Lexical Levels Flashcards
What is acronymisation?
Taking the initial letters of a word “UCAS”
What is affixiation?
Adding a prefix or suffix onto a word
What is backformation?
They take a word with affixes and reduce it to a shortened form
What is blending?
Taking the beginning of one word and mixing it with another
What is borrowing?
Borrowing a word from another language to fill a lexical gap
What is clipping?
Missing off parts of a word
What is compounding?
Putting together two whole words
What is conversion?
Words changing word class
What is eponymisation?
When a word is taken from someone’s name
What is initialism?
When the first letters of a sequence of words are taken and put together
What is amelioration?
When word meanings become more positive
What is broadening?
When a words meaning becomes more broad
What is a euphemism?
A word used in place of something more harsh
What is an idiom?
Metaphorical expressions used habitually which have become part of the language
What is narrowing?
When a words meaning becomes more narrow
