English Language A-Level Terms

Acronym

Acronym

A word formed from the first letter of each word in a series

Amelioration

A word takes a more positive connotation

Antonym

A word that means the opposite of another word

Archaism

use of an older or obsolete form

Backformation

The formation of a word from another one, from which it appears to be derived (ex. the verb to babysit from the earlier word babysitter).

Blending

Forming a new word by combining the beginning of one word with the end of another (ex. motel from motor and hotel)

Borrowing

Introducing specific words or forms of words from one language into another (ex. Pasta from Italian into English, or week end from English into French).

Broadening

Where the meaning of a word becomes broader or more inclusive than its earlier meaning (e.g. the earlier meaning of dog referred to a specific breed of dog rather than the whole species).

Clipping

Where a word is shortened to form a new variant (e.g. advertisement becomes ad or advert).

Coinage

The creation of new words (i.e. neologisms) in a lan- guage.

Colloquial

The casual conversation of everyday language.

Compounding

Forming a word from two or more units that are them- selves words (e.g. whiteboard from white and board).

Connotation

The range of associated meanings brought to mind by a particular word, beyond its essential meaning (or denota- tion).

Conversion

Creating a new word by using an existing word in a differ- ent word class (e.g. the noun green in golf was converted from the adjective green).

Denotation

The primary meaning of a word, not including its connotations.

Derivation

Creating a new word from an existing word, often with the addition of a prefix or suffix (e.g. unwilling derives from will with the prefix un- and the suffix -ing).

Eponym

The name of something that is also the name of someone credited with inventing or discovering it.

Etymology

A study of the history of a word and its earlier forms and meanings.

Figurative Language

Language which expands upon the basic or literal meaning of a word or phrase (e.g. simile or metaphor).

Hypernyms

Words for the categories into which hyponyms may be grouped (e.g. furniture is a hypernym of table).

Hyponyms

Words that are specific compared to their respective hy- pernyms (e.g. spoon is a hyponym of cutlery).

Idiom

Phrases generally understood in a language but which do not directly translate (e.g. I caught the train by the skin of my teeth = I only just caught the train in time).

Intensifier

A word, often an adverb or adjective, which has little meaning by itself but is used to add force to other phrases (e.g. really, very).

Jargon

Words and phrases known primarily by a group of people - often within a particular profession - which enable them to exchange complex information efficiently. Jargon may be unintelligible to people outside the group who use it.

Lexis

The complete vocabulary of a language.

Narrowing

When the meaning of a word becomes narrower or more limited than its earlier meaning (e.g. the earlier form of meat originally referred to all food but now generally only refers to food in the form of animal flesh).

Neology

The process through which new words (neologisms) \n are formed, including acronyms, blends, compounds and eponyms.

Obsolete

In language, relates to words which are no longer in use and often no longer understood.

Orthography

The part of the language concerned with letters and spelling.

Pejoration

When a word takes on a more negative connotation over time (e.g. silly once meant blessed).

Root

The primary form of a word and word family, without pre- fixes or suffixes, which bears the major semantic content (e.g. the root of unwanted is want).

Semantic

Related to the meaning of words

Semantic Field

A group of words that relate to a shared area of meaning (e.g. needle, nurse and antibiotic could be grouped within the semantic field of medicine).

Telescoping

The contraction of a phrase, word or part of a word - like a telescope being closed (e.g. biodegradable from biologically degradable).

Active Voice

Where the subject of a verb is performing the action involved (e.g. She won the race).

Adjunct

An optional or less-important part of a clause or sentence (e.g. on the floor in the sentence I dropped the glass on the floor).

Aspect

A form of the verb which explains its relation to time, particularly indicating whether an action is completed (e.g. the perfect - had walk ed) or incomplete (e.g. as in the progressive - was walk ing or perfect progressive - had been walk ing). Compare with Tense.

Clause

Part of a sentence, containing (at least) a subject and a verb phrase.

Coordination

Connecting two or more independent clauses through the use of coordinating conjunctions.

Declarative

Moods include the indicative/declarative (making a statement)

Grammar

Has a wide meaning, but generally relates to rules for the organisation of meaning in a language.

Head word

The main word in a phrase (e.g. the noun boy in the noun phrase the happy boy).

Imperative

the imperative (making a command)

Interrogative

the interrogative (asking a question

Modality

The modality of an utterance refers to the attitude a speaker or writer takes to the idea being expressed (e.g. certainty, possibility, obligation, ability). Modality is usu- ally conveyed by the use of the appropriate grammatical mood.

Mode

The format through which ideas or content are communi- cated to an audience. Modes include spoken (e.g. a con- versation, a spontaneous speech), written (e.g. a novel, the text of a leaflet), electronic (e.g. an email, a blog), and image (e.g. a photograph), and can be combined

in a variety of mixed modes (e.g. a prepared speech, a podcast).

Modification

Adding words to a head word in order to give more detail, either before (premodification) or after (postmodification).

Mood

A grammatical feature through which a speaker or writer can express modality (i.e. an attitude towards the content of an utterance), usually involving modal verbs such as can, ought or might. Moods include the indicative/declar- ative (making a statement), the interrogative (asking a question), the imperative (making a command), and the subjunctive (expressing wishes or uncertainty). Alterna- tively, 'mood' can also refer to the emotion or feelings evident in a text and the language used to create these feelings.

Morpheme

The smallest grammatical unit, from which larger ones can be formed (e.g. unwanted = un + want + ed).

Morphology

The study of words and the various forms they take.

Noun phrase

A word (or group of words working together) which names a person, place or thing.

