A Origin: acr- + -lect (as in dialect).

First known use:

1964
Accent noun
Acronym noum
ac·cent\ˈak-ˌsent, chiefly British -sənt\
ac·ro·nym\ˈa-krə-ˌnim\
a distinctive manner of expression: such as a : a way
of speaking typical of a particular group of people a word formed from the first letters of each one of
and especially of the natives or residents of a region the words in a phrase
spoke with a Russian accent b : an individual's Originacr- + -onym name, word. First known use:
distinctive or characteristic inflection, tone, or choice 1940
of words — usually used in plural
Active adjective
Origin: borrowed from Middle French accenter “to
pronounce with greater stress,” in part derivative of ac·tive\ˈak-tiv\
accent, in part borrowed from Medieval Latin
accentāre, variant of accentuāre — more at of a verb form or voice : asserting that the person or
accentuate. First known use: 14th century thing represented by the grammatical subject
performs the action represented by the verb
Accusative adjective
Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French or Latin;
ac·cu·sa·tive\ə-ˈkyü-zə-tiv\ Anglo-French actif, from Latin activus, from actus,
past participle of agere to drive, do — more at agent.
of, relating to, or being the grammatical case that First known use: 14th century
marks the direct object of a verb or the object of any
of several prepositions Affix verb
Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French or Latin; af·fix\ə-ˈfiks, a-\
Anglo-French acusatif, from Latin accusativus, from
accusatus, past participle of accusare. First known to attach (something) to something else
use: 15th century
Origin:Latin affixus, past participle of affigere to
Acrolect noun fasten to, from ad- + figere to fasten — more at fix.
First known use: 14th century
ac·ro·lect\ˈa-krə-ˌlekt\
Affricate noun
the language variety of a speech community closest
to the standard or prestige form of a language af·fri·cate\ˈa-fri-kət\
 a stop and its immediately following release into a
fricative that are considered to constitute a single
phoneme (such as the \t\ and \sh\ of \ch\ in choose)
Origin: probably from German Affrikata, from Latin
affricata, feminine of affricatus, past participle of
affricare to rub against, from ad- + fricare to rub —
more at friction. First known use: 1876
Alliteration noun
al·lit·er·a·tion\ə-ˌli-tə-ˈrā-shən\
the repetition of usually initial consonant sounds in
two or more neighboring words or syllables
Origin: ad- + Latin littera letter. First known use: circa
1624
Allophone noun
al·lo·phone\ˈa-lə-ˌfōn\
one of two or more variants of the same phoneme
the aspirated \p\ of pin and the unaspirated \p\ of
spin are allophones of the phoneme \p\
Origin: allo- + phone. First known use: 1877
Alveolar adjective
al·ve·o·lar\al-ˈvē-(ə-)lər\
of or relating to a speech sound that is made with the
tip of the tongue touching the roof of the mouth near
the front teeth
Origin: late 17th century: from Latin, ‘small cavity’,
diminutive of alveus. First known use: 1750
Antecedent noun
an·te·ced·ent\ˌan-tə-ˈsē-dənt\
grammar : a word or phrase that is represented by
another word (such as a pronoun)
Origin: Middle English, from Medieval Latin & Latin;
Medieval Latin antecedent-, antecedens, from Latin,
what precedes, from neuter of antecedent-,
antecedens, present participle of antecedere to go
before, from ante- + cedere to go. First known use:
15th century
Appositive adjective
ap·pos·i·tive/əˈpäzədiv/
relating to apposition; appositional.
Origin: "applicable," from Latin apposit-, past
participle stem of apponere "set near, set before;
From late Latin appositivus ‘subsidiary’. First known
use: late 17th century
Article noun
ar·ti·cle\ˈär-ti-kəl\
grammar : any of a small set of words or affixes (such
as a, an, and the) used with nouns to limit or give
definiteness to the application
Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin
articulus joint, division, diminutive of artus joint, limb;
akin to Greek arariskein to fit — more at arm. First
known use: 13th century
Audience noun
au·di·ence\ˈȯ-dē-ən(t)s, ˈä-\
a group of people who gather together to listen to
something (such as a concert) or watch something
(such as a movie or play) : the people who attend a
performance
Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin
audientia, from audient-, audiens, present participle
of audire see audible. First known use: 14th century
Auxiliary adjective
aux·il·ia·ry\ȯg-ˈzil-yə-rē, -ˈzil-rē, -ˈzi-lə-\
of a verb : accompanying another verb and typically
expressing person, number, mood, or tense
Origin: Latin auxiliaris, from auxilium help; akin to
Latin augēre to increase — more at eke. First known
use: 15th century
B bi·lin·gual·ism\-gwə-ˌli-zəm\
Babbling noun
bab·bling\ˈba-b(ə-)liŋ\
the production of meaningless strings of speech
sounds by infants
Origin: Middle English: from Middle Low German
babbelen, or an independent English formation, as a
frequentative based on the repeated syllable ba,
typical of a child's early speech. First known use: 15th
century
Base noun
\ˈbās\
the part of a transformational grammar that consists
of rules and a lexicon and generates the deep
structures of a language
Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin
basis, from Greek, step, base, from bainein to go —
more at come. First known use: 14th century
Bilabial noun
bi·la·bi·al\(ˌ)bī-ˈlā-bē-əl\
linguistics : a sound made by using both lips
Origin: having or appearing to have two lips;" see bi-
"two" + labial. In linguistics, of consonants
pronounced with both lips, 1878. First known use:
1878
Bilingualism noun
the ability to speak two languages: the frequent use
(as by a community) of two languages: the political or
institutional recognition of two languages
Origin: mid 19th century: from Latin bilinguis, from
bi- ‘having two’ + lingua ‘tongue’ + -al. First known
use: 1873
Blend noun
\ˈblend\
a group of two or more consecutive consonants that
begin a syllable
Origin: Middle English, probably from Old Norse a means of communication or expression: such as
blend-, present stem of blanda to mix; akin to Old (1) : a path along which information (such as data or
English blandan to mix, Lithuanian blandus impure, music) in the form of an electrical signal passes (2)
cloudy. First known use: 14th century channels plural : a fixed or official course of
communication went through established military
Bounded deixis channels with his grievances
is place deixis that has a component of meaning Origin: Middle English chanel, from Anglo-French,
indicative of a border. from Latin canalis channel — more at canal. First
known use: 14th century
Origin: from Anglo-Latin bunda, from Old French
bonde "limit, boundary, boundary stone" (12c., Cohesion noun
Modern French borne), variant of bodne, from
Medieval Latin bodina, which is perhaps from co·he·sion\kō-ˈhē-zhən\
Gaulish.
