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Y1-English 2 > Language Glossary > Flashcards

Language Glossary Flashcards

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1
Q

Abbreviations

A

Letter(s) or shortened words used instead of a full word or phrase

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2
Q

Accent

A

Features of pronunciation which indicate the regional or social identity of the speaker

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3
Q

Accommodation

A

Theory suggesting we adjust our speech to accommodate the person we’re addressing

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4
Q

Acronym

A

Word formed from the initial letters of other words ex: ASAP

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5
Q

Acquisition

A

Process by which language skills are developed-= particularly in infancy

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6
Q

Active voice

A

When subject of a verb is the agent performing the action ex: the police caught the burglar

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7
Q

Adjacency pair

A

2-part exchanges following a predictable pattern and found in conversation ex: how are you? fine thank you

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8
Q

Adjective

A

Word which modifies a noun or pronoun

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9
Q

Adverb

A

Word which modifies a verb, adverb or adjective

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10
Q

Adverbial

A

Word or group of words working as an adverb, usually giving info about time, place or manner etc

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11
Q

Affix

A

Group of letters forming part of a word, usually a prefix or suffix

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12
Q

Agreement

A

Grammatical logic and coherence between parts of a sentence

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13
Q

Alliteration

A

Repetition of consonant sounds- usually at beginning of words

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14
Q

Amelioration

A

Change in the meaning of a word that gives the word a more positive meaning

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15
Q

Anaphoric reference

A

Word/expression in a text that refers back to another part of the text ex: Gilly is a great person. -She- loves to take care of everyone.

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16
Q

Antonym

A

Word that is opposite in meaning to another

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17
Q

Apostrophes

A

Raised comma used to denote either possession or contraction

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18
Q

Articles

A

Word that specifies whether a noun is definite or indefinite

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19
Q

Assonance

A

Repetition of vowel sounds ex: he fell asleep under the cherry tree

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20
Q

Asyndetic listing

A

Listing which does not involve the use of conjunctions

SYNDETIC: Birds flock and wheel and cry.

ASYNDETIC: Birds flock, wheel and cry.

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21
Q

Audience

A

Person(s) receiving a speech or piece of writing

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22
Q

Auxiliary verb

A

Verb placed in front of main verb ex: can, have, does

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23
Q

Blend

A

Word formed by combining parts of other words ex: emoticon (emote/icon) and brunch (breakfast/lunch) are blended words

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24
Q

Borrowing

A

Word/expression taken from another language ex: anonymous (greek), cartoon (italian), cigar (spanish), lemon (arabic), ketchup (chinese), karaoke (japanese)

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25
Q

Brackets

A

Curved or square punctuation marks enclosing words inserted into a text

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26
Q

Broadening

A

When meaning of a word is extended and it takes on one or more new meanings whilst retaining the old one ex: gay

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27
Q

Capitals

A

upper-case letters used to indicate names, titles and important words

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28
Q

Cataphoric reference

A

Word or expression in a text that refers forward to another part of the text - opposite of anaphoric ex: Although I phone -her- every week, my mother still complains that I don’t keep in touch often enough.

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29
Q

Clauses

A

Structural unit of language which is smaller than the sentence but larger than phrases or words, and which contains a finite verb ex: when she wakes up- contains subject and verb

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30
Q

Cliche

A

Over-used phrase or expression ex: Actions speak louder than words

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31
Q

Clipping

A

Word formed by shortening an existing word ex: phone from telephone

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32
Q

Cohesion

A

Techniques and devices used to connect different parts of a text with each other

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33
Q

Coinage

A

Creation of a completely new word ex: the word ‘blog’ is a recent coinage

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34
Q

Collocation

A

Groups (usually pairs) of words that are commonly found alongside each other ex: pay atention and fast food

They make it easier to avoid overused or ambiguous words like “very”, “nice”, or “beautiful”, by using a pair of words that fit the context better and that have a more precise meaning

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35
Q

Comparative

A

Adjective that makes a comparison

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36
Q

Complement

A

Part of a sentence that gives more info about subject or object ex: the soup tasted -good-

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37
Q

Complex sentence

A

Sentence containing a main independent clause and one or more dependent clauses of lesser importance ex: [Don’t leave the restaurant] until the dishes here are washed.

