Terminology Flashcards
Common noun
A naming word for something that is tangible, e.g. Chair, penguin, man, etc.
Abstract noun
A naming word for an idea, concept, state of being or belief, e.g. Sadness, love, politics, etc.
Proper noun
A naming word for a specific example of a common noun (names, specific places)
Verb
A doing word
Active verb
A word that represents a physical action, e.g. Jump, run, skip, etc.
Statice verb
A word that represents a process that is often only mental, e.g. Think, love, ponder, believe, fear, etc
Auxiliary verb
A verb that has to be used with another verb in order to create present participles or the future tense, e.g. “DID you go?”; “I AM going”; “you WILL go”
Modal verb
A verb that expresses a degree of either possibility or necessity, e.g. May, might, must, could, should, would, ought, will, etc.
Adjective
A describing word
Adverb
A describing word that modifies all types of words, excluding nouns
Superlative
An adjective that displays the most extreme value of its quantity , e.g. Most, biggest, smallest, quickest, etc.
Comparative
An adjective that relates to one thing in some way to another and usually ends in ‘er’: bigger, smaller, quicker, farther, etc
Definite article
‘The’
Indefinite article
‘A’ or ‘an’
Pronoun
A word that takes place of a noun in a sentence, e.g. Him, her, she, he, it, I, you, me, they
First person pronoun
I, and the first person plural: we, our, us
Second person pronoun
You
Third person pronoun
Him, her, he, she, it, and the third person plural: them, those
Possessive pronoun (1st, 2nd, 3rd person depending)
my, mine, our, your, his, hers, theirs
Demonstrative pronoun
This, that, those
Monosyllabic lexis
Words of one syllable
Polysyllabic lexis
Words of two or more syllables
Imperative sentence mood
A sentence that issues a command
Declarative sentence mood
A sentence making a statement
Interrogative sentence mood
Asking a question
Exclamatory sentence mood
When a sentence conveys a strong sense of emotion, sense of alarm, or overly strong emphasis
Register
The level of formality of a text
Tenor
The tone, or the relationship between author and reader and hoe it is created
Attitudes
The opinions expressed in the text
Content
What the text is about
Context
Things outside the text which may shape its meaning, e.g. When it was written, who wrote it
Form
The structure and shape of a text
Themes
The recurring ideas and images in a text
Colloquialism
Informal language use, e.g. Bloke, fella, lass, bog(toilet), arse, bum, grub, scram, etc.
Exclamation
A word word sentence (always a minor sentence) with an exclamation mark at the end
Ellipsis
When parts of a written structure are missing. In texts, sometimes they are indicated by three full stops in a row, denoting perhaps a significant pause… Do you see?
Syntax
The way words form sentences (the ordering of them to create meaning)
Parenthesis
An aside within a text created by sectioning off extra information between brackets, dashes or between two commas
Rhetorical question
A question designed not to be answered, perhaps to pique interest or make a point; a stylistic choice
Hypophoria
When a rhetorical question is immediately followed by the answer, e.g. “Is this the best film ever? You bet it is!”
Hyperbole
Deliberated over-exaggeration of things for effect
Litotes
Deliberately downplaying things for effect
Parallelism
The creation of patterns within a text, through repetition of words or phrases or by balancing meanings for deliberate effect
Repetition
The repetition of words or phrases
Tripling
Grouping in threes, either through repetition or through structures. This can be for emphasis or to add a sense of momentum to a point being made
Imagery
A descriptive or metaphorical use of language to create a vivid picture
Premodification
A descriptive technique where the descriptive word comes before the thing they’re describing
Post modification
A descriptive technique where the descriptive words come after the thing they’re describing
Interrogative sentence mood
Asking a question
Exclamatory sentence mood
When a sentence conveys a strong sense of emotion, sense of alarm or overly strong emphasis
Register
the level of formality of a text
tenor
the tone, or the relationship between the author and reader. How is it created?
attitudes
the opinions expressed within the text
context
what the text is about
form
the structure and shape of the text
themes
the recurring ideas and images in a text
colloquialim
informal language usage, e.g. fella, bloke, lass, bog, arse, bum, grub, scram
Exclamation
a one word sentence (always a minor sentence) with an exclamation mark at the end
ellipsis
when parts of a written structure are missing. In texts, sometimes they are indicated by three full stops in a row, denoting perhaps a significant pause… Do you see?