a property of text of any length that is supplied by
Bound morpheme noun repeated refrains, regular stanzas, rhymes,
alliteration, meter, repeated meanings in lexical
\ˈbauu nd ˈmȯr-ˌfēm\ items, similar sentence structure, question and
answer routine and so forth.
is a morpheme, it isthe elementary unit of
morphosyntax that can appear only as part of a larger Origin: borrowed from New Latin cohaesiōn-,
expression cohaesiō (Medieval Latin, “proximity contact”), from
Latin cohaes-, variant stem of cohaerēre “to stick
C together, cohere” + -iōn-, -iō -ion. First known use:
1660
Case noun
Clause noun
\ˈkās\
\ˈklȯz\
an inflectional form of a noun, pronoun, or adjective
indicating its grammatical relation to other words grammar : a part of a sentence that has its own
subject and verb
Origin: Middle English cas, from Anglo-French, from
Latin casus, translation of Greek ptōsis, literally, fall Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from
Medieval Latin clausa close of a rhetorical period,
Channel noun from Latin, feminine of clausus, past participle of
chan·nel\ˈcha-nəl\
claudere to close — more at close. First known use:
13th century
Cognate adjective
cog·nate\ˈkäg-ˌnāt\
Linguistics : having the same origin
Origin: Latin cognatus, from co- + gnatus, natus, past
participle of nasci to be born; akin to Latin gignere to
beget — more at kin First known use: circa 1645
Complement noun
com·ple·ment\ˈkäm-plə-mənt\
grammar : a word or group of words added to a
sentence to make it complete
Origin:Middle English, from Latin complementum,
from complēre to fill up, complete, from com- + plēre
to fill — more at full. First known use: 14th century
Compound noun
com·pound\ kəm-ˈpauu nd, ˈkäm-ˌpauu nd\
a word consisting of components that are words
Origin: by folk etymology from Malay kampung group
of buildings, village. First known use: 1679
Concord noun
con·cord\ˈkän-ˌkȯrd, ˈkäŋ-\
grammar : a state in which the different parts of a
sentence or phrase agree with each other
Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French concorde,
from Latin concordia, from concord-, concors
agreeing, from com- + cord-, cor heart — more at
heart. First known use: 14th century
Conjugation noun
con·ju·ga·tion\ˌkän-jə-ˈgā-shən\
the way a verb changes form to show number,
person, tense, etc. : the way a verb is conjugated
First known use: 15th century
Consonant noun
con·so·nant\ˈkän(t)-s(ə-)nənt\
a speech sound (such as /p/, /d/, or /s/) that is made
by partly or completely stopping the flow of air
breathed out from the mouth
Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin
consonant-, consonans, from present participle of
consonare. First known use: 14th century
Constituent noun
con·stit·u·ent\kən-ˈstich-wənt\
a structural unit of a definable syntactic, semantic, or
phonological category that consists of one or more
linguistic elements (such as words, morphemes, or
features) and that can occur as a component of a
larger construction
Origin: French constituant, from Middle French, from
present participle of constituer to constitute, from
Latin constituere see constitute. First known use: da·tive\ˈdā-tiv\
1622
of, relating to, or being the grammatical case that
Constraint noun marks typically the indirect object of a verb, the
object of some prepositions, or a possessor
con·straint\kən-ˈstrānt\
Origin: Middle English datif, from Latin dativus, from
Limits on the patterning of language datus. First known use: 15th century
OriginMiddle English, from Middle French Declarative adjective
constrainte, from constraindre see constrain. First
known use: 15th century de'clar·a·tive\di-ˈkler-ə-tiv\
Copula noun grammar : having the form of a statement rather than
a question or a command
cop·u·la\ˈkä-pyə-lə\
First known use: 1628
something that connects: such as: the connecting link
between subject and predicate of a proposition: Declension noun
linking verb
de·clen·sion\di-ˈklen(t)-shən\
Origin: Latin, bond — more at couple. First known
use: 1619 noun, adjective, or pronoun inflection especially in
some prescribed order of the form
Creole noun
Origin: Middle English declenson, modification of
Cre·ole\ˈkrē-ˌōl\ Middle French declinaison, from Latin declination-,
declinatio grammatical inflection, turning aside, from
a language that is based on French and that uses declinare to inflect, turn aside. First known use: 15th
words from African languages century
Origin: French créole, from Spanish criollo, from Definition noun
Portuguese crioulo white person born in the colonies.
First known use: 1697 def·i·ni·tion\ˌde-fə-ˈni-shən\
D an explanation of the meaning of a word, phrase, etc.
: a statement that defines a word, phrase, etc.
Dative adjective
Origin: Middle English diffinicioun, from Anglo- the systematic study of dialect : the body of data
French, from Latin definition-, definitio, from definire available for study of a dialect
see define. First known use: 14th century
Origin: from Greek διάλεκτος, dialektos, "talk,
Determiner noun dialect"; and -λογία, -logic. First known use: 1820
de·ter·min·er\-ˈtər-mə-nər\ Diction noun
A word that occurs with a noun to restrict its dic·tion\ˈdik-shən\
meaning:
the way in which words are used in speech or writing
First known use: circa 1530
Origin: Latin diction-, dictio speaking, style, from
Diachronic adjective dicere to say; akin to Old English tēon to accuse, Latin
dicare to proclaim, dedicate, Greek deiknynai to
dia·chron·ic\ˌdī-ə-ˈkrä-nik\ show, dikē judgment, right. First known use: 1581
of, relating to, or dealing with phenomena (as of Diglossia noun
language or culture) as they occur or change over a
period of time di·glos·sia\dī-ˈglä-sē-ə, -ˈglȯ-\
First known use: 1922 the use of two varieties of the same language in
different social contexts throughout a speech
Dialect noun community
di·a·lect\ˈdī-ə-ˌlekt\ Origin: di- + Greek glôssa “tongue, language” + 1-ia.