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38
Q

Compound

A

Word or expression formed from the combination of other words ex: blackbird, moonlight, sunflower

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39
Q

Compound sentence

A

2 or more simple sentences joined together by a coordinating conjunction (and, but, so) ex: This house is too expensive, [and] that house is too small.

Min difference with complex sentence:

COMPUND: 2 or more independent clauses
COMPLEX: 1 or more independent clauses + 1 or more dependant clauses

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40
Q

Conjunction

A

Word which connects words or other constructions ex: and, or, but, because, for, if, and when.

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41
Q

Connotation

A

Associations that a word has

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42
Q

Contraction

A

When words are combined to form a single shortened word

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43
Q

Context

A

Setting in which speech or writing takes place

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44
Q

Convergence

A

When the speech styles of 2 or more people move closer together

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45
Q

Creole

A

Pidgin (simplified speech used for communication between people with different languages) language that has developed and become the 1st language of new generations of speakers.

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46
Q

Declarative sentence

A

A sentence that makes a statement

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47
Q

Descriptivism

A

Approach to the study of language that describes how language is used and does not judge language use as correct or incorrect

Opposite of Prescriptivism

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48
Q

Determiner

A

Word used before a noun to indicate quantity, identity or significance ex:

  • An Article (a/an, the)
  • A Demonstrative (this, that, these, those)
  • A Possessive (my, your, his, her, its, our, their)
  • A Quantifier (common examples include many, much, more, most, some)
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49
Q

Dialect

A

Form of speech peculiar to a district, class or person

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50
Q

Diglossia

A

Existence of 2 official languages in a society ex: Spain (castilian, catalan, basque, galician)

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51
Q

Divergence

A

When the speech styles of 2 or more people move away from each other

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52
Q

Diphthong

A

2 vowel characters representing the sound of a single vowel ex: /aʊ/ as in “Town”, /aɪ/ as in “Light”, /eɪ/ as in “Play”

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53
Q

Ellipsis

A

Omission of words from a sentence

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54
Q

Estuary English

A

Accent that originated in London and the south-east and that has spread outwards to other parts of the country

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55
Q

Euphemism

A

Mild or indirect expression used instead of one that is considered in some way offensive, painful or unpleasant.

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56
Q

Exclamatory sentence

A

Sentence that ends with an exclamation mark

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57
Q

Field-specific lexis

A

Vocabulary associated with a particular topic or field

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58
Q

Filler

A

Word or expression of little meaning commonly inserted into speech ex: you know, like

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59
Q

Filler

A

Hesitation such as ‘um’ or ‘er’

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60
Q

Form

A

Outward appearance or structure of language, as opposed to its function, meaning or social use

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61
Q

Function

A

Role that language plays to express ideas or attitudes

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62
Q

Grammar

A

Study of sentence structure, especially with reference to syntax and semantics

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63
Q

Grapheme

A

Smallest unit in writing system of language

64
Q

Graphology

A

Visual aspects of a text (layout, headings, logos)

65
Q

Head word

A

Main word in a phrase

66
Q

Homonyms

A

Words with the same spelling but with different meanings ex: book (noun and verb different meanings)

67
Q

Idiolect

A

Form of language used by, and unique to, a single individual

68
Q

Idiom

A

Expression whose meaning cannot be understood from the meanings of the individual words that make up the expression ex: Better late than never, call it a day…

69
Q

Imperative

A

Sentence that gives a command or order

70
Q

Infinitive

A

Form of a verb that dos not identify person or number, the root form ex: to run, to walk

71
Q

Inflection

A

Letter or group of letters at the end of a word serving a grammatical function ex: cat, cats/ big, bigger, biggest

When words are inflected, letters are added to the base form of words.

72
Q

Interrogative

A

Sentence that is a question

73
Q

Irony

A

Saying or writing one thing, whilst meaning the opposite ex: 2 friends coming to the party in the same dress after promising not to wear that dress would be situational irony — you’d expect them to come in other clothes, but they did the opposite.

74
Q

Intonation

A

Use of pitch in speech to create contrast and variation

75
Q

Jargon

A

Technical language of an occupation or group

76
Q

Language change

A

Development and changes in a language

77
Q

Lexis

A

Vocabulary of a language, especially in dictionary form

78
Q

Metaphor

A

Figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of another ex: life is a highway

79
Q

Metonymy

A

Figure of speech in which an attribute is substituted for the whole ex: Crown. (For the power of a king.), The White House. (Referring to the American administration.), Dish. (To refer an entire plate of food.)

