Conlangs

• Phonology deals with the sounds that make up a language.

• Morphology deals with the forms words can take in a language.
  • Inflection is modifying a word in a way that doesn't change its basic meaning.
    • word → words
    • red → redder, reddest
    • walk → walked, walks, walking
    • fall → (has) fallen
  • Derivational Morphology is modifying a word in a way that changes its meaning, and often the category of word it is.
    • agree(v) → disagree(v), agreement(n), agreeable(a)
    • burglar(n) → ex-burglar(n), burglary(n), burglarize(v), burglarious(a)
    • equal(a) → unequal(a), equalize(v), equality(n), equally(a)

• Syntax is how words are put together to form sentences.

• Semantics is about the meaning of words.
  • Semantic Fields are groupings of words based on their shared meanings, such as dig being related to mine and shovel, but also being related to understand in some types of slang. (Can you dig it?)

• Pragmatics is how context contributes to meaning.

• Lexicon is a listing of words that make up a language, not unlike a dictionary.