grammar and syntax

• morphology 1. The study of the structure of words, including their origin, form, and meaning
• lexis and semantics 2: the words we use to describe things, and the words we use to describe ourselves
• descriptivist 3. someone who approaches language by observing and describing how it is actually used rather than how it "should" be used (agrees with language change)
• prescriptivist 4. someone who wants to set specific rules to how language should be used (doesn't want language to change)
• prefix 5. a morpheme that goes before a root word to modify its meaning (e.g. unhappy)
• suffix 6. a morpheme that comes after a root word to modify its meaning (e.g. happiness)
• affix 7. an overall term for an addition to a root (prefix or suffix) to modify its meaning or create a new word.
• clause 8. a group of words centred around a verb phrase
• coordination 9. the joining of two clauses that gives them equal weighting
• phonology 10. the area of study that refers to the more abstract sound system of a language
• phonetics 11. the area of study around the physical sounds of human speech
• heterophones 12. words that have the same spelling but very different pronunciation and meanings (e.g. tear from your eye and tear a piece of paper)
• homophones 13. words that are pronounced the same but have a different meaning and possibly a different spelling (e.g. their and there)
• primary auxiliary verb 14. an auxillary verb that joins with a main verb to show tense (e.g. she HAS FINISHED her homework)
• modal auxiliary verb 15. an auxilary verb that joins with a main verb to show the degree of a commitment towards an event or person that a speaker holds (e.g. i WILL call you tomorrow)
• co-ordinated clause 16. stands on its own or joined by a co-ordinating conjunction (and, but, or)
• subordinated clause 17. doesnt stand on its own
• active voice 18. subject performs the action e.g. the cat chased the mouse, the cat is the subject performing the action
• passive voice 19. the subject is receiving the action e.g. the mouse was chased by the cat, the mouse, the subject, is receiving the action
• minor sentance - a sentance that doesnt contain a verb
• 1st person - I, me, we, us
• 2nd person - you
• 3rd person - he, she, it, him, her, they, them