First known use: 1959
a form of a language that is spoken in a particular
area and that uses some of its own words, grammar, Diphthong noun
and pronunciations
diph·thong\ˈdif-ˌthȯŋ, ˈdip-\
Origin: Middle French dialecte, from Latin dialectus,
from Greek dialektos conversation, dialect, from linguistics : two vowel sounds joined in one syllable to
dialegesthai to converse — more at dialogue. First form one speech sound
known use: 1566
Origin: Middle English diptonge, from Middle French
Dialectology noun diptongue, from Late Latin dipthongus, from Greek
diphthongos, from di- + phthongos voice, sound. First
di·a·lec·tol·o·gy\-jē\ known use: 15th century
Discourse noun
dis·course\ˈdis-ˌkȯrs, dis-ˈ\
the use of words to exchange thoughts and ideas
Origin: Middle English discours, from Medieval Latin
& Late Latin discursus; Medieval Latin, argument,
from Late Latin, conversation, from Latin, act of
running about, from discurrere to run about, from
dis- + currere to run — more at car. First known use:
15th century
Disyllable noun
di·syl·la·ble\dī-ˈsil-; ˈdi-ˌsil-, (ˌ)di(s)-ˈsil-\
a linguistic form consisting of two syllables
Origin:partial translation of Middle French dissilabe,
from Latin disyllabus having two syllables, from
Greek disyllabos, from di- + syllabē syllable.First
known use: 1589
E the explanation of a proper name (as of a town or
Elision noun
eli·sion\i-ˈli-zhən\
the use of a speech form that lacks a final or initial
sound which a variant speech form has (such as 's
instead of is in there's)
Origin: Late Latin elision-, elisio, from Latin elidere.
First known use: 1581
Endophora noun
/ɛnˈdɒfərə/
is coreference of an expression with another
expression either before it or after it. One expression
provides the information necessary to interpret the
other.
Origin: 1970s: from endo- ‘within’, on the pattern of
anaphora.
Environment noun
en·vi·ron·ment\in-ˈvī-rə(n)-mənt, -ˈvī(-ə)r(n)-\
is all the parts of an utterance that directly surround
a given sound.
Origin: From Middle French environnement,
equivalent to environ + -ment. Compare French
environnement. First known use: 1827
Eponymy noun
epon·y·my\i-ˈpä-nə-mē, e-\
tribe) by supposing a fictitious eponym
First known use: 1865
Etymology noun
et·y·mol·o·gy\ˌe-tə-ˈmä-lə-jē\
the history of a linguistic form (such as a word) shown
by tracing its development since its earliest recorded
occurrence in the language where it is found, by
tracing its transmission from one language to
another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by
identifying its cognates in other languages, or by Fricative noun
tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral
form in an ancestral language fric·a·tive\ˈfri-kə-tiv\
Origin: Middle English ethimologie, from Anglo- linguistics : a sound made by forcing air out of your
French, from Latin etymologia, from Greek, from mouth through a narrow opening that is made using
etymon + -logia -logy. First known use: 14th century the lips, teeth, or tongue
Extension noun Origin: Latin fricatus, past participle of frica. First
known use: 1863
ex·ten·sion\ik-ˈsten(t)-shən\
Fronting verb
diachronic semantic change by which the set of
appropriate contexts or referents for a word increases \ˈfrənt ing\
Origin: Middle English, from Late Latin extension-, Movement usually of back vowels to the front of the
extensio, from Latin extendere. First known use: 15th mouth: e.g., good
century
sounding like gid in America’s West Coast speech.
F Flap noun
Finite adjective \ˈflap\
fi·nite\ˈfī-ˌnīt\ a consonant (such as the sound \d\ in ladder and \t\
in latter) characterized by a single rapid contact of the
grammar : of or relating to a verb form that shows tongue or lower lip against another point in the
action that takes place at a particular time (such as mouth —called also tap
the past)
Origin: Middle English flappe. First known use: 14th
Origin: Middle English finit, from Latin finitus, past century
participle of finire see finish. First known use: 15th
century
G
Free morpheme noun
Genre noun
\ˈfrē ˈmȯr-ˌfēm\
\ˈzhän-rə, ˈzhäⁿ-; ˈzhäⁿr; ˈjän-rə\
morpheme that can stand alone as a word
a particular type or category of literature or art
Origin: French, from Middle French, kind, gender — Origin: Middle English gramere, from Anglo-French
more at gender. First known use: 1770 gramaire, modification of Latin grammatica, from
Greek grammatikē, from feminine of grammatikos of
Glide noun letters, from grammat-, gramma — more at gram.
First known use: 14th century
\ˈglīd\
Grammaticalization
a less prominent vowel sound produced by the
passing of the vocal organs to or from the articulatory a historical process in which lexical words or phrases
position of a speech sound take on
Origin: Middle English, from Old English glīdan; akin grammatical functions usu. from repeated usage
to Old High German glītan to glide. First known use:
before 12th century Grapheme noun
Glottal adjective graph·eme\ˈgra-ˌfēm\
glot·tal\ˈglä-təl\ a unit or character in a writing system
of, relating to, or produced in or by the glottis glottal Origin: -graph + -eme. First known use: 1932
constriction
First known use: circa 1846
H
Head noun
Glottis noun
\ˈhed\
glot·tis\ˈglä-təs\
The constituent from which a phrase is named, (e.g.
the opening between the vocal cords in your throat in a verb phrase, the head is the verb; in a noun
Origin: Greek glōttid-, glōttis, from glōtta tongue — phrase, the head is the noun)
more at gloss. First known use: 1578 Origin: Middle English hed, from Old English hēafod;
Grammar noun akin to Old High German houbit head, Latin caput.
First known use: before 12th century
gram·mar\ˈgra-mər\
High vowel
the set of rules that explain how words are used in a
language a vowel articulated with the highest point of the
tongue close to the
top of the mouth: e.g., /i, u/.
Historical Linguistics noun
his·tor·i·cal lin·guis·tics
the study of the history and development of
languages.
