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abbreviation
/əˌbɹiviˈeɪʃən/
noun
the shortened form of a word, etc.
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affixation
/ɐfɪksˈeɪʃən/
noun
a process in morphology where affixes, which are bound morphemes, are attached to a base or root morpheme to create new words or modify the meaning or grammatical function of existing words
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affix
/ˈæfɪks/, /əˈfɪks/
noun
(grammar) a letter or group of letters added to the end or beginning of a word to change its meaning
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contraction
/kənˈtɹækʃən/
noun
a short form of a word or a group of words used instead of the full form
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prefix
/ˈpɹifɪks/
noun
(grammar) a letter or a set of letters that are added to the beginning of a word to alter its meaning and make a new word
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ending
/ˈɛndɪŋ/
noun
the last part of a word, added to the main part
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suffix
/ˈsəfɪks/
noun
(grammar) a letter or a set of letters that are added to the end of a word to alter its meaning and make a new word
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acronym
/ˈækɹənɪm/
noun
an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of a group of words, which can be pronounced as a word
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blending
/ˈbɫɛndɪŋ/
noun
a process in language where two or more words are combined to create a new word that retains elements or sounds from the original words
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neologism
/niːˈoʊlədʒˌɪzəm/
noun
the process of inventing a word
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numeronym
/nˈuːmɚɹˌɑːnɪm/
noun
a type of abbreviation in which a word or phrase is represented by a series of numbers, with the numbers typically corresponding to the number of letters omitted between the first and last letter of the word or phrase
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bound morpheme
/bˈaʊnd mˈɔːɹfiːm/
noun
a morpheme that cannot stand alone as an independent word and must be attached to other morphemes to convey meaning
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circumfix
/sˈɜːkəmfˌɪks/
noun
a type of affix that consists of two parts, one attached to the beginning of a word and the other attached to the end
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transfixation
/tɹænsfɪksˈeɪʃən/
noun
a morphological process in which a segment or a group of segments is inserted within a word, typically resulting in a change of the word's meaning or grammatical category
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analogy
/əˈnæɫədʒi/
noun
(linguistics) a process by which a new word or inflection is formed according to existing rules and regulations
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coinage
/ˈkɔɪnɪdʒ/
noun
the process of inventing a word
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stem
/ˈstem/
noun
the core or base form of a word to which affixes (prefixes, suffixes, infixes, etc.) can be attached
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root
/ˈɹut/
noun
the core lexical unit from which words are derived and carries the central meaning of a word
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free morpheme
/fɹˈiː mˈɔːɹfiːm/
noun
a morpheme that can function as an independent word in a language
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infix
/ɪnfˈɪks/
noun
a type of bound morpheme that is inserted within a word, rather than being added as a prefix (before) or a suffix (after)
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clitic
/klˈɪɾɪk/
noun
a linguistic element that functions as a word but behaves phonologically or syntactically as a bound morpheme, often attaching to other words and lacking independent stress or full syntactic independence
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word formation
/wˈɜːd fɔːɹmˈeɪʃən/
noun
the process of creating new words or modifying existing ones through morphological and lexical mechanisms in a language
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lexeme
/lˈɛksiːm/
noun
(linguistics) a basic linguistic unit that is meaningful and underlies a set of words which are related through inflection
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derivation
/ˌdɛɹəˈveɪʃən/
noun
a morphological process in language where new words are formed by adding affixes or making internal modifications to a base or root word, resulting in a change in meaning, part of speech, or both
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inflection
/ˌɪnˈfɫɛkʃən/
noun
(grammar) a change in the structure of a word, usually adding a suffix, according to its grammatical function
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back-formation
/bˈækfɔːɹmˈeɪʃən/
noun
a word-formation process in which a new word is created by removing what is mistakenly perceived as a derivative affix from an existing word, often resulting in a shorter word with a different part of speech
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compounding
/kəmˈpaʊndɪŋ/
noun
a word-formation process in which two or more individual words are combined to create a new word, typically resulting in a compound with a meaning that is related to or derived from the meanings of the individual words
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conversion
/kənˈvɝʒən/
noun
a word-formation process in which a word changes its grammatical category or part of speech without any accompanying morphological changes, such as when a noun becomes a verb or a verb becomes a noun
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paradigm
/ˈpɛɹəˌdaɪm/
noun
a systematic arrangement of inflected forms or word forms that represent the different grammatical variations of a word or morpheme
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lexicon
/ˈɫɛksɪˌkɑn/
noun
the complete set of meaningful units in a language or a branch of knowledge, or words or phrases that a speaker uses
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clipping
/ˈkɫɪpɪŋ/
noun
a word-formation process in which a word is shortened by removing one or more syllables, usually from the beginning or end, resulting in a new word with the same or similar meaning as the original word
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hypocorism
/hˌaɪpoʊkˈoːɹɪzəm/
noun
