Macmillan Glossary

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    G l o s s a r yabbrev ia tion : a word form ed from the in itia l

    le tte rs o f a series o f w ords that refer to anentity or concept. U nlike an acronym , ana bb re via tio n is p ro no un ce d ju st a s a s trin g o fl et te rs . F o r e xamp le , PDQ { pr et ty d amn q u ic k}an d VC R (v id eo c as se tte re co rd er } a re a bb re -v ia ti on s . S omet im e s c a ll ed a lp h ab e ti sa ti on .

    a cc en t: p ro nu nc ia tio n p att er ns t ha t a re a ss oc ia t-e d w ith a p artic ula r s et o f s pe ak ers .

    a cc ep ta bil ity : re fe rs to a s pe ak er 's p erc ep tio nsa b ou t t he g ramma ti ca li ty o r u n gr amma ti ca li tyof a w ord , p hr as e D r s e nt en ce .accusa tive : the case that is used to m ark theobject or d ire ct ob ject. T he prono un s him,he r an d them a re in th e a cc us ativ e c as e.

    a cro ny m: a w ord fo rm ed fro m th e in itia l le tte rs o fa se ries of words that refe r to an entity o rconcept. Fo r exam ple , AIDS (AcquiredIm mu ne D eficiency S ynd ro me) a nd Qan tas(Q ue en sla nd a nd N orth ern T errito ry A eria lS e rv ic es ) a re a cr on yms .

    a dje ct iv e: a p ar t o f s pe ec h t ha t re fe rs t o q ua li tie so r s ta te s. F or e xa m ple , green an d lovely ar ea dj ec tiv es . T he y a re t yp ic al ly u se d t o c on ve yin fo rm atio n a bo ut n ou ns. T he y m ay occu r a sa mod ifier in a n ou n p hra se : T he lo ve lyweather, o r a s a p red icative com ple men t in av er b p hra se : The g rass w as green. SomeEnglish adjectives may be in flected fordegree: g re en , g re en er , g re e ne st

    a dje ctiv e p hra se : a p hra se th at is c on stru cte daround an ad jective. E xam ples a re , veryhappy an d r ea ll y b ri gh t

    a dverb: a p art o f spe ech tha t re fe rs to the man-ner, p lace, tim e, frequency, D r deg ree inw hich a n even t o c curs. Fo r exa m p Ie , s lowly ,often an d no w a re a dv erb s. A dv erb s m a y a ls ob e u se d t o m o dif y a dje ct iv es : M y hair is verylong a nd to c on ne ct s en te nc es : H ow ev er . m vfrie nd s ho we d u p o n tim e.

    adve rb phrase : a ph rase tha t is constru cte da rou nd an a dve rb. F or e xam ple, s o q ui ck lyan d v e ry o f te n .

    a dv erb ia l:th e n am e o f t he fu nctio n o f a n e le me ntin a c lause tha t ca rries inform ation abou tm ann er, p lace, tim e, freq ue ncy, o r d eg ree .A dv erb p hra se s, p re po sitio na l p hra se s a ndsom e noun phrases can function as adver-bials. C o ns id er t he preposi t lonal phrase ont he t ab le in : I droppe d m y pla te on the tab le .A dv erb ia ls a re o ptio na l. F or e xa mp le , w e c ans ay e it he r: That was m y favourite m eal orT ha t w as tru ly m v fa vo urite m ea l.

    a ffix : a b ou nd m orp he me th at is a d de d to th e ro otto fo rm a new w ord as, for exam ple , -i n an d-able in in-dispute-able o r t o e xp re ss a g ra m-m atic al re la tio ns hip s uc h a s plural w ith -s indogs . S e e a I so p re fix a n d s uf fix .

    a ffix in g: the process of com bin in g a ro ot an d anaffix . For exam ple the w ord true becomest ru th , t ru th fu l, u n tr ut hf ul an d untru th fu lnesst hro ug h t he p ro ce ss o f a ff ix in g.a ffr ic ate : a s ou nd p ro du ce d b y in itia lly b lo ck in gth e o ra l c avity c om ple te ly (a s in a s to p), th enre le as in g th e b lo ck ag e o nly p artia lly s o th at af ri ca tiv e q ua lit y i s h ea rd .

    a lveola r: a sound m ade by using the tip or theb lade o f the tongue and the alveola r r idge.S ou nd s m ade in th is w ay inc lu de It, d , s, Z, n/ .

    a Iveolar rid ge : the ro ug hly te xtu re d ridg e tha tru ns a ro un d th e to p ja w b eh in d th e te eth . T hisarea is used in the production of a lveola rsounds.

    a na lo gy : a p ro ce ss o f la ng ua ge c ha ng e in w hic hs pe ak ers a pp ly w id es pre ad p atte rn s to a n ewD r e x ce pt io na l c as e. F or e xa m ple , i n c om p ut -er ja rgon, m any speakers use m ouses as ane w p lura l fo r a m ouse ra the r tha n the irrsq-ular p lu ra l m ic e. T his is o n a na lo gy w ith o th er-s m ark ed p lu ra ls su ch a s d og s, c om pu te rs ,a nd s oc ks . O ve r tim e, a na lo gy h as th e re su lto f g ra d ua ll y l ev e ll in g o u t i rr eg u la ri ti es .

    analytic language: a language tha t does notm ak e m uc h u se o f in fle ctio n to c on ve y gram-ma tic al re la tio ns hip s, a nd re lie s m o re h ea vilyo n fixe d w ord o rde r. S ee also synthe tic lan-guage.

    A ng lo -S ax on : th e a nc es tra l la ng ua ge o f M od ernE ng lish, w hich w as spoken betw een abou t45ij an d 1100 . It is anothe r name for O ldEngl ish.

    app roxim an t: a consonant produced by twospeech o rgans be ing b rought very c lose toeach o ther, bu t no t so c lose as to p roducet urb ule nc e. T he s ou nd s /if, /w/ , an d /r l ar ee xa mp le s in E ng lis h. A no th er te rm fo r s em i-vowel.

    arb itrary : the re la tio nsh ip b etw een a w ord an dits m eaning is a rb itra ry . A lth ou gh th e w ordbrie f m eans 'sho rt du ration, concise ' inE ng lish, in G erm an the sam e se t o f soundsmeans 'letter' (as in I wrote a l et te i) . B ri efcould just as well have been used to m ean'sh ort s tory ' or an yth in g else . S ee also con -vention.

    a rt ic le : t he E ng lis h a rt ic le s a re a(n) an d th e an dthey belong to the part o f speech know n asd et er m in e rs . A rt ic le s are u se d to in dic atew he th er a n ou n is d efin ite o r in de fin ite .

    articu latio n: refers to th e w ay in w hich so un dsare prod uced . S ee m ann er o f a rticu la tio na n d p la c e o f a rt ic ul at io n .

    aspect: a g ra mm at ic al c at eg or y a ss oc ia te d w it hv erb s. A sp ec t e nc od es th e d ura tio n o r c orn -p le teness o f an even t w ith respect to a cer-ta in p oin t in tim e.

    a ssim ilatio n: a ph on olo gica l p roce ss in w hich asou nd is chan ge d to b ecom e m ore sim ila r toa n eig hb ouring so un d (typ ica lly e ithe r in itsp lace o r manner of a rticu la tion o r w ithre sp ec t to w he th er it is v oice d o r v oic ele ss ).Th is p rocess m akes sequences of soundse a si er t o p ro d uc e .

    a ud ien ce: the p erso n or peo ple tha t the spea k-e r/ writ er/ sig ne r is a dd re ss in g. T he a ud ie nc em ay a ls o in clu de u nin te nd ed a dd re ss ee s a sis th e case w he n p eo ple e avesd rop on a co n-versat ion.Auslan : the nam e of the s igned language m ostw id ely u se d in A us tra li a.

    au xiliary: a p art o f sp ee ch th at refers to a g rou po f w ord s th at p re ce de v erb s in c erta in fo rm s

    and exp ress d is tinctions o f tim e, aspect,m od ality a nd v oic e. S ee m od al a ux ilia ry a ndp r ima r y au x il ia r y.

    b ack: the a re a of the tong ue b efore th e tong ueroot. The back of the tongue is used in pro-d ue in g v ela r s ou nd s.

    back vow el: a vow el sound form ed hy the posi-tion o f the tongue towards the back o f them outh tha t is used in n a m i n9 t he se v ow els .T h e v ow e l lu i is a b ac k v ow el.

    b ac kf or ma tio n: t he fo rm atlon of a ne w w ord th ato ccurs w hen sp eake rs re in te rpret a sim pleroot a s a roo t p lus affix . B y d rop pin g the so -ca lled affix a new w ord is form ed. F or exam -p le , th e v erb enthuse com es from the nounenthus iasm.

    b as e fo rm : a no th er n am e fo rth e in fin itiv e fo rm o fa v er b.

    ba sic c lau se: a stru ctu ra lly co mplete c lau se,cons is ting o f a noun ph rase fo llowed by averb ph rase . A basic c lause m akes a g ram -m atic al u tte ra nc e. S ee a ls o m ain c la us e a nds ub o rd in a te c la u se .

    b eh aviou ra l a pp roa ch: a the ory for e xp la in in glan gu ag e a cq uisitio n in term s of the child 'sim ita tio n of ad u lt sp a a ke rs a nd p os itiv e re oinforcem en t from adults . C are takers a reim portan t because they p rovide bo th them odel and the m otivation for ch ildren 'inacquiring language . See also innatea pp ro ac h a nd th e in te ra ct io nis t a pp ro ac h.

    b id ia le ctis m: a n in div id ua l's a bility to sp ea k a ndw rite tw o d ifferent d ia lects . For exam ple,so meo ne m ay spea k S ta nd ard A ustra lianE ng li sh a t w o rk a nd B ro ad A us tra lia n E ng lis ha t h om e o r a mo ng frie nd s.

    b ila bia l: th e n am e g iv en to s ou nd s c re ate d u sin gthe lips. In English , the lips m eet and blockthe flo w o f a ir in the sou nds lb , p, m I .

    b ilin gu alis m : t he a bili ty to s pe ak t wo la ng ua ge s.A p ers on w ho is fu lly b ilin gu al c an s pe ak b othla ng ua ge s flu en tly . T yp ic ally , o ne o f th e la n-guages is like ly to be spoken m ore readilytha n the othe r. O r, o ne lan gua ge w ill be use din on e setting [e.g . E nglish a t w o rk), an d theo th er e ls ew h er e (e .g . V ie tn am e se a t h om e ).

    b io lo gic al g en de r: th e c ate go ris atio n o f p eo ple ,an im a ls , and plants as m ale and fem aleba s ed on b i ol o gi ca l c h ar a ct e ri s ti cs ( i. e . sexu-a l tr ait s). S ee a Is o g ra mm at ic al g en de r.

