Vocabulary - language-linguistics

Question 1

semiotic

Answer 1

the study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behavior; the analysis of systems of communication, as language, gestures (also semiotician)

Question 2

argot

Answer 2

An argot is a language primarily developed to disguise conversation, originally because of a criminal enterprise, though the term is also used loosely to refer to informal jargon.

Question 3

metonymy, metonym (n), -mic (adj)

Answer 3

the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant, for example suit for business executive, or the track for horse racing.

Question 4

dialect, -tical

Answer 4

A dialect is a way of speaking based on geographical or social factors.

Question 5

vernacular

Answer 5

A vernacular is a native language or dialect, as opposed to another tongue also in use, such as Spanish, French, or Italian and their dialects as compared to their mother language, Latin. Alternatively, a vernacular is a dialect itself as compared to a standard language (though it should be remembered that a standard language is simply a dialect or combination of dialects that has come to predominate).

Question 6

slang, slangy (adj)

Answer 6

A vocabulary of terms (at least initially) employed in a specific subculture is slang. Meanings are adapted to new senses, develop out of a subculture’s desire to disguise — or exclude others from — their conversations.

Question 7

syntax, syntactic, syntactical, syntactically

Answer 7

the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

Question 8

orthography, - ic (adj)

Answer 8

1 a : the art of writing words with the proper letters according to standard usage. b : the representation of the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols

Question 9

philology

Answer 9

study of language or words

Question 10

formulaic

Answer 10

constituting or containing a verbal formula or set form of words

Question 11

parse

Answer 11

1. analyze (a sentence) into its parts and describe their syntactic roles. 2. To examine closely; to separate into lots.

Question 12

patois

Answer 12

vernacular, regional dialect, jargon—Patois refers loosely to a nonstandard language such as a creole, a dialect, or a pidgin, with a connotation of the speakers’ social inferiority to those who speak the standard language.

Question 13

lingua franca

Answer 13

a language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different

Question 14

parlance

Answer 14

language; manner of speaking; idiom

Question 15

semantics

Answer 15

the study of language meaning

Question 16

metathesis

Answer 16

a change of place or condition: as. a : transposition of two phonemes in a word (as in the development of crud from curd or the pronunciation \ˈpər-tē\ for pretty

Question 17

alliteration, -tive (adj)

Answer 17

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words

Question 18

colloquial, -quia (n), -quilaism (n)

Answer 18

Pertaining or peculiar to common speech as distinguished from literary

Question 19

jargon

Answer 19

a body of words and phrases that apply to a specific activity or profession, such as a particular art form or athletic or recreational endeavor, or a medical or scientific subject. Jargon is often necessary for precision when referring to procedures and materials integral to a certain pursuit. However, in some fields, jargon is employed to an excessive and gratuitous degree, often to conceal the truth or deceive or exclude outsiders. Various types of jargon notorious for obstructing rather than facilitating communication are given names often appended with -ese or -speak, such as bureaucratese or corporate-speak.

Question 20

lexical

Answer 20

of or relating to the words or vocabulary of a language

Question 21

lingo

Answer 21

This term vaguely refers to the speech of a particular community or group

Question 22

purist

Answer 22

conservative; one who insists on correct forms of language etc.

Question 23

anagram

Answer 23

a word, phrase, or name formed by rearranging the letters of another, such as cinema, formed from iceman

Question 24

vee

Answer 24

the letter V.

Question 25

rho

Answer 25

the seventeenth letter of the Greek alphabet ( Ρ, ρ ), transliterated as ‘r’ or (when written with a rough breathing) ‘rh

Question 26

chi

Answer 26

the twenty-second letter of the Greek alphabet ( Χ, χ ), transliterated in the traditional Latin style as ‘ch’ (as in Christ )