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