    b lad e: th e a re a of the to ng ue b eh ind th e tip . T heb la de o f t he to ng ue is u se d in p ro du cin g d en -t al, a lv eo la r, a nd p ala te -a lv eo la r s ou nd s.

    b lend: a p rocess of word form ation in wh ichparts of two independen t words a re com -bined an d used a s a n ew w ord . F or exam ple ,smog , is a h lend o f smoke an d fog.

    borrow ing : th e pro cess of a cq uiring n ew w ord so r g ram matica l fea tu res from ano ther lan-g ua ge . E xa mp le s o f b orro win gs in to E ng lis hinc lude b e d ou in , g ir a ff e an d lute f rom A r ab i c,an d c a rg o , c ig a r, an d vanilla f rom S p an is h.b ou nd m orp he me : a m orp he me th at c an no t s ta nda lo ne , ty pic ally a n a ffix [fo r e xa mp le th e v erbsuffixes -ing an d -e d a re b ou nd ). S om e ro ot sa re also bound morphem es and must be

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    co mb in ed w ith an affix in o rd er to p ro duc e aword . for exam ple, -cieve ca nno t occ uralone but does occur in the form s receive,conceive a nd deceive.

    b ro ad en in g: a p ro ce ss o f le xic al c ha ng e in w hic hthe m ea ning of a w ord be co me s m ore ge ner-a l over tim e. For exam ple , an ais le u se d tore fer to the passage between pews in achurch but is now used in other contexts aswell .c as e: a g ra mm atic al c ate go ry , a ss oc ia te d w ithnouns, that shows the ir role in the clause.Case is no longer a w idely used category inE ng lis h. It o cc urs o nly in th e p ro no un s ys te m(she versus h er. h e versus bim] . H ow ev er, inO ld Eng lish case was marked on nouns asw ell a s p ro no un s, a nd in clu de d th e n om in a-ti ve , g e nit iv e , d a tiv e a n d a cc us ativ e c as es .

    c en tra l v ow el: a v ow el s ou nd fo rm ed by t he p o si -tion of th e ton gu e a t th e ce ntre o f t he m ou ththat is used in nam ing these vowels. Thevowel !~/s a c en tra l v ow el.

    c en tre : th e a re a o f th e to ng ue b etw ee n th e fro nta n d th e h a c k,

    clau se : a la rg er un it th an a p hra se a nd u su allycontains a verb. A comple te clause maystand a lone as a sim ple sentence or be parto f a c om po un d, c om ple x o r c om po un d-c om -p le x s en te n ce .

    cognates: a s et o f w ord s fro m re la te d la ng ua ge sth at s ha re a c om m on s ou rc e (in th e a nc es to rlanguage] .

    col locat ions: a p airin g o f w o rd s th at a re c on ve n-tional or closely associa ted in the m inds ofs pe a k e rs. Fo r exa m p ie w e s aya n th e b oo k-shelf no t in th e b oo ks he lf, h an ds om e m a n bu tb e au ti fu l w om an .

    com ment clause: a clause that provides add i-tio nal in fo rm atio n a bou t the to pic b ut is n otd irectly re levant to the thread of the dis-co urse. Fo r ex am ple, in th e follo win g sen -tence the topic is flowers and the c omm e n tc la us e is a bo ut a lle rg ie s: S he b ou gh t so meflo we rs w ith h er, th ey g av e m e te rrib le h ayfe ve r; a nd sh e n ee de d a va se to p ut th em in .

    com monisa tion : the process by which a brandn am e o r o the r p ro per n am e b eco mes a co m-m o n n ou n. F or e xam ple , th e w ord kleenex is aco mm on n oun m ea ning 'tissue ' th at co me sfro m th e b ra nd n am e K le en ex1M

    comm unicative function : one of the uses wem ak e o f la ng ua ge . S om e o f th e c om m un ic a-tiv e fu nc tio ns o f la ng ua ge in clu de , fo r e xa m-p le , s oc ia l p urp os es (e .g . u sin g g re etin gs ],e xp re ss iv e p ur po se s (e .g . p oe tr y o r r ap ], a ndm e ta lin gu is tic p urp os es (e .g . s pe llin g s om e -thing].

    c om p ar ativ e: a n in fle ctio na l s uffix th at in dic ate sone of the three degrees of com parison formany ad jectives and some adverbs as inshor ter an d harder .

    c om pa ra tiv e m eth od : a te ch niq ue u se d to re co n-struct hypothetica l word form s in a proto-la ng ua ge b as ed a n th e c om pa ris on o f s ou ndc orre sp on de nc es in w ord s fro m re la te d la n-guages .

    c om ple x s en te nc e: a s en te nc e c on ta in in g tw o o rm ore clauses, where the relationshipb etw ee n th e c la us es is o ne o f s ub ord in atio n.A su bordina tin g co nju nctio n m ay o ccu r a s am a rk er o f a s ub ord in ate c la us e,

    co mp oun d-co mp le x se nten ce : a se nte nce con -taining both one coordina ted clause (orm ore ] a nd o ne s ub ord in ate c la us e [o r m ore ].

    c om po un d s en te nc e: a s en te nc e c on ta in in g tw oor more clau se s o f e qu al statu s, w he re therelationship between the clauses is one ofcoo rd in ation . C om po und s en ten ce s m akeu se o f c o or din a tin g c o nj un c tio n s.

    compoun d ing: the creation of a new word bycom bining tw o a lre ady e xistin g w ords. Fo re xam ple th e c om p ou nd carpor t c on ta in s t hein d ep e nd e nt w o rd s ca r an d por t .

    con junction : a part of speech that re fers to agroup of words that are used to link w ords,p hra se s a nd c la us es to ge th er. T he c on ju nc -tio n in the follo win g e xam ple is a nd : I w ok eup earlv th is m orn ing and prom ptly w en tb ac k to s le ep .

    connota tion : re fers to the soc ial m eanings ore mo tio na l a ss oc ia tio ns trig ge re d b y a w ord .fo r e xa mp le , th e w ord mother m ay h av e p os -itiv e [c arin g, n urtu rin g] o r n eg ativ e [s ho win ge xc es siv e c on ce rn , lim itin g) c on no ta tio nsd ep en din g o n th e c on te xt. C om pa re : Ieal lyneed some m othering a t the m om ent withS h e's a lw a ys m o th er in g m e .

    c on se cu tiv e b ilin gu alis m : th e a cq uis itio n o f o nela ng ua ge a fte r a no th er d ur in g c hild ho od . T hiso ften occu rs w hen th e h om e la ngu age is dif-fe re nt fro m th e la ng ua ge u se d a t s ch oo l.

    consonant: the class of sounds produced byb lo ckin g th e flow of a ir th ro ugh the m outh insom e way. B lockage m ay be m om entarilyco mple te (sto ps, n asa ls a nd affricate sl. o rp a rt ia l ( fr ic at iv e s, li qu id s a n d approxhnants).S ee a ls o v owe ls .

    c on te nt: th e m es sa ge o f th e c om m un ic atio n, th ei nf or m at io n b e in g c o nv ey e d.

    co nte nt w ord : a w ord th at ca rrie s le xica l m ean -in g, th at re fe rs to s om e th in g in th e re al w orld .T he fo llo win g c la ss es c on ta in c on te nt w ord s:no uns, ve rb s, ad ve rb s a nd ad je ctive s. S eea ls o fu nc tio n w ord .

    co nte xt: th e se tting in w hich co mm un ica tio nt ak e s p la c e.

    contraction : a reduced form of one or morew ords, e sp ecially w hen sp oke n la ng uag e isre pr es en te d in w ritin g. F or e xam ple , can't isa c on tra ctio n o f cannot .

    c on ve ntio n: e sta blished by a group of peop le .T he relatio nship b etw ee n a s ign (o r expres-sion of a message) and a meaning (or thec on te nt o f a m es sa ge ) is c on ve ntio na l. S eea l so arb it ra r y .

    con ve rsio n: th e p ro cess of cre ating a n ew w ordth at b elo ng s to a d iffe re nt p art o f s p ee ch th anth e o rig in al w ord w ith ou t a ny a ffix atio n. F ore xam ple , th e n ou n laugh a s in T ha t g at a fe wlaughs is a c on ve rs io n fro m th e v erb laugh asin S he la ug he d o ut lo ud .

    c oo rd in atin g c on ju nc tio n: c on ju nc tio ns u se d tolin k to ge th er la ng ua ge u nits , s uc h a s p hra se sand clauses, tha t are of equa l status.C oo rd in atin g c on ju nc tio ns in clu de th e w or dsa nd , o r, an d bu t See also com pound sen-tences.

    c oo rd in atio n: th e re la tio ns hip b etw ee n tw o la n-g uag e un its o f t he sam e sort, such a s ph ra s-es or clauses, that are jo ined together bym ea ns o f a c oo rd in atin g c on ju nc tio n s uc h a sa nd , o r, an d bu t F o r e x amp le : I w an ted tow atch T V but I had to fin ish m y hom ew ork .See a lso subor d ina ti on .

    c op ula: a ve rb th at fun ctio ns a s a lin k b etw ee n asubject and a pred ica tive complement.E x amp le s i nc lu d e: be , seem , appear an dbecome.

    c re ole : a la ng ua ge th at d ev elo ps o ut o f a p id ginw he n c hild re n a cq uire th e p id gin a s t h eir firs tla ng ua ge a nd re qu ir e th e la ng ua ge to fu lfi! a llof th eir c om m un ic ativ e n ee ds . C re ole s ta kem uch of their vocabulary from a languagethat has his to rically been dom inant Thus,c re ole s in A us tra lia a re E ng lis h b as ed .

    c re ole c on tin uu m: s pe ak ers o f c re ole s m ay h av ethe ab ility to speak m ore or less creo lisedversions of the source language. Thus,s pe ak ers o f K r i o l , a n E ng lis h-b as ed c re oleu se d in th e n orth ern p arts o f A us tra lia , o fte na lso speak Aborig inal Eng lish which m aysound m ore like K rio l in som e settings andm o re lik e S ta nd ard E ng lis h in o th er s.

    da tive : th e ca se tha t is u sed to m ark a n ou n w iththe funetlon of ind irect o bject. T his case isn ot d is ti n gu is he d in M o dem E ng lis h.

    d ec la ra tiv e: th e s en te nc e ty pe ty pic ally u se d tom ake a sta tem ent. O eclaratives have thes tru ctu re o f b as ic c la us es , w he re th e s ub je ctp re ce de s th e v er b. F or e xam ple : I l ike milk onm y c e re a l.

