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Linguistics - Syntax

Here you will learn some English words related to syntax such as "function word", "interrogative", and "neuter".

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Words Related to Linguistics
catena
[noun]

a sequence or chain of linguistic units, such as words or morphemes, that are linked together to form a larger structure

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the relationship between words or constituents in a sentence that determines their roles and functions within the sentence

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a type of word that serves a grammatical or structural role in a sentence rather than carrying lexical meaning

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a word, phrase, or clause that is mentioned prior to a pronoun or anaphoric expression and to which the pronoun or anaphor refers

Ex: Writers should ensure every pronoun has a clear antecedent.
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binding
[noun]

a concept within the field of syntax and semantics in linguistics that refers to the grammatical and semantic relationships between pronouns, reflexives, and their antecedents within a sentence or discourse

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control
[noun]

a syntactic relationship between two clauses where the subject of one clause determines the interpretation or reference of an element in the other clause

Ex: "The cat seems to enjoy the sunshine," where "the cat" controls the interpretation of who is enjoying the sunshine.
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a linguistic relationship where two or more linguistic expressions within a discourse refer to the same entity in the world

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a syntactic phenomenon in English where the auxiliary verb "do" is used to form questions, negatives, and emphatic statements in certain contexts

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a syntactic phenomenon in which a verb assigns accusative case to a noun phrase that is syntactically an object but semantically related to a higher clause

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a syntactic process in which a constituent is moved from its canonical position to a non-canonical position in a sentence for the purpose of improving readability or emphasizing certain elements

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gapping
[noun]

a syntactic phenomenon where non-finite verbs or verb phrases are omitted in coordinated clauses, with only the shared elements being expressed, resulting in a shortened or elliptical sentence structure

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a linguistic phenomenon where multiple verbs are consecutively combined in a single clause without explicit marking or coordination, resulting in a complex verb phrase

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gap
[noun]

an empty or unpronounced position within a sentence or phrase, typically representing a missing word or element that is implied or understood from the context

Ex: The grammar exercise required students to fill in each gap with the correct verb .
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a sentence structure where a verb is missing, but the meaning can still be understood based on the context, creating a sense of omission or gap in the sentence

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raising
[noun]

a syntactic process in which a verb or predicate raises its subject to a higher syntactic position, often resulting in a mismatch between the surface structure and the underlying syntactic structure

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a syntactic phenomenon where multiple constituents to the right of a shared verb are "raised" or elided, except for the rightmost one, creating a parallel structure

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shifting
[noun]

the movement or reordering of constituents within a sentence, often for reasons of emphasis, focus, or stylistic variation

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stripping
[noun]

(in syntax) a process of omitting some words or phrases of a clause which are repetitive and could be understood from the context

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the linguistic process of placing a specific word or phrase at the beginning of a sentence to highlight and give emphasis to the topic being discussed

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a syntactic phenomenon in which the object of a verb appears to move to the subject position in a sentence, often resulting in a complex and challenging grammatical structure

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a grammatical aspect that indicates the beginning or initiation of an action or state

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cataphora
[noun]

(grammar) the use of a word or phrase that refers to or has the same meaning as a later word

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(in the grammar of some languages) a group of nouns, pronouns, or adjectives changing in the same way to indicate case, number, and gender

Ex: The Old English language had a complex system of declension, with different forms for nouns depending on case , number , and gender .
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telicity
[noun]

the property of a verb or an event that indicates whether it is viewed as having a definite endpoint or culmination, distinguishing between activities and accomplishments or achievements

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a word, sentence, etc. that is explanatory and the meaning of the sentence is complete without it being inserted, usually coming between curved brackets, commas or dashes

Ex: The editor suggested removing the parenthesis for brevity .
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(grammar) a function word that is used to form a question

Ex: Mastering interrogatives enhances language fluency and comprehension .
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(grammar) the use of two adjacent noun phrases having the same referent that have the same syntactical role in a sentence

Ex: In the study of syntax , apposition is analyzed to see how additional information is integrated seamlessly into sentences without disrupting the flow .
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a grammatical process where two or more words, phrases, or clauses of equal importance are joined together using conjunctions like "and" or "or" to express a relationship between them

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number
[noun]

(grammar) the form of a word that indicates whether one, two, or more things or people are being referred to

Ex: In languages like Spanish and French , nouns have gender as well as number, requiring agreement with adjectives and articles in both aspects .
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gender
[noun]

(grammar) a class of words indicating whether they are feminine, masculine, or neuter

Ex: In linguistics , gender is a grammatical category that plays a role in agreement between nouns , pronouns , adjectives , and articles within a sentence .
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person
[noun]

(grammar) each of the three classes of pronouns that refers to who is speaking, who is being spoken to, or others that are not present during the conversation

