Language Glossary Flashcards
Abbreviations
Letter(s) or shortened words used instead of a full word or phrase
Accent
Features of pronunciation which indicate the regional or social identity of the speaker
Accommodation
Theory suggesting we adjust our speech to accommodate the person we’re addressing
Acronym
Word formed from the initial letters of other words ex: ASAP
Acquisition
Process by which language skills are developed-= particularly in infancy
Active voice
When subject of a verb is the agent performing the action ex: the police caught the burglar
Adjacency pair
2-part exchanges following a predictable pattern and found in conversation ex: how are you? fine thank you
Adjective
Word which modifies a noun or pronoun
Adverb
Word which modifies a verb, adverb or adjective
Adverbial
Word or group of words working as an adverb, usually giving info about time, place or manner etc
Affix
Group of letters forming part of a word, usually a prefix or suffix
Agreement
Grammatical logic and coherence between parts of a sentence
Alliteration
Repetition of consonant sounds- usually at beginning of words
Amelioration
Change in the meaning of a word that gives the word a more positive meaning
Anaphoric reference
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.
Antonym
Word that is opposite in meaning to another
Apostrophes
Raised comma used to denote either possession or contraction
Articles
Word that specifies whether a noun is definite or indefinite
Assonance
Repetition of vowel sounds ex: he fell asleep under the cherry tree
Asyndetic listing
Listing which does not involve the use of conjunctions
SYNDETIC: Birds flock and wheel and cry.
ASYNDETIC: Birds flock, wheel and cry.
Audience
Person(s) receiving a speech or piece of writing
Auxiliary verb
Verb placed in front of main verb ex: can, have, does
Blend
Word formed by combining parts of other words ex: emoticon (emote/icon) and brunch (breakfast/lunch) are blended words
Borrowing
Word/expression taken from another language ex: anonymous (greek), cartoon (italian), cigar (spanish), lemon (arabic), ketchup (chinese), karaoke (japanese)
Brackets
Curved or square punctuation marks enclosing words inserted into a text
Broadening
When meaning of a word is extended and it takes on one or more new meanings whilst retaining the old one ex: gay
Capitals
upper-case letters used to indicate names, titles and important words
Cataphoric reference
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.
Clauses
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
Cliche
Over-used phrase or expression ex: Actions speak louder than words
Clipping
Word formed by shortening an existing word ex: phone from telephone
Cohesion
Techniques and devices used to connect different parts of a text with each other
Coinage
Creation of a completely new word ex: the word ‘blog’ is a recent coinage
Collocation
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
Comparative
Adjective that makes a comparison
Complement
Part of a sentence that gives more info about subject or object ex: the soup tasted -good-
Complex sentence
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.
Compound
Word or expression formed from the combination of other words ex: blackbird, moonlight, sunflower
Compound sentence
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
Conjunction
Word which connects words or other constructions ex: and, or, but, because, for, if, and when.
Connotation
Associations that a word has
Contraction
When words are combined to form a single shortened word
Context
Setting in which speech or writing takes place
Convergence
When the speech styles of 2 or more people move closer together
Creole
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.
Declarative sentence
A sentence that makes a statement
Descriptivism
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
Determiner
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)
Dialect
Form of speech peculiar to a district, class or person
Diglossia
Existence of 2 official languages in a society ex: Spain (castilian, catalan, basque, galician)
Divergence
When the speech styles of 2 or more people move away from each other
Diphthong
2 vowel characters representing the sound of a single vowel ex: /aʊ/ as in “Town”, /aɪ/ as in “Light”, /eɪ/ as in “Play”
Ellipsis
Omission of words from a sentence
Estuary English
Accent that originated in London and the south-east and that has spread outwards to other parts of the country
Euphemism
Mild or indirect expression used instead of one that is considered in some way offensive, painful or unpleasant.
Exclamatory sentence
Sentence that ends with an exclamation mark
Field-specific lexis
Vocabulary associated with a particular topic or field
Filler
Word or expression of little meaning commonly inserted into speech ex: you know, like
Filler
Hesitation such as ‘um’ or ‘er’
Form
Outward appearance or structure of language, as opposed to its function, meaning or social use
Function
Role that language plays to express ideas or attitudes
Grammar
Study of sentence structure, especially with reference to syntax and semantics
Grapheme
Smallest unit in writing system of language
Graphology
Visual aspects of a text (layout, headings, logos)
Head word
Main word in a phrase
Homonyms
Words with the same spelling but with different meanings ex: book (noun and verb different meanings)
Idiolect
Form of language used by, and unique to, a single individual
Idiom
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…
Imperative
Sentence that gives a command or order
Infinitive
Form of a verb that dos not identify person or number, the root form ex: to run, to walk
Inflection
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.
Interrogative
Sentence that is a question
Irony
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.
Intonation
Use of pitch in speech to create contrast and variation
Jargon
Technical language of an occupation or group
Language change
Development and changes in a language
Lexis
Vocabulary of a language, especially in dictionary form
Metaphor
Figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of another ex: life is a highway
Metonymy
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.)
Modal auxiliary
Auxiliary words which are only ever used in conjunction with a main verb ex: can, must, might, would
Modifier
Word that gives more info about a head word ex: vegetarian burger- vegetarian modifies the word ‘burger’
Morpheme
Smallest unit of meaning in grammar
Morphology
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.
