26.06.2015 Views

url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CCAQFjAD&url=http://data.ulis.vnu.edu.vn/jspui/bitstream/123456789/1966/1/54_1405152974

url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CCAQFjAD&url=http://data.ulis.vnu.edu.vn/jspui/bitstream/123456789/1966/1/54_1405152974

url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CCAQFjAD&url=http://data.ulis.vnu.edu.vn/jspui/bitstream/123456789/1966/1/54_1405152974

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

94 complete assimilation<br />

complete assimilation<br />

see assimilation<br />

complete feedback<br />

see feedback<br />

complex (adj.)<br />

see complexity<br />

*complex (adj.) In optimality theory, a constraint which penalizes syllables<br />

which have more than a single consonant at an edge. The use of<br />

the asterisk reflects a negative emphasis: complex onsets and codas are not<br />

acceptable.<br />

complexity (n.) The general sense of this term is found in linguistics, with<br />

reference to both the formal internal structuring of linguistic units and the<br />

psychological difficulty in using or learning them. The factors which contribute<br />

to the notion of complexity are a major topic in psycholinguistics, in studies<br />

of both adult comprehension and production, and of child language acquisition.<br />

A central theme is the nature of the interaction between levels of difficulty<br />

in cognitive and linguistic structures, and especially the way this affects<br />

the order of emergence of language patterns in children. However, it has not<br />

yet proved feasible to establish independent measures of complexity defined in<br />

purely linguistic terms, such as the number of transformations in a sentence<br />

derivation (see derivational theory of complexity), or the number of<br />

features in the specification of a linguistic unit (see simplicity), largely because<br />

of controversy over the nature of the linguistic measures used, and the interference<br />

stemming from other psychological factors, such as the language user’s<br />

attention and motivation.<br />

Several restricted senses of complex are also used (mostly contrasting with the<br />

term ‘simple’), e.g. ‘complex sentence’ (in two senses: either a sentence consisting<br />

of more than one clause, or one consisting of a main clause and at least<br />

one subordinate clause), ‘complex preposition’ (a preposition consisting of<br />

more than one word), ‘complex word’ (one containing a free morpheme and at<br />

least one bound morpheme), ‘complex tone’ (an intonational nucleus with<br />

two distinct pitch movements), ‘complex stop’ (a plosive with two points of<br />

articulation), ‘complex nucleus’ (a syllabic peak with two distinct vowel<br />

qualities), ‘complex segment’ (a segment with two or more simultaneous oral<br />

tract constrictions, in some models of feature theory), and so on. In generative<br />

grammar, a ‘complex NP’ is a noun phrase with a clause as a<br />

complement (e.g. the assumption that the engine is working) or adjunct (e.g.<br />

the assumption that he made). The ‘complex NP constraint’ in classical transformational<br />

grammar states that no element can be extracted out of a complex<br />

NP (e.g. *Who did you make the assumption that he liked?) – in other words,<br />

such constructions are syntactic islands.<br />

complex NP constraint<br />

see complexity<br />

complex preposition In grammar, a term sometimes used for a multi-word<br />

construction consisting of a noun or noun phrase both preceded and followed<br />

by a single preposition, as in on account of and in accordance with. The term

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!