Adjective: A term used in the grammatical classification of words to refer to the main set of items which specify the attributes of nouns. E.g. big, ugly, serendipitous.
Adverb: A term used in the grammatical classification of words to refer to a heterogeneous group of items whose most frequent function is to specify the mode of action of the verb. E.g. slowly, soon
Affix: The collective term for the types of formative that can only be used when added to another morpheme.
Consonant: One of the two general categories used for the classification of speech sounds. From a phonetic point of view, they are sounds made by a closure in the vocal tract so that friction is produced. From a phonological perspective, consonants are those units which function at the margin of syllables, either singly or in clusters. E.g. [f], [m] or [p]
Contraction: A term used in linguistics to refer to the process or result of phonologically reducing a linguistic form so that it comes to be attached to an adjacent linguistic form, or fusing a sequence of forms so that they appear as a single form. E.g. I've from I have
Coordination: A term used in grammatical analysis to refer to the process or result of linking linguistic units which are usually of equivalent syntactic structures. E.g. John walked and Mary ran.
Deictic: A term used in linguistic theory to subsume those features of language which refer directly to the personal, temporal or locational characteristics of the situation within which an utterance takes place, whose meaning is thus relative to that situation. E.g. now/then, here/there, I/you, this/that
Derivational: A term used in morphology to refer to one of the two main categories or processes of word formation, the other being inflectional. These terms also apply to the two types of affix involved in word formation. Basically, the result of a derivational process is a new word. E.g. [un]+[clear]=[unclear]
E-poop: Poop which is produced online by e-pets
Extralinguistic: In the most general sense, this term refers to anything in the world (other than language) in relation to which language is used. E.g. gestures, tones of voice.
Inflectional: A term used in morphology to refer to one of the two main categories or processes of word formation, the other being derivational. These terms also apply to the two types of affix involved in word formation. Inflectional affixes signal grammatical relations, such a plural, past tense and possession, and do not change the grammatical class of the stems to which they are attached. E.g. [walk]+[ed]=[walked]
Intonation: A term used in the study of suprasegmental phonology, referring to the distinctive use of patterns of pitch or melody.
Lexical Suffix: A suffix which has its own lexical meaning, as opposed to just performing a grammatical or inflectional function. There are no examples of this in English.
Lexicon: In its most general sense, this term is synonymous with vocabulary. A dictionary can be seen as a set of lexical entries.
Lexis: A term used in linguistics to refer to the vocabulary of a language.
Linguistics: The scientific study of language.
Morpheme: The minimal distinctive unit of grammar, and the central concern of morphology.
Morphology: The branch of grammar which studies the structure or forms of words, primarily through the use of the morpheme construct.
Noun: A term used in the grammatical classification of words, traditionally defined as the 'name of a person, place or thing' (or abstraction) E.g. Sam, tree, beauty.
Open class words: A term used in the grammatical classification of words to refer to one of two postulated major word-classes in language, the other being closed. An open class is one whose membership is in principle indefinite or unlimited. E.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
Phatic: A term…used by many linguists to refer to language used for establishing an atmosphere or maintaining social contact rather than for exchanging information or ideas. E.g. comments on the weather or enquiries about health.
Phonetic: The science which studies the characteristics of human sound-making, especially those sounds use in speech, and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription.
Phonological: A branch of linguistics which studies the sound systems of languages.
Prefix: A term used in morphology to refer to an affix which is added initially to a root or stem. E.g. [mis]+[understand]=[misunderstand]
Productive: A general term used in linguistics the refer to the creative capacity of language users to produce and understand an indefinitely large number of sentences.
Prosody: A term used in suprasegmental phonetics and phonology to refer collectively to variations in pitch, loudness, tempo and rhythm.
Proto(language): A prefix used in historical linguistics to refer to a linguistic form or state of a language said to be the ancestor of attested forms/languages. E.g. Proto-Indo-European
Subordination: A term used in grammatical analysis to refer to the process or result of linking linguistic units so that they have a different syntactic status, one being a dependant upon the other, and usually a constituent of the other. E.g. John left when the bus arrived.
Verb: A term used in the grammatical classification of words, to refer to a class traditionally defined as 'doing' or 'action' words. E.g. eat, swim, think
Vowel: One of the two general categories used for the classification of speech sounds, the other being consonant. In phonetics, they are sounds which are produced without a complete closure in the mouth. Phonologically, vowels are those units which function at the centre of syllables.
© 2004 - Carolyn Campbell