GRAMMATICAL TERMINOLOGY

Language, grammar, and literary terms

(a glossary of grammatical terminology, definitions and examples)

Grammatical terminology

a glossary of grammatical terminology, definitions and examples - sounds and literary effects in language, speaking, writing, poetry..

This glossary of linguistics, literary and grammatical terms is aimed to be helpful for writers, speakers, teachers and communicators of all sorts, in addition to students and teachers of the English language seeking:

1. to understand the different effects of written and spoken language - what they are called, from a technical or study standpoint,
2. to develop variety, sensitivity, style and effectiveness in your own use of language - written and spoken - for all sorts of communications, whatever your purposes, and
3. to improve understanding and interpretation of the meaning of words without having to look them up in a dictionary.

There are very many different effects of written and spoken language. Most people know what an acronym is, or a palindrome. But what is a glottal stop? What is a tautology, or a gerund? What is alliteration and onomatopoeia? What are the meanings of prefixes, such as hypo/hyper and meta, and suffixes such as ology and logue?
Words alone convey quite basic meaning. Far more feeling and mood is conveyed in the way that words are put together and pronounced - whether for inspiration, motivation, amusement, leadership, persuasion, justification, clarification or any other purpose.
The way we use language - in addition to the language we use - is crucial for effective communications and understanding.
The way others use language gives us major insights as to motives, personalities, needs, etc.
The study and awareness of linguistics helps us to know ourselves and others - why we speak and write in different ways; how language develops; and how so many words and ways of speaking from different languages share the same roots and origins.
Also, our technical appreciation of language is a big help to understanding language more widely, and particularly word meanings that we might not have encountered before.
For example why is a prefix so significant in language? And a suffix?
Knowing these and many other aspects of linguistics can dramatically assist our overall understanding of language, including new words, even foreign words, which we might never have seen before.
Some of these language terms and effects are vital for good communications. Others are not essential, but certainly help to make language and communications more interesting, textured and alive - and when language does this, it captivates, entertains and moves audiences more, which is definitely important for professional communicators.
Note that many of these words have meanings outside of language and grammar, and those alternative non-linguistic definitions are generally not included in this glossary.

Listing of terms for grammatical, literary, language, vocal and written effects

abbreviation - a shortened word or phrase. This can be done by various methods, notably:

• using the initial letter(s) of a multi-word name or phrase - for example, BBC for British Broadcasting Corporation, or TV for television, CD for compact disc; or LOL for laughing out loud or SWALK for sealed with a loving kiss, (the latter two also technically being acronyms). 

S.W.A.L.K. was a World War II postal acronym usually seen on a letter sent back home from the frontline. It stands for "sealed with a loving kiss" and is one of several acronyms that seemingly originated during the Second World War. A variant is S.W.A.K., sealed with a kiss.

• omitting some or all the vowels of the word or words - for example, Rd for Road, or St for Street / Saint, or Dr instead of Doctor, or Mr instead of Mister, or Sgt instead of Sergeant,
• omitting and/or replacing letters which best enable those remaining to convey the full word, often also for euphonic reasons (i.e., the sound is pleasing to speak/hear) or otherwise clever phonetically (how it sounds), or clever visually - for example: bike for bicycle, or fridge for refrigerator, or pram for perambulator (perambulate means walk, formally or amusingly), or BBQ for barbecue, or SFX for sound effects - and in more recent years especially in electronic messaging using mixtures of letters and numbers, such as L8 for late, GR8 for great, 2 meaning to/too, B4 for before, etc.
• omitting the beginning of a word or words - for example phone for telephone.
• omitting a word-ending or phrase-ending - for example doc for doctor, amp for amplifier or ampere, artic for articulated lorry, or op for operation, or zoo for zoological garden.
• combining parts of two words to form a new word, usually being a blended meaning as well as a blended word, also called a portmanteau word - for example brunch for breakfast, and smog for smoke and fog. Portmanteau words are not commonly regarded as abbreviations, but they certainly are.

acronym - an existing or new word that is spelt from the initial letters, in correct order, of the words of a phrase or word-series, for example NIMBY (Not In My Back-Yard) and SCUBA (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus). Technically an acronym should be a real word or a new 'word' that is capable of pronunciation, otherwise it's merely an abbreviation. By definition, all acronyms are also abbreviations. Also technically an acronym should be formed from the initial letter of all words in the phrase or word-series.

What's the difference between an acronym and an abbreviation?
Many people feel they have the same meaning, but traditionally there is a difference:
An acronym is a word that is that is made by taking the first letter of the full name or sentence. For example, there is a famous Swedish furniture company is called IKEA. It is the short form of for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd. The company name is called IKEA; it is read like any other word. It is never spelled out letter by letter: I - K- E- A.

An abbreviation is used by taking the first letter of a longer sentence. Each letter is spelled out and not read as a word. Two examples are BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and CNN (Cable News Network).

Here are ten examples of common acronyms and abbreviations:

ESL / EFL: Both of these abbreviations have the same meaning and are very common to see for learners of English.
ESL means English as a second language. - It is mostly used in American English.
EFL means English as a foreign language. - It is mostly used in British English.
Neither of them needs use a full-stop in between the letters -it is EFL, not E.F.L
Note: On the same subject we use ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) and TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages).

ASAP (or A.S.A.P.) stands for "as soon as possible". We you use this abbreviation when we want someone to do something quickly: "Send me the report ASAP."

DIY (or D.I.Y) stands for "do it yourself". The term used by various communities that focus on people (called 'do-it-yourselfers' or 'DIYers') creating or repairing things for themselves without the help of paid professionals.

B.Y.O.B. or (BYOB) often seen on invites to parties. It stands for "bring your own bottle / booze"; you are invited to a party, but you should bring your own drinks.