Homonym noun
hom·onym\ˈhä-mə-ˌnim, ˈhō-\
a word that is spelled and pronounced like another
word but is different in meaning
Origin: Latin homonymum, from Greek homōnymon,
from neuter of homōnymos. First known use: 1697
Homophone noun
ho·mo·phone\ˈhä-mə-ˌfōn, ˈhō-\
a word that is pronounced like another word but is
different in meaning, origin, or spelling
Origin: derives from the Greek homo- (ὁμο- ), "same",
and phōnḗ (φωνή), "voice, utterance". First known
use: 1843
Hypercorrect adjective
hy·per·cor·rect\ˌhī-pər-kə-ˈrekt\
of, relating to, or characterized by the production of a
nonstandard linguistic form or construction on the
basis of a false analogy (such as “badly” in “my eyes
have gone badly”)
First known use: 1922
I
Idiolect noun
id·i·o·lect\ˈi-dē-ə-ˌlekt\
the language or speech pattern of one individual at a
particular period of life
Origin: idio- + -lect (as in dialect). First known use:
1948
Idiom noun
id·i·om\ˈi-dē-əm\
an expression that cannot be understood from the
meanings of its separate words but that has a
separate meaning of its own
Origin: Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French
idiome, from Late Latin idioma individual peculiarity
of language, from Greek idiōmat-, idiōma, from
idiousthai to appropriate, from idios. First known use:
1588
Imperative adjective
im·per·a·tive\im-ˈper-ə-tiv, -ˈpe-rə-\
grammar : having the form that expresses a
command rather than a statement or a question
Origin: Middle English imperatyf, from Late Latin
imperativus, from Latin imperatus, past participle of
imperare to command — more at emperor. First
known use: 15th century
Independent clause noun formed with the tip of the tongue between the upper
and lower front teeth
is a group of words that contains both a subject and a
predicate. First known use: circa 1874
Inflection noun Interrogative adjective
in·flec·tion\in-ˈflek-shən\ in·ter·rog·a·tive\ˌin-tə-ˈrä-gə-tiv\
a change in the form of a word to provide grammar : having the form of a question rather than
grammatical information: e.g., )-s as in books for a statement or command
plural; -ed as in played for past tense. Applies to both
conjugation and declension. First known use: 15th century
First known use: 1531 Intonation noun
Inflectional morpheme noun in·to·na·tion\ˌin-tə-ˈnā-shən, -(ˌ)tō-\
/ɪnˈflɛkʃ(ə)n(ə)l ˈmɔːfiːm/ the rise and fall in the sound of your voice when you
speak
is a suffix that's added to a word (a noun, verb,
adjective or an adverb) to assign a particular First known use: 1620
grammatical property to that word, such as its tense,
number, possession, or comparison Intransitive adjective

Isogloss noun in·tran·si·tive\(ˌ)in-ˈtran(t)-sə-tiv, -ˈtran(t)s-tiv\

iso·gloss\ˈī-sə-ˌgläs, -ˌglȯs\ grammar of a verb : not taking or having a direct

object
a boundary line between places or regions that differ
in a particular linguistic feature Origin: Late Latin intransitivus, from Latin in- + Late
Latin transitivus transitive. First known use: 1612
Origin: International Scientific Vocabulary is- + Greek
glōssa language — more at gloss. First known use: J
1925
Jargon noun
Interdental adjective
jar·gon\ˈjär-gən, -ˌgän\
in·ter·den·tal\ˌin-tər-ˈden-təl\
the language used for a particular activity or by a Language noun
particular group of people
lan·guage\ˈlaŋ-gwij, -wij\
Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French jargun,
gargon. First known use: 14th century the system of words or signs that people use to
express thoughts and feelings to each other
K Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French langage,
Kinesics noun from lange, langue tongue, language, from Latin
lingua — more at tongue. First known use: 14th
ki·ne·sics/kəˈnēsiks,-ziks/ century
the study of the way in which certain body Lax adjective
movements and gestures serve as a form of
nonverbal communication. \ˈlaks\
Origin: from Greek kinēsis ‘motion’ (from kinein ‘to articulated with the muscles involved in a relatively
move’) + -ics relaxed state (such as the vowel \i\ in contrast with
the vowel \ē\)
L Origin: Middle English, from Latin laxus loose — more
at slack. First known use: 14th century
Labial adjective
la·bi·al\ˈlā-bē-əl\ Lexical item noun

linguistics of a sound : produced by using one or both is a single word, a part of a word, or a chain of words
lips that forms the basic elements of a language's lexicon.

Origin: Medieval Latin labialis, from Latin labium lip.
First known use: 1594
Labiodental adjective
la·bio·den·tal\ˌlā-bē-ō-ˈden-təl\
uttered with the participation of the lip and teeth the
labiodental sounds \f\ and \v\
First known use: 1669
Lexical adjective
lex·i·cal\ˈlek-si-kəl\
of or relating to words or the vocabulary of a
language as distinguished from its grammar and
construction
Origin: from Greek lexikos ‘of words’ (from lexis
‘word’) + -al. First known use: 1836
Lexicographer noun
lex·i·cog·ra·pher\ˌlek-sə-ˈkä-grə-fər\
an author or editor of a dictionary
Origin: Late Greek lexikographos, from lexikon +
Greek -graphos writer, from graphein to write. First
known use: 1625
Lexicon noun
lex·i·con\ˈlek-sə-ˌkän also -kən\
the words used in a language or by a person or group
of people
Origin: Late Greek lexikon, from neuter of lexikos of
words, from Greek lexis word, speech, from legein to
say — more at legend. First known use: 1580
Lingua franca noun
a language of communication used among people
with different first languages
Linguist noun
lin·guist\ˈliŋ-gwist\
a person who speaks several languages: a person who
studies linguistics
Origin: Latin lingua language, tongue. First known
use: 1591
Linguistics noun
lin·guis·tics\liŋ-ˈgwi-stiks\
an academic discipline or a scholarly fi eld that
concerns the study of language as science
Origin: from Latin lingua ‘language’ + -ist. First
known use: 1591
Linking verb noun
grammar : a verb (such as appear, be, become, feel,
grow, or seem) that connects a subject with an
adjective or noun that describes or identifies the
subject
First known use: 1923
Liquid adjective
liq·uid\ˈli-kwəd\
articulated without friction and capable of being
prolonged like a vowel
Origin: Middle English, from Middle French liquide,
from Latin liquidus, from liquēre to be fluid; akin to
Latin lixa water, lye, and perhaps to Old Irish fliuch
damp. First known use: 14th century
Loanword noun
loan·word\ˈlōn-ˌwərd\
a word taken from another language and at least
partly naturalized
First known use: 1869
Low vowel noun
a vowel articulated with the tongue towards the low
point of the mouth
M First introduced on 1960s
Main clause noun
a clause that can form a complete sentence standing
alone, having a subject and a predicate.
