Language features Flashcards
Denotation
The literal meaning of a word
Connotation
The associated meaning of words
antonyms
The opposite meaning to a word
Hypernyms
A word that describes a category of words (eg animal)
Hyponyms
Words that can be included in a larger category (eg dog, cat, fish)
Neology/neologism
New word formation, including blends, compounds,
acronyms, initialisms
Blends
When two words are blended together to create a new one
Acronym
Abbreviating the word down to its initials (NASA, FBI)
Compound word
Two base words joined together (starfish)
Semantic change
Words changing meaning
Amelioration
When a word’s meaning becomes more positive over time
Pejoration
When a word’s meaning becomes more negative over time
Semantic reclamation
The act of reclaiming language and reappropriating it
Morpheme
The smallest grammatical unit
Free morpheme
A morpheme that can stand as a single word
bound morpheme/ affix
A morpheme that can’t stand as a single word, but combines with others to create a new word
Head word
The central word in a phrase which gives the phrase its name (e.g. noun phrase, adjective phrase)
Pre-modifier
A word that comes before the headword to add more detail
Post-modifier
A word that comes after the headword to add more detail
Active voice
A clause where the doer of an action is the subject
Passive voice
A clause where the patient is the subject, and the doer either follows or is left out
Declaratives
A statement that is declaring something
Interrogatives
A question
Exclamatives
A sentence ending in an exclamation mark
Imperatives
A command
Adjective
A describing word
Verb
A doing word
Adverb
Describes a doing word
Personal pronoun
Referring to yourself as I or somebody else as she or he
Possessive pronoun
Stating ownership eg, mine, yours
Demonstrative pronoun
Pronouns showing an object eg this that those these
Relative pronoun
Pronouns introducing a dependent subordinate clause (eg, which, who)
Interrogative pronoun
The 5 Ws and how
Transitive verbs
An action that has a definite object on which/for which it is being performed (rose is painting the kitchen)
Intransitive verbs
An action without a subject or purpose (rose is painting)
Is the verb transitive or intransitive?
Jack gave his mam a hug
Transitive
Is the verb transitive or intransitive?
Poppy is sewing now
Intransitive
Dynamic verb
Denotes an action or expression or process (eg. He is swimming at the beach)
Stative verb
States the opinion of the subject or the relation between them and the object (eg. She prefers strawberry jam)
Is the verb dynamic or stative?
The cupboard requires a new coat of paint
Stative
Is the verb dynamic or stative?
She buys new clothes every week
Dynamic
Speech acts
Speech in a passage that refers to something outside of the text
Deixis
Words that are context-bound where meaning depends on who is being referred to, where
something is happening or when it is happening
Cooperative principles in conversation
When interaction is based upon cooperative behaviour between speakers.
Adjacency pairs
Questions and answers where the question provokes a response
Modal auxilliary verb
Verbs that indicate likelihood: shall, should, can, could, will, would, may, must, might
Subtext
The underlying/implied meaning
Grammatical patterning
The same/similar grammatical structure is repeated
Discourse marker
Words that help organise what we say (eg. ok, so, as i was saying)
Pejorative term
A term implying disapproval or criticism
