english language terminology

12enc

abbreviations

a shortened word used instead of the full word — eg: mr, short for mister

infotain

to inform and entertain (a convention of many texts... speeches, advertising materials, magazines etc)

antimetabole

a literary device where a phrase or sentence is repeated, but with the order of its key words reversed (a form of chiasmus that creates a mirror-like effect, used to highlight a contrast or emphasise a point — eg: "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" from JFK's speech

cataphoric reference

uses a word or phrase to refer to something that will be mentioned later in the text — eg: THIS is the cake yunmin chose, IT wasn't the best cup of tea that nicole had tried, or THOSE are the pies that anna baked

anaphoric reference

uses a word or phrase to refer back to something already introduced in the text — eg: the dog was happy, IT wagged ITS tail…

exophoric reference

a reference that does not create a link within the text itself but refers to something outside it — eg: the queen or the president

endophoric reference

a reference that creates a link within the text and nowhere else (stays within the text) — eg: the plate shattered loudly. IT was broken for good. (similar to anaphoric)

tautology

two near-synonyms are placed together or very close to each other for effect — eg: lonely isolation

accent

a distinctive way of pronouncing a language, especially one associated with a particular country, area, or social class — eg: cockney is spoken by middle or working class east londoners

adjectives

a word used to modify or describe a noun or pronoun — eg: glittery, atrocious, reserved

adverbs

a word that modifies or describes a verb (doing words) shows when, where, why and to what extent — eg: effortlessly, quickly, gingerly

agreement

the grammatical logic and coherence between parts of a sentence

alliteration

the repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words

superlative

expresses extremes — eg: most, best, worst, least

comparative

expresses the state of a thing in relation to another — eg: better, sweeter, worse, slower

compound sentence

connects two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction (ind-coord-ind) allows addition of extra information — the cat sat on the mat and ate

vocative term

address directly, allows insight into a relationship between characters — eg: sir, miss, honey, darling

anecdote

gives a sense of voice or illustrates through a story — eg: there was this time when…

personification

attributing human characteristics to inanimate objects. adds dimension — eg: the chair groaned, or the pen danced across the page

zoomorphism

giving humans animal-like qualities — eg: the pack of runners advanced at an alarming speed

anthropomorphism

giving animals human-like qualities — eg: the cat rolled its eyes in exasperation OR the caterpillar that smokes in c.s. lewis' alice in wonderland

sibilance

repetition of the 's' sound. evokes emotion, increases tension — eg: she settled with a sigh, or bitter betty bought a bit of butter

complex sentence

contains an independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses (ind-sub) adds extra information and detail — eg: because the cat had been fed, he sat

reflexive pronoun

pronoun type… eg: myself, themselves

demonstrative pronoun

pronoun type… eg: this, that, these, those

personal pronoun

pronoun type… eg: i

indefinite pronoun

pronoun type that refers to unspecified people, places, things — eg: anyone, someone, nothing

stream of consciousness

allows insight into the character's inner thoughts — eg: and would you believe it, the phone was dead!

triplet (NOT A TRIAD)

rule of threes, draw attention and adds lyrical quality — eg: miserable, laborous, short

rhetorical question

a question for dramatic effect or to make a point. questions the reader — eg: what is the world becoming?

parenthesis

allows the addition of extra information. often seen in the form of brackets, but can just be commas or dashes, or hyphens

monosyllabic word

a word with only one syllable, adds pace, abruptness and simplicity ‚ eg: in, out, sit, love, ate

symbolism

figurative representations. adds an extra dimension to understanding because certain things have other meanings — eg: heart, dove, horns

intensifier

illustrates strength of emotion, often has little meaning itself but is used to add force to other phrases — eg: it was REALLY tasty, or it was SO calm, it was VERY loud

active voice

subject performing the action. brings the subject to the foreground — eg: the cat sat on the mat

emotive language

allows the reader to connect on an emotional level — eg: savagery, disgusting

hyperbole

exaggerates to make things seem more exciting or extreme than they are, deliberate exaggeration for dramatic or comedic effect — eg: i've told you a million times!!!

metaphor

gives a comparison or new way of viewing something — eg: he was a skyscraper

subject (of the sentence)

the main focus of the sentence, the thing being affected, comprises the noun — eg: the CAT slept soundly, or most BIRDS can fly

predicate (of the sentence)

what the subject is doing or being affected by — eg: the cat SLEPT soundly, or most birds can FLY

digression

a temporary departure from the main subject in speech or writing ("i digress…")

volta

a shift or turn in thought or argument, usually in poetry such as sonnets

persona

a categorised 'type' of characteristic

preposition

expressing a relation to another word, shows positioning — eg: in, on, under, behind

prepositional phrase

a phrase that starts with a preposition followed by the headword — eg: at the gate, sat a cute ginger cat OR behind the door, mum retrieved the presents

definite article

identifies a definite or particular noun — THE

indefinite article

used to show an unspecified noun — A or AN

strong modal auxiliary verb

shows possibility, intent, ability or necessity. gives strength to a verb — eg: will, must, can

minor sentence

fragmented or incomplete sentence, abrupt or creates pace… or fragments a text — eg: never again

connotation

implicit meaning, allows readers to bring their own understanding in… the range of associated meanings brought to mind by a particular word, beyond its essential meaning — eg: green = money, poison, trees!!