Malapropism noun
mal·a·prop·ism\ˈma-lə-ˌprä-ˌpi-zəm\
an amusing error that occurs when a person
mistakenly uses a word that sounds like another word
but that has a very different meaning
Origin: Mrs. Malaprop, character noted for her
misuse of words in R. B. Sheridan's comedy The Rivals
(1775). First known use: 1830
Marker noun
mark·er\ˈmär-kər\
Any unit that indicates a specifi c feature: e.g., –ed as
a tense marker for preterit; -’s as a case marker for
the possessive; conjunctions like when and although
as subordinate markers; a phonological or
intonational pattern as a marker for the speaker’s
regional or social background.
First known use: 15th century
Mesolect noun
mes·o·lect/ˈmezəˌlekt,ˈmesə-,ˈmēzə-,ˈmēsə-/
an intermediate dialect or variety of a particular
language used especially in the study of Creoles.
Meter Specific
patterning of stress or rhythm employed in the
composition of verse.
The traditional meter of English was based on
alliteration and stress. Later, syllable based meters,
such as iambic and trochaic, were adopted.
Modal auxiliary noun
is a type of verb that is used to indicate modality –
that is: likelihood, ability, permission, request,
capacity, suggestions, order, obligation, or advice.
Monolingual adjective
mono·lin·gual\ˌmä-nə-ˈliŋ-gwəl\
able to speak and understand only one language
First known use: 1879
Monophthong noun
mon·oph·thong/ˈmänə(f)ˌTHôNG,məˈnäpˌTHôNG/
a vowel that is not a diphthong, that is, produced
without any noticeable change in its quality: e.g., /i/
in bid and // in bug.
Origin: from Greek monophthongos, from monos
‘single’ + phthongos ‘sound’. First known use: early
17th century
Monosyllabic adjective The study of the inner structure of words including
inflections and affixes.
mon·o·syl·lab·ic/ˌmänəsəˈlabik/
Origin: German Morphologie, from morph- + -logie
using brief words to signify reluctance to engage in -logy. First known use: 1828
conversation.
Morphosyntax noun
Mood noun
mor·pho·syn·tax.
\ˈmüd\
Interaction between morphology and syntax: e.g.,
a verb form indicating the speaker’s viewpoint on his function of inflections on the sentence level;
or her utterance. PDE has three moods. Indicative is grammaticalization.
used for stating fact:e.g.stopped in we stopped
arguing. Subjunctive expresses suggestion, Origin: morpho- + syntax, morphosyntax
hypothesis, etc.: e.g., stop in I suggest that we stop
arguing. Imperative is used for command: e.g., stop in Multilingual adjective
stop arguing!
mul·ti·lin·gual\-ˈliŋ-gwəl, -ˈliŋ-gyə-wəl\
Origin: Old English mōd (also in the senses ‘mind’ and
‘fierce courage’), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch a person able to speak and understand several
moed and German Mut . First known use: mid 16th languages
century First known use: 1838
Morpheme noun
N
mor·pheme\ˈmȯr-ˌfēm\
Nasal noun
The smallest meaningful unit in a language: e.g., the
word meaningful consists of three morphemes, mean na·sal\ˈnā-zəl\
and the two affi xes -ing, and -ful.
a speech sound produced by letting much of the air
Origin: French morphème, from Greek morphē form. go through the nose. All
First known use: 1896
of the three PDE nasals are consonants: /n, m, ŋ/.
Morphology noun Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from nes
mor·phol·o·gy\mȯr-ˈfä-lə-jē\ nose, from Latin nasus — more at nose. First known
use: 14th century
Narration noun Origin: Middle English nowne, from Anglo-French
nom, noun name, noun, from Latin nomen — more at
nar·ra·tion\na-ˈrā-shən, nə-\ name. First known use: 14th century
the act or process of telling a story or describing what Noun Phrase noun
happens
\ˈnauu n ˈfrāz\
Origin: from Latin narrat- ‘related, told’, from the
verb narrare (from gnarus ‘knowing’). First known a group of words that acts like a noun in a sentence
use: 15th century
First known use: 1884
Neogolism noun
ne·ol·o·gism/nēˈäləˌjizəm/
O
Object Complement noun
the coining or use of new words.
/ˈäbjekt ˈkämpləmənt/
Origin: early 19th century: from French néologisme .
is a complement that is used to predicate a
Neurolinguistics noun description of the direct object.
\noo r-oh-ling-gwis-tiks, nyoo r- \ Obstruent noun
the study of the neurological processes underlying \ob-stroo-uh nt\
the development and use of language.
a fricative or plosive speech sound.
Origin: First recorded in 1960–65; neuro- + linguistics
Origin 1660–70; < Latin obstruent- (stem of
Noun noun obstruēns, present participle of obstruere); see
\ˈnauu n\ obstruct, -ent

a word that is the name of something (such as a Onomatopoeia noun

person, animal, place, thing, quality, idea, or action) on·o·mat·o·poe·ia/ˌänəˌmadəˈpēə/
and is typically used in a sentence as subject or object
of a verb or as object of a preposition the formation of a word from a sound associated with
what is named (e.g. cuckoo, sizzle ).
Origin: Late 16th century: via late Latin from Greek
onomatopoiia ‘word-making’, from onoma, onomat-
‘name’ + -poios ‘making’ (from poiein ‘to make’).
Oxymoron noun
ox·y·mo·ron/ˌäksəˈmôrˌän/
a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory
terms appear in conjunction (e.g. faith unfaithful kept
him falsely true ).
Origin: Mid 17th century: from Greek oxumōron,
neuter (used as a noun) of oxumōros ‘pointedly
foolish’, from oxus ‘sharp’ + mōros ‘foolish’.
P Origin: late Middle English(in passive (sense 2 of the
Palatal noun
pal·a·tal/ˈpalədl/
a consonant sound produced by raising the blade, or
front, of the tongue toward or against the hard palate
just behind the alveolar ridge (the gums)
First known use: 1668
Palate noun
pal·ate\ˈpa-lət\
the top part of the inside of your mouth : the roof of
your mouth
Origin: Middle English, from Latin palatum. First
known use: 14th century
Parable noun
par·a·ble/ˈperəb(ə)l/
a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual
lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels.
Origin: Middle English: from Old French parabole,
from an ecclesiastical Latin sense ‘discourse, allegory’
of Latin parabola ‘comparison’, from Greek parabolē
Passive voice noun
pas·sive/ˈpasiv/
denoting or relating to a voice of verbs in which the
subject undergoes the action of the verb
adjective), also in the sense ‘(exposed to) suffering,
acted on by an external agency’): from Latin passivus,
from pass- ‘suffered’, from the verb pati .