Narrator
Person (named or unknown) who is telling a story
Narrowing
When meaning of word narrows so that it becomes more limited and specific
Opposite of broadening.
Non-fluency features
Features that interrupt the flow of a person’s speech ex: hesitation, repetitions, interruptions, fillers, false starts
Noun
Word which names an object or concept
Onomatopoeia
Word that sounds like the thing it describes ex: tick tock of a clock, boom of an explosion, giggle, grunt
Oxymoron
Figure of speech in which two contradictory terms appear in conjunction ex: deafening silence, seriously funny, living dead
Paradox
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.
Paragraph
Distinct passage of writing which is unified by an idea or a topic
Parallelism
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)
Parenthesis
Word, clause or sentence which is inserted into a sentence to which it does not gramatically belong.
Participle
Word derived from a verb and used as an adjective or noun ex: past participle- flown, forgotten, forgiven
Parts of speech
8 common parts of speech are:
- Verb
- Noun
- Adjective
- Adverb
- Pronoun
- Preposition
- Conjunction
- Interjection
Interjection
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…
Passive voice
When subject of verb is the element affected by the action ex: the burglar was caught by the police.
Pejoration
Shift in meaning of a word so that meaning becomes less positive
Phonetics
Study of the production, transmission and reception of speech sounds
Phonology
Study of sounds in any language
Phrase
Groups of words, smaller than a clause, which forms a grammatical unit
Pidgin
Language that combines 2 or more other languages enabling the members of different speech communities to communicate.
Point of view
Perspective or source of a piece of writing
Pragmatics
Study of the part that language plays in social situations and social relationships
Preposition
Word which governs and typically precedes a noun or pronoun
Prescriptivism
Approach to study of language that favours rules identifying correct and incorrect language use
Opposite of descriptivism
Pronoun
Word that can be substituted for a noun or a noun phrase ex: he, she, them , they, whoever
Prosody
Non-verbal aspects of speech such as volume, intonation and pitch
Punctuation
System of marks used to introduce pauses and interruption into writing
Received Pronunciation (RP)
Regionally neutral accent of British English, a social accent
Register
Form of language appropriate to a particular situation
Repair
Repair resolves a problem that has arisen ex: speakers might correct themselves if something has been said in error
Semantics
Study of linguistic meaning
Sentence
Set of words which form a grammatically complete statement, usually containing a subject, verb, and object
Simile
igure of speech in which one thing is likened to another using ‘like’ or ‘as’
Simple sentence
Sentence that contains only one independent clause
Slang
informal, non´standard vocabulary
Sociolect
Variety of language used by a particular social group
Speech
Oral medium of transmission of language
Spelling
Forming of words from letters according to accepted usage
Standard English
Dialect representing English speech and writing comprehensible to most users
Structure
Arrangement of parts or ideas in a piece of writing
Style
Aspects of writing or speech which have identifiable character generally used in a positive sense to indicate ‘pleasing effects’
Stylistic analysis
Study of stylistic effects in writing
Subordinate clause
Clause within a sentence that is less important than the main clause. It cannot stand alone as a complete sentence
Suffix
Group of letters commonly found at the ends of words ex: -able, -ly
Superlative
Adjective indicating highest degree, usually ending -est ex: coldest
Symbol
Object which represents something other than itself ex: the limousine was another symbol of his wealth and authority
Synonym
Word which means (almost) the same as another
Syntax
Arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.
Taboo language
Words that are avoided bc they are considered offensive, embarrasing, obscene or unpleasant ex: death, sex or religious related words
Tag question
Words added to declarative sentences to turn the statement into a question and influence the answer ex: it’s cold, isn’t it?
Tense
Form taken by a verb to indicate time
Text
Piece of writing
Tone
Author’s or speaker’s attitude, as revealed in quality of voice or selection of language
Topic loop
When a conversation returns to an earlier topic
Topic marker
Utterance which establishes the topic of conversation
Topic shifter
Utterance that moves a conversation on to another topic
Unvoiced pause
A silent pause in speech
Verb
Term expressing an action or state of being
Vocabulary
Particular types of words chosen in speech or writing
Vowel
Open sounds made in speech- opposite of consonants
Word class
Words are grouped into word classes according to their grammatical function- Nouns, verbs, adjectives are examples of word classes.
AKA parts of speech
What is a synonym of ‘word class’?
Parts of speech
What is the opposite of ‘active voice’?
Passive voice
What is the opposite of an ‘anaphoric reference’?
Cataphoric reference
What is the difference between ‘alliteration’ and ‘assonance’?
ALLITERATION: Repetition of consonants
ASSONANCE: Repetition of vowels
What is the opposite of ‘asyndetic listing’?
Syndetic listing
What is the main difference between ‘auxiliary verbs’ and modal verbs’?
AUXILIARY: Placed before main verb to add grammatical or functional meaning
MODAL: Type of auxiliary verb used to add ability, possibility, permission or obligation
What is the opposite of ‘broadening’?
Narrowing
What is the difference between a ‘sentence’, a ‘clause’ and a ‘phrase’?
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.
What is the opposite of connotation?
Denotation- literal meaning of a word
What is the opposite of descriptivism?
Prescriptivism
What is the opposite of ‘amelioration’?
Pejoration
What is the difference between ‘metaphor’ and ‘simile’?
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
Exophoric reference
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.