    declension: a set of grammatica l fo rms for ase ries o f n ou ns or pron oun s th at sh ow ca se( fo r e x amp le : s he , h er, or he , him, his] . Inh ig hly in fle ctio na l la ng ua ge s a dje ctiv es m a ya ls o h av e d ec le ns io ns th at re fle ct th e c as e o fth e n ou n th ey a re m o dify in g.

    d e fin it e: t he a rt ic le th e is a d e fi nit e d e te rm in e r.T his m ea ns w e u se it w he n re fe rrin g to s om e-thing w e e xp ect th e a u di e nc e w ill re c o gn is ebecause it has already been m entioned, orbecause it w ill be easy for them to work out.S ee a lso i nde fi ni te .

    d en ta l: the n am e g ive n to sou nds cre ated us ingth e to ng ue tip a nd th e te eth (fo r s om e s pe ak -e rs th is m ay in vo lve th e blad e of th e to ng ueand the back of the teeth]. In Eng lish thefricatives /0 / an d /0 / a re m ad e b y p artia llyb lo ck in g th e a irflo w in th is w ay .

    d ep en de nt c la us e: a c la us e th at is p art o f a la rg -e r c la us e o r s en te nc e. It c an h av e a fu nc tio nsuch as sub jec t or object in the larger lan-g ua ge u nit F or e xam ple , g oi ng to th e fo oty inI rea lly e njo y g oin g to th e foo ty is a d ep en d-e n t c la u se , a n d is th e object o f t h e v erb enjoy.D ep en de nt c la us es a re a ls o k no wn a s s ub or-d ina te c lauses .

    de riv atio nal (m orph em e]: an a ffix tha t, w henadded to a word , can change its m ean ing tocre ate a n ew w ord. F or e xa mp le the d eriva -t iona I p r ef ix un - C(l n b e u sed to cre ate w ordss uc h a s un i nsp ir in g , un inh ib i te d , an d unab le .

    d ete rioratio n: a proce ss of se man tic ch ang e inw hich the overa ll va lue attached to a wordb ec om e s in cre as in gly n eg ativ e. F or e xam plet he w o rd fair h as g on e fro m m e an in g 'b ea uti-fu l, p le as an t' to m ea nin q 'm od era te , to le ra -b le : S ee a ls o e le va tio n.

    de term in er: a p art o f sp ee ch th at e xpres ses theg ramma tic al c ate go rie s o f d e fin ite n e ss , n um -b er, a nd p os se ss io n. D ete rm in ers re fle ct th egram matical ca tegories of the nouns theyp re ce de . S ee a ls o d efin ite a nd in de fin ite .

    dialect: the set of gramm atical fea tures andv oc ab ula ry d iffe re nc es th at m ark a re gio na lo r s oc ia l v arie ty o f a la ng ua ge . W id es pre add ifferen ce s in a ccen t a re a lso asso cia tedw it h d ia le c ts .

    d ip hth on g: a v ow el s ou nd th at is a rtic ula te d d if-fe re ntly as it is b eing pron oun ce d. Th e sta rta nd e nd p ain ts o f th e d ip hth on g a re in dic ate din the phono log ica l representation . For

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    e xa m ple t he d ip ht ho ng tall i s i nit i al l v 'a r ti cu -lated as la / bu t ends as a !rl. See alsomonophthong.direc t objec t: th e fu nc tion of an elem ent in ac lau se. In E ng lish , th e d irec t o bjec t f ollo wsth e in direc t o bjec t. T he d irec t o bj ec t is m o sta ff ec te d b y t h e v er b, t y pi ca ll y i t i s t ra ns fe rr edf ro m th e su bj ec t to th e in dire ct o bj ec t. In th ef ol low in g e xam p le a letteris t h e d ir ec t o bj ec t:W e se nt G eor ge a le tte r.d isc ou rse an aly sis: th e stu dy o f tex ts o r s po kenlangu age th at considers u nits larger th anind iv id ual sen tenc es. D isc ou rse analy sisconc erns itself w ith qu estions abou t h owpeople u se langu age to stru ctu re and com -r n u n ic at e m e a n in g .d is co urs e f un cti on : t he p urp os e a pa rt ic u l ar l an -g u ag e c on st ru c ti on o r e le m en t in a d is co u rs eserv es in stru ctu ring and c om m u nic atingm e a n in g. E x am p le s i nc lu d e m a rk in g s hif ts i nfoc us, a c han ge in play ers, and beg inning sa nd e nd s o f s c en es .d is c ou rs e p ar ti cl e: w o rd s a nd sm a ll e xp re ss io ns ,su ch as w ell. ye p, you kn ow , sort of. an d Imean , th at are u se d in a tex t to c om m u nic ateto th e au dien ce in fo rm a tio n su ch as c han gesof topic or scene, personal attitu des, ando th er n ua nc es o f m e an in g.d is cri m in at ory l an gu ag e: la ng u ag e th at re fl ec tsa r im p o se s h ie ra r c h i c a I d i s ti nc t ions be tweenpeople. F or e xa m ple , t he ti tl es Miss an d M rsreflec t a d istinc tion betw een m arried andu n m arried w om en w hereas no s ue h dist inc-tio n is m ad e fo r m en .dissimilat ion: a p ho no lo gic al p ro cess in w hic hn eig h bo uri ng s ou nd s w ith s im i la r c h ara cte r-istic s b ec om e les s alik e. F or e xam p le, w h entw o Irl sou nd s occu r next to each oth er onem ay becom e an Ill.do u h le negative: a cons tr u c t ion with tw oin sta nc es o f n eg at io n. F or e xa m pl e, I idn 'ts ee n o e le ph a nt s. T h is c on st ru c tio n h as l on gbeen view ed as u nacceptable becau selogically the hearer shou ld interpret itp ositiv ely (tw o n eg ativ es eq ual a p os itiv e) .T he persistenc e o f th is c onstru ction in th efac e of d isapprov al su gg ests th at it d oes nota ct ua ll y c re at e m a ny d if fic u lti es in c omm u n i-c atio n, a nd is in fa ct g ram m a tic ally a cc ep t-ab le. N ev erth eless, it w ou ld n ot n orm a lly b eview ed as a language constru c tion ofS ta nd ar d Engl is h .dual: th e gram matical num ber u sed tor tw on ou ns . In M o dern E ng lish th is d istin ctio n isno longer m ade and the plu ral is u sedinstead.E arly N ew E nglish : E nglish as it w as spok enbe tween approxima te ly 1500 an d 1800.elevation: a process of sem antic c hange inw hich th e overall v alu e attach ed to a w ordb ec om e s i nc re as in gly p os iti ve . F or e xa m pl eth e w ard misch ievous h as g one from m ean-i ng 'd is as tro us ' t o m e an in g 'p la yf ull y a nn oy -i ng. ' S e e a lso de te ri or at ion .ellip sis: th e om ission of w ord s or ph rases th atare n ot req uire d in o rd er to c om m u nic ate in ap artic ular c on tex t, b ec au se th e sp eak er a ndh earer c an m a ke u se o f i nfo rm a tio n f ro m p re-v io us u tteran ces in th e d isc ou rse o rth ey c ani nf er t h e i nf orm at io n f rom t h e c o nt ex t.em oticon: an im age u sed to represent fac ialexpressions th at is constru cted u sing th estandard k ey board. E moticons are u sed ine-m ails and sim m essages, for exam ple, to

    com m unicate som e of th e paralingu istici nf or m ati on th at is l os t in th e t ra ns it io n f ro mspe ak i ng t o w r it in g .E nglish as a foreign langu age (E Fl): refers toE ng lis h sp ea kers w ho h av e a cq uired th e lan -g uag e as p art o f t heir ed uc atio n in c ou ntriesi n w h ic h E ng li sh w as n ot s po ke n h is to ri ca ll y.Engl i sh as a native lang u age (E Nt): refe r s toE ng lis h sp ea kers w ho h av e ac qu ired th e lan -g u ag e a s th ei r f irs t la ng u ag e.E nglish as a sec ond langu ag e (E Sl): refers tosp eak ers w ho h av e ac qu ired E ng lish an d u seit regu larly becau se th e langu age h as sig-n if ic an t statu s in th e c ou ntrie s in w h ic h th eylive (often becau se it w as h istorically th ela ng u ag e o f cclonisars].e ty m olo gy : th e stu dy o f th e o rig in an d h is to ric ald ev e l opm e nt o f w o rd s .

    eu ph em ism : th e strateg y of referring to taboosubjects u si ng g en era l o r in di re ct l an gu ag e.F or ex am ple, instead of say ing ur inate ordefecate , p eo ple s ay go to the toile t or us eth e 100 i n A u s tr al ia , a nd u se th e be th toom inN orth A merica. In C anada and H ong K ongpeople g o t o t he w a sh ro om for th e sam e pu r-poses.e xc la m ativ e: th e sen ten ce ty pe ty pic ally u sed toex press an ex clam ation. A n ex clam ativ eb eg in s w i th e it h er wha t or how. For examp l e :W h at a b ea ut ifu l p ic tu re y ou d re w !ex pre ssio n: th e w ord s, p hrases a n d sen ten cesu se d to c omm u n ic ate a message.expressive w ord order: th e placem ent of lan-g uag e elem ents in a sen tenc e th at reflec ts

    p ri nc ip le s o f i nf or m ati on s tr uc tu ri ng ra th ert ha n re fle ct in g g ra m m ati ca l r ela ti on sh ip s.T his is m o st w id ely u sed in lan gu ag es th at d on ot req uire fix ed o r g r am m a tic al w ord o rd er.ey e gaze norm : th e level of ey e conta c t th at isd eterm in ed to b e ap pro priate in a p artic ularcu ltu re. For exam ple, sh ou ld I look at y ouw hen y ou 're talk ing to m e or not?f als e s ta rt: w h en a s pe ak er, h av in g a lr ea dy s ta rt-ed an an u tterance, hesitates or c hangestheir m ind abou t what they want to say . Af als e start is m o st c om m o n in u np la nn ed d is-course.fem inine: a ty pe of gram m atical gender. T he

    fem inine c lass often c ontains som e w ord sreferring to w om en bu t g enerally also c on -tains m any w ords th at do not sh are fem aletra it s. S ee a ls o b io lo gic al g en de r.fin al: th e p ositio n o f a so un d in rela tio n to o th ersou nd s. F inal is u sed to refer to sou nd s th atoc cu r at th e end of a w ord. See also initiala nd m e d ia l.f in ite v erb : a v erb th at c arrie s ten se, p ers on a ndnu m ber m ark ing an ag reem ent w ith th e su b-j ec t o f t h e c la us e.first person: th e speak er, sig ner or w riter. S eea lso pe rson.f ix ed e xp re ss io ns : s et s of wo rd s , o r e xp re ss io n sth at are u sed freq uently fo r fix ed p urposes ,E x am p l es i nc lu d e: g 'da y, cia o, how a re you ,n o w o r ri es an d sttu ti:fix ed w ard o rd er: in an an aly tic lan gu ag e, w h ereg ram m atic al fu nc tions are not ind ic ated bym orphem es, w ord order provides a k ey tou nd erstand ing th e relationsh ips betw eenw ords in a c lau se. In order to be u sefu l forth is p ur po se , w o rd o rd er m u s t b e p re di cta bl e,in o th er w o rd s f ix ed .fla p: a c on so nan t so un d. T he te rm 'f lap ' is u sed toin dic at e t ha tth e a rti cu la ti on i s v e ry q u ic k , th e

