A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics David Crystal

prosody 393
meat was eaten by the cat, and so on), and how a single linguistic form can be
analysed in terms of several propositions (e.g. Those nice red apples cost a lot
expresses the propositions that ‘the apples cost a lot’, ‘the apples are nice’ and
‘the apples are red’). The notion of ‘proposition’ is fundamental to case grammar,
where it is used as one of the two main underlying constituents of
sentences (Sentence ⇒ Modality+Proposition): each proposition is analysed in
terms of a predicate word and its associated arguments (i.e. case roles). Also of
interest is the distinction to be made between the propositional meaning of a
sentence on the one hand, and the use made of the sentence (e.g. in various
speech-act situations) on the other. Linguists are not primarily concerned with
the evaluation of a proposition in terms of truth-values, nor with the question
of the referential or cognitive status of the notion. See also analytic (2), ideational,
synthetic (2).
propositional attitude A term used in philosophy, and often encountered in
semantic theory, for mental attitudes such as belief, hope, doubt, etc. Such
attitudes are commonly analysed as relations which an individual may stand in
to a proposition. The semantic analysis of verbs representing propositional
attitudes has played a central role in the discussion of intensionality (see intension
(2)).
propositional calculus
see proposition
proscriptive (adj.) A term used by linguists to characterize any approach
which attempts to lay down rules of correctness, emphasizing how language
should not be used. For example, the view that ‘sentences should not
end with prepositions’ is a ‘proscriptive rule’. These normative statements
are usually made within the overall context of a prescriptive grammar.
prosodeme (n.)
see prosody
prosodic bootstrapping
see bootstrapping
prosodic phonology
see prosody
prosody (n.) A term used in suprasegmental phonetics and phonology to
refer collectively to variations in pitch, loudness, tempo and rhythm. Sometimes
it is used loosely as a synonym for ‘suprasegmental’, but in a narrower
sense it refers only to the above variables, the remaining suprasegmental features
being labelled paralinguistic. The narrow sense is close to the traditional use
of the term ‘prosody’, where it referred to the characteristics and analyses of
verse structure. The term prosodic features is preferred in linguistics, partly
to enable a distinction to be drawn with the traditional use. In some approaches
to phonology, the term sentence prosody is used to group together intonation,
phrasal rhythmic patterning and more general features of prosodic phrasing.
The above use treats ‘prosody’ as a mass noun.
In the theory of phonology proposed by J. R. Firth (prosodic phonology),
prosody is treated as a count noun, and given special status (see Firthian). It is
distinguished in this approach from phonematic unit: the latter is a segmental