Linguistic terms A-level Flashcards
To help memorize the 20 different linguistic terms
What is grammar?
The study of the classes of words, their inflections and their functions and relations in a language
Subject, Verb, Object = I want that ball
What is orthography?
Spelling, the conventional spelling system of a language
What are pragmatics?
The context in which w sentence is being said
What is morphology?
The structure and combination of words to change meaning. dog + s = dogs
What is phonology?
The sound/ Pronunciation of words
What is lexis?
Vocabulary
What is syntax?
The arrangement of words
What are semantics?
The meaning of words
What is graphology?
The ways in which characters are written
What is amelioration?
Semantic elevation, negative words turned positive
What is coinage?
The inventing of a new word or phrase in a language. Neologism( creation of a new word) & ePONYM(NAMED AFTER AN INVENTOR
What is telescoping?
The contraction of a phrase, word, or part of a word. “sitcom”- situation comedy
What is pejoration?
When a word develops a negative meaning overtime.
What is etymology?
The study and investigation of the origin of words.
What is borrowing?
The word in a language is “borrowed” from another language.
What is narrowing?
When the meaning of a word becomes less generalized overtime.
What is compounding?
The act of combining two words to make a new word.
What is blending?
Joining the beginning and end of two words to make a new word.
What is coalescence?
When two phonemes are substituted but still has similar features( children do this in their early ages of speaking, foon instead of spoon, baba instead of bottle)
What is back formation?
Creating a new word by removing affixes.
What is clipping?
Shortening longer words- Mathematics to Maths
What is the functional theory of language change
Created by Michael Halliday & David Crystal.
Language changes for functional reasons/everyday use to meet the communicative needs of its speakers
what is the cultural transmission theory of language change
This was created by Bandura and Mackintosh.
Language development takes place in a social context and is impacted by social & cultural learning as well as cross-cultural interactions.
What is the random fluctuation theory of language change?
This was theorized by Charles Hockett.
Language changes happen due to mistakes or random events in communication
What is the substratum theory of language change?
This was theorized by William Lalou.
When speakers of one language come into contact with another, their native language influences the dominant language. this can be through invasion, immigration of media.
What is the theory of lexical gaps in language change?
This was theorized by Michael Halliday.
Is explains how language evolves by filling in “gaps” in its vocabulary. A lexical gap refers to a concept or meaning for which a language lacks a specific word.