    obstru ction c reated by th e articu lators ismomenta ry .fo rm : th e ap pea ran ce , p art o f s pee ch c ate go ry o rstru ctu re o f a w ord o r m o rp hem e . T he fo rm o f

    a p ro no un , f or ex am p le, d ep en ds o n its p osi-tion in a c lau se. C om pare th e u se of th e firstp erso n an d th ird p erso n p rn nu u n s in th e fo l-l ow ing sen t enc es : I g av e it to h er an d Sh egave it to m e.free m orph em e: a m orph em e th at c an be u sed asa w ord w ith ou t an y m o dific atio n. F or ex am -pIe , t u na , W a r r nambo ol , d r iv e a nd purp le areall free m orphem es. See also bound m or-pheme .f ree t ransla t ion: a tr an sl ati on t ha t f lu en tl y c on -v ey sth e m ean in g an d to ne o f th e o rig in al tex tb ut m a y n ot p re cis ely re fl ec t t he g ra m m at ic alc at eg o ri es o r o rg an is at io n o f t h e o ri gi na l t ex t.fricative: th e nam e given to sounds c reatedw hen tw o sp eec h o rg an s p artially b lo ck air-f lo w, c reatin g tu rb ule nc e. In E ng lish th es es ou n ds i nc lu d e If, v,s, u .front: th e area of th e tongu e beh ind th e blade.T he front of th e tong ue is u sed in prod uc ing

    p al at al s ou n ds .fro nt v ow el: th e v ow el so un d fo rm e d b y t he p osi-tion of th e tongu e tow ards th e front of th em ou th is u sed in nam ing th ese vow els. T hevowel Iii is a f ron t vowe l.lu nc tio n: th e g ram m a tic al ro le an e lemen t i s f i ll -in g. F or e xam p le in th e fo llo win g s en ten ceHar r y h as th e fu nc tion of being th e su bjec t:Ha r r y a t e a l ot o f c hi ps .fu nc tion of langu age: one of th e pu rposes forw hic h lang uag e is u sed . T hese inc lu de: g iv -in g d ire ct io ns , a sk in g q u es tio ns , t ell in g s to -ries and so on. See also cnm m unicativefunct ion.f un ctio n w ard : a w ord th at c arries g ram m a tic alm e an in g o nl y. F or e xa m ple , p ro no un s, p re po -s it io n s, a nd conjunctlons,g en der: a g ram m a tic al c ate go ry as so ciate d w ithnouns w hich m ay be indexed an oth er ele-m ents in the c lau se. A djec tives m ay alsoag ree w ith th e g end er of t he nou n th ey m od i-fy . In O ld English there w ere th ree nounc lass es: m a sc ulin e, fem i nin e an d n eu ter. InM o de rn E ng li sh g en de r is d is tin gu is he d o nl yi n t h e p ro no u ns 1 h e, s he an d /d . S ee als o b io -l og ic al g en de r a nd g ra m m ati ca l g en de r.g enetic related ness: refers to lang uag es th atsh are a c om m on anc estor. G enetic related -ness is u su ally apparent in the lexicon asw or ds w ith s im i la r f o rms a nd m e a ni ng s .g enitiv e: th e c ase th at is u sed to m ark a posses-so r n ou n. T his c as e h as ev olv ed in to th e p os-sessive -s in M o dern E ng lish , f or ex am p let he m a n's h at. T h er e a re a ls o p os se ss iv e p ro -nouns: h is , t ie r an d their .g lo ss : a w o rd - fa r- w ar d t ra ns la ti on , u s u al ly s h ow -in g th e g ram m a tic al d istin ctio ns c od ed in th eorig inal lang uag e as w ell as th e m eaning ofea ch w ord .9 10 Hal: a sou nd th at is m ad e u sing th e g lottis asth e m a in a rt ic u la to r. I n E ng lis h th e s ou nd Ihlis m ade by sligh tly c losing th e vocal foldso v er t h e g lo tt is .g lo His: th e opening b etw een th e v oc al fold s int he l ar y nx .g ram m a r: th e stu dy o f th e stru ctu re o f lan gu ag ein g en eral, o r o f th e stru ctu re o fse nten ces inpartic ular. In th is sec ond sense g ram m ar ism ainly c on cerned w ith sy ntax and m orph o-logy.

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    gramm atical gender: nouns are assigned tog ramma tic al c la ss es b as ed a n th e a gre em e ntpatte rns they trigger on other words,G ra mm atica l g en de r d oe s n ot n ece ssa rilycorrespond to bio log ica l gender, See a lsogender .

    gram matica l word order: in som e languagesw ord o rd er p ro vid es a k ey to u nd ers ta nd in gthe re lationsh ips between words andphrases in a clause, In basic clauses inM odern Eng lish, the subject is identifieda s t he n ou n p hra se b efo re th e ve rb ,

    G re at E ng lis h V ow el S hift: in th e 1 5th c en tu ry th epronuncia tion of the vowels in Eng lisha lte red in a system atic and profound w ay,The G reat Eng lish Vow el Sh ift is one of thereasons for the d isparity between thes pe llin g a nd p ro nu nc ia tio n o f E ng lis h w or ds ,T he s pe llin g r efle cts th e u su al p ro nu nc ia tio nb efo re th e v ow el s hift to ok p la ce ,

    G rim m's law : a law that describes a series ofs ou nd c han ge s th at oc cu rre d b etw ee n In do -European and G erm anic , Vo ice less stopsbecam e frica tives, vo iced stops becam ev oic ele ss , a nd b re ath y v oic ed s to ps b ec am ep la in v o ic e d s to p s,hard palate: the bony portion of the roof o f them ou th , b eg in nin g be hind th e a lve ola r rid geand extend ing back to the ve lum , or so ftp ala te, S ou nds th at a re m ad e u sin g th e h ardp ala te a re c alle d p ala ta l s ou nd s.

    h ed gin g e xp re ss io n: a p hra se s u eh as y ou k now ,sort of an d a bit tha t is used in order toreduce the force of an utte rance, H edgingexpress ions are a stra tegy for remov ings oc ia l d is ta nc e b etw ee n th e s pe ak er a nd th ea ud ie nc e b y re du cin g th e a uth or ita tiv en es so f th e s pe ak er 's to ne .

    h igh-ris ing term ina l (HR T]; the use of a h ighris ing in ton ation at the end of a sta tem ent(es pec ia lly in A ustralia n a nd N ew Z ea la ndE ng lis h], H R T s o un ds s im ila r to th e in to na tio nu se d in E ng lis h q ue stio ns b ut is a ctu ally u se dfor a range of o ther d iscourse functionssuch as seeking em pathy and regu la tingc o nv e rs a tio n al in te taction.

    h igh vow el: a position of the tongue h igh in the010 uth that is used in na m ing these vaw e Is ,T he v ow e l Ii I is a h ig h v ow el.holophrast ic s la ge : d ur in g th is s ta ge o f la ng ua gea cq uis itio n c hild re n u se s in gle w ord s to c on -ve y a la rg e nu mb er o f differe nt m es sa ge s,Th is s tage is a lso known as the one-wordstage,

    h om on ym ; a sin gle s trin g o f so un ds tha t is a sso -c ia te d w ith tw o o r m ore u nre la te d m ea nin gs .F o r examp le , crane 'a typ e o f m ach in e u se d inth e bu ild in g ind ustry ' a nd crane 'a type ofbird',id iom : a sequence of wards that form s a sing leun it o f m ean ing, For exam ple, burn yourbr idges, m eans 'to ac t in a w ay that com mitsyou to a sing le course of action ', See fixede x pr es si n n s,

    im pe ra tiv e: th e se nte nce typ e typ ica lly u se d toe xp re ss a c omm an d o r d ire ctiv e, Im p er ativ esdo not typ ica lly conta in a sub ject As thes pe ak er is a dd re ss in g th e h ea re r( s], 'y ou ', th esub ject can read ily be recovered from thecontext In im pera tives the verb is a lw ays inth e in fin itiv e fo rm , F or e xam ple : Look at me,

    indefinite : the artic les a and an a r e i nde f in it ede te rm in ers, Th is m ea ns w e u se th em w he nin tro du cin g s om eth in g n ew to th e a ud ie nc e.S e e a ls o d e fin it e,

    ind irec t ob ject: the function of an e lem ent in ac la us e, In a d it ra n si ti ve c la u se in Eng li sh , t hein dir ec t a bje ct fo llo ws th e v erb a nd p re ce de sth e d ire ct o bje ct T he in direc t o bje ct co de sth e re cip ie nt o r g oa l o f th e v erb , Sarah i s t hein dire ct o bje ct in th e fa llo win g c la us e: Iav eSarah a n ew p en cil c as e,

    in fe re nc e: s om eth in g th at h as b ee n d ed uc ed , o rc on clu de d o fte n b y u sin g im p lic it s itu atio na lo r c ultu ra l k no wle dg e in a dd itio n to e xp lic itinformat ion.

    in fin itive : th e ba se fo rm o f the ve rb , Infin itivev erb s a re n ot in flec te d for te nse , n um be r o rperson, Th is is the form used a s th e h ea d-w ord in a d ic tio na ry e ntry , In sentences inf ini-tives m ay be preceded by to , as in Iike togaze out tile window. S ee a lso non-finiteverb.

