English Language U4 AOS1

Semantics

The study of meaning and senses. In semantics, we analyse the relation between a word and it’s dictionary definition as well as its connotations

Inference

Informal setting. When language is used without giving the full contextual details yet can still be understood and used effectively

Semantic Patterning

Hyperbole, irony, personification, pun, oxymoron, simile, figurative, lexical ambiguity, animation, metaphor

Hyperbole

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally

Syntax

The study of the set of conventions and process by which words are ordered to create grammatically well-formed phrases, clauses and sentences

Subject

The thing (noun or noun phrase) that the sentence is about

Predicate

The phrases denoting the action or state described in the sentence. Core of a sentences apart from subject

Object

Noun or noun phrase following the verb that’s related to action of verb. Direct or indirect

Complement

A phrase that follows a linking verb and provides info about the subject

Adverbials

Give additional info about the info in sentence

Noun

Includes a noun and all words that give information about that noun, often consisting of adjectives and determiners

Verb

Includes a verb and all associated words, such as adverbs, adverb phrases, auxiliary verbs, modal verbs and complements

Prepositional

Involves a preposition and the object of the preposition

Adjective

Include the adjective that modifies a noun, as well as any adverbs that modify the adjective

Adverb

A word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other adverb or a word group, expressing a relation of place, time, circumstance, manner, cause or degree

Adverbial

Functionally are adverb phrases but syntactically are prepositional phrases

Declarative Sentence Type

A sentence that makes a statement

Imperative Sentence Type

Sentences that give direct commands to someone

Interrogative Sentence Type

Sentences that ask a direct question.

Open - many different answers

Closed - Yes or no

Exclamative Sentence Type

Sentences that express a strong feeling or emotion

Simple Sentence Structure

A sentence consisting of one independent clause

Compound Sentence Structure

A sentence with two or more coordinate independent clauses, often joined by one or more conjunctions

Complex Sentence Structure

A sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause

Compound-Complex Sentence Structure

A sentence having two or more coordinate independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses

Sentence Fragments

Incomplete sentences

Active

Have the agent as the subject. For example, ‘Zach saw a lady bug’

Passive

Have the patient as the subject. For example, ‘The ladybug was seen by Zach’

Agentless Passive

Passive sentence but the agent is eliminated entirely. For example, ‘Ladybug was seen’

Alliteration

Repetition of phonemes at the beginning of words. ‘Those are pretty practical pants you’re wearing.’

Assonance

Repetition of vowel phonemes across phrases or clauses. ‘The fleet of jeeps drove through the streets.’

Consonance

Repetition of consonant phonemes, often at syllable-final boundaries. ‘The bees in the trees buzzed with ease’

Onomatopoeia

Words that imitate the sounds they describe. ‘The crow squawked loudly, causing a rustle in the bushes.’

Rhythm

Repetition of intonation patterns across phrases. ‘Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary.’

Rhyme

Repetition of similar phonemes at the ends of words. ‘The potato cake was fake.’

Morpheme

Smallest unit of meaning in a word. ‘‘unhappy’ contains two morphemes: ‘un’ and ‘happy’.’

Affixation

Addition of prefixes or suffixes to a root word. ‘disagree’ or ‘happiness’.

Abbreviation

Shortened form of a word or phrase. ‘vic’ for ‘Victoria’

Shortening

Dropping one part of a longer word. ‘phone’ from ‘telephone’

Compounding

Combining two words to make one. ‘blackboard’ or ‘toothpaste’.

Blending

Combining parts of two words into one. ‘brunch’ (breakfast + lunch).

Conversion of word class

Changing a word’s class without changing its form. ‘email’ (noun) becoming ‘to email’ (verb)

Initialism

Abbreviation pronounced as letters. ‘RSPCA’ or ‘ABC’.

Acronym

Abbreviation pronounced as a word. ‘NATO’ or ‘QANTAS’.

Contraction

Shortening words by omitting letters. ‘don’t’ from ‘do not’

Backformation

Creating a new word by removing a real or supposed affix from another word. ‘edit’ from ‘editor’

Conversion of word class

Changing a word's grammatical category without changing its form. ‘email’ (noun) becoming ‘to email’ (verb)

Noun

A word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. ‘dog’, ‘Melbourne’, ‘happiness’.

Verb

A word that expresses an action or a state of being. ‘run’, ‘is’, ‘think’.