a word-formation process in which a word or name is modified to create a shorter, affectionate, or informal version, often used to express familiarity, endearment, or intimacy
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morphemization
/mˌɔːɹfɪmaɪzˈeɪʃən/
noun
the process of creating or treating a group of phonological segments as a distinct morpheme, which carries meaning and can be combined with other morphemes to form words
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agglutination
/ɐɡlˌuːtᵻnˈeɪʃən/
noun
a morphological process in language where affixes are added to a root or base word in a clear, one-to-one fashion, each affix typically expressing a single grammatical or semantic meaning, resulting in a string of affixes attached to the root without any change in the affixes themselves
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lexical morpheme
/lˈɛksɪkəl mˈɔːɹfiːm/
noun
a type of morpheme that carries the core lexical or semantic meaning of a word
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vocabulary
/voʊˈkæbjəˌɫɛɹi/
noun
all the words used in a particular language or subject
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derivative
/dɝˈɪvətɪv/, /dɝˈɪvɪtɪv/
noun
(grammar) a word that is developed from another word or base
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base
/ˈbeɪs/
noun
the form to which affixes or other morphological operations are added to create a new word
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nominalization
/nˌɑːmɪnəlaɪzˈeɪʃən/
noun
a process in language where a word or phrase, typically a verb or an adjective, is transformed into a noun, either by adding a suffix or by changing its syntactic function, allowing the expression of concepts or actions as nominal entities
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lexicalization
/lˌɛksɪkəlaɪzˈeɪʃən/
noun
a process in which a word or phrase evolves from being a combination of grammatical elements or a non-lexicalized expression to becoming an established lexical unit with its own meaning and usage
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diminutive
/dɪˈmɪnjətɪv/
noun
a word form or affix that is added to a base word to express smallness, endearment, or a sense of familiarity
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protologism
/pɹoʊtˈoʊlədʒˌɪzəm/
noun
a newly created word or expression that has not yet gained widespread acceptance or recognition within a language community
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ghost word
/ɡˈoʊst wˈɜːd/
noun
a non-existent or erroneous word that has been mistakenly created and entered into a dictionary or other linguistic sources
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pseudoword
/sˈuːdoʊwˌɜːd/
noun
a string of letters or sounds that resemble real words but do not have any actual meaning or lexical representation in a particular language
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nonce word
/nˌɑːnsˈiː wˈɜːd/
noun
a term or expression created and used for a specific occasion or context, typically with a limited or one-time purpose, and not intended for long-term or widespread usage
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hapax legomenon
/hˈæpæks lˈɛɡoʊmnən/
noun
a word or form that appears only once within a specific corpus or body of text
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morph
/ˈmɔɹf/
noun
the smallest meaningful unit of language that carries a distinct semantic or grammatical function and cannot be further divided into smaller parts with independent meaning
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morpheme
/mˈɔːɹfiːm/
noun
(linguistics) the smallest meaningful unit of a language that does not necessarily stand alone and cannot be divided
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functional morpheme
/fˈʌŋkʃənəl mˈɔːɹfiːm/
noun
a type of morpheme that conveys grammatical information and serves a functional role in a sentence, rather than carrying lexical or content-related meaning
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lexical unit
/lˈɛksɪkəl jˈuːnɪt/
noun
(linguistics) a word, a group of words or a part of word that has a meaning and forms the basic element of any language
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portmanteau word
/pˈoːɹtmɐntˌoʊ wˈɜːd/
noun
a new word that is formed by the combination of two other words blending their meaning and sounds
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lexis
/ˈɫɛksɪs/
noun
(linguistics) all the words and phrases of a language, including the function words
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word
/ˈwɝd/
noun
(grammar) a unit of language that has a specific meaning
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collocation
/kɑɫəˈkeɪʃən/
noun
a particular combination of words that are used together very often
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idiom
/ˈɪdiəm/
noun
a group of words or a phrase that has a meaning different from the literal interpretation of its individual words, often specific to a particular language or culture
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lexical ambiguity
/lˈɛksɪkəl ˌæmbɪɡjˈuːɪɾi/
noun
a situation in which a word or phrase has multiple meanings or interpretations, often leading to confusion or uncertainty in understanding the intended message or context
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reduplication
/ɹɪdˌuːplɪkˈeɪʃən/
noun
the process of repeating or duplicating all or part of a word or morpheme to create a new form, often with a change in meaning or grammatical function
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blocking
/ˈbɫɑkɪŋ/
noun
a phenomenon where the presence of one linguistic form prevents the occurrence or acceptance of another form with a similar meaning or function
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lexical rule
/lˈɛksɪkəl ɹˈuːl/
noun
a set of principles or patterns that govern the formation or derivation of words and their meanings within a particular language or lexical system
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sniglet
/snˈɪɡlət/
noun
a playful, made-up word used to describe something for which there is no existing term, often adding humor and creativity to language
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phono-semantic matching
/fˈoʊnoʊsəmˈæntɪk mˈætʃɪŋ/
noun
the process in which a new word or morpheme is created by combining a sound component that resembles an existing word with a semantic component that reflects its meaning
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