    in fle ctio n; th e c re atio n o f a d iffe re nt g ramm atic alfo rm of a word by the add ition of an in flec-t io n al m o rp h eme ,

    in fle ctio na l (m orp he me ]: a n a ffix th at is a dd ed toa w o rd to e xp re ss g ramma tic al r ela tio ns hip sw ith ou t ch an gin g th e m ea nin g o f t he w ord o rits p ar t o f s pe ec h, F or e xam ple , -splural', -e r'c om p ar ativ e' a nd - ed 'p as tte ns e' a re in fle c-t io n al m o rp h eme s ,

    in itia I: th e p ositio n o f a so u nd in re la tion to o th e rs ou nd s, In itia l is u se d to re fe r to s ou nd s th atoccur a t the beg inning of a word , See a lsofin al a nd m e dia l,

    in na te a pp ro ach : a th eo ry fo r ex pla in in g lan-guage acqu isition in term s of an inbornc ap ac ity fo r la ng ua ge d ev elo pm en t (th e LA D- la ng ua ge a cq uis itio n d ev ic e], A cc ord in g toth is view care takers are not considered tog re atly in flu enc e la ng ua ge d eve lo pm en tC hild ren are unders tood to learn w ithoutexpl ici t i n s t r u c t l o n . S ee a ls o th e b eh av io ur ala pp ro ac h a nd th e interactlonist approach,

    in se rtio n: a dd itio na l s ou nd s s om etim es o cc ur inspeech that are not assoc ia ted w ith any ofthe in dividu al w ord s in a n u tte ra nce , T he sea dd itio na l s oun ds o cc ur in o rd er to e ase th ep ro ce ss o f a rtic ula tio n s o th at s pe ec h flo wsm o re s m oo th ly . S ee a ls o re du ctio n,

    in te ra ctio nis t a pp ro ac h: a th eo ry fo r e xp la in in gla ng ua ge a cq uis itio n in te rm s o f in te ra ctio nsb etw ee n nu me ro us fa cto rs, Th is a pp ro achin co rp or ate s a tte ntio n to c og nitiv e d ev elo p-m en t w ith a tte ntio n to so cia l d eve lo pm ent.S ee a lso th e b eh avio urist a pp ro ach a nd th ei nna te app roach ,

    in terje ctio n: a p art o f sp ee ch co nta in in g w ordssuch as o uc h, yu ck , u gh , an d he-he th at a reus ed to e xp re ss fe elin gs a n d e motio n, W ithth e e xc ep tio n o f q uo te d s pe ec h, in te rje ctio nsd o n ot c om bin e w ith o th er w ord s to fo rm la rg -er phrases or c lauses, Th is property se tsin terjec tions apart from the other parts a tspeech.

    in te rro ga tiv e: th e s en te nc e ty pe ty pic ally u se d toa sk q ue stio ns, In te rro ga tive s u su a lIy h aves ub je ct-a ux ilia ry in ve rs io n, T his m ea ns th atthe order o f the sub ject and the auxilia ryv erb is re ve rs ed c om pa re d w ith b as ic c la us -e s , F o r e x amp le C an y ou c om e ?a s comparedto th e b asic cla us e Y ou ca n co me , S ee a ls oo p en in te rr og a ti ve a n d y e s- no in te rr og a tiv e ,

    in to na tio n: th e w ay in w hich p itch ch an ge s d ur-in g s pe ec h, E ng lis h s pe ak ers te nd to u se ris -in g in to na tio n w he n a sk in g q ue stio ns ,

    in to na tio n u nit: a u nit of sp ee ch id en tifie d b y itsin to na tio n c on to ur. In to na tio n u nits c an b e

    distin gu ish ed b y the p au se s b etw een th ema nd th e c ha ng es in p itc h th at th ey c on ta in ,

    in transitive : a verb that does not occur w ith ano bje ct F or e xam ple , I s neez ed .

    irre gula r ve rb : ve rb s th at cre ate p ast te nse a ndp as t p ar tic ip le fo rm s b y in te rn al m o dific atio nra th er th an ta king a n in flec tio na l a ffix, Fo rex am ple th e ve rb sing has the past tensesang a n d t he p a st p a rt ic ip le sung,

    labial: s ou nd s p ro du ce d u sin g th e lip s a s a rtic u-la to rs , T his in clu de s b ila bia ls Ib , p, m l an dthe l ab ia-denta l s I v l an d If!,

    lab ia -denta l: sounds created using the uppert ee th a n d low er li p, I n E n gli sh t he fr ic a ti ve s /f ,v I a re m ad e by p artia lly b lo ckin g a irflo w inth is rn a n ne r,

    la ng ua ge a cq uisitio n: the p ro ce ss o f le arn in g afirst or add itional language in order tob ec om e a s pe ak er o f th at la ng ua ge ,

    la ng ua ge d ea th ; th e los s o f a la ng ua ge w he n it isn o lo ng er u se d b y a ny on e,

    la ng ua ge e nd ang erm en t o cc urs w he n the n um -b er o f sp ea ke rs of a la ng uag e fa lls d ra ma t-ic allv , L an gu ag e e nd an ge rm e nt is fr eq ue ntlya g en era tio na l p ro ce ss in vo lv in g a genera-tio n o f ch ild re n w ho a cq uire a lo ca lly d om i-n an t la ng ua ge th at is n ot th e tra ditio na l la n-g ua ge o f th eir c omm un ity ,

    la ng ua ge m ain te na nc e: e ffo rts to e ns ure th at a ne nd an gere d o r p ote ntia lly e nd an ge re d la n-guage continues to have fluent speakersa cro ss a ll g en era tio ns w ith in , th e la ng ua gecommuni ty,

    la n gu a ge s h if t: a sw itch in th e la ngu ag e o f d ailyc om mu nica tio n, Th is m ay re fe r to b oth ind i-v id u al s p ea k er s and/or to a who le speechcommuni ty,

    la ng ua ge sp rea d: th e g ra du al e ncro ach men t o fo ne la ng ua ge in to n ew territo ry, o fte n at th ee xp en se o f th e o rig in al la ng ua ge ,

    lan gu ag e sy ste m: a ll o f th e d iffe re nt a sp ects ofla ng ua ge th at w ork to ge th er in o rd er to com-m un ic ate m ea nin g, S ee d is co urs e analysis,le xic ol0 9Y , m orp ho lo gy , p ho ne tic s, p ho no -lo gy , s em a ntic s a nd s yn ta x,

    larynx: a lso known as the 'Adam 's app le ' o r'vo ice b ox', th e la ryn x co ntain s a n op en in gk now n a s th e g lo ttis, A ir pa ssin g u p th ro ug hthe lungs enters the larynx and passest hr ou g h t he g lo tt is .

    lateral; a sound made by using the tongue tob lock the centre o f the m outh so that a ir canescape on ly around one or both sides of thet on g ue , T h e /1 1 s ou nd is a la te ra l.

    le ng th : re fe rs to th e c on tra st b etw ee n 1 0l1 ga ndsho rt v owe ls .

    le xico lo gy : the stu dy o f th e w ord sto ck, o r le xi-con, o f a la ng uage .

    le xic on: th e e ntire w ord sto ck or v oc ab ula ry o f alanguage,lingua franca: is used for com munica tion by

    s pe ak ers w ith n o c om m on la ng ua ge , E ng lis his a l in g ua f ra n ca in in te rn atio na l b us in es scom munica tion , and Tok P lsin is a l inguafranca in P ap ua N ew G uin ea , a s is S wa hili inm u ch o f E as t A fr ic a,

    liq uid: th e na me o f a m an ne r o f a rticu latio n th atc ov er s th e s ou nd s III an d lt].

    lo ng v ow el: fo un d in la ng ua ge s w ith a d is tin ctiv econtras t be tween long and short vowels.L ong vow els are m arked in som e w ay, suchas w ith a co lon or a bar over the vowel, tod istingu ish them from short vowels, Forexam ple the short vow el le I is in c on tra stw ith th e Io n g v ow el Ie:!,

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    loudness: the re la tive vo lum e of a speaker'svoice.

    lo w vo we l: a vo we l s ou nd fo rm ed b y th e p ositio nof the tongue low in the m outh that is used inn am in g th ese v ow els. T he vo we l!a ! is a lo wvowel .

    m ain clause: a clause that can s tand on its ow nand can a lso be ca lled an independentc la u se . F o r e x amp le , I wen t to the beach anFr iday is a m ain c la use . S ee a lso d epe nd en tclause.

    manner of a rticu la tio n: a ll co nso na nt so un dsm ay b e la be lle d a cc ord in g to th e w ay a irflo wis m odified in order to create them . Th is isk no wn a s t he m an ne r o f a rtic ula tio n. S ee a ls oa ffrica te , a pp ro xim an t, frica tiv e, la te ra l.n as al a nd s to p.

    m ascu line : a type of gram matica l gender. Them as cu lin e c la ss o fte n c on ta in s s om e w ord sre fe rrin g to m en b ut g en era lly a ls o c on ta in sm an y w ord s th at d o n ot s ha re m ale tra its . S eea ls o b io lo gic al g en de r.

    m ea nin g e xte ns io n: re fe rs to th e ra ng e o f m ea n-in g s a ss ocia te d w ith a ny g ive n w ord . A sto olm ay count as a chai r but a s tum p of woodu su ally d oe s n ot- e ve n th ou gh it c an b e u se dfo r s ittin g o n.

    m ed ia l: th e p os itio n o f a s ou nd in re la tio n to o th ers o u nd s. M ed ia I i s u se d t o re fe r to s ou nd s th atoccur between two other sounds. Sse a lsof in a l a n d i nit ia l.

    m e ta la ng ua ge : th e te rm in olo gy u se d to d es cr ib e,a na ly se a nd d is cu ss la ng ua ge . T his g lo ss ar yis a g lossary o f m eta language used to d is -c us s th e E ng lis h la ng ua ge .

    metathesis: a p ho no lo gic al p ro ce ss in w hic hne ighbouring sounds are reordered. Forexam ple the word third used to be pro-nounced thrid.

    m id v ow el: a v ow el so un d fo rm ed b y t he p ositio nof the tongue between h igh and low in them ou th th at is u se d in n am in g th es e vo we ls.T he vo we l!o ! is a m id v ow el.

    M idd le English : Eng lish as it was spokenb etw ee n a bo ut 1100 an d 1500.

    m ism atch: the labe l g iven to cases in w hich ach ild h as n ot m ad e th e c on ne ctio n b etw ee n aw ord a nd th e c on ce pts a du lts u su ally a ss oc -ia te it w ith . F or e xa mp le , a ch ild m ig ht th in kthat i roning re fe rs to 'g oin g into th e la un dryroom'.

    m od al a ux ilia ry : a n a uxilia ry, s uch a s can, will,should, an d may, th at e xp re ss es m o da lity .M od al a uxilia rie s d o n ot sh ow in fo rm ationabout person, num ber or tense and occurw ith an in fin itive verb form . For exam ple inth e fo llo win g s en te nc e/a ug h is th e m ain v erban d ca n is a m dd al a uxilia ry: I can laughlo ud er th an y ou .

    m od ality : th e ra ng e o f m ea nin gs in clu din g p os si-b ility , p er mis sio n, n ec es sity , a nd a bility th atare expressed by m odal auxilia ries and byso m e a dve rb s su c h as possib ly.

    m od e: th e w ay c om m un ic atio n is a cc om plis he d.T he th re e b as ic m od es o f c om m un ic atio n a res pe ak in g, w ritin g, a nd s ig nin g.

