# Language & Linguistics

**Type:** Topic
**Words:** 149

## About

Speech sounds, word formation, grammar, meaning, and language varieties.

## Words by Level

### A1
- word — A single unit of language that has meaning and can be spoken or written.; frequency rank 428
- number — A word or symbol like 5, 100, or 3.14 that tells you how many or which one.; frequency rank 434
- question — A sentence asking for information or an answer.; frequency rank 486
- language — A system of words and grammar used by the people of a particular country or community to communicate.; frequency rank 1406
- subject — The thing being talked or written about.; frequency rank 1868
- sentence — A group of words that expresses a complete thought, usually starting with a capital letter and ending with a full stop.; frequency rank 2482
- article — A piece of writing in a newspaper, magazine, or website.; frequency rank 2793
- grammar — The rules for how words are formed and combined into sentences in a language.; frequency rank 13306

### A2
- text — The written words of a book, document, or other piece of writing.; frequency rank 2236
- rhythm — A regular pattern of strong and weak sounds or beats in music or speech.; frequency rank 4820
- context — The situation or set of facts that surround an event and help you understand it.; frequency rank 7980
- vocabulary — The set of words a person knows and uses.; frequency rank 13960
- unmarked — bearing no identifying label, sign, number, or visible mark; frequency rank 18085
- verb — A word that describes an action, event, or state, such as 'run' or 'be'.; frequency rank 20673
- pronunciation — The way in which a word or language is spoken.; frequency rank 25132
- adjective — a word that describes a noun, such as 'big' or 'happy'; frequency rank 30796
- noun — A word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.; frequency rank 31061

### B1
- object — A thing that you can see and touch.; frequency rank 2552
- agreement — An arrangement between people or groups about what each will do.; frequency rank 2670
- accent — the way someone pronounces words, showing where they come from; frequency rank 2884
- stress — Worry or mental pressure caused by a difficult situation.; frequency rank 2977
- tense — A form of a verb that shows when an action happens, such as past, present, or future.; frequency rank 3886
- register — To put your name on an official list in order to do something.; frequency rank 4422
- formal — Following accepted rules of polite or official behaviour, dress, or language.; frequency rank 5013
- phrase — A group of words that go together and act as a unit, but do not form a full sentence.; frequency rank 5392
- comparison — The act of looking at how two or more things are similar or different.; frequency rank 8551
- stem — The main upright part of a plant that supports the leaves and flowers.; frequency rank 9372
- clause — A group of words containing a subject and a verb, which may be a whole sentence or part of one.; frequency rank 11839
- alphabet — The complete set of letters used to write a language.; frequency rank 12501
- auxiliary — Giving extra help or support to something more important.; frequency rank 14884
- proverb — A short, well-known saying that expresses a piece of common wisdom or advice.; frequency rank 17731
- comma — The punctuation mark ( , ) used to separate parts of a sentence or items in a list.; frequency rank 19065
- possessive — Wanting to control someone and not share them with others.; frequency rank 19491
- complement — Something that goes well with another thing and makes it better or complete.; frequency rank 22591
- vowel — A speech sound made with the mouth open and the air flowing freely, such as the sounds of a, e, i, o, and u.; frequency rank 32033
- bilingual — Able to speak two languages well.; frequency rank 39136
- idiom — A fixed expression whose meaning can't be guessed from its individual words.; frequency rank 42876
- pronoun — A word used in place of a noun, such as 'he', 'she', or 'it'.; frequency rank 47244
- prefix — A group of letters added to the front of a word to change its meaning, such as "un-" in "unhappy."; frequency rank 50124
- consonant — A speech sound made by blocking the airflow, such as b, t, or s; also a letter representing it.; frequency rank 51075
- preposition — A word such as "in," "on," or "at" that shows the relationship between a noun and another word in a sentence.; frequency rank 61705
- adverb — A word that describes or adds meaning to a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, such as 'quickly' or 'very'.; frequency rank 75595
- infinitive — The basic form of a verb, usually used with "to", as in "to run" or "to eat".; frequency rank 81891
- participle — A form of a verb that can act as an adjective or help make tenses, such as 'broken' or 'running'.; frequency rank 85692
- suffix — A group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning.; frequency rank 86257
- adverbial — Relating to or working like an adverb.; frequency rank 172979
- antonym — A word that means the opposite of another word.; frequency rank 194931