Past Tense noun
a tense expressing an action that has happened or a
state that previously existed."the story is told in the
past tense"
Participle noun
par·ti·ci·ple\ˈpär-tə-ˌsi-pəl\
a form of a verb that is used to indicate a past or
present action and that can also be used like an
adjective
Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French,
modification of Latin participium, from particip-,
particeps. First known use: 14th century
Personification noun Phrase noun
per·son·i·fi·ca·tion\pər-ˌsä-nə-fə-ˈkā-shən\ \ˈfrāz\
attribution of personal qualities; especially : a group of two or more words that express a single
representation of a thing or abstraction as a person idea but do not usually form a complete sentence
or by the human form
First known use: 1556
First known use: 1728
Pidgin noun
Phoneme noun
pid·gin\ˈpi-jən\
pho·neme\ˈfō-ˌnēm\
a language that is formed from a mixture of several
linguistics : the smallest unit of speech that can be languages when speakers of different languages need
used to make one word different from another word to talk to each other
Origin: French phonème, from Greek phōnēmat-, Origin: pidgin English. First known use: 1869
phōnēma speech sound, utterance, from phōnein to
sound. First known use: 1879 Polyglot adjective
Phonetics noun speaking or writing several languages : multilingual
pho·net·ics\fə-ˈne-tiks\ Origin: Greek polyglōttos, from poly- + glōtta
language — more at gloss. First known use: 1650
the study and systematic classification of the sounds
made in spoken utterance Pragmatics noun
First known use: 1836 prag·mat·ics\prag-ˈma-tiks\
Phonology noun a branch of linguistics that is concerned with the
relationship of sentences to the environment in
pho·nol·o·gy\fə-ˈnä-lə-jē, fō-\ which they occur
the science of speech sounds including especially the First known use: 1937
history and theory of sound changes in a language or
in two or more related languages Prefix noun
First known use: 1798 pre·fix\ˈprē-ˌfiks\
a letter or group of letters that is added at the
beginning of a word to change its meaning
Origin: New Latin praefixum, from Latin, neuter of
praefixus, past participle of praefigere to fasten
before, from prae- + figere to fasten — more at fix.
First known use: 1646
Preposition noun
prep·o·si·tion\ˌpre-pə-ˈzi-shən\
a function word that typically combines with a noun
phrase to form a phrase which usually expresses a
modification or predication
Origin: Middle English preposicioun, from Anglo-
French preposicion, from Latin praeposition-,
praepositio, from praeponere to put in front, from
prae- pre- + ponere to put — more at position. First
known use: 14th century
Present Tense noun
the tense of a verb that expresses action or state in
the present time and is used of what occurs or is true
at the time of speaking and of what is habitual or
characteristic or is always or necessarily true, that is
sometimes used to refer to action in the past, and
that is sometimes used for future events
First known use: 14th century
Pronoun noun
pro·noun\ˈprō-ˌnauu n\
a word (such as I, he, she, you, it, we, or they) that is
used instead of a noun or noun phrase
Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin
pronomin-, pronomen, from pro- for + nomin-, nomen
name — more at pro-, name. First known use: 15th
century
Prosody noun
pros·o·dy\ˈprä-sə-dē, -zə-\
In the study of poetry, it concerns meter and other
techniques of versification. In the study of spoken
sounds, it concerns intonation, pitch, stress, rhythm,
etc.
Origin: Middle English, from Latin prosodia accent of
a syllable, from Greek prosōidia song sung to
instrumental music, accent, from pros in addition to +
ōidē song — more at pros-, ode. First known use:
15th century
Protolanguage noun
pro·to·lan·guage\ˈprō-tō-ˌlaŋ-gwij\
An unrecorded or unattested language from which a
group of historically attested languages have
presumably derived. Hence all Indo-European
languages are supposed to share Proto-Indo-
European as parent language.
First known use: 1948
Psycholinguistics noun
psy·cho·lin·guis·tics\ˌsī-kō-liŋ-ˈgwis-tiks\
the study of the relationships between linguistic
behavior and psychological processes, including the
process of language acquisition.
First known use: 1936
Q Reduction noun
Question noun
ques·tion\ˈkwes-chən, ˈkwesh-\
a sentence, phrase, or word that asks for information
or is used to test someone's knowledge
Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin
quaestion-, quaestio, from quaerere to seek, ask. First
known use: 14th century
Quantifier noun
quan·ti·fi·er\ˈkwän-tə-ˌfī(-ə)r\
grammar : a word or number (such as “many,” “few,”
“some,” “two,” or “2”) that is used with a noun to
show the amount of something
First known use: 1876
R Reference noun
Recursion noun
re·cur·sion\ri-ˈkər-zhən\
the determination of a succession of elements (such
as numbers or functions) by operation on one or
more preceding elements according to a rule or
formula involving a finite number of steps
Origin: Late Latin recursion-, recursio, from recurrere.
First known use: 1790
re·duc·tion\ri-ˈdək-shən\
the act of making something smaller in size, amount,
number, etc. : the act of reducing something
Origin: Middle English reduccion restoration, from
Middle French reducion, from Late Latin & Latin; Late
Latin reduction-, reductio reduction (in a syllogism),
from Latin, restoration, from reducere. First known
use: 15th century
Reduplication noun
re·du·pli·ca·tion\ri-ˌdü-pli-ˈkā-shən, ˌrē-, -ˈdyü-\
an often grammatically functional repetition of a
radical element or a part of it occurring usually at the
beginning of a word and often accompanied by
change of the radical vowel
First known use: 1555
ref·er·ence\ˈre-fərn(t)s\
the act of mentioning something in speech or in
writing : the act of referring tosomething or someone
First known use: 1856
Register noun Rhyme noun
reg·is·ter\ˈre-jə-stər\ \rīm\
a style or variety of language used for a specifi c one of two or more words or phrases that end in the
occasion or purpose (e.g., liturgy, courting), or same sounds
adopted by a particular social group or genre of
writing (e.g., polite speech, legal document). Origin: Middle English rime, from Anglo-French. First
known use: 13th century
Origin: Middle English registre, from Anglo-French,
from Medieval Latin registrum, alteration of Late Rule noun
Latin regesta, plural, register, from Latin, neuter
plural of regestus, past participle of regerere to bring \ˈrül\
back, pile up, collect, from re- + gerere to bear. First a statement that tells you what is allowed or what
known use: 14th century will happen within a particular system (such as a
Reinforcement theory language or science)

is the process of shaping behavior by controlling the Origin: Middle English reule, from Anglo-French, from
consequences of the behavior Latin regula straightedge, rule, from regere to keep
straight, direct — more at right. First known use:
Relative Clause 13th century
is one kind of dependent clause. It has a subject and S
verb, but can't stand alone as a sentence; clauses
starting with the relative pronouns who*, that, which, Schwa noun
whose, where, when.