    M odern Eng lish : Eng lish as it is spoken today.Th is stage in the deve lopm ent o f Eng lish iso fte n d ate d fro m a ro un d 1800.m onophthong: a sim ple vow el. A vowel soundmade up of on ly one vowel. See a lso d iph -Ihong.

    mood: a g ra mm atic al c ate go ry a ss oc ia te d w ithv erb s. M oo d g iv es in fo rm atio n a bo ut th e re al-ity o f a n e ve nt o r s itu atio n. In E ng lis h, m oo d is

    d is tin gu is he d th ro ug h th e u se o f m o da l a ux il-iaries.

    m orp he me : th e s ma lle st m ea nin gfu l u nit in a la n-guage. A word consists o f one or m ore m or-p he me s. S ee a lso b ou nd m orp he me a nd fre emorpheme.

    m orp ho lo gy : th e s tu dy o f t he s tru ctu re o f w ord s.S e e a I so m o rp hem e.

    m ultilin gu alis m: th e a bility to sp ea k m ore th antwo languages . Typ ica lly , one of the lan-g ua ge s is lik ely to b e easler to s pe ak th an th eo th ers . O r, on e la ngu ag e w ill b e u se d in o nes ettin g (e ,g . E ng lis h a t w ork ), a nd th e o th erse lsewhere (e .g . V ie tnam ese at hom e, andF re nc h fo r r ea din g o r w he n tra ve llin g) .

    m ulti-w ord s tag e: a sta ge o f la ng ua ge a cq uisi-tion in which the length of u tte rancesincreases beyond two words and ch ild renbeg in to make use of a w ide range of gram -ma t ic a l c ons tr u ct ions .

    narrow ing: the process of m ean ing change inwhich the m eaning of a w ord becom es m ores pe cific . F or e xam ple , th e w o rd coast u se d tomean the side of someth ing and is nows pe cific ally u se d to re fe r to th e p la ce w he reth e la nd m ee ts th e se a.

    n as al: th e n am e g iv en to a n as al s ou nd.n as al c av ity : th e a re a in sid e th e n os e u se d in th e

    production of nasa l sounds . See a lso ora lcavi ty.

    nasal sound: a sound made by lowering theve lum and allow ing a ir to resonate in then as al c av ity . T he n as al s ou nd s in E ng lis h a re1 m , n, C J I . l n m an y la ng ua ge s v ow els m ay a ls ob e n as alis ed . S ee a ls o o ra l s ou nd .

    n ative E nglis hes : va rie tie s o f E ng lish th at a reacqu ired by ch ild ren as a first language inE ng lis h-s pe ak in g c ou ntr ie s. T his te rm d is tin -g uis he s n atio na l o r lo ca l v ar ie tie s o f E ng lis h,fo r example , Austra lian Eng lish andB ir min gh am E ng lis h, fr om Wo rld E ng lis h.

    negation : a gram matica l p rocess that re la tesp ositive s ta te me nts s uch a s Y ou m ust eaty o ur s p in a ch w ith th eir n eg ativ e e qu iv ale nt,Y ou m u s t n ot e at y ou r s pin ac h.

    neuter : a ty pe o f g ra mm atic al g en de r. T he n eu te rc la ss o fte n c on ta in s w ord s re fe rrin g to in an -im ate o bje cts th at d o n ot h av e b io lo gic al g en -d er, b ut g en era lly a lso c onta in s w ord s th atratsr to p eo ple o r a nim als th at w ou ld b e c on -s idered to have m ale or fem ale tra its . Seea ls o b io lo gic al g en de r.

    N ew E ng lis he s: v arie tie s o f E ng lis h th at a re c ur-re ntly e me rg in g in p la ce s in w hich E ng lish isw id ely u se d a s a s ec on d la ng ua ge . O v ertim e ,c ha ra cte ris tic s o f lo ca l la ng ua ge s a re in co r-pora ted in to the Eng lish of the area.S in ga po re an E ng lis h is o ne e xam ple .

    nom inative : th is case is used to m ark the func-tio n o f s ubje ct. T he p ro no un s he, she an dthey a re in th e n om in ativ e c as e in E ng lis h.

    n on -fin ite v erb : a verb which has not beenin fle cte d fo r te nse , p erso n o r n um be r. T hisincludes in fin itives, and present and pastpa rt ic i p i es .

    non-rhot lc : a n a cce nt o r d ia le ct h avin g th e ch ar-a cte ris tic th at /rI is no t pronounced afte rv ow els . A us tra lia n E ng lis h is a n e xa mp le o f an on -r ho tic v ar ie ty o f E ng lis h. S ee a ls o r ho tic .n ou n: th e p art o f s pe ec h c on ta in in g w ord s re fe r-ring to ob jec ts and abs trac tions. W ords inth is c la ss fu lfil a n am in g fu nc tio n. In E ng lis hn ou ns in fle ct fo r n um be r a nd c om m on ly h av eth e fu nc tio ns o f s ub je ct, o bje ct a nd predica-tiv e c om p lem en l in s en te nc es .

    n ou n p hra se : a p hra se th at is c on stru cte d a ro un da noun or pronoun. Exam ples are : th e P o l!P h ilip b ow lin g te am , an d m y dog an d me.n um b er: a g ramm atic al c ate go ry a ss oc ia te d w ithn ou ns a nd v erb s in E ng lis h. E ng lis h n ou ns a reg en er ally tr ea te d a s u nm a rk ed in th e s in gu la ra nd ta ke a p lu ra l m a rk er ( fr eq ue ntly -s l whenth e re fe re nt is 'm ere th an o ne '. S ee a ls o d ua l.

    o bje ct: th e fu nc tio n o f a n e le me nt in a cla use . Ina bas ic clause the ob jec t is a noun phraseand fo llows the verb . In the fo llow ing sen-tence Id a is th e o bje ct: S ue p ho ne d Id a. In apassive construc tion the ob jec t o f a basicc la us e c orre sp on ds to th e s ub je ct o f t he p as -s iv e ( cons ide r : Ida w as phon ed by S ue ). Seea ls o d ire ct o bje ct a nd in dire ct o bje ct.

    O ld E ng lish : th e a nc estra l la ng ua ge o f M od ernEng lish , w hich w as spoken betw een about45 0 an d 1100. A ng lo -S axo n is a no th er n am efo r O ld E ng l ish,

    o ne -w ord sta ge : d urin g th is s ta ge o f la ng ua geacqulsl t lon c hild re n u se s in gle w ord s to c on -vey a large num ber o f d iffe ren t m essages.T h is s ta g e is a lso kn ow n a s t he holopbrast icstage.

    o no ma to po eia : re fe rs to w ord s th at im ita te th es ou nd s th ey re fe r to . F or e xa mp le woof. rep-resents the sound of a dog barking , wh ilepurring an d miaowing a re d on e b y ca ts .

    o pe n in te rro ga tiv e: fo rm e d u sin g th e 'w h o' w o rd sw here, w hen, w ho. w ha t, how , or why fol-lowed by an aux ilia ry verb . E xamplesinclude: Why are you look ing so happytoday? an d W here did yo u go ? S ee a ls o yes-no in ter rogati ves ,

    o ra I c av ity : th e a re a lnsld e the mouth . See a ls on a sa l c a vit y.o ra I s ou nd s: a so un d s p ro du ce d in th e o ra l ca vi-

    ty . O ra l s ou nd s in E ng lis h in clu de a ll s ou nd sn ot e xp lic itly la be lle d a s n as al. T his in clu de sIb, p, s, g ! to name a few . See a lso nasa lsounds .

    o rth og ra ph y: th e s ym bo ls a nd c on ve ntio ns a ss o-c ia te d w ith w ritin g a g iv en la ng ua ge . E ng lis ho rth og ra ph y m ake s u se o f th e R oma n a lp ha -bet .

    O th er E ng lish es: va rie tie s of E ng lis h th at h aved ev elo pe d o ut o f in te ns iv e c on ta ct s itu atio nsin w hich Eng lish w as the bas is fo r p idg insa nd c re ole s. S ee a ls o N ew E ng lis he s.

    o ve rg en era lisa tio n: th e la be l g ive n to ca se s inw hich a ch ild e xte nd s a w ord b ey on d its n or-m a l u se . F or e xam ple , socks are put on yourfee t but the ir m ean ing does not extend tounderpants w hich you a lso pu ll on over yourfe et. To ca ll u nd erp an ts s ac ks is an over-g en er alis atio n. S ee a ls o m e an in g e xte ns io n.

    p ala ta l: th e n am e g ive n to s ou nd s th at a re m ad eus ing the fron t o f the tongue and the hardp ala te . In E n glis h th e s ou nd I j/ is m ad e a t t hisp la ce o f a r ti cu la t ion .pa la ta l ls e ti on: a p ho no lo gic al p ro ce ss in w hic h aso un d ta ke s o n p ala ta l q ua litie s b ec aus e o fthe in fluence of a ne ighbouring pa la ta lsound. '

    p ala ta -a lv eo la r: th e n am e g iv en to s ou nd s c re at-e d u sin g th e b la de o f t he to ng ue a nd th e b ackof the a lveo lar ridge (the area bordering onth e h ar d palatel.ln Eng li sh t he f ri ca t iv es If, 3 fa nd th e a ffric ate s /!f. r : t I are made at th isp la ce o f ar ti eu l a t ion,

    p ara lin gu is tic fe atu re s: v is ua l c ue s th at p eo plem ake u se o f w he n liste nin g to o th ers . T he sein clu de fa cia l ex pre ssio ns , b od y ge stu re sa nd a ye g az e.

