Lexis and Semantics

Question 1

abstract noun

Answer 1

A noun that denotes a concept or thing with no physical qualities e.g. courage, welcome, doom

Question 2

acronym

Answer 2

An abbreviation formed by taking letters from a series of words, which is pronounced as a word e.g. lol

Question 3

adjective

Answer 3

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).

Question 4

adverb

Answer 4

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).

Question 5

blend

Answer 5

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

Question 6

cliche

Answer 6

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

Question 7

clipping

Answer 7

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

Question 8

collective noun

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

collocation

Answer 9

A recognisable group of words that frequently occur together e.g. there you go

Question 10

colloquialism

Answer 10

An informal word, phrase or pronunciation, often associated with informal speech

Question 11

concrete noun

Answer 11

a noun that refers to physical things like people, places objects and substances.

Question 12

conjunct

Answer 12

An adverb that has a linking function e.g. nevertheless, however, instead.

Question 13

conjunction

Answer 13

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)

Question 14

connotations

Answer 14

The associations linked with a word that go beyond its denotation

Question 15

contraction

Answer 15

A shortened word e.g. can’t won’t we’re

Question 16

coordinating conjunction

Answer 16

A word that joins words, phrases, clauses or sentences of equal grammatical status e.g. and, or, but

Question 17

count noun

Answer 17

A noun that refers to things that can be counted and which has plural form e.g. computer/computers

Question 18

degree adverb

Answer 18

An adverb which indicates the extent of a quality e.g. very, really, quite, early, so

Question 19

denotation

Answer 19

The dictionary meaning of a word.

Question 20

determiner

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

dynamic verb

Answer 21

a verb which expresses an action rather than a state and which has a progressive form e.g. I was PICKING apples

Question 22

homonym

Answer 22

Words with the same sound and form but different meanings e.g. rock and rock, saw and saw

Question 23

homophone

Answer 23

words with the same sounds but different spellings and meanings e.g. flower/flour

Question 24

hyperbole

Answer 24

Exaggeration or overstatement used as a rhetorical device to heighten feelings.

Question 25

idiom

Answer 25

A distinctive expression in which the meaning is not a literal interpretation of the individual words e.g. jumped the gun (acted too fast)

Question 26

initialism

Answer 26

A word formed from the first letters of a sequence of words pronounced letter by letter e.g. NHS, BBC, OMG

Question 27

intensifier

Answer 27

an adverb that adds emphasis e.g. so, really, very

Question 28

irony

Answer 28

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)

Question 29

lexical verb

Answer 29

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.

Question 30

modal verb

Answer 30

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)

Question 31

modifier

Answer 31

A word used to add descriptive detail to another word e.g. the SLOW train; the train screeched WILDLY.

Question 32

monosyllabic

Answer 32

Having one syllable.

Question 33

neologism

Answer 33

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’)

Question 34

non-count noun

Answer 34

A noun referring to things which cannot be counted and which often do not have a plural form e.g. traffic, applause

Question 35

noun

Answer 35

An open class word with a naming function, often with a plural form and which can be marked for possession

Question 36

ordinal number

Answer 36

a word that indicates the order of a sequence e.g. third, second

Question 37

polysyllabic

Answer 37

more than one sylable

Question 38

prefix

Answer 38

A bound morpheme that can be added to the beginning of a free morpheme e.g. REdo

Question 39

preposition

Answer 39

a closed class word that comes in front of a noun phrase to express a relationship e.g. ON the mountain; UNDER the table

Question 40

pronoun

Answer 40

a closed class word that can replace a noun phrase e.g. the boy = he

Question 41

proper noun

Answer 41

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

Question 42

semantic change

Answer 42

changes in the word meaning over time

Question 43

semantic field

Answer 43

a theme or topic created by the use of words with associated meanings e.g. doctor, medicine, nurse, surgery

Question 44

suffix

Answer 44

A bound morpheme that can be added to the end of a free morpheme e.g. goodNESS

Question 45

synonyms

Answer 45

different words that have the same or similar meanings e.g. repulsive, disgusting

Question 46

verb

Answer 46

An open class word expressing states, process and actions, which can be marked for tense, aspect, voice and modality