Auxiliary verb

A verb used in forming tenses, moods, and voices of other verbs. ‘have’, ‘be’, ‘do’

Modal verb

A type of auxiliary verb expressing necessity or possibility. ‘can’, ‘must’, ‘should’.

Adjective

A word that describes a noun or pronoun. ‘happy’, ‘blue’, ‘fast’.

Adverb

A word that modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb. ‘quickly’, ‘very’, ‘yesterday’.

Preposition

A word placed before a noun or pronoun to show its relation to another word. ‘in’, ‘on’, ‘at’, ‘by’.

Pronoun

A word that takes the place of a noun. ‘he’, ‘they’, ‘it’.

Conjunction

A word that joins words, phrases, or clauses. ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘because’.

Determiner

A modifying word that determines the kind of reference a noun has. ‘the’, ‘a’, ‘some’

Interjection

A word or phrase that expresses emotion or exclamation. ‘oh!’, ‘wow!’, ‘oops!’.

Neologism

A newly coined word or expression. ‘selfie’, ‘google’ (as a verb)

Borrowing

Taking words from other languages. ‘sushi’ (from Japanese)

Commonisation

A proper noun becoming a common noun. ‘esky’, ‘hoover’

Nominalisation

Turning other word classes into nouns. ‘decide’ → ‘decision’

Phrase

A group of words that act as a single unit in a sentence. ‘The fast runner’ is a noun phrase

Noun phrase

A phrase that has a noun as its main word. ‘The red balloon’

Verb phrase

A phrase built around a main verb. ‘has been running’

Adjective phrase

A phrase that describes a noun using an adjective. ‘extremely happy’

Adverb phrase

A phrase that modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. ‘very quickly’

Prepositional phrase

A modifying phrase beginning with a preposition. ‘on the table’

Sentence fragment

An incomplete sentence lacking a main clause. ‘Because I said so.’

Simple sentence

A sentence with one independent clause. ‘She smiled.’

Compound sentence

Two or more independent clauses joined by a conjunction. ‘I came and I conquered.’

Complex sentence

A sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. ‘Although it rained, we went outside.’

Compound complex sentence

A sentence with at least two independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses. ‘Although it rained, I ran and she walked.’

Ellipsis

Omission of words when meaning is clear from context. ‘Want some?’ instead of ‘Do you want some?’

Modifier

A word or phrase that adds detail to another word. ‘The tall boy’ – ‘tall’ modifies ‘boy

Coordination

Joining words or clauses of equal rank. ‘She ran and he walked.

Subordination

Linking clauses to show dependency. ‘She left because she was tired.’

Declarative

A sentence that makes a statement. ‘The sky is blue.’

Imperative

A sentence that gives a command. ‘Close the door.’

Interrogative

A sentence that asks a question. ‘Did you see that?’

Exclamative

A sentence expressing strong emotion. ‘What a day!’

Subject

Performer of the action in a sentence. ‘John threw the ball.’ – ‘John’ is the subject.

Object

Receiver of the action in a sentence. ‘John threw the ball.’ – ‘ball’ is the object.

Complement

Completes the meaning of the predicate. ‘She is a doctor.’ – ‘a doctor’ is the complement.

Adverbial

Provides information about time, place, manner, etc. ‘She ran quickly.’

Active voice

The subject performs the action. ‘The cat chased the mouse.’

Passive voice

The subject receives the action. ‘The mouse was chased by the cat.’

Agentless passive

Passive without stating the agent. ‘The window was broken.’

Listing

Creating a list to add rhythm or detail. ‘We bought apples, oranges, and bananas.’

Antithesis

Juxtaposing contrasting ideas. ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.’

Parallelism

Repeating grammatical structures. ‘I came, I saw, I conquered.’

Paralinguistic feature

Non-verbal cues that accompany speech. Smiling while saying ‘hello’

Vocal effects

Non-verbal sounds during speech. ‘Umm’, sighs, laughter

Whispers

Soft-spoken voice tone. ‘He whispered a secret.’

Laughter

Audible expression of amusement. ‘Haha, that’s funny!’

Non-verbal communication

Communication without words. ‘Gestures or facial expressions’

Gestures

Movements of the body to convey meaning. A thumbs up

Facial expressions

Movements of facial muscles. Frowning to show displeasure

Eye contact

Looking directly into someone’s eyes. Used to show attention or confidence