Ex: The use of first, second, and third person in writing can greatly affect the tone and perspective of a piece, influencing how readers perceive the narrator's relationship to the story and characters.
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(grammar) a set of linguistic structures that refer to the speaker or writer of the discourse

Ex: First-person forms differ across languages .
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a grammatical structure or form of a word that refers to more than one

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masculine
[noun]

(grammar) a word or grammatical form that refers to males

Ex: " Brother " is considered a masculine.
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neuter
[noun]

(grammar) a gender of words that are neither masculine nor feminine

Ex: English does not have neuter, unlike German or Spanish .
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feminine
[noun]

(grammar) a word or grammatical form that refers to females

Ex: The textbook lists all nouns in masculine and feminine.
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(grammar) any of the grammatical classes that words are categorized into, based on their usage in a sentence

Ex: She asked her teacher to explain the part of speech for the word "quickly."
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a category of words that has a limited number of members and does not readily accept new additions, including pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions, and certain adverbs

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a category of words that can expand and accept new members, including nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs

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agreement
[noun]

(grammar) the situation where words in a phrase have the same gender, person, or number

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a linguistic category that indicates the relationship of a noun or pronoun to other words in a sentence, typically reflecting its role as a subject, object, or modifier

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a word or phrase that connects a subordinate clause to a main clause, indicating a relationship of dependence or subordination between the two clauses

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(grammar) a word such as and, because, but, and or that connects phrases, sentences, or words

Ex: Understanding how to use conjunctions correctly can improve the flow and clarity of writing .
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a word or phrase that connects two or more elements of equal grammatical importance, such as words, phrases, or clauses, within a sentence

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a pair of conjunctions that work together to connect two or more elements of equal importance in a sentence, such as "both...and," "either...or," and "neither...nor"

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the grammatical rule that a verb must agree in number and person with its subject, meaning that a singular subject takes a singular verb and a plural subject takes a plural verb

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the placement of an element, typically a word or phrase, between other elements in a sentence, disrupting the typical linear order of constituents

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wh-word
[noun]

a word used to introduce a question or a relative clause, typically including words like "who," "what," "where," "when," "why," and "how"

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a linguistic category that serves a grammatical or structural function in a sentence

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a word that joins two parts of a sentence, like the main clause and a subordinate clause, indicating how they relate to each other

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a word or phrase that is used to emphasize or strengthen the meaning of another word or phrase in a sentence

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a linguistic phenomenon that involves expressing a single grammatical meaning using multiple words or a phrase instead of a single word

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(grammar) a phrase or word used suddenly to express a particular emotion

Ex: During the debate , the speaker highlighted the importance of interjection in conveying emotions in speech .
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adjunct
[noun]

a word or phrase that adds extra information to a sentence but is not required for its core structure or meaning

Ex: "Without hesitation" in "He answered without hesitation" is an adverbial adjunct.
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disjunct
[noun]

an adverbial element that provides additional information or commentary on the main clause or sentence, expressing the speaker's attitude, viewpoint, or evaluation

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a word or phrase that provides additional information or description about a noun, clarifying its characteristics, qualities, or attributes within a sentence

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binomial
[noun]

(grammar) a pair of words in the same grammatical category that are joined by a conjunction, usually 'and' or 'or', with a fixed order

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mood
[noun]

(grammar) a group of verb forms that indicate if the action or state is conceived as a statement, question, command or in another way

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tense
[noun]

(grammar) a form of the verb that indicates the time or duration of the action or state of the verb

Ex: English has 12 primary tenses, including past continuous .
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verb
[noun]

(grammar) a word or phrase used to describe an action, state, or experience

Ex: When learning a new language, knowing how to conjugate verbs is important.
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noun
[noun]

a word that is used to name a person, thing, event, state, etc.

Ex: Understanding the function of a noun is fundamental to learning English .
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pronoun
[noun]

(grammar) a word that can replace a noun or noun phrase, such as she, it, they, etc.

Ex: Pronouns are essential for making sentences less repetitive and more fluid .
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adjective
[noun]

a type of word that describes a noun

Ex: The role of an adjective is to provide additional information about a noun .
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(grammar) a word coming before a noun or noun phrase to specify its denotation

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adverb
[noun]

a word that gives more information about a verb, adjective, or another adverb

Ex: The teacher asked the students to list down ten adverbs for homework .
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a word or a morpheme that combines with a noun phrase or a pronoun to express its syntactic relationship to other parts of a sentence

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solecism
[noun]

a grammatical error or deviation from accepted language norms that occurs in speech or writing

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a type of language in which pronouns can be omitted or dropped from sentences without causing ambiguity or loss of grammaticality

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a language in which sentence structure is influenced by the topic of discourse, emphasizing information rather than grammatical subjects or verbs

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anaphora
[noun]

(grammar) a word or phrase that refers to a preceding word or phrase

Ex: Anaphora is often employed in literature and oratory to evoke emotion, emphasize ideas, and make speeches more memorable.
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