ETA (not E.T.A) stands for "estimated time of arrival". It is the time when a form of transport (like a train or plane) is expected to arrive in a place. The opposite is ETD ("estimated time of departure").

P.S (or PS) stand for "post script" and is used at the end of written letters to add extra information.
These two abbreviations are easily confused and both used when writing:
I.e. (or i.e. / I.E.) stands for "id est" (Latin for "That is (to say)" or "in other words").
E.g. (or e.g. / E.G.) stands for "exempli gratia" (Latin for "for example").


accent - accent refers to a distinctive way of pronouncing words, language or letter-sounds, typically which arise in regional and national language differences or vernacular. For example 'an Australian accent'. Accent also refers to types of diacritical marks inserted above certain letters in certain words to alter letter sound, for example in the word café. Accent may refer more generally to the mood or tone of speech or writing, or technically to emphasis in poetry, and also to musical emphasis, from where the word derives.

* Well, thank you. No, madam, thank YOU! Well, you're very welcome."   

 In my school and university I was taught to say "Not at all"  "No worries" (any time) or "Don't mention it" in response to "Thank you!". Now I rarely hear these phrases used, but rather something like "You're welcome", "It's OK", "(It was) My pleasure", or "No problem",  "certainly",  "happy to" "No worries. Any time.

1. you are welcome 2. No problem 3. sure 4. Any time 5. you bet. And I also heard of the combination of them a lot 1. Sure, no problema 2. Sure, any time 3. No problem, any time. 

adjective - a 'describing word' for a noun - for example big, small, red, yellow, fast, slow, peaceful, angry, high, low, first, last, dangerous, heart-warming, tender, brave, silly, smelly, sticky, universal.. There are tens of thousands of others, perhaps hundreds of thousands. A 'sister' term is adverb,

adverb - a word which describes a verb - for example quickly, slowly, peacefully, dangerously, heart-warmingly, bravely, stickily, universally.

allophone: any of several speech sounds that are regarded as contextual or environmental variants of the same phoneme. In English the aspirated initial (p) in pot and the unaspirated (p) in spot are allophones of the phoneme /p/ Aspirate: to articulate (a speech sound, especially a stop) so as to produce an audible puff of breath, as with the first t of total, the second t being unaspirated.
(Phonetics). (of a speech sound) pronounced with or accompanied by aspiration; aspirated.

anaphora - (Compare cataphora): this has two (confusingly somewhat opposite) meanings, which probably stems from its Greek origin, meaning repetition.1. Firstly, simply, anaphora is the action of using an anaphor (a replacement word such as it, he, she, etc) in referring to a previous word or phrase, to avoid repetition and to save time. Grammar. the use of a word as a regular grammatical substitute for a preceding word or group of words, as the use of it and do in I know it and he does too.  2. Secondly, and rather differently, anaphora refers to the intentional use of repetition, specifically a writing/speaking technique in rhetoric, where repetition of a word or phrase is used for impact at the beginning of successive sentences or passages. For example: "People need clothes. People need shelter. People need food.." Here the repetition of 'people need' produces a dramatic effect. A further more famous example is Winston Churchill's WWII "We shall fight on the beaches" speech: "We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.." Here the dramatic repetition of 'we shall' and 'we shall fight' produces remarkable inspiring and motivational effect. The word epistrophe refers to this effect when used at the end of sentences or clauses.  

antanaclasis - (rhetoric) a sentence or statement which contains two identical words/phrases whereby the repeated word or phrase which means something quite different to the first use. A form of speech in which a key word is repeated and used in a different, and sometimes contrary, way for a play on words, as in The craft of a politician is to appear before the public without craft. An often-quoted example of antanaclasis is the motivational threat attributed to American football coach Vince Lombardi: 'If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired, with enthusiasm" (in which 'fired' firstly means 'motivated', and secondly means 'sacked', or dropped from the team). Antanaclasis is a form of pun, and is commonly used to illustrate the confusing and ambiguous nature of language/communications, especially in studying psycholinguistics (how the mind works in processing language). 

anthropomorphism/anthropomorphic - the attribution of human form or characteristics to non-human things, such as inanimate objects, or gods, or concepts such as the weather or economy, or a town or nation, or anything else that for dramatic/literary/humorous effect might be described or represented as having a human quality of some sort. For example the following are all very simple anthropomorphic expressions, or anthropomorphisms: a 'Happy Meal'; a 'friendly bar'; a 'weepy movie'; a 'computer that won't behave'.  Anthropomorphism is everywhere, and plays a crucial part in human communications. (There that's another one... the suggestion that Anthropomorphism 'plays a part'..)
 aphorism - 1. a statement of very few words. It is a concise and very expressive saying, for example 'You get out what you put in', equating to an apophthegm/apothegm - (helpfully the 'ph' and 'g' are silent - the word is pronounced 'appathem' - for example a maxim or short memorable impactful quote - which expresses a point strongly, for example, 'No pain, no gain'. A terse / concise / succinct saying embodying a general truth, or astute observation, as “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton). 2. a principle or rule of conduct.                        

** craft: 1. skill; dexterity: The silversmith worked with great craft. 2. skill or ability used for bad purposes; cunning; deceit; guile.

cataphora: The use of a pronoun or other linguistic unit to refer ahead to another word in a sentence (i.e., the referent). Adjective: cataphoric. Examples:

* A few weeks before he died, my father gave me an old cigar box filled with faded letters.
* It must have been tough on your mother, not having any children.
* Too scared to buy before they sell, some homeowners aim for a trade.
* So I just want to say this to the Congress: An America that buys much more than they sell year in and year out is an America that is facing economic and military disaster.
* After she declared herself 'broken, betrayed, at bay, really low' in another organ yesterday, I'm not sure the Diary should even mention poor Bel Mooney's name."