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    parataxis: the sty le, m ost com monly found inspoke n la ngu age , w here c la uses o r w ordsare strung tog ethe r w ithou t th e use of con -junctions.

    p art o f s pe ech : a s et o f w ord s s ha rin g m an y la n-g uag e fe ature s, su ch a s th e k in d of infle c-tional and derivational m orphem es w ithw hich they can occur and the ir syntacticbehaviou r in a sentence. The term s noun,verb , adjective , ad ve rb , p re po sitio n, andp ro no un a ll r ef er to p ar ts o f s pe ec h.

    pass ive: a g r amma t ic a l c ont ra s t, g ener a ll y c a ll edvo ice, in w hich the p atien t o r 'und ergo er'a ppe ars a s t he subject in stead o f t he ag en to r 'doe r'. If the agen t is the re at all it is in ap re po sitio na l p hr as e b eg in nin g w ith by . Fo rexample: My homework was ea ten by thedo g is a p as siv e s en te nc e. T he c or re sp on -d in g s en te nc e is T he d og a te m y h om ew ork .

    past pa rtic ip le : a verb fo rm used to expresse ith er a c om p le te d a ctio n o r a p as siv e a ctio n.T yp ic al e nd in gs a re -sn [compare take an dtaken) or -a d (compare bake an d baked'r .W hen a past particip le is used to express aco mp le te d a ctio n, th e a uxilia ry have willc arr y th e t en se , p er so n a nd n um b er m a rk in g,a s in S he h as m isse d the bu s to sc ho ol e ve ryd ay th is w ee k. W h en a p as t p artic ip le is u se dto e xp re ss t he p as siv e, th e a ux ilia ry be willc ar ry th e te ns e, p ers on a nd n um b er m ar kin g.Fo r e x ampl e, T he p izza w as baked in a m ud-b ri ck o v en .

    past tense: used to indica te that the eventd es cr ib ed b y th e v er b h ap pe ne d b efo re s om eother re levant even t (often the tim e ofs pe e ch ). S e e a ls o t en se .

    pause: m ay occur w hen a speaker brea thes induring a turn a t ta lk ing o r w hen they needtim e to th in k In th is la tte r c as e th e sp ea ke r islike ly to use a pause filler to indicate theyw is h to c on tin ue s pe akin g. P au se s m ay a ls ob e u se d fo r d ra m atic e ffe ct.

    p au se fille r: e xp re ss io ns s uc h a s um an d er r thatare used by a speaker to indica te they ares ti ll t ak in g a tu rn a t ta lking . T hey allow th espea ker th ink in g tim e in ord er to plan w hatt he y w il l sa y next .

    p erso n: a g ra mm atic al ca te go ry m arke d a n p ro -n ou ns . T he first p ers on is th e s pe ak er I, th es ec on d p ers on is th e lis te ne r you , a nd th ethird pe rso n is the th in g spo ke n a bou t: he ,s h e, i t, th e y.

    p ha ry nx : th e c av ity a b ov e th e la ry nx . It is p art o ft h e v oc al t ra ct .

    p ho ne sth em e: s ou nd s o r s eq ue nce s o f so un dst ha t a re a ss oc ia te d w it h p a rt ic ul ar m e an in g s.Fo r e x ampl e, tw ea k, tw itte r, tw id dle , tw ee z-e rs , tw in ge , tw it, tw in kle , an d twerp a ll r e fe rto th ings o r actions that a re d im inu tive o rsm all in som e w ay. S ee also soun d sym bo l-ism.

    p h on et ic a lp h ab e t: a w ritin g syste m in w hiche ach so und o f a la ng uag e is re presen ted byo nly o ne s ym b ol a nd e ac h s ym b ol re pr es en tso nl y o n e s ou nd .

    p ho ne tic s: th e s tu dy o f s pe ec h s ou nd s: th eir p ro -du ct io n , t ra n sm i ss io n and r e cep ti on .

    p ho no lo gV : th e s tu dy o f th e w ay sp ee ch s ou nd sa re o rg an is ed w ith in a p art ic ula r la ng ua ge .

    p hra sa l ca te go ry: th e n am e b y w h ic h p hra se s o fd iffe re nt ty pe s a re id en tif ie d. P hra se s a rea lw ay s n a me d a fte r th e p art o f s pe ec h c ate -go ry of the word tha t is m ost importan t inth em . F or e xa mp le , th ere a re n ou n p hra se s

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    ( tl1 e c at's m o th eti , ve rb p hra se s ( runningw ild ly d ow n the sta irsf, and p r epos it io na lphrases la t th e fa r e nd o f th e ta ble ), to n am ea fe w .

    phrase. a la ng ua ge u nit t ha t contain s one o rm o re w o rd s. P hr as es a re sm a lI er t h a n c ia us -es and are nam ed a fte r the part of speechcate go ry of th e w ord th at is m ost im porta ntw ith in th e p hr as e. F ar e xa m ple th e re d s kirtan d a cu p of co ffe e a re n ou n p hra se s, w h iler ea ll y v e ry b e au ti fu l an d qu it e e x tr aor d in a rya re a d je ct iv e p h ra se s.

    p id gin : a m ak es hift la ng ua ge , a ris in g in s itu a-tio ns o f la ng ua ge co nta ct It ta ke s th e b ulk o fits v oc ab ula ry fr om o ne la ng ua ge ( us ua lly th es o ci al ly d om inan t nne] a nd m an y o f its g ra m-matical features from other languagesin vo lv ed in th e c on ta ct s itu atio n. P id gin s a ren ot th e f ir st la ng ua ge o f a ny s pe ak er s.

    p itc h: re fe rs to th e h ig h, m ed iu m o r lo w s ou nd o fsomeone's vo ice. P itch is re lative andd ep en ds o n th e v oc al q ua litie s o f e ac h in di-v id ua l sp ea ke r. T he lo we st sp ea kin g p itc h o fa sop rano m ay be higher than the h ighestp itc h o f a b ar ito ne .

    p la ce o f a rticu la tio n: a ll co ns on an t s ou nd s m ayb e la be lle d a cc ord in g to th e s pe ec h o rg an sin vo lv ed in t he ir p ro du ctio n. T his is k no wn a sth e p la ce o f a rticu la tio n. S ee a ls o a lv eo la r,b ila b ia l, d e nt al, la b ia -d e nt al, p a la ta l, palate-a lv eo la r, v el ar a nd g lo tt al .

    p lanned d iscourse: prepared speeches, andm ost w ritten documents are examples o fp la nn e d d is co u rs e. T h e s pe a ke r p re pa re s t hete xt in iso la tio n fro m th e a ud ie nce w ith p le n-ty of tim e to th ink. Th e au dience is no t typi-cally a p ar tic ip an t in p la nn ed d is co ur se . S eea ls o u n pla n ne d d is co u rs e .

    p lu ra l: th e g ra mma tic al n um be r u se d w h en th ereis m ore tha n o ne refe re nt. T he p lu ra l is fre-q ue nt ly m a rk ed b y t he s uffix -s o S ee a ls o s in -gular.

    p os se ss iv e: a g ra mma tic al e xp re ss io n o f o w ne r-ship.p os se sso r: th e g ra mm atic a I ro le o f p os se ss in g

    ano the r t h in g .p redica te: the function of a verb phrase in a

    basi c c la us e a s th e v erb p hra s e m a ke s s om ek in d o f c ammen t a b ou t t he s ub je ct .

    p re dic ative co mp le me nt a n e le me nt in a c la us ethat has the function o f describ ing som eq u al it y o f t he suhlect F o r e xampl e t he a d je c-tive green is a p re dic at iv e c om p le m en t in th esenten ce: M y h air is gre en .

    p re dica to r: th e fu nc tio n o f th e v erb al e le me nt ina b as ic clause,

    prefix: an affix that occu rs before a rout, Fo rexample, dis- in dis locate or re - in relocate.

    p re po sitio n: a g ra mm atic al p art o f sp ee ch th atty pic ally e xp re ss es s pa tia l in fo rm a tio n. F orexample, i n, a t, th ro ug h. an d by a re E n gli shpreposi t io ns,

    p re po sitio na l p hr as e: a p hr as e th at is c on str uc t-e d a ro un d a p re po sitio n. E xa m ple s a re : in th ewater an d b y m y s id e.

    p re se nt p artic ip le : a v erb fo rm u se d to e xp re ssco ntin uin g a ctio n. S ho wn b y th e e nd in g -ing[compare go an d going) . W h en a p re se nt p ar-ticip le is p art o f t he ve rb al e le me nt, th e a ux -iliary be w ill ca rry the tense, person andn um be r m a rk in g. F or e xa mp le : I am go ing toth e w ork in g b ee a n S atu rd ay .

    pre se nt te nse: a ssociate d w ith events that areoccurring a t th e tim e of spe akin g (p re se nt

    t ime t . Fo r e x ampl e, YOIi a re f un n v. Somet imesth e p re se nt te nse is u se d fo r th in gs th at w illa ct ua lly h a pp e n i n t he f ut ur e. T he g ra nd fin alis nex t Sa tu r day .

    p re -v er ba l s ta ge : a s ta ge o f v er ba l d ev elo pm e ntin w h ic h c hild re n b ab ble , m a kin g a w id e v ar i-e ty of sp eech -like soun ds bu t d o n ot stringth e s ou nd s to ge th er in to a ra ng e o f id en tifi-a b le wo rds .

    p r ima r y au xi li ar y : t h e auxi li ar ie s b e , h a ve , or do ,when they occu r in a ve rbal e lem en t sup-p or tin g a n on -f in ite m ain v er b. In th is r ole th ep rim a ry a ux ilia ry is m a rk ed fo r p er so n, n um -b er an d tense. F or e xam ple am is th e firs tp er so n, s in gu la r, p re se nt t en se fo rm o f be inI a m s in gi ng .

    prin cip le of app ro priaten ess: s tates tha t thes ty le o f la ng ua ge u se d s ho uld m a tc h th e s itu -a tio n in te rm s o f le ve ls o f fo rm a lity . R ele va ntfa cto rs in clu de th e audience, c on te nt, c on -te xt, a nd m o de .

    prod uctive : refers to a n affix tha t is cu rre ntlyused in th e crea tio n o f ne w w ords. S ee alsoaffixing.

    p ro no un : a g ra mma tic al p ar t o f s pe ec h c on ta in -ing words used as substitu tes fo r nounph ra s e s. Fo r e x ampl e I, y ou , h er an d mine ar epronouns.

    proso dic fea tures: th e co llective n am e fo r thech ara cte ris tic s o f p itc h, stre ss a nd in to na -tio n. T he y a re u se d to c on ve y im p or ta nt in fo r-m a tio n wh en s pe a kin g .

    P ro to -G erm an ic : th e re co ns tru cte d la ng ua geth at is con side re d to be th e an ce stor of theGe rman ic l anguage f am i ly .

    P ro to -In d o-E uro pe an : th e re co ns tru cte d la n-g ua ge th at is c on sid ere d to b e th e a nc es to rto a ll o f th e la ng ua ge s in th e In do -E uro pe anl anguage f am i ly .

    proto- language: a r ec on st ru c te d l an g ua g e t ha t isunderstood to be the ancestor of late rre co rd ed la ng ua ge s. T he re co ns tru ctio n ism ade on the assum ption th at th e la ter la n-g ua ge s p re se rv e m an y o f th e fe atu re s o f t heorig in al lan gua ge. S ee also co mp arativemethod.

    p ro to ty pic al: m a ny c ate go rie s in clu de m o re a ndle ss proto typica l m em bers. P rototyp icalm em be rs sha re all of the cha ra cteris ticsidentified as belonging to the class. forexample do g is a p ro to ty pic al n ou n b ec au seit re fers to som ething , it takes the plura lm arke r -sa nd so o n. T he nou n integrity is n otpro totypical b ecau se it cann ot occur in thep lu ra l. H ow eve r, sin ce it is s till u se d to re fe rto so mething an d ca n be re placed by a pro-noun (Integrity is a ra re virtu e. It is n ot o fte ns ee n th es e d ay s.t i t w o u ld s til l b e c at eg o ris e da s a n ou n.

    p ro to -w o rd : a w o rd t ha t h as b ee n r ec on str uc te da nd is h yp oth es is ed to b e th e a nc es to r fo rmo f c og na te s, th at is a se t o f w o rd s fro m re la t-ed languages tha t are hypo thesised to befro m a co mm on sou rce in the an ce stra l la n-guage . P ro to-words are m arked w ith ana ste ris k b efo re ha nd ( "'p ro to -w o rd ). S ee a ls oc omp a ra tiv e m e th o d.

    p ro ve rb : a s ho rt p it hy s ay in g t ha t is w id ely k no w nan d ha s a co nventio nal in terpre tation . F ore xamp I e A s titc h in tim e s av es n in e, is u se d toc omm un ic at e th e m e ss ag e th at 'it's b ett er toad dress pro ble ms early b efo re th ey g et taobig'.

