Linguistics Key Terms

Key Terms in Linguistics

• Linguistics

  • Definition: The scientific study of language and its structure.

• Morphology

  • Definition: The study of the forms of words.

• Morpheme

  • Definition: The smallest meaningful unit of language.

• Derivation

  • Definition: The origin of a word, typically from Greek, Latin, or Anglo-Saxon roots.

• Etymology

  • Definition: The study of the origin of words and the way their meanings have changed throughout history.

• Prefix

  • Definition: The affix that comes before the base/root; it changes the meaning of the word.

• Base / Root

  • Definition: The part of a word that gives it meaning, derived from Anglo-Saxon, Greek, and Latin.

• Suffix

  • Definition: The affix that comes after the base/root; it often indicates the part of speech.

• Consonant

  • Definition: A speech sound that is produced by stopping or shaping the air from the mouth.

• Vowel

  • Definition: A speech sound produced by the vibration of the vocal cords.

• Syllable

  • Definition: A unit of spoken language that contains one vowel sound.

• Short Vowel

  • Definition: A term used to describe a quick vowel sound.

• Long Vowel

  • Definition: A term used to describe an elongated vowel sound.

• Closed Syllable

  • Definition: A syllable in which the vowel is closed in by one or more consonants; the vowel is short.

• V-e Syllable

  • Definition: A syllable in which the vowel is followed by a consonant and then an 'e'; the vowel is long.

• Open Syllable

  • Definition: A syllable that ends with a vowel; the vowel is long.

• R-Controlled Syllable

  • Definition: A syllable in which the vowel is followed by the letter 'r'.

• Consonant-le Syllable

  • Definition: The syllable type that ends with a consonant followed by 'le'; occurs only at the end of a word.

• Vowel Team Syllable

  • Definition: A syllable that contains a vowel pair (e.g., ey, ai, ou).

Symbols and Sound Combinations

• Breve

  • Definition: A symbol used to identify a short vowel sound.

• Macron

  • Definition: A symbol used to identify a long vowel sound.

• Blend

  • Definition: A combination of two or more consonants together, maintaining their individual sounds (e.g., bl, str).

• Consonant Digraph

  • Definition: A combination of two or more consonants that make one sound (e.g., wh, th, sh).

• Trigraph

  • Definition: A combination of three letters that make one sound (e.g., dge, tch).

• Welded Sounds

  • Definition: Sounds that stick together (e.g., ink, ong, am).

• Bonus Letters

  • Definition: The letters F, L, S, Z when they occur at the end of a syllable or word.

Affixes

• Affixes

  • Definition: Include prefixes and suffixes, which alter the meaning and/or the grammatical role of the base/root word.

• Base / Root

  • Recap: The part of a word that provides its basic meaning.

• Prefix

  • Recap: An affix that precedes the base/root and modifies its meaning.

• Suffix

  • Recap: An affix that follows the base/root, altering its meaning or changing the part of speech.