Dr B's English Language Blog

Try to answer the following questions on linguistic terms. Then check your answers by scrolling down.

1) A verb used to help the main verb. E.g. Do you believe?

2) Using more words than is strictly necessary.

3) A key grammatical unit. Formed when a noun is linked to a verb.

4) The words ‘a’, ‘an’, ‘the’.

5) Moving a word to the front of a sentence to give it prominence.

6) Words or phrases that are part of conversational language, often figurative
and often difficult for non-native speaker.

7) A command verb.

8) The way words change their form to show, for example, that they are singular or plural.

9) When a word, usually noun or verb is changed by the addition of another word or phrase.

10) The study of spelling.

11) All that is written about the subject of a sentence. E.g. He played forty times for England.

12) The basic information about a text. E.g. Author, when it was written, genre etc.

13) The style of a text, which is determined by the context. E.g. The style of the Times is different to the Sun. It can be informal or scientific. Etc.

14) The core part of a word to which prefixes and suffixes are added.

15) The history of words.

16) The study of how words combine to form phrases, clauses and sentences.

17) A stem, together with any affixes that depend on it and possibly other stems (as part of a compound stem), which can be pronounced by itself in normal use of a language, e.g. in response to a question.

18) Some words in a sentence have little or no meaning of their own but instead refer to other words in the same or other sentences.

19) A ____ is a sequence of paragraphs that represents an extended unit of speech. (From Latin word for ‘to weave’)

20) –noun
1. the omission of a vowel, consonant, or syllable in pronunciation.
2. (in verse) the omission of a vowel at the end of one word when the next word begins with a vowel, as th'orient.

The Answers:

1) A verb used to help the main verb. E.g. Do you believe? auxiliary

2) Using more words that is strictly necessary. circumlocution

3) A key grammatical unit. Formed when a noun is linked to a verb. clause

4) The words ‘a’, ‘an’, ‘the’. article

5) Moving a word to the front of a sentence to give it prominence. foregrounding

6) Words or phrases that are part of conversational language, often figurative
and often difficult for non-native speaker. idioms

7) A command verb. imperative

8) The way words change their form to show, for example, that they are singular or plural. inflection

9) When a word, usually noun or verb is changed by the addition of another word or phrase. modification

10) The study of spelling. orthography

11) All that is written about the subject of a sentence. E.g. He played forty times for England. predicate

12) The basic information about a text. E.g. Author, when it was written, genre etc. provenance

13) The style of a text, which is determined by the context. E.g. The style of the Times is different to the Sun. It can be informal or scientific. Etc. register

14) The core part of a word to which prefixes and suffixes are added. stem

15) The history of words. etymology

16) The study of how words combine to form phrases, clauses and sentences. syntax

17) A stem, together with any affixes that depend on it and possibly other stems (as part of a compound stem), which can be pronounced by itself in normal use of a language, e.g. in response to a question. word

18) Some words in a sentence have little or no meaning of their own but instead refer to other words in the same or other sentences. Anaphoric reference

19) A sequence of paragraphs that represents an extended unit of speech. (From Latin word for ‘to weave’) text

20) –noun
1. the omission of a vowel, consonant, or syllable in pronunciation.
2. (in verse) the omission of a vowel at the end of one word when the next word begins with a vowel, as th'orient. elision