English Language: Paper 2: Key Terms and Definitions

8 language discourse metaphors

Conflict, invasion, disease, intelligibility, morality, decay, control and correctness

neologism

newly coined words or expressions

coinage

deliberate creation of a new word

borrowing

the borrowing of words from another language

compounding

words are combined to make new words

blending

a combination of clipping and compounding. words are abbreviated and joined together

clipping

when words are shortened and the shortened version becomes the norm

acronym

the taking of the first letters of a series of words to create a new form

initialism

taking of the first letters of a series of words to create a new term - each pronounced separately

conversion

when a word changes word class

eponym

when names of a person or company are given to a name of the noun or verb

back formation

a verb is created from an existing noun by removing the suffix

schwa

generic vowel sound. e.g. about being replaced with ‘uh-bout’

th-fronting

replacing the ‘th’ sound with an ‘f’ sound

assimilation

‘hambag’

epenthesis

the insertion of an extra sound, letter, or syllable into a word e.g. ‘hamPster’

ellision

the omission of sounds e.g. ‘walkin’

overt prestige

when language you use is associated with established power structures e.g. education, royalty, government

covert prestige

influential power over a specific person, different depending on each person

substratum

refers to how different languages interact and change one another.

Uptalk

A specific change in intonation since early 1900s of uptalk. Usually for a question, intonation rises at the end of a sentence.