80
Q

Modal auxiliary

A

Auxiliary words which are only ever used in conjunction with a main verb ex: can, must, might, would

81
Q

Modifier

A

Word that gives more info about a head word ex: vegetarian burger- vegetarian modifies the word ‘burger’

82
Q

Morpheme

A

Smallest unit of meaning in grammar

83
Q

Morphology

A

Branch of grammar which studies the structure of words

Difference with lexicology:

LEXIS: Specific theory concerning words
MORPHOLOGY: description of the form and structure of words.

84
Q

Narrator

A

Person (named or unknown) who is telling a story

85
Q

Narrowing

A

When meaning of word narrows so that it becomes more limited and specific

Opposite of broadening.

86
Q

Non-fluency features

A

Features that interrupt the flow of a person’s speech ex: hesitation, repetitions, interruptions, fillers, false starts

87
Q

Noun

A

Word which names an object or concept

88
Q

Onomatopoeia

A

Word that sounds like the thing it describes ex: tick tock of a clock, boom of an explosion, giggle, grunt

89
Q

Oxymoron

A

Figure of speech in which two contradictory terms appear in conjunction ex: deafening silence, seriously funny, living dead

90
Q

Paradox

A

Figure of speech in which, despite apparently valid reasoning, a statement leads to a self-contradictory or a logically unacceptable conclusion. Ex: Save money by spending it, If I know one thing, it’s that I know nothing, This is the beginning of the end, I’m a compulsive liar.

91
Q

Paragraph

A

Distinct passage of writing which is unified by an idea or a topic

92
Q

Parallelism

A

When phrases or sentences have a similar pattern or structure.

NOT PARALLELISM: He likes baking, swimming and to dance.

PARALLELISM: He likes baking, swimming and dancing.- repetition of gerund (verbs ending in -ing)

93
Q

Parenthesis

A

Word, clause or sentence which is inserted into a sentence to which it does not gramatically belong.

94
Q

Participle

A

Word derived from a verb and used as an adjective or noun ex: past participle- flown, forgotten, forgiven

95
Q

Parts of speech

A

8 common parts of speech are:

  1. Verb
  2. Noun
  3. Adjective
  4. Adverb
  5. Pronoun
  6. Preposition
  7. Conjunction
  8. Interjection
96
Q

Interjection

A

Word added to a sentence to convey an emotion or a sentiment such as surprise, disgust, joy, or excitement. Ex: No, go away. (“No” is the interjection.) Indeed, Oh!, Hey!, Oh, really? , Mmmm…

97
Q

Passive voice

A

When subject of verb is the element affected by the action ex: the burglar was caught by the police.

98
Q

Pejoration

A

Shift in meaning of a word so that meaning becomes less positive

99
Q

Phonetics

A

Study of the production, transmission and reception of speech sounds

100
Q

Phonology

A

Study of sounds in any language

101
Q

Phrase

A

Groups of words, smaller than a clause, which forms a grammatical unit

102
Q

Pidgin

A

Language that combines 2 or more other languages enabling the members of different speech communities to communicate.

103
Q

Point of view

A

Perspective or source of a piece of writing

104
Q

Pragmatics

A

Study of the part that language plays in social situations and social relationships

105
Q

Preposition

A

Word which governs and typically precedes a noun or pronoun

106
Q

Prescriptivism

A

Approach to study of language that favours rules identifying correct and incorrect language use

Opposite of descriptivism

107
Q

Pronoun

A

Word that can be substituted for a noun or a noun phrase ex: he, she, them , they, whoever

108
Q

Prosody

A

Non-verbal aspects of speech such as volume, intonation and pitch

109
Q

Punctuation

A

System of marks used to introduce pauses and interruption into writing

110
Q

Received Pronunciation (RP)

A

Regionally neutral accent of British English, a social accent

111
Q

Register

A

Form of language appropriate to a particular situation

112
Q

Repair

A

Repair resolves a problem that has arisen ex: speakers might correct themselves if something has been said in error

113
Q

Semantics

A

Study of linguistic meaning

114
Q

Sentence

A

Set of words which form a grammatically complete statement, usually containing a subject, verb, and object

115
Q

Simile

A

igure of speech in which one thing is likened to another using ‘like’ or ‘as’

