Cambridge AS Terms Week 1

Acronym

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

Active voice

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

Adjective

A word that modifies a noun

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).

Adverb

A word that modifies a verb

Alliteration

The repetition of the same letter or sounds at the beginning of adjacent or closely related words

Allusion

Reference to another text, often indirectly

Analogy

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

Anaphora

Deliberate repetition of words for rhetorical effect

Anaphoric reference

Where a word refers back to an earlier part of a text 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.)

Antonym

A word with the opposite meaning to another word.

Archaism

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

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.

Audience

The readers and/or listeners of a text.

Author

The producer of a text

Autobiography

The story of the writer's life told from his or her point of view

Biography

An account of someone's life told by a third person narrator

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 recognised my old friend Sarah immediately.)

Clause

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

Cohesion

Strategies used by a writer or speaker to ensure that a text is structured with features that will allow it to be followed by a reader or listener

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).

Conjunction

A linking word in a sentence, often to join two clauses

Connotation

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

Context

The situation in which a text is produced, including aspects such as social, cultural, political background

Contraction

The omission of letters to make things less formal

Coordination

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

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).

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).

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.

Dialogue

Interchange between two or more speakers

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.

Ellipsis

The intentional omission of a word, sentence, or section of text for reasons of economy or effect

Emotive

Arousing intense feelings or emotions

Epiphora

The repetition of the same letter or sounds at the end of successive clauses or sentences

Eponym

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