong

Problem is miraculously solved

Everyone is happy ever after

In discourse structure this would be changed. For example the end could be at the beginning, much like action before narrative. The change of the structure can change the whole story.

Semantics

This is the study of meaning and how meaning is created within a text.

There are two types of semantics, conceptual and associative.

Conceptual – (denotive, referential)

Associative – (connotative, stylistic, affective)

Here are some examples; I would like you to figure out whether the statement is conceptual or associative. The answers will be on the back page.

Statements

Q1 .Ford is the name of the company started by Henry Ford

Q2. John calls his pet tiger “you are a tiger!”

Q3. John calls his girlfriend “you are a tiger!”

That’s all the questions to answer, easy eh!

 

Synonymy  

Where two or more words have the same meaning. E.g. big – large

It’s a lexical relationship.

 Antonym

Opposite in meaning. E.g. big – small

 Hyponym

A specific term used to designate a member of a class. For instance, daisy and rose are hyponyms of flowers.

Before we go any further into semantics you must understand what a semantic field is.

A semantic field is a set of words grouped by meaning referring to a specific subject. For example: child, toddler, kid.

 

Lexical Frameworks

Lexical frameworks are various types of lexis. Every word in the English language can be categorised into a particular lexical framework. Here is the list of lexical frameworks I know.

.British English

.American English

.Australian English

.Formal lexis

.Informal lexis

.Humorous lexis

.Biblical lexis

.Legal lexis

.Taboo lexis

.Technical lexis

.Everyday lexis

.Impolite lexis

.Spoken lexis

.Trademarks

.Written lexis

.Medical lexis

.Literary lexis

.Archaic lexis

.Old fashioned lexis

Conclusion

I hope you now have a further understanding of linguistic methods. And to end, here are the answers to my previous questions for semantics.

A1. Conceptual

A2. Conceptual

A3. Associative

Thanks for reading

Dan Hunt