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    less heavily on fixed w ord order. See a lsoa n aly tic la n gu a ge .

    ta bo o: to pic s a nd b eh av io ur w hic h a re v ie we d a sn eg ativ e in a g iv en c ultu re . T ab oo s ub je ctsfre que ntly in clu de d ea th , a nd b odily p arts,tunctions, an d p ro ce sse s. Se e a lso eu phe -mi sm.te legra phi c s ta ge : d u ri n g th is s ta g e o f l an g ua g ea cqu isition , ch ild ren u se tw o-w ord u tter-a nce s to co mm un ica te. C hH dren ,d o n ot u sem an y o f the sm alle rfu nction w ord s a nd su f-fixes during th is stage. Th is stage is a lsoc a lie d th e tw o-w ord s ta ge .

    tempo: the speed of speaking . Tempo may befaster when a speaker is exc ited or upset,and slower when they are tired or c a re fu lIyc h oo si ng t he ir w o rd s .

    te ns e: a g ra mm atic al c ate go ry a ss oc ia te d w ithverbs. Tense encodes the relative tim e ane ve nt to ok p la ce a nd fr eq ue ntly th is is in re la -tion to the time of speech. See also pastte ns e a nd p re se nt te ns e.

    th ird p ers on : r efe rs to a ny on e b es id es th e s pe ak -e r lw r it er and hea re r /l is tene r.

    tip : th e fro nt- mo st a re a o f th e to ng ue . T he to ng uetip is u se d in d en ta l a nd a lv eo la r s ou nd s.

    tran sitive : a ve rb tha t o ccurs w ith an ub je ct, F orexample, at e in I a te s om e lu nc h.

    tr id ia le ctis m : a n in div id ua l's a bility to s pe ak a ndw rite th re e d iffe re nt d ia le cts . F or e xa mp le ,so me one m ay sp ea k S ta nda rd Au stra lia nE ng lis h a t w ork , B ro ad A us tra lia n E ng lis h a thom e or among friends, and Cultiva tedA us tra lia n E ng lis h in e sp ec ia Uy fo rm al s et-t ings.

    tu rn -ta kin g n orm s: re fe rs to th e a cc ep te d n orm sfo r m an ag in g tu rn -ta kin g in a p artic ula r c ul-tu re . F or e xa mp le , w he th er it is c on sid ere dru de o r n orm al to ta lk o ve r s om eo ne e ls e.

    tw o-w ord stag e: d urin g this stag e o f lan gua gea cq uisitio n, c hildren us e tw o-w ord utte r-a nce s to com mu nicate . C hildren do n ot usem an y of the sm alle r fu nc tion w ord s a nd suf-fixes during th is stage. Th is stage is a lsoc alle d th e te le gra ph ic s ta ge .

    u nd erg en era lis atio n: th e la be l g iv en to c as es inw hich a ch ild u se s a w ord to re fe r to o nly p arto f its n orm al m ea nin g. F or e xa mp le , cu p is ath in g fo r drin king ou t o f, a nd m ay b e u se d in ag en era l w ay fo r a ny d rin kin g v es se l. If a c hildu nd ers to od th at a c up re fe rre d o nly to p la stictra in in g c up s ra th er th an th e v ario us g la ss esa nd m ugs a ro und the h ouse , th is w ou Id be a ne xa mp le o f u nde rg ene ra lisatio n. Se e alsomean in g e x te n sio n a n d o v er ge n er alis a tio n .

    un plan ned d isco urse : spo ntan eou s u se o f la n-g ua ge , ty pic ally in c on ve rs atio n b ut a ls o in e -ma il and so on. The roles of spe a ker anda ud ie nc e s witc h re gu la rly a nd th ere is littletim e for p lanning what to say. See a lsop lanned d is cour se.

    unrounded vow els: vow els m ade w ith the lipsu n r o un d ed . F o r e x amp le , Iii is a n u nro un de dvowel .

    un stre sse d: re fers to syllab le s in w ord s tha t don ot r ec eiv e p rom in en ce . S ee a ls o s tre ss .uvu la : the te ardrop sh ape d n od e ha nging fro m

    the back of the velum . When the ve lum israised to en su re th at no a ir e scap es in to then asal c avity, p ro du cin g a n o ra l so und , theu vu la is a ls o ra is ed .

    v aria tio n: d iffe re nc es in th e fo rm of language,a ris ing b etw ee n in divid ua ls, an d b etw ee nc ommun it ie s o f s p ea k er s, e it he r h is to ric a lly ,regional ly and/or so cia lly. V aria tion m ayo ccu r in a ll th e su b-syste ms o f a la ngu age .Se e a lso reg io na l d ia lect a nd so cia l varia -t ion.

    ve la r: so un ds p ro duce d by u sin g the ve lum a ndthe back of the tongue. The tongue m ovestowards, or touches the velum in order toc r ea te an obs tr u ct ion .

    v elu m: a ls o c alle d th e s oft p ala te . T he m us cu la rfla p in th e b ack ha lf of th e ro of o f t he m outh .It contro ls a irflow through the nose and isus ed w ith th e to ng ue to m ake velar s ou nds.S ee a ls o n as a I s ou nd s.

    verb: a part o f speech that re fers to actions,e ve nts , s ta te s, a nd p ro c a ss es , F or e xam ple ,c ry , c ol lid e, k no w, an d const ruct . I n E n glis hve rb s a re m arke d for te nse , asp ect, v oic e,m o od , p er so n, a nd n um b er.

    v erb p hra se : a p hra se th at is c on stru cte d a ro un da ve rb . E xa m ple s a re h ave o nly e ver e ate nfish an d ch oke d o n a b one .

    ve rb al e le me nt: the se que nce o f m ain verb a nda ny a ux ilia ry v erb s in a c la us e.

    verb-fin al o rd er: th e verb fo llo ws th e ob je ct o rp re dic ativ e c om p lem en t in a c la us e.

    v oc al c ord s: a ls o c alle d v oc al fo ld s, th es e s ma llflaps of skin on the sides of the glo ttis arete nsed a nd vib ra te w he n w e prod uce vo ice ds ou nd s. W he n w e p ro du ce v oic ele ss s ou nd sth ey a re re la xe d a nd d o n ot v ib ra te .

    v oc al fo ld s: c om mo nly c alle d v oc al c ord s, th es es ma ll fla ps of skin o n th e sid es of th e g lo ttisare tensed and vibrate when we producev oic ed s ou nd s. W h en w e p ro du ce v oic ele sss ou nd s th ey a re re la xe d a nd d o n ot v ib ra te .

    vocal trac t: the area from the top of the larynxth ro ug h th e m o uth , in clu din g th e lip s a nd a ls oth e n asal ca vilV a nd th e no strils. Th is is th ea re a u se d in p ro du cin g s pe ec h s ou nd s.

    vo ice : re fers to the grammatical contrastb etw ee n a ctiv e a nd p as siv e.

    vo ice qu ality: th e ton e o f v oic e a spe aker u ses.E xam ple s in clu de c re ak y v oic e, a ss oc ia te dw it h t ir ed n es s , a n d b re a th y v o ic e , a ss o cia te dw ith s hy ne ss , o r s en su ality , o r s im ply b ein go ut o f b re a t h.

    v oic ed : d es crib es s ou nd s w hic h a re m ad e u sin gvibra tion of the voca l folds. A ll vowels andn as als a re v oic ed , a s a re m an y c on so na nts .T he se s ou nd s in clu de Ii, a , r n , w , b, d, gl inEngl ish.

    v oic ele ss : d es crib es s ou nd s p ro du ce d w ith ou tvib ra tio n o f the voca l fo ld s. Th ese so und sinclude Ip , f, t. s, k J i n E ng li sh .

    vow el: a cla ss of sou nds prod uced by allowingthe air th rou gh th e m ou th w itho ut obst ruc -ti o n. D iffe re nt v ow els a re m ad e b y c ha ng in gthe shape of the ora l cavity. Vowels arealw ays vo ice d in E ng lish . S ee also con so -nant .

    weak verb class: re fers to the set o f regularve rb s in a G erm an ic la ng uag e. Th ese ve rb sm ak e u se o f th e re gu la r in lle ctio na l a ffix esto in dic ate c ha ng es in te ns e a nd a sp ec t. S eea I so s tro ng v erb c la ss .

    w ord : a m ea ning fu l u nit th at ca n s ta nd a lo ne inspeaking Of w ritin g. W ord s m ay c on ta in o neor m ore m orphem es and are com bined in top h ra se s , c la u se s a n d s en te n ce s .

    w ritin g: a m od e o f c om mu nicatio n tha t re lie s onv is ua l re pre se nta tio ns o f la ng ua ge . W ritin gin vo lv es th e u se o f a n o rth og ra ph Y.

    y es -n o in te rr og ativ e: a ty pe o f in te rro ga tiv e, th ath as o nly tw o p os sib le a ns we rs : ye s or no . Aye s-n o in te rro gativ e, w hich is som etim esca lled a closed in terrogative , is usua llyform ed w ith an a uxiliary verb in fro nt of th esubject : D id y ou s ee th e m ov ie la st n ig ht? A reyou happy w ith your p lans? Have you go ta ny th in g in re d? S e e a I so o pe n i n te rro g a liv e.

    yod: the tenth smallest le tte r o f the Hebrewalph abe t. S om etim es u sed to re fe r to th e lifs ou nd in E n glis h.

    y od -d ro pp in g: d ele tio n o f th e Iii s o un d i n E n gli sh ,p artic ula rly w he n it o cc urs b etw ee n a c on so -n an t a nd a vo we l. Th is p ro ce ss is m ost c om -p lete fo r w ords in w hich' th e p re ced in g co n-so nan t is a liqu id , th at is I I I or I r / .