AS Level English Language

Comparative

a form used for comparisons of adjectives or adverbs

Clause

a group of phrases which usually has a tense verb phrase

Subordinate Clause

a clause that cannot stand alone

Vocative

a term of address used to refer directly to a person in speech

Prepositional Phrase

a phrase made up of a preposition and a noun phrase which can function as a post modifier or an adverbial

Tense

a change in the form of the verb to indicate time scale

Apposition

a noun phrase, separated from the rest of the sentence with commas, dashes or brackets, which elaborates on the noun phrase preceding it

Anaphoric reference

referring backwards in a text

Cliché

an image that has lost its original meaning/novelty through overuse

Parenthesis

the use of brackets, comas or dashes in written language, or pauses in spoken language

Affix

a bound morpheme which is used to form a new word

End focus

the positioning of information at the end of a clause for emphasis

Sentence

a grammatical structure made up of one or more clauses, marked by a capital letter and a full stop.

Initial position

a term used to describe the first site in a sentence

Antonyms

words that are opposite in meaning or association

Abstract noun

refer to ideas and concepts that only exist in the mind

Tag question

an interrogative structure that is attached at the end of a statement to encourage a reply

Adjective

a word that defines the attributes of a noun

Adjunct

an adverb that provides more information about the verb (e.g. when? how? where?)

Semantic field

a theme or topic created by the use of words with associated meanings

Adverb

a word that defines the action of a verb

Quoted clause

a clause containing the actual words spoken in direct speech and usually marked with speech marks

Complement

a clause element that adds extra information about the subject after a copula verb

Complex sentence

a sentence made up of one main clause and at least one subordinate clause

Compound

a word or phrase made up of at least two free morphemes

Cohesion

linguistic connections which link elements of a discource

Collective noun

a noun that refers to a group which may take a singular or plural verb form, depending on whether the group is seen as a single cooperative body of as a collection of individuals

Semantic change

changes in the meaning of a word over time

Parallelism

patterning of pairs to create a sense of balance

Simple sentence

a sentence made up of one main clause

Subject

a noun phrase or a clause which is the actor of a sentence

Deixis

a term describing expressions that rely on the context for interpretation

Agreement

the relationship between words

Adverbial clause

a dependent clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction

Adverbial

a clause element which provides additional information about time, manner, place and reason

Pronoun

a closed class word that can replace a noun phrase

Blend

a word formed by combining two or more words to create a new one

Antithesis

when two contrasting ideas are in opposition

Contraction

a shortened word

Prefix

a bound morpheme that can be added to the beginning of a free morpheme

Proper noun

a noun that refers to the names of specific people, places and occasions

Subordinating conjunction

a conjunction used to introduce a subordinate clause

Metaphor

a figurative use of language in which one thing is seen in terms of something else

Count noun

a noun that refers to things that can be counted

Exophoric reference

referring to the the wider text

Conjunction

a closed class word used to join other words or phrases together

Cataphoric reference

referring forward in a text

Clipping

the creation of a new word (with the same meaning and word class) by dropping a syllable

Copula verb

a verb that is followed by a complement

Syndetic

a term used to describe a list of words, phrases or clauses joined by a conjunction

Direct speech

a form of speech in which the actual words spoken are recorded, usually between speech marks

Colloquialism

an informal word, phrase or pronunciation

Concrete noun

a noun that refers to people, places, objects and substances

Conjunct

an adverb that has a linking function

Connotations

the associations linked to a word

Adverb phrase

a group of words with an adverb as the head

Coordinating conjunction

a word that joins words, phrases, clauses or sentences of equal grammatical status

Ambiguity

a term used to describe language with multiple meanings

Foregrounding

a change in the order of clause elements to draw attention to a particular linguistic item

Adjective phrase

a group of words with an adjective as the head

Attributive

a term used to describe modifiers that precede the noun they are describing

Base

the minimal form of a word to which affixes can be added

Quoting clause

a clause accompanying direct speech

Symbol

when a word or phrase represents more than itself

Verb phrase

a phrase made up of a single lexical verb or up to four auxiliaries and a lexical verb

Alliteration

consonant repetition

Suffix

a bound morpheme which can be added at the end of a free morpheme

Active voice

a grammatical structure in which the subject is the actor in the sentence

Synonyms

different words that have a similar meaning

Figurative language

language that is non-literal

Verb

an open class word expressing states, processes and actions

Syntax

the study of grammatical relationships between words in sentences

Onomatopoeia

a term used to denote words that imitate sounds

Coinage

the addition of new words to the word stock

Collocation

a recognisable group of words which frequently appear together

Personification

when something non-human is given human attributes

Rhetorical question

a question that does not require an answer

Acronym

an abbreviation of words which is pronounced as a word

Simile

a direct comparison between two things using the prepositions like or as

Tripling

patterning of words, phrases, clauses or sentences in groups of three

Cardinal number

the basic form of a number

Word order

the arrangement of words, phrases and clauses in a sentence

Preposition

a closed class word which comes in front of a noun phrase to express a relationship

Stative verbs

verbs that express states of being or process, which rarely take a progressive form

Closed class

a group of words with a grammatical function to which new words are rarely added

Hypophora

when a speaker or writer asks a question and then answers it

Indirect speech

a form of speech which reports what someone else has said

Assonance

the repetition of vowel sounds

Neologism

the creation of words from existing lexical items

Non finite verb

verb forms which are not marked for tense, person or number

Disjunct

a sentence adverb allowing the speaker or writer to comment on the content or style of a sentence

Multi-word verb

a verb which has a participle

Exclamative

a sentence beginning with how or what in the initial position. This creates strong feelings

Polysyllabic

having more than one syllable

Compound sentence

a sentence made up of at least two main clauses linked by a coordinating conjunction

Free morpheme

the smallest unit of meaning in the language

Embedded clause

a subordinate clause that functions as part of a clause element

Gradable

a term to describe adjectives and adverbs which can be compared

Phrase

a group of words that has no finite verb

Indirect object

the animate object that receives the action of the verb, which comes before the direct object, or after it, in the form of a prepositional phrase