Terms (all)

hypernym

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

hyponym

words that are specific compared to their respective hypernyms (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 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

complete vocabulary of a language

semantic field

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)

active voice

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

passive voice

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

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)

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

subordination

connecting two or more clauses, only one of which is independent

head word

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

mode

the format through which ideas or content are communicated to an audience. modes include spoken (e.g. a conversation, 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 (premodification = red car / postmodification = the woman who was walking)

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

mood (declarative, interrogative, imperative specifically)

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/declarative (making a statement), the interrogative (asking a question), the imperative (making a command), and the subjunctive (expressing wishes or uncertainty).

alternatively, mood can also refer to the emotion or feelings evident in a text and the language used to create these feelings

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-)

suffix

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

syntax

the way words are ordered in a sentence

acronym

a word formed from the initial letters of two or more successive words (e.g. UNESCO. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)

initialism

an abbreviation consisting of initial letters pronounced separately

amelioration

where a word takes on a more positive connotation over time (e.g. nice originally meant foolish)

archaism

a word which is no longer in everyday use, or has lost a particular meaning in current usage

blending

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

borrowing

introducing specific words or forms of words from one language into another (e.g. pasta from Italian into English, or weekend 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 language

colloquial

the casual conversation of everyday language

compounding

forming a word from two or more units that are themselves words (e.g. whiteboard from white and board)

conversion

creating a new word by using an existing word in a different word class (e.g. the noun green in golf was converted from the adjective green)

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

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) are formed, including acronyms, blends, compounds and eponyms

pejoration

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

telescoping

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

phonology

the study of the cognitive aspects of sounds and sound patterns (i.e. how we attach meaning to speech sounds)

morphology

the study of words and the various forms they take

Old English

the earliest form of the English language, brought to Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century and predominant there until approximately 1100

Middle English

the spoken and written language, which evolved from the fusion of Norman French and Old English dialects. prominent in England and other parts of the British Isles between approximately 1100 and 1500

Early Modern English

the period between approximately 1500 and 1800, marked by a relatively sudden and distinctive change in pronunciation and the increased inclusion of vocabulary of continental European and classical origin

Late Modern English

The name given to English written an spoken from approximately 1800 until the present day

graphology

the writing system of a language, as well as other visual elements on a page; the study of the way people make letters and words

orthography

the part of the language concerned with letters and spelling; the conventional spelling of a language

pragmatics

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

proper nouns

a specific name for a particular noun (person, place or thing), i.e. Abraham Lincoln, Star Wars

transitive verbs

an action verb that requires a direct object to complete its meaning by receiving the action, i.e. The dog caught the ball (caught is the verb; the ball is the direct object)

predicate adjective

an adjective that follows a linking verb and describes the subject of a sentence, i.e. The sky is blue (blue describes the subject sky), The soup smells delicious (delicious describes the subject soup)

adverbs of manner

a word that describes how or in what way an action is performed, i.e. She spoke softly

possessive pronouns

a word that replaces a noun to show ownership or possession without needing another noun after it, i.e. mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs

spatial prepositions

words that show where a person or an object is located compared to another object, i.e. in, on, at, under, next to, between

interjection

a word of short phrase used to express a sudden feeling, emotion, or reaction, being grammatically independent from the words around it, i.e. wow, oh, whoa

volitive interjections

a word or short sound used to give a command, make a request, or express desire to someone else, i.e. shhh, psst, shoo

subordinating conjunctions

a word that connects a dependent clause to an independent clause, i.e. after, before, when, while, until, because, since, as, if, unless, although, though

coordinating conjunctions

a word that connects two independent clauses, i.e. for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

determiners

a word placed before a noun to introduce it and show its quantity, ownership, or specific reference, i.e. the, a, an, this, that, these, those, some, many, few, much, my, your, his, her, their

definite articles

a word placed before a noun to show that the reader or listener already knows the exact identity of the specific person, place, or thing being discussed. in English, “the” is our only definite article

analogy

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

audience

the readers and/or listeners of a text

cataphoric reference

where a word refers to a later part of a text for its meaning (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.)

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

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 write or speaker’s expectations as to the knowledge already possessed by the text’s intended audience

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 being 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 categorizing texts according to how their structural elements combine to create a unified and recognizable whole.

different forms of text can usually be subdivided into genres (e.g. persuasive speech, romantic novel, cooperative dialogue), depending on their content

formality

the extent to which spoken or written texts either conform to standard conventions or employ more personal language strategies

genre

a subdivision of textual form determined by the text’s content (e.g. fantasy novel, tragic play, ballad, online review, television commercial, formal report)

implicature

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

in media 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

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

narrative 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

prose

ordinary language, without a rhyming pattern or rhythmic structure

register

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

not needed or wanted, or more than is needed or wanted

unnecessary

bright red, like fire; showing very strong feeling

fiery

the fact of making something seem larger, more important, better, or worse than it really is

exaggeration

belonging to a country that is not your own; object of substance has entered something else, possibly by accident, and does not belong there

foreign

a space from which most or all of the matter has been removed, or where there is little or no matter

vacuum

the punishing of someone for harming you or your friends or family, or the wish for such punishment to happen

vengeance

a flash of bright light in the sky that is produced by electricity moving between clouds or from clouds to the ground

lightning

a piece of music that someone has written; the way that people or things are arranged in a painting or photograph

composition

a sudden event that causes very great trouble or destruction

catastrophe

the degree to which people keep themselves or their environment clean, especially to prevent disease

hygiene

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 usually conveyed by the use of the appropriate grammatical mood

anaphoric reference

where a word refers back to an earlier part of a test for its meaning (e.g. in the following text, the underlined words refer anaphorically to David: I recognized 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)

computer-mediated discourse

the specialist form of language between online users

deixis

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

discourse markers

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

aspect

a form of the verb which explains its relation to time, particularly indicating whether an action is completed (e.g. the perfect - had walked) or incomplete (e.g. as in the progressive - was walking or perfect progressive - had been walking)

metalanguage

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

slogan

a short, direct and memorable phrase, frequently used in advertising