AICE Eng Lang AL Section 7 Vocabulary

Colonialism

When a country takes control of another land, often to exploit its resources or people.

British English

The variety of English spoken and written in the United Kingdom.

Archaic

Belonging to an earlier time; old-fashioned but not entirely obsolete.

Obsolete

Out of use; no longer current or understood.

Lexis

The complete set of words in a language (its vocabulary).

Derivation

The process of forming a new word from an existing one by adding prefixes or suffixes.

Coinage

The invention of a completely new word that enters common use.

Neologism

A newly invented word or expression.

Eponym

A word derived from the name of a person or place.

Prefix

A group of letters added to the beginning of a word to alter its meaning.

Suffix

A group of letters added to the end of a word to alter its meaning.

Early Modern English

English used roughly between 1500–1800 CE, marked by major pronunciation and vocabulary changes.

Graphology

The study of written symbols and handwriting styles.

Grammar

The system and structure of a language, governing word forms and sentence order.

Pragmatics

The study of how context influences the meaning of language in social situations.

Semantics

The study of the meaning of words and phrases.

Old English

The earliest form of English, spoken roughly 450–1100 CE, very different from modern English.

Middle English

The stage of English used from around 1100–1500 CE, after the Norman invasion.

Great Vowel Shift

A series of changes between 1350–1700 CE in English pronunciation, particularly vowels.

Late Modern English

English from about 1800 CE to the present, shaped by scientific, industrial, and global developments.

Root/Stem

The main part of a word that carries meaning and can take affixes.

Conversion

Creating a new word by changing the word class without altering its form.

Telescoping

The blending of parts of two or more words into one.

Compounding

Forming a new word by combining two or more whole words.

Blending

Forming a new word by merging parts of other words.

Coalescence

When two sounds merge into one in pronunciation.

Backformation

The creation of a new, simpler word by removing what looks like a suffix or prefix from an existing word.

Reduplication

The repetition of sounds or words, sometimes with slight changes, often in playful or informal speech.

Borrowing

Taking words or structures from another language.

Neuter

In grammar, a category that is neither masculine nor feminine.

Inflection

A change in the form of a word to show grammatical features like tense, number, case, or gender.

Archaism

An old word or phrase not used much anymore. Example: thou for you.

Etymology

The history of a word and where it came from.

Amelioration

A word’s meaning becomes more positive. Example: nice (from “foolish” → “kind”).

Pejoration

A word’s meaning becomes more negative. Example: silly (from “happy” → “foolish”).

Broadening

A word’s meaning gets wider or more general. Example: holiday (from “holy day” → any break).

Narrowing

A word’s meaning gets more specific. Example: meat (from “any food” → “animal flesh”).

Prescriptivism

The belief that language has strict rules people should follow.

Descriptivism

The belief that language should be studied as people actually use it.

Discourse genres

Different types of speaking or writing. Example: texting vs. essays.

Computer-mediated discourse

Language used online or through technology. Example: emojis in chat.

Transmission

Passing language or habits from one person to another. Example: parents teaching kids to say “thank you.”

Estuary English

An accent from southeast England, a mix of “posh” and local speech.

Proto-language

The ancient “parent” language that later languages grew from. Example: Latin → Spanish, French, Italian.

Language family

A group of languages that all come from the same parent language.

Pidgin

A simple language made so people who don’t share a language can talk, usually for trade.

Creole

A full language that develops from a pidgin and becomes a native language. Example: Haitian Creole.

Hypothesis

A guess or idea you test in research.

N-gram

A sequence of words or items that appear together. Example: ice cream (2-gram).

N-gram graph

A chart showing how often words appear over time. Example: tracking “internet” in books.