\ˈshwä\
Retroflex adjective
a vowel pronounced in the central part of the mouth:
ret·ro·flex\ˈre-trə-ˌfleks\ e.g., u in bud, a in trial. Its phonetic symbol is [ə].
articulated with the tongue tip turned up or curled Origin: German, from Hebrew schĕwā'. First known
back just under the hard palate use: 1895
Origin:New Latin retroflexus, from Latin retro- + Semantics noun
flexus, past participle of flectere to bend. First known
use: 1776 se·man·tics\si-ˈman-tiks\
a branch of semiotics dealing with the relations
between signs and what they refer to and including
theories of denotation, extension, naming, and truth
Origin:.Greek sēmantikos significant, from sēmainein
to signify, mean, from sēma sign, token. First known
use: 1890
Shif verb
\ˈshift\
a series of diachronic sounds that occur when a group
of different sounds undergoes a phonological change
that conditions further changes in another group of
sounds
Origin: Middle English, from Old English sciftan to
divide, arrange; akin to Old Norse skipa to arrange,
assign. First known use: 13th century
Sign Language noun
a system of hand movements used for
communication especially by people who are deaf
First known use: 1824
Slang noun
\ˈslaŋ\
words that are not considered part of the standard
vocabulary of a language and that are used very
informally in speech especially by a particular group
of people
First known use: 1756
Sociolinguistics noun
so·cio·lin·guis·tics\ˌsō-sē-ō-liŋ-ˈgwi-stiks\
the study of linguistic behavior as determined by
sociocultural factors
First known use: 1938
Spectogram
a three- dimensional representation of sounds in
which the vertical axis represents frequency, the
horizontal axis represents time, and the darkness of
shading represents amplitude
Spectograph
equipment that generates spectogram from speech
input
Speech noun
\ˈspēch\
a spoken expression of ideas, opinions, etc., that is
made by someone who is speaking in front of a group
of people
Origin: Middle English speche, from Old English
sprǣc, spǣc; akin to Old English sprecan to speak —
more at speak. First known use: before 12th century
Speech Style
various way of speaking marked by degrees of
formality
Stress noun
\ˈstres\
to pronounce (a syllable or word) in a louder or more
forceful way than other syllables or words
First known use: 1545
Subject noun
sub·ject\ˈsəb-jikt, -(ˌ)jekt\
the person or thing that is being discussed or
described
Origin: Middle English suget, subget, from Anglo-
French, from Latin subjectus one under authority &
subjectum subject of a proposition, from masculine &
neuter respectively of subjectus, past participle of
subicere to subject, literally, to throw under, from
sub- + jacere to throw — more at jet. First known use:
14th century
Subjunctive adjective
sub·junc·tive\səb-ˈjən(k)-tiv\
grammar : of or relating to the verb form that is used
to express suggestions, wishes, uncertainty,
possibility, etc.
Origin: Late Latin subjunctivus, from Latin subjunctus,
past participle of subjungere to join beneath,
subordinate. First known use: circa 1504
Suffix noun
suf·fix\ˈsə-fiks\
a letter or a group of letters that is added to the end
of a word to change its meaning or to form a different
word
Origin: New Latin suffixum, from Latin, neuter of
suffixus, past participle of suffigere to fasten
underneath, from sub- + figere to fasten — more at
fix. First known use: 1778
Suppletion noun
sup·ple·tion\sə-ˈplē-shən\
the occurrence of phonemically unrelated allomorphs
of the same morpheme (such as went as the past
tense of go or better as the comparative form of
good)
Origin: Medieval Latin suppletion-, suppletio act of
supplementing, from Latin supplēre. First known use:
1909
Syllabary noun
syl·la·bary\ˈsi-lə-ˌber-ē\
a series or set of written characters each one of
which is used to represent a syllable
Origin: New Latin syllabarium, from Latin syllaba
syllable. First known use: 1586
Syllable noun
syl·la·ble\ˈsi-lə-bəl\
a unit of spoken language that is next bigger than a
speech sound and consists of one or more vowel
sounds alone or of a syllabic consonant alone or of
either with one or more consonant sounds preceding
or following
Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French sillabe,
silable, from Latin syllaba, from Greek syllabē, from
syllambanein to gather together, from syn- +
lambanein to take — more at latch. First known use:
14th century
Synonym noun
syn·o·nym\ˈsi-nə-ˌnim\
one of two or more words or expressions of the same
language that have the same or nearly the same
meaning in some or all senses
Origin: Middle English sinonyme, from Latin
synonymum, from Greek synōnymon, from neuter of
synōnymos synonymous, from syn- + onyma name —
more at name. First known use: 15th century
Syntax noun
syn·tax\ˈsin-ˌtaks\
linguistics : the way in which words are put together
to form phrases, clauses, or sentences
Origin: Middle French or Late Latin; Middle French
sintaxe, from Late Latin syntaxis, from Greek, from
syntassein to arrange together, from syn- + tassein to
arrange. First known use: 1548
T
Tag question
noun
grammar : a brief question (such as “don't you?” in
“You know him, don't you?”) that comes at the end of
a statement usually to ask if the statement is correct
First known use: 1933
Topic noun
top·ic\ˈtä-pik\
the subject of a discourse or of a section of a
discourse
Origin: Latin Topica Topics (work by Aristotle), from
Greek Topika, from topika, neuter plural of topikos of
a place, of a topos, from topos place, topos. First
known use: circa 1569
Tense adjective
\ˈten(t)s\
grammar : a form of a verb that is used to show when
an action happened
Origin: Latin tensus, from past participle of tendere to
stretch — more at thin. First known use: 1668
Tense Vowel
vowel whose position is farther from the mid central
position of the vowel space. They are usually located
at the outer edges of the vowel space.
