Key Terms Flashcards
Semantic Shift
Meaning of words change
(Same word)
Lexical Shift
Word itself changes (orthographically)
Archaic
Obsolete
Compounding
Creating words by joining existing words which together have the meaning of the newly coined word
E.g. Teamwork
Affixation
Creating new words by adding morphemes onto them
E.g. run + ing = running
Romance Langauges
Languages which focus on recreation
Culture / Cuisine / Fashion / Arts / Religion
Latin derived: French / Spanish / Italian / Portuguese
Germanic Languages
Languages which focus on function
Things needed to survive: building / town / house
German derived: Anglo-Saxon / Old Norse / Scandinavian languages
Closed-class words
Purely grammatical purpose
(Add no true meaning)
Open-class words
Add to meaning / context
(Don’t typically add grammatical meaning)
Split-infinitive
Infinitive marker ‘to’ + adverb + verb
Latin derived
[Traditional English grammar doesn’t allow this]
E.g. to quickly run
Diachronic change
Change within a singular time period
Synchronic Change
Change over multiple time periods
Etymological Change: Orthographic Change (5)
Change in spelling
Letter interchange / inflected e / phonetic spelling / double or single consonants / prefixes
Etymological Change: Grammatical Change (13)
Change in grammar
Verb endings / pronouns / syntax / definite & indefinite articles / omission of auxiliary verbs / sentence types / symbols / parenthesis / speech marks / elision / apostrophes / capitalisation
Definite Article
Used before a noun to indicate the identity of the noun
(THE)
Indefinite Article
Used before a noun that’s general or when the identity is unknown
(A / AN)
Elision
The omission of sounds / syllables / words in speech
- Makes language easier to say & faster
E.g. ‘I don’t know’ -> ‘/I duno/’
Tenor: Personal texts
No requirement for standardised writing
- Writer will not be judged on spelling
Letters / diaries / journals
(PERSONAL PREFERENCE USED)
[consistent non-standard spelling]
Etymological Change: Semantic Change
Change in meaning
Etymological Change: Syntactic Change
Change in word order
my dog -> dog min
Etymological Change: Phonological Change
Change in phonology (sound / pronunciation)
Morphology: Agent Nouns
A noun created from derivational morphology
[the addition of suffix ‘er’ ‘ar’ ‘or’ onto words]
GERMANIC: ‘er’ / ‘ar’ - teahcer
FRENCH: ‘or’ - pastor
Morphology: 12 Word Formation Processes
Affixation
Clipping
Neologisms
Blending
Compounding
Conversion
Acronym
Initialism
Broadening
Narrowing
Amelioration
Pejoration
Clipping
Shortening a word to just a free morpheme
- Swagger > swag
Blending
Joining morphemes / syllables from an existing word to form a new one
[2 bound morphemes / 1 free & 1 bound morpheme]
- Amazeballs
Conversion (word formation)
Creating a new word by using an existing word for a different purpose
- Hoover = brand name / Hoover = verb
Acronym
When abbreviations create words
[acronym is pronounced as a word]
NASA / LASER
Initialism
Pronouncing the initials of abbreviations to form words
BBC / WJEC
Broadening
When words take on an additional meaning but still retains a part of their old meaning
Holiday = Holy Day
Narrowing
When a word gains a more specific meaning over time
OE: mete (meat) = food / now refers to food from an animal
Amelioration
When a word acquires a more positive meaning over time
[pretty used to mean sly / cunning]
Pejoration
When a word acquires a more negative meaning over time
[villain used to mean peasant]
Elision
The omission of sounds / syllables / words in speech
E.g. I don’t know < I duno
Idiosyncratic Lexis
Inconsistent spelling by one writer
Minimal Pair
Same phonological outcome
Loaded Lexis
Passionate language
- Language used to reflect emotions / opinions / biases
Morphological Patterns
An inflection which always changes meaning in the same way
E.g. word class suffixes (‘ence’ = noun)
Patterns in suffixes
Verb - ed / s / ing
Adverb - ly
Noun ian
Adjective al
Inverted Syntax
Syntactic pattern has become inverted (swapped)
- ‘loves not’ = ‘does not love’
