ThatThat is an English language word used for several grammatical purposes. These include use as an adjective, conjunction, pronoun, adverb and intensifier; it has distance from the…View analysis →
PostilA postil or postill (Latin: postilla; German: Postille) was originally a term for Bible commentaries. It is derived from the Latin post illa verba textus ("after these words from…View analysis →
VerbosityVerbosity, or verboseness, is speech or writing that uses more words than necessary. The opposite of verbosity is brevity.View analysis →
Suzhou dialectSuzhounese (Suzhounese: 蘇州閒話; sou1 tseu1 ghe2 gho6), also known as the Suzhou dialect (alternatively Soochow dialect), is the variety of Chinese traditionally spoken in the city…View analysis →
Lexical diffusionLexical diffusion is the hypothesis that a sound change is an abrupt change that spreads gradually across the words in a language to which it is applicable. It contrasts with the…View analysis →
Three cueingThree cueing, also known as the searchlight model or MSV (which stands for meaning, syntax, and visual information), is a controversial method of teaching young children how to…View analysis →
WordplayWordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or…View analysis →
Laba congeeLaba congee or porridge (simplified Chinese: 腊八粥; traditional Chinese: 臘八粥; pinyin: làbā zhōu) is a Chinese ceremonial congee dish traditionally eaten on the eighth day of the…View analysis →
PseudowordA pseudoword is a unit of speech or text that appears to be an actual word in a certain language, while in fact it has no meaning. It is a specific type of nonce word, or even…View analysis →
Sound biteA sound bite or soundbite is a short clip of speech or music extracted from a longer piece of audio, often used to promote or exemplify the full-length piece. In the context of…View analysis →
AffixIn linguistics, an affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word or word form. The two main categories are derivational and inflectional affixes…View analysis →
Etalketalk (formerly known as eTalk Daily) is a Canadian entertainment news television show that also serves as the flagship entertainment program for CTV, anchored by Tyrone Edwards…View analysis →
DenotationIn philosophy and linguistics, the denotation of a word or expression is its strictly literal meaning. For instance, the English word "warm" denotes the property of having high…View analysis →
CoprolaliaCoprolalia (/ˌkɒprəˈleɪliə/ KOP-rə-LAY-lee-ə) is involuntary swearing or the involuntary utterance of obscene words or socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks. The word…View analysis →
Daniel HorowitzDaniel Aaron Horowitz (born December 14, 1954) is an American defense attorney who has represented several high-profile clients including talk show host Michael Savage and is a…View analysis →
Five WsThe Five Ws is a checklist used in journalism to ensure that the lead contains all the essential points of a story. As far back as 1913, reporters were taught that the lead…View analysis →
ReferentA referent (/ˈrɛfərənt/ REF-ər-ənt) is an entity to which a name – a linguistic expression or other symbol – refers. For example, in the sentence Mary saw me, the referent of the…View analysis →
Sound symbolismIn linguistics, sound symbolism is the perceptual similarity between speech sounds and concept meanings. It is a form of linguistic iconicity. For example, the English word ding…View analysis →
T-glottalizationIn English phonology, t-glottalization (also t-glottalisation) or t-glottalling is a sound change in certain English language dialects and accents, particularly in the United…View analysis →
TerminologyTerminology is a group of specialized words and respective meanings in a particular field, and also the study of such terms and their use; the latter meaning is also known as…View analysis →
ElocutionElocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea…View analysis →
Two-dimensionalismTwo-dimensionalism is an approach to semantics in analytic philosophy. It is a theory of how to determine the sense and reference of a word and the truth-value of a sentence. It…View analysis →
ArchaismIn language, an archaism is a word, a sense of a word, or a style of speech or writing that belongs to a historical epoch beyond living memory, but that has survived in a few…View analysis →
Voice analysisVoice analysis is the study of speech sounds for purposes other than linguistic content, such as in speech recognition. Such studies include mostly medical analysis of the voice…View analysis →
ObviativeWithin linguistics, obviative (abbreviated obv) third person is a grammatical-person marking that distinguishes a referent that is less important to the discourse from one that…View analysis →
NunationNunation (Arabic: تَنوِين, tanwīn), in some Semitic languages such as Arabic, is the addition of one of three diacritics (cf. ḥarakāt) to a noun or adjective in order to indicate…View analysis →
Ontological commitmentIn formal semantics, an ontological commitment of a language is one or more objects postulated to exist by that language. The 'existence' referred to need not be 'real', but…View analysis →
PeriphrasisIn linguistics, periphrasis (/pəˈrɪfrəsɪs/) is the use of more than one word to express meaning that otherwise may be expressed by attaching an affix or clitic to a single word…View analysis →
SociolectIn sociolinguistics, a sociolect is a form of language (non-standard dialect, restricted register) or a set of lexical items used by a socioeconomic class, profession, age group…View analysis →
Emic and eticEmic (/ˈiːmɪk/) and etic (/ˈɛtɪk/) refer to two kinds of field research carried out in anthropology, folkloristics, linguistics, and the social and behavioral sciences, and…View analysis →
PakhetIn Egyptian mythology, Pakhet, Egyptian Pḫ.t, meaning she who scratches (also spelt Pachet, Pehkhet, Phastet, and Pasht) is a lioness goddess of war.View analysis →
Yellow teaYellow tea is a particular lightly oxidized tea, either Chinese huángchá (黄茶; 黃茶) and Korean hwangcha (황차; 黃茶).View analysis →
GibberishGibberish, also known as jibber-jabber or gobbledygook, is speech that is (or appears to be) nonsense: ranging across speech sounds that are not actual words, pseudowords…View analysis →
Matsu dialectThe Matsu dialect (Eastern Min: Mā-cū-uâ / 馬祖話) is the local dialect of Matsu Islands, Taiwan. Native speakers also call it Bàng-huâ (平話), meaning the language spoken in everyday…View analysis →
SemivowelIn phonetics and phonology, a semivowel, glide or semiconsonant is a sound that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary, rather than as…View analysis →
MarooningMarooning is the intentional act of abandoning someone in an uninhabited area, such as a desert island. The word is attested in 1699, and is derived from the term maroon, a word…View analysis →
