linguistics and semiotics jargon

Linguistics

The scientific study of language and its structure

Acrophony

Calling a written symbol by the name of something that has that symbol at its beginning

Xenoglossia

The intelligible use of a foreign language that one does not know

Cognate

Having a common origin; closely related linguistically

Binary opposition

A principle originating in linguistics around 1915 that elements of a system do not exist as absolute substances but only as entities defined in structural opposition to something else, such as the binary pairs long/short, front/back, voices/unvoiced

Portmanteaus/blends

Words formed by telescoping two words into one. Examples: "motel", "smog", "brunch"

Code

Generally, an assigned or established meaning for some arbitrary symbols, such as a red light meaning stop; also, a prearranged set of rules for converting messages from one sign system into another

Colloquialism

An expression used in informal conversation but not accepted universally in formal speech or writing

Cratylism

The view that names are have a necessary, essential mimetic connection to what they designate

Dissemination

In a special application made popular by Jacques Derrida, the term is exploited in such a way as to suggest that meaning in language is variously scattered, seeded, unseeded, etc.

Doric

A dialect in ancient Greece that was though of as lacking refinement; rustic or broad dialect; its architecture was marked by strength and austerity rather than detail;

Emblem

A graphic device of some sort that stands for a special meaning

False etymology

An erroneous but plausible etymology forced onto a word by a common misconception; some words came about due to this, such as crayfish and duct tape

Folk etymology

A common procedure- resembling false etymology- whereby an unfamiliar word is reshaped into something; "spit and image" into "spitting image"

False friend

A word that people may wrongly think they know the meaning of; most often foreign words cognate with native words but with divergent meaning

Ghost word

A word that has come into existence through misprint or misreading rather than by normal linguistic transmission

Grimm's Law

A principle that describes a systematic phonological change from certain consonants in Proto-Indo-European to different consonants in Germanic language; describes the complex relations among consonants in Indo-European languages.

Hermeticism

The idea of the "pure expressiveness" of literary speech, in which a writer's use of language deviates sufficiently from the structures of ordinary discourse to displace or arrest the function of signification.

Hobson-Jobson

The process of transforming something foreign into a more familiar native article; accommodation to native sounds, but not accuracy of translation. Example: "Cayo Hueso" into "Key West"

Homeoptoton

A series of words in the same case or other grammatical form

Icon

A sign that resembles the signified in some way; goes beyond arbitrary reference; usually onomatopoeic

Idiolect

One person's particular language

Idiom

Use of words or grammatical construction peculiar to a given language, an expression that cannot be translated literally into a another language

Idiotism

A departure from linguistic norms, peculiar to a single speaker, dialect, or period.

Illocutionary act

A speech act that is discharged in the act of speaking, as in such transactions as telling, promising, warning, asking, requisition, and betting

Intertextuality

A term coined by Julia Kristeva to denote the relationship between literary texts; every text is absorption and transformation of another text

Loan word

A word adopted from a foreign language with little or no modification

Locution

A word or phrase that constitutes a meaning group; also applied to a style of speech or verbal expression, particularly when it involves some peculiarity of idiom or manner

Locutionary act

The usual act of saying something, with a verb that represents, describes, or narrates phenomena beyond itself

Metanalysis

Reinterpretation or misconstruction of the division between words or other units, as when "a nadder" becomes "an adder".

Morpheme

The smallest unit in language that carries meaning

Neologism

A new word introduced into the language, especially for enhancing style