Tuesday, 1 July 2014

Definitions

Abstract noun: An abstract noun refers to states, events, concepts, feelings, qualities, etc., that have no physical existence.

Acronym: an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word (e.g. ASCIINASA).

Adjacency pair:  In pragmatics, a branch of linguistics, an adjacency pair is an example of conversational turn-taking. An adjacency pair is composed of two utterances by two speakers, one after the other. 

Affixation: In linguistics, the process of adding a morpheme(or affix) to a word to create either a different form of that word, or a new word with a different meaning.

Amelioration: The upgrading or elevation of a word's meaning, as when a word with a negative sense develops a positive one.

Assimilation: A common phonological process by which one sound becomes more like a nearby sound. This can occur either within a word or between words.

Blending: A word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two or more other words or word parts (portmanteau word).

Borrowing: A word from one language that has been adapted for use in another.

Cliche:phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.

Clipping: In morphology, a word formed by dropping one or more syllables from a polysyllabic word. 

Colloquialism: A word or phrase that is not formal or literary and is used in ordinary or familiar conversation.

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