Object

In grammar, the object is the thing or person acted upon by the subject (e.g. the phrase the meal in the sentence The girl ate the meal).

Parts of Speech

Proper nouns, transitive verbs, predicative adjectives, adverbs of manner, possessive pronouns, spatial prepositions, volitive interjections, subordinating conjunctions, and definite articles. Also known as 'parts of speech'.

Passive voice

Where the subject receives the action of a verb (e.g. The ball was kicked).

Phrase

A group of words that do not constitute a complete sentence.

Prefix

A group of letters, usually conveying a particular meaning, which are added to the front of a word to give a new meaning (e.g. un-, pre-, and with -).

Sentence

Generally, a set of words that is grammatically complete, consisting of a main clause and sometimes one or more additional subordinate clauses.

Subjunctive

subjunctive (expressing wishes or uncertainty)

Subordination

Connecting two or more clauses, only one of which is independent.

Suffix

A group of letters, usually conveying a particular meaning, which are attached to the end of a word to modify its meaning.

Syllable

A single unit of pronunciation, containing a single vowel sound, which may form part of all of a word (e.g. rain has one syllable, while sunshine has two).

Syntax

The way words are ordered in a sentence.

Tense

A grammatical feature (usually an inflection of a verb) that shows the relation in time between an event or action and an utterance about it (e.g. We run is in the simple present tense, while We were running is in the past progressive tense). Compare with Aspect.

Word classes

The grammatical groups into which words are divided. The basic word classes are noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, interjection, conjunction, and determiners. Each word class consists of a number of sub- classes, such as proper nouns, transitive verbs, predicative adjectives, adverbs of manner, possessive pronouns, spatial prepositions, volitive interjections, subordinating conjunctions, and definite articles. Also known as 'parts of speech'.

Analogy

A comparison of two things which have some element of similarity. The similarity is often used to help clarify an issue or idea.

Anaphoric reference

Where a word refers back to an earlier part of a text \n for its meaning (e.g. in the following text, the underlined words refer anaphorically to 'David': I recognised David immediately, even though I had not seen him, my oldest friend, in years.)

Asynchronous communication

Where the medium of communication causes a delay between utterance and response (e.g. letter, email, online forum).

Audience

The readers and/or listeners of a text.

Cataphoric reference

Where a word refers to a later part of a text for its mean- ing (e.g. in the following text, the underlined words refer cataphorically to 'Sarah': Although I had not seen her in years, I recognized my old friend Sarah immediately.)

Computer-mediated discourse

The specialist form of language between online users.

Deixis

Language whose meaning is determined in part by con- textual factors, such as who is using it, when, where and to whom (e.g. this, that, now, you, tomorrow).

Dialectical structure

A three-part argument, moving from thesis (an initial argument) to antithesis (the counterargument) and finally to a synthesis that combines the two.

Direct speech

The use of the exact words spoken by a speaker/character.

Discourse

Any spoken or written language that is longer than a single sentence.

Discourse markers

Words or phrases which mark boundaries between one topic and another, where a writer or speaker wishes to change the subject.

Discursive

A style in which facts and opinions are put forward and explored in order to develop an argument.

Exophoric reference

Where a word refers to something outside a text for its meaning, typically as a consequence of a writer or speak- er's expectations as to the knowledge already possessed by the text's intended audience.

First person narrative

Where a character in a story narrates the events that they are experiencing. Recognised by the use of I, we, us, our.

Foregrounding

Using grammatical or syntactic devices to draw attention to a particular idea in a text.

Form

Generally, the specific type of whatever category is be- ing considered (e.g. textual form, verb form, grammatical form). Used on its own, the word 'form' often refers to textual form. The division of texts into specific forms (e.g. speech, dialogue, poem, novel, website) involves cate- gorising texts according to how their structural elements combine to create a unified and recognisable whole. Dif- ferent forms of text can usually be subdivided into genres (e.g. persuasive speech, romantic novel, cooperative dia- logue), depending on their content.

Formality

The extent to which spoken or written texts either con- form to standard conventions or employ more personal language strategies.

Genre

A subdivision of textual form determined by the text's con- tent (e.g. fantasy novel, tragic play, ballad, online review, television commercial, formal report).

Implication

A meaning that is suggested by an utterance, rather than being explicitly stated or directly entailed by the words used.

In medias res

Beginning a narrative in the middle of the events without any build-up or initial explanation.

Inference

The act of deducing implied meanings.

Intertextuality

Where a text produces additional meaning by referring in some way to another text.

Irony

When the intended meaning of a text or utterance differs radically from its literal interpretation.

Metalanguage

Language which is used to describe or comment on language (e.g. This translates as... or I meant to say...).

Multimodal

Consisting of more than one mode.

Narative structure

The way in which a story is constructed.

Omniscient narrator

Where the narrator in a story knows all the thoughts, actions and feelings of the characters.

Perspective

Point of view.

Pragmatics

A branch of linguistics concerned with the ways in which meaning can alter according to the context of utterance.

Prose

Ordinary language, without a rhyming pattern or rhythmic structure.

Protagonist

The main character in a literary work.

Purpose

A writer or speaker's main aim when producing a text.

Register

The variety of language used in a particular situation, particularly with regard to levels of formality.

Second person narrative

When the reader is addressed directly, typically through the use of you, your, yours, etc.

Simile

A figure of speech which makes a comparison between two different things which have one point of likeness, usually using the words like or as (e.g. she was as fast as lightning).

Slogan

A short, direct and memorable phrase, frequently used in advertising.