simple sentence

made up of one independent clause. abrupt or creates pace, very straightforward — eg: the cat sat on the mat

infinitive

the verb that comes after 'to' — eg: to eat, to run, to see, to take, to hit, to break

allusion

not meaning something explicitly. referring to something outside of the sphere of discussion — eg: into the valley of death

imperative

a command or call to action, presents an authoritative voice, demanding — eg: close that door, or go to class…

abstract noun

noun denoting an idea, quality or state. creates an emotional link — eg: love, friendship, hope, happiness

euphemism

prevents shocking the reader, evades subject lightly — eg: his uncle passed away

cliche

shows a lack of creative thought; is really boring, aka basic… — eg: as fast as lightning

passive voice

the object becomes the subject so emphasis is on something else — eg: the mat was sat on by the cat

absolute

shows the extent of something — eg: all, every, none

jargon

complex and unique language used by experts in a field or a certain social group. can alienate — eg: full court press

semantic field

a series of words that all have similar connotations and can be connected to a shared meaning. often unites through imagery — eg: war = trench, mud, tank

colloquialism

informal words or expressions used in everyday speech — eg: sup, gonna, y'all

antonym

a word with the opposite meaning to another word — eg: open vs close

derivation

creating a new word from an existing word, often with the addition of a prefix or suffix — eg: unwilling: prefix = un, suffix = ing, derives from = will

denotation

the primary, literal meaning of a word (dictionary definition)

hypernym

words for the category into which hyponyms may by grouped — eg: furniture is a of table

hyponym

eg: table is a ____ of furniture, or spoon is a _____ of cutlery, or sock is a _____ of clothing

eponym

the name of something that is also the name of someone credited with inventing or discovering it — eg: the heimlich manoeuvre, or schrodinger's cat

idiom

phrases generally understood in a language but which do not directly translate (or make sense) — eg: i caught the train by the skin of my teeth today

analogy

a developed comparison between two separate ideas… a comparison of two things which have some element of similarity — usually used to clarify an issue or idea

syntax

sentence construction and order of words in a sentence, structure

figurative language

language which expands upon the basic or literal meaning of a word or a phrase — eg: simile or metaphor

modal verbs

type of auxiliary verb that indicates the possibility, obligation or certainty of an action or state — eg: he MIGHT go

acronym

a word where each letter represents a word in itself and has a meaning — eg: UNESCO = united nations educational scientific cultural organisation, or NAFTA = north american free trade agreement

lexis

the complete vocabulary of a language

assonance

the repetition of vowel sounds — eg: a hundred tumbling bumblebees

clauses

a structural unit of language which is smaller than the sentence but larger than phrases or words, and which contains a finite verb

independent clause

a clause containing a verb that shows tense and person, has a subject — eg: john waited in the car

dependent clause

a clause with no tense or subject and relies on another clause to make sense — eg: picking up the chips

conjunction

a word used to connect clauses or sentences or to coordinate words in the same clause — eg: and, but, if

dialect

a particular form of a language which is peculiar to a specific region or social group — eg: social = cockney (working-class londoners) or african american vernacular english (aave), and regional = mexican spanish, puerto rican spanish, cuban spanish

diglossia

the existence of two official dialects or languages in a society. usually, one variety is used for formal contexts like writing, education, and public speaking, while the other is used for everyday conversations — eg: haitian creole (informal) and french (formal)

diphthong

two vowel characters representing the sound of a single vowel — eg: loud, poise, friend

ellipsis

the omission of words from a sentence — represented by three dots '…'

form

refers to the overall type of text — eg: novel, short story, play (affects structure of the text)

structure

refers to how the text is organised, including the arrangement of content and its sequence of events (often determined by form of text)

grapheme

the smallest unit in the writing system of a language — eg: one letter = c, a, t, two letters = qu, ch, st, three letters = air, ear, our, four letters = ight, ough

morpheme

the smallest unit of meaning in grammar — eg: incoming = in, come, ing

graphology

the study of writing systems

homonym

words with the same spelling but with different meanings — eg: bear (animal) and bear (to get through), or light (energy source) and light (weight)

homophone

words with different spelling but with the same pronunciation — eg: ear and air, fare and fair, beer and bare, two and to

morphology

the study of words and their various forms

narrator

the person or thing (named or unknown) who is telling a story

common noun

location or thing (can be abstract or concrete) — eg: table, town

concrete noun

a tangible thing that can be experienced through one of the five senses — eg: bag, cheese, table

proper noun

name of person, time or place — eg: james, monday, iowa

first person

'i' or 'we'

second person

'you'

third person

'he', 'she', 'them'

onomatopoeia

a word that sounds like the thing it describes — eg: crash!