Lexicology
What is vocabulary?
This is the system of all words in a language.
What is a morpheme?
The smallest meaningful unit in a word.
What is affixation?
Forming a word by adding prefixes or suffixes.
What is a non-idiomatic compound?
A compound that has a clear, literal meaning.
What is back-formation?
Creating a word by removing an affix (e.g., “baby-sit” from “baby-sitter”).
What is a word?
This is the basic unit of language combining sound and meaning.
What is a root?
This morpheme carries the main meaning of a word.
What is conversion?
Forming a word without changing its form, only its function.
What is a partially idiomatic compound?
A compound with partially figurative meaning.
What is onomatopoeia?
Words formed from sounds like “buzz” or “meow”.
What is lexicology?
This branch of linguistics studies words and their meanings.
What are affixes?
These morphemes are added before or after the root.
What is composition (compounding)?
Forming a word by combining two or more stems.
What is a totally idiomatic compound?
A compound whose meaning is completely different from its parts.
What is an acronym?
Words like NASA formed from initial letters.
What is historical lexicology?
This type of lexicology studies the development of words over time.
What are prefixes?
These are affixes added at the beginning of a word.
What is clipping?
❓ Shortening a word like “professor” → “prof”.
What is a neutral compound?
A compound like “bedroom” with simple structure.
What is sound interchange?
Changing sound to form new words like “speak → speech”.
What is descriptive lexicology?
This type of lexicology studies words at a particular time.
What are suffixes?
These are affixes added at the end of a word.
What is blending?
Combining parts of two words like “brunch”.
What is a syntactical compound?
A compound that looks like a phrase (e.g., “son-in-law”).
What is reduplication?
Repeating sounds like “walkie-talkie”.