Lexis and Semantics Flashcards
abstract noun
A noun that denotes a concept or thing with no physical qualities e.g. courage, welcome, doom
acronym
An abbreviation formed by taking letters from a series of words, which is pronounced as a word e.g. lol
adjective
A word that defines attributes of a noun and that can occur before the noun (e.g. the RED tulip) or after a stative verb (e.g. that tulip was RED) and can often express contrasts (e.g. the SMALLEST flower was the REDDEST).
adverb
A word that defines the action of a verb (e.g. the rain fell HEAVILY), that can act as an intensifier (e.g. REALLY loud), that can express contrasts (e.g. more crucially, most crucially), and that can function as a sentence connecter (e.g. NEVERTHELESS, I would not be voting for him after that).
blend
A word formed by combining two or more words to create a new word combining the meaning of the originals (also called portmanteau words) e.g. webinar = web + seminar
cliche
An image that has lost its original meaning or novelty through overuse e.g. only tine will tell, frightened to death, the quiet before the storm
clipping
The creation of a new word with the same word class and denotation by dropping a syllable (also called truncation) e.g. Thurs, spec, flip, phone
collective noun
A noun that refers to a group, which may take singular or plural verb form depending on whether the group is seen as a single cooperative body or a collection of individuals.
collocation
A recognisable group of words that frequently occur together e.g. there you go
colloquialism
An informal word, phrase or pronunciation, often associated with informal speech
concrete noun
a noun that refers to physical things like people, places objects and substances.
conjunct
An adverb that has a linking function e.g. nevertheless, however, instead.
conjunction
A closed class word used to join other words or phrases together e.g. bread AND butter pudding (coordinating); I liked her SINCE she was always ready to help (subordinating)
connotations
The associations linked with a word that go beyond its denotation
contraction
A shortened word e.g. can’t won’t we’re
coordinating conjunction
A word that joins words, phrases, clauses or sentences of equal grammatical status e.g. and, or, but
count noun
A noun that refers to things that can be counted and which has plural form e.g. computer/computers
degree adverb
An adverb which indicates the extent of a quality e.g. very, really, quite, early, so
denotation
The dictionary meaning of a word.
determiner
A closed class word which only occurs at the beginning of a noun phrase and which defines the number and definiteness of the noun e.g. THE dog, SOME flowers, A mistake, THAT list.
dynamic verb
a verb which expresses an action rather than a state and which has a progressive form e.g. I was PICKING apples
homonym
Words with the same sound and form but different meanings e.g. rock and rock, saw and saw
homophone
words with the same sounds but different spellings and meanings e.g. flower/flour
hyperbole
Exaggeration or overstatement used as a rhetorical device to heighten feelings.
idiom
A distinctive expression in which the meaning is not a literal interpretation of the individual words e.g. jumped the gun (acted too fast)
initialism
A word formed from the first letters of a sequence of words pronounced letter by letter e.g. NHS, BBC, OMG
intensifier
an adverb that adds emphasis e.g. so, really, very
irony
A way of writing or speaking in which the intended meaning appears to be the opposite of what is actually said e.g. Thanks so much for taking the bins out (they didn’t actually take them out = implicit criticism)
lexical verb
The verb in a verb phrase that carries the main meaning (also called a main verb) e.g. The man FELL. The children had FINISHED. The car should have ARRIVED by now.
modal verb
An auxiliary that alters the meaning of the lexical verb in terms of likelihood, ability, permission, obligation etc e.g. we MUST go (obligation); we MIGHT go (possibility); we WILL go (prediction)
modifier
A word used to add descriptive detail to another word e.g. the SLOW train; the train screeched WILDLY.
monosyllabic
Having one syllable.
neologism
The creation of a word from existing lexical items e.g. electracy - the skills and facility needed to make full use of the communicative potential of new electronic media (modelled on ‘literacy’)
non-count noun
A noun referring to things which cannot be counted and which often do not have a plural form e.g. traffic, applause
noun
An open class word with a naming function, often with a plural form and which can be marked for possession
ordinal number
a word that indicates the order of a sequence e.g. third, second
polysyllabic
more than one sylable
prefix
A bound morpheme that can be added to the beginning of a free morpheme e.g. REdo
preposition
a closed class word that comes in front of a noun phrase to express a relationship e.g. ON the mountain; UNDER the table
pronoun
a closed class word that can replace a noun phrase e.g. the boy = he
proper noun
A noun that refers to the names of specific people, places and occasions, and which has an initial capital letter in written language e.g. River Bann, December, Tommy
semantic change
changes in the word meaning over time
semantic field
a theme or topic created by the use of words with associated meanings e.g. doctor, medicine, nurse, surgery
suffix
A bound morpheme that can be added to the end of a free morpheme e.g. goodNESS
synonyms
different words that have the same or similar meanings e.g. repulsive, disgusting
verb
An open class word expressing states, process and actions, which can be marked for tense, aspect, voice and modality