Terminology noun
ter·mi·nol·o·gy\ˌtər-mə-ˈnä-lə-jē\
the special words or phrases that are used in a
particular field
Origin: Medieval Latin terminus term, expression
(from Latin, limit) + English -o- + -logy. First known
use: 1771
Tone noun
\ˈtōn\
style or manner of expression in speaking or writing
seemed wise to adopt a conciliatory tone
Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French tun, ton,
from Latin tonus tension, tone, from Greek tonos,
literally, act of stretching; akin to Greek teinein to
stretch — more at thin. First known use: 14th century
Trachea noun
tra·chea\ˈtrā-kē-ə\
a long tube in your neck and chest that carries air into
and out of your lungs
Origin: Middle English, from Medieval Latin, from
Late Latin trachia, from Greek tracheia (artēria)
rough (artery), from feminine of trachys rough. First
known use: 14th century
Transfer noun
trans·fer\tran(t)s-ˈfər, ˈtran(t)s-ˌ\
the act of carrying over features from one language
into another language contact or second language
acquisition situations
Origin: Middle English transferren, from Anglo-French
transferrer, from Latin transferre, from trans- + ferre
to carry — more at bear. First known use: 14th
century
Typology noun
ty·pol·o·gy\tī-ˈpä-lə-jē\
Classification of languages according to general
features of their design, such as synthetic/analytic
spectrum or element order.
First known use: 1845
U
Umlaut noun
um·laut\ˈüm-ˌlauu t, ˈuu m-\
the change of a vowel (such as \ü\ to \ē\ in goose,
geese) that is caused by partial assimilation to a
succeeding sound or that occurs as a reflex of the
former presence of a succeeding sound which has
been lost or altered
Origin: German, from um- around, transforming +
Laut sound. First known use: circa 1845
Ungrammatical adjective
un·gram·mat·i·cal\ˌən-grə-ˈma-ti-kəl\
not following the rules of grammar : not grammatical
First known use: 1654
Utterance noun
ut·ter·ance\ˈə-tə-rən(t)s, ˈə-trən(t)s\
something uttered; especially : an oral or written
statement : a stated or published expression
Origin: Middle English outraunce, uttraunce, from
Middle French outrance, from outrer to go beyond —
more at outré. First known use: 15th century
V ver·bal\ˈvər-bəl\
Velar adjective
ve·lar\ˈvē-lər\
formed with the back of the tongue touching or near
the soft palate the velar \k\ of \ˈkül\ cool
Origin: velum + -ar, probably after French vélaire or
German velar. First known use: 1876
Velum noun
ve·lum\ˈvē-ləm\
a membrane or membranous part resembling a veil
or curtain: such as soft palate
Origin: borrowed from Latin vēlum “awning, curtain”;
in sense a short for New Latin vēlum palātī or vēlum
palātīnum, literally, “curtain of the palate” — more at
veil. First known use: 1753
Verb noun
\ˈvərb\
grammar : a word (such as jump, think, happen, or
exist) that is usually one of the main parts of a
sentence and that expresses an action, an
occurrence, or a state of being
Origin: Middle English verbe, borrowed from Anglo-
French, borrowed from Latin verbum “word, verb” —
more at word. First known use: 14th century
Verbal adjective
relating to or consisting of words; spoken rather than
written; relating to or formed from a verb
Origin: Middle English verbale, borrowed from Late
Latin verbālis, from Latin verbum “word, verb” + -ālis
-al. First known use: 15th century
Verbal Auxiliary noun
an auxiliary verb
First known use: circa 1958
Vernacular noun
ver·nac·u·lar\və(r)-ˈna-kyə-lər\
an expression, language or mode of expression that
occurs in ordinary speech rather than formal writing
Origin: Latin vernāculus “belonging to the household,
domestic, native” (from verna “slave born in the
household”—of uncertain origin— + -āculus, perhaps
originally diminutive suffix, though derivation is
unclear) + -ar. First known use: 1601
Vocal adjective
vo·cal\ˈvō-kəl\
of, relating to, or produced by the voice
Origin: Middle English, from Latin vocalis, from voc-,
vox voice — more at voice. First known use: 14th
century
Vocabulary noun
vo·cab·u·lary\vō-ˈka-byə-ˌler-ē, və-\
a list or collection of words or of words and phrases
usually alphabetically arranged and explained or
defined
Origin: Middle French vocabulaire, probably from
Medieval Latin vocabularium, from neuter of
vocabularius verbal, from Latin vocabulum. First
known use: 1532
Voice noun
\ˈvȯis\
the sounds that you make with your mouth and
throat when you are speaking, singing, etc.
Origin: Middle English, from Old French vois, from
Latin voc-, vox; akin to Old High German giwahanen
to mention, Greek epos word, speech, Sanskrit vāk
voice. First known use: 14th century
Vowel noun
vow·el\ˈvauu (-ə)l\
a speech sound made with your mouth open and
your tongue in the middle of your mouth not
touching your teeth, lips, etc.
Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French vowele,
from Latin vocalis — more at vocalic. First known use:
14th century
W
Word noun
\ˈwərd\
a sound or combination of sounds that has a meaning
and is spoken or written
Origin: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old
High German wort word, Latin verbum, Greek eirein
to say, speak, Hittite weriya- to call, name. First
known use: before 12th century
References
Glossary of Linguistic Terms. (2019). Retrieved from
https://glossary.sil.org/term
English Dictionary, Thesaurus, & Grammar Help |
Lexico.com. (2019). Retrieved from
https://www.lexico.com/en
Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: America's most-
trusted online dictionary. (1928). Retrieved from
https://www.merriam-webster.com/
Dictionary.com Is The World's Favorite Online
Dictionary. (2019). Retrieved from
https://www.dictionary.com/

PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This glossary of terms is for partial fulfillment of the
The compiler would like express her profound gratitude to
requirements in Introduction to Linguistics. This provides a
Mrs. Emma L. Villacorta who giving her this opportunity to
wide range of vocabulary drawn from the field of linguistics.
gain more knowledge through this kind of project.
This gives a proper pronunciation, concise and clear definitions

and etymology for hundred of terms related to linguistics. It is In addition, the compiler would also like to thank the
an ideal reference for students or anyone dealing with Almighthy God for giving strength and guidance during the the
language. The hope that anyone who will use it in the future time she made this project. Also, the is thankful to all the
will find this interesting and worth- reading. sources of her content.