syntax
the way words form in sentences
parethesis
an aside within a text created by sectioning off extra information between brakets, dashes or between two commas
rhetorical question
a question designed not to be answered, perhaps to pique interest or make a point; a stylistic choice
hypophora
when a rhetorical question is immediately followed by an answer in a text, e.g. “Is this the best film ever? You bet it is!”
hyperbole
deliberate over-exaggeration for effect
litotes
deliberately downplaying things for effect
parallelism
the creation of patterns in a text, through repetition of words/phrases or by balancing meanings for effect
tripling
grouping in threes, either through repetition or structures. This can be for emphasis or to add a sense of gathering momentum to a point being made
imagery
a descriptive or metaphorical use of language to create a vivid picture
premodification
a descriptive technique where the descriptive word(s) come before the thing they’re describing
postmodification
a descriptive technique where the descriptive word(s) come after the thing they’re describing
metaphor
a comparison that states that something is actually something else. “take a leaf out of her book” or “i’m a demon driver”
similie
a comparason that states that something is like or as something else. “i drive like a demon”
synecdoche
a metaphor that states that something is only a small consituent part of itself, even though we commonly understand otherwise. “a new set of wheels”(car)
analogy
explaining something in terms of something else
allusion
to reder to something indirectly or metaphorically
pathetic fallacy
when the enivronment/weather mirror emotions
personification
a device in which the non-human is given
extended metaphor
when a metaphor continues throughout the text with recurring references to the compared item
symbolism
using figurative and metaphoric language, items or incident in a way that means that certain things represent other things
lexis
another word for the the word ‘word’
field specific lexis
the language of a certain area
lexical set
the selection of relative lexemes from a text.
lexical bundle
a recurrent sequence of words or a collection of words that, through repetition of use, just naturally go together
semantics
the meaning of words
acronym
words created by the initials of other grouped words, e.g. NASA, UCAS, LOL, LMAO, etc.
synonym
an alternative word choice that has the same or a very similar meaning, e.g. a synonym for horror is fright
homophone
different words that sound exactly the same when spoken, e.g. they’re, their and there
homonym
when one word can have multiple meanings, e.g. great can mean both size and positivity
archaism
a word that, over time, has fallen out of common usage. Older ones include: zounds, thus, betwixt, etc. However slang can become archaic as new generations opt to choose new terms for things: dig it and radical are perhaps examples of this
juxtaposition
the placing together of elements for some conscious effect, whether that be complimentary or contrasting
antithesis
when ideas contrast or oppose one another; a semantic contrast within a text. Often used in reasoned arguments or to create an emphasised contrast
binary opposites
hot/cold, loud/quiet, big/small, narrow/wide
oxymoron
the use of contradictory words in a phrase, e.g. a peaceful war/hot ice
collocations
words that naturally go together, e.g. fish and chips
asyndetic listing
the listing of elements that excludes any form of conjunction
syndetic listing
the listing of elements with a coordinating conjunction
consonance
the repetition of double consonants in the middle of words
assonance
the repetition of vowel sounds - often create a rhythm
protagonist
the character the reader is meant to identify with the most and follow through the story. The hero (or anti-hero)
antagonist
the character who opposes the protagonist
dramatic irony
when the audience is aware of more than one of the characters (but the protagonist is not) to create a dramatic effect
ambiguity
when there can be more than one outcome
anthropomorphism
when an animal takes on the characteristics of a human, e.g. wearing clothes, buying cakes and talking
mimesis
mimicry - a story, for example, may mimic the gasping breath of a pursued protagonist by using short, sharp sentences and lots of aspirant alliteration
neologism
a newly invented word
portmanteau
a newly invented word, created by merging two words together, e.g. chillax (from chill out and relax)
compound words
a word created by utilising two existing words seperated by a hyphen, e.g. global-village, go-straight, bone-headed
clipping
colloquialism omission of parts of words to create a more casual alternative, e.g. bra, pram, ‘cause
taboo language
basically swear words - words that aren’t socially acceptable
multiple modifiers
doubling and trebling up of adjectives - frequently used in tabloid newspapers and also other genres text
idiom
spoken metaphor
