English Language Key Terminology

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  • Created by: A. Person
  • Created on: 12-03-14 22:11
Acronym
A word formed from the initial letters of other words, eg. 'NASA' (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
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Blend word
A word formed by combining other words, eg. 'smog' (smoke + fog)
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Borrowing
A word or expression taken from another language, eg. 'cul de sac' is borrowed from French.
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Coinage
The creation of a new word
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Neologism
A newly coined word or expression, eg. 'revisionophobia' (a neologism coined by me approximately 3 seconds ago.)
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Compound
A word formed by combining other words, eg. 'Blackbird', 'Backlash', 'Snowmobile',
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Synonym
A word with a similar meaning to another word, eg. 'Miserable' is a synonym for 'sad'.
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Antonym
A word with an opposite meaning to another word, eg. 'Joyous' is an antonym of 'miserable'.
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Collocation
Groups of words that are usually found alongside one another, eg. 'long day', 'happy ending'... Deviations from usual collocations are often worth noting.
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Adverbial
A word, or phrase, which ias an adverb. Provides information about time/place/manner.
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Morpheme
The smallest unit of language that expresses meaning/performs a function... For example 'apples' consists of the morphemes 'apple' + 's'.
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Affix
A morpheme attached to the root of a word to modify meaning, eg. '-ness', as in 'sadness'
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Prefix
An affix found at the beginning of a word, eg. 'de-', as in 'dehumanise'
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Suffix
An affix found at the end of a word, eg. '-ous', as in 'poisonous'
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Jargon
Specialist vocabulary associated with a particular kind of activity
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Lexical field
A group of words with particular associations, eg. the lexical field of agriculture... 'tractor' 'cultivation' 'sheep' 'plough', etc.
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Field-specific lexis
The same as lexical field - the use of language specific to a certain 'field', or subject.
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Taboo language
Words generally avoided because they are considered unpleasant or offensive
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Perjoration
A shift in the meaning of a word, so that it's meaning becomes negative.
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Amelioration
A shift in the meaning of a word, so that it becomes positive.
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Connotation
The associations of a word - eg. 'red' could denote danger, lust, passion.
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Intransitive verb
A verb which does not require an object, eg. 'He died' - died is transitive.
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Transitive verb
A verb which requires an object, eg. 'She kicked him' - 'She kicked' does not make sense without an object ('him', in this case).
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Dynamic verb
A verb describing an action, eg. Ran. 'I ran away'. Can always be used in the present continuous tense, eg. 'I am running'
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Stative verb
A verb which describes a state, eg. Love. 'I love you'. Cannot be used in the present continuous (eg. 'I am loving you'.)
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Modal verb
A verb which indicates permission/probability, eg. must, might, could, will
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Active voice
When the subject of the verb is emphasised, eg. 'The teacher taught the students'
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Passive voice
When the object of the verb is emphasised, eg. 'The students were taught by the teacher'.
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Simple sentence
A sentence containing only one clause.
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Compound sentence
A sentence containing two or more main clauses, joined by co-ordinating conjuctions.
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Co-ordinating conjunction
Words which join clauses. FANBOYS: For, and, but, or, yet, so.
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Complex sentences
A sentence containing a main clause, and subordinate clauses, joined by subordinating conjunctions
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Subordinating conjunctions
Because, after, although, because, while, etc.
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Declarative sentence
A sentence which 'declares' something, eg. 'Every home should own a stapler', 'You look pretty'
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Imperative sentence
A sentence which commands something, eg. 'Shut the window', 'Go away'
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Exclamatory sentence
A sentence which acts as an exclamation, eg. 'I refuse to share my cake with anyone!', 'That's terrible!'
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Interrogative sentence
A sentence which asks a question, eg. 'What's your name?', 'Are you hungry?'
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Journalese
A collection of words typically found in journalistic writing, eg. 'slam', 'skyrocket'
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Epistolary
Relating to the writing of letters - eg. an epistolary narrative is a story told through letters.
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Mode
Format - eg. written modes include blog, magazine, novel, essay, advertising
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Evaluative adjective
An adjective which 'evaluates' something, eg. 'The food was acceptable', 'He's a brilliant athlete'.
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Emotive adjective
An adjective which appeals to the emotions, eg. 'The food was horrifying', 'He's a wonderful athlete'
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Comparative adjective
Eg. 'Bigger', 'Better', 'Smaller', 'More interesting'
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Superlative adjective
Eg. 'Biggest', 'Best', 'Smallest', 'Most interesting'
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Head word
A word in a phrase which conveys the main meaning, eg. 'the red sky' - sky is the head word in this noun phrase.
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Pre-modifier
A word which modifies the head word; appears before the head word. Eg. 'Red' in the phrase 'The red sky'.
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Post-modifier
A word which modifies the head word; appears after the head word. Eg. 'angry' in the phrase 'She's angry'.
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Determiner
A word placed in front of a noun, eg. 'The bag', 'A bag', 'Her bag'.
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Hypophora
Posing a question, which is then answered. Eg. 'But what exactly is a pineapple? Basically, it's a large, spiky fruit.'
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Negative clause
A clause containing negation, for example '*Never* trust a man on rollerskates', 'She's *not* here'
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Conditional clause
A type of subordinate clause implying condition, eg. 'If you do this, I'll do that', 'Should you get lost, I won't come looking for you'
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Inversion
A grammatical structure in which typical word order changes - generally by placing the verb before a subject, eg. 'Into the room walked a dinosaur' instead of 'A dinosaur walked into the room'
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Negative inversion
Placing a negative adverb at the start of a sentence, eg. 'Not only that, she was wearing fifteen scarves!', 'Never before have I been so insulted', 'At no point did I tell you to do that.'
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Fronted conjunctions
Placing conjunctions at the start of a sentence, eg. 'And then she melted.' 'But it was not
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

A word formed by combining other words, eg. 'smog' (smoke + fog)

Back

Blend word

Card 3

Front

A word or expression taken from another language, eg. 'cul de sac' is borrowed from French.

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

The creation of a new word

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

A newly coined word or expression, eg. 'revisionophobia' (a neologism coined by me approximately 3 seconds ago.)

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
View more cards

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