116
Q

Simple sentence

A

Sentence that contains only one independent clause

117
Q

Slang

A

informal, non´standard vocabulary

118
Q

Sociolect

A

Variety of language used by a particular social group

119
Q

Speech

A

Oral medium of transmission of language

120
Q

Spelling

A

Forming of words from letters according to accepted usage

121
Q

Standard English

A

Dialect representing English speech and writing comprehensible to most users

122
Q

Structure

A

Arrangement of parts or ideas in a piece of writing

123
Q

Style

A

Aspects of writing or speech which have identifiable character generally used in a positive sense to indicate ‘pleasing effects’

124
Q

Stylistic analysis

A

Study of stylistic effects in writing

125
Q

Subordinate clause

A

Clause within a sentence that is less important than the main clause. It cannot stand alone as a complete sentence

126
Q

Suffix

A

Group of letters commonly found at the ends of words ex: -able, -ly

127
Q

Superlative

A

Adjective indicating highest degree, usually ending -est ex: coldest

128
Q

Symbol

A

Object which represents something other than itself ex: the limousine was another symbol of his wealth and authority

129
Q

Synonym

A

Word which means (almost) the same as another

130
Q

Syntax

A

Arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

131
Q

Taboo language

A

Words that are avoided bc they are considered offensive, embarrasing, obscene or unpleasant ex: death, sex or religious related words

132
Q

Tag question

A

Words added to declarative sentences to turn the statement into a question and influence the answer ex: it’s cold, isn’t it?

133
Q

Tense

A

Form taken by a verb to indicate time

134
Q

Text

A

Piece of writing

135
Q

Tone

A

Author’s or speaker’s attitude, as revealed in quality of voice or selection of language

136
Q

Topic loop

A

When a conversation returns to an earlier topic

137
Q

Topic marker

A

Utterance which establishes the topic of conversation

138
Q

Topic shifter

A

Utterance that moves a conversation on to another topic

139
Q

Unvoiced pause

A

A silent pause in speech

140
Q

Verb

A

Term expressing an action or state of being

141
Q

Vocabulary

A

Particular types of words chosen in speech or writing

142
Q

Vowel

A

Open sounds made in speech- opposite of consonants

143
Q

Word class

A

Words are grouped into word classes according to their grammatical function- Nouns, verbs, adjectives are examples of word classes.

AKA parts of speech

144
Q

What is a synonym of ‘word class’?

A

Parts of speech

145
Q

What is the opposite of ‘active voice’?

A

Passive voice

146
Q

What is the opposite of an ‘anaphoric reference’?

A

Cataphoric reference

147
Q

What is the difference between ‘alliteration’ and ‘assonance’?

A

ALLITERATION: Repetition of consonants

ASSONANCE: Repetition of vowels

148
Q

What is the opposite of ‘asyndetic listing’?

A

Syndetic listing

149
Q

What is the main difference between ‘auxiliary verbs’ and modal verbs’?

A

AUXILIARY: Placed before main verb to add grammatical or functional meaning

MODAL: Type of auxiliary verb used to add ability, possibility, permission or obligation

150
Q

What is the opposite of ‘broadening’?

A

Narrowing

151
Q

What is the difference between a ‘sentence’, a ‘clause’ and a ‘phrase’?

A

SENTENCE: Group of words that expresses a complete thought, has a subject and a predicate (verb)

CLAUSE: Group of words that contains a subject and a predicate (makes sense on its own: The boy is playing, Sara smiled). A sentence might have just one clause (simple sentence)

PHRASE: Group of words in a sentence that does not contain a subject and a verb. It does not make complete sense on its own.
Ex: He is playing in the field.- ‘He is playing’ is a clause (subject+verb) and ‘in the field’ is a phrase.

152
Q

What is the opposite of connotation?

A

Denotation- literal meaning of a word

153
Q

What is the opposite of descriptivism?

A

Prescriptivism

154
Q

What is the opposite of ‘amelioration’?

A

Pejoration

155
Q

What is the difference between ‘metaphor’ and ‘simile’?

A

A simile is saying something is like something else.
Ex: She is as innocent as an angel

A metaphor is saying something is something else.
Ex: She is an angel

156
Q

Exophoric reference

A

When a word or phrase refers to something outside the discourse. Ex: (They‘re) late again, can you believe it?- It requires some shared knowledge between two speakers or the writer and the audience.

Y1-English 2 (9 decks)

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