English Language Terms

Lexis

The language choices made by the writer.

Lexical field- A group of words that may group together to form a certain subject. E.G "Doctor, I don't think this woman is going to live. The patient's had a heart attack, and we've begun the resuscitation process but there's been no improvement."- has a medical lexis, due to the words in bold.

Semantics

The study of meaning that is used to understand human expression through language.

Includes-

• Metaphors and Similes
• Pragmatics

Can be seen in -

• Paragraph Structuring
• Punctuation
  

Morphology

The component that governs the structure of words, intonations or implied context. The study of the rules governing word formation.

Graphology

Graphology is the study of the writing system of a language. It describes the general resources of language's written system, including:

• punctuation
• spelling
• typography 
• paragraph structure  

It can also be extended to incorporate any significant pictures and icons which add to the overall effect of the piece.

Syntax

The structure and construction of sentences.

E.G. Simple sentences 'the cat sat on the mat.' (independant clause, contains a subject and a verb)

Compound sentences 'I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English. (2 independant clauses. N.B the linking word affects the relationship between the two)

Complex sentences 'When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page' (independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses)

Also, declarative, imperitive, interrogative etc sentences.

Phonology

Concerned with the systematic organisation of sounds in languages (or, why writers chose to use certain words due to their sounds)

Includes:

• Onomatopoeia
• Assonance
• Alliteration
• Rhyme