### B2
- metaphor — A way of describing something by calling it something else to suggest they are alike, without using 'like' or 'as'.; frequency rank 8933
- rhyme — To have the same ending sound as another word.; frequency rank 9033
- particle — A very small piece of something.; frequency rank 9745
- imperative — Extremely important and necessary; something that must be done.; frequency rank 12754
- slang — Very informal words and expressions used in everyday speech rather than formal language.; frequency rank 16865
- conjunction — A word such as 'and', 'but', or 'because' that joins words, phrases, or clauses together.; frequency rank 22899
- syllable — A single unit of sound in a word, usually one vowel sound with consonants around it.; frequency rank 24785
- formative — strongly influencing the development of a person, idea, or thing; frequency rank 39607
- hyperbole — Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or effect, not meant to be taken literally.; frequency rank 47458
- synonym — A word or phrase that means the same, or nearly the same, as another.; frequency rank 53073
- intonation — the pattern of rising and falling pitch in a person's speech; frequency rank 53372
- predicate — In grammar, the part of a sentence or clause that says something about the subject, usually containing the verb.; frequency rank 75189
- transitive — (of a verb) Needing a direct object to complete its meaning.; frequency rank 86043
- intransitive — Describing a verb that does not take a direct object.; frequency rank 145841
- determiner — A word used before a noun to show which thing or how much is meant, such as 'the', 'this' or 'some'.; frequency rank 334555
- predicative — In grammar, describing an adjective that follows a linking verb rather than coming directly before a noun.; frequency rank 631032
- collocation — A pair or group of words that are often used together and sound natural to native speakers.; frequency rank 1184242

### C1
- irony — A situation that is strange or amusing because it is the opposite of what you expect.; frequency rank 8113
- sarcasm — The use of remarks that clearly mean the opposite of what they say, in order to mock or insult someone.; frequency rank 12292
- pun — a humorous or rhetorical play on words that exploits similar sounds or multiple meanings; frequency rank 13421
- nasal — sounding as if the nose were pinched; frequency rank 17052
- discourse — Serious discussion or the exchange of ideas about a subject, in speech or writing.; frequency rank 25024
- impersonal — Cold and unfriendly; not showing warmth or feeling.; frequency rank 26897
- indefinite — Without a fixed or known end; lasting for an unknown length of time.; frequency rank 30587
- conditional — Depending on a particular condition being met first.; frequency rank 31258
- syntax — A set of rules that govern how words are combined to form phrases and sentences.; frequency rank 36301
- linguistic — consisting of or related to language; frequency rank 36546
- linguistics — the scientific study of human language, including its sounds, structures, meanings, use, acquisition, history, and variation; frequency rank 40824
- utterance — An act of, or the process of, uttering.; frequency rank 51943
- grammatical — conforming to the rules of grammar or usage accepted by native speakers; frequency rank 53178
- parenthesis — a word, phrase, or clause inserted into a sentence as an explanation or aside; frequency rank 60090
- coinage — the act of inventing a word or phrase; frequency rank 60293
- interjection — A word or short phrase used to express sudden emotion, such as "wow" or "ouch."; frequency rank 103511
- monosyllable — a word or utterance consisting of one syllable; frequency rank 151949
- inflection — a change in the form of a word to show grammatical features

### C2
- rhetorical — Asked only to make a point, without expecting any answer.; frequency rank 18432
- euphemism — A mild or indirect word used in place of one that is harsh, blunt, or offensive.; frequency rank 24527
- jargon — Special words and phrases used by a particular profession or group that others find hard to understand.; frequency rank 27751
- creole — a natural language that developed in a contact community from elements of two or more languages and became a community's first language; frequency rank 28228
- diminutive — very small; frequency rank 45020
- alliteration — the repetition of the same initial consonant sound in nearby words, especially in a phrase or line of verse; frequency rank 57175
- articulation — The act of expressing thoughts or feelings clearly in words.; frequency rank 61059
- colloquial — Used in ordinary, informal conversation rather than formal speech or writing.; frequency rank 62534
- phonetic — of or relating to the scientific study of speech sounds; frequency rank 64239
- semantic — of or relating to meaning or the study of meaning; frequency rank 73727
- etymology — the study of the origins and historical development of words; frequency rank 78922
- transcriber — a person who converts speech, handwriting, or recorded material into written or typed text; frequency rank 78948
- philology — the scholarly study of historical texts through their language, transmission, literary context, and interpretation; frequency rank 82650
- polyglot — a person who can speak or use several languages; frequency rank 87331
- rhetorically — In a way that asks a question without expecting an answer.; frequency rank 103573
- philologist — a scholar who studies the historical development, structure, and relationships of languages, especially through written texts; frequency rank 105996
- declension — a class of nouns or pronouns or adjectives in Indo-European languages having the same (or very similar) inflectional forms; frequency rank 107576
- idiomatic — Using language in a natural way that sounds like a native speaker.; frequency rank 108723
- assonance — the repetition of similar vowel sounds in nearby words, especially in poetry; frequency rank 137023
- sibilant — having or producing a hissing or hushing sound; frequency rank 159045
- grammarian — a scholar or specialist who studies and describes grammar; frequency rank 169912
- polysyllabic — Having more than one syllable, or many syllables.; frequency rank 175295
- consonance — agreement or compatibility between opinions, principles, qualities, or actions; frequency rank 179060
- etymological — relating to etymology or the historical origin and development of words; frequency rank 188949
- syntactic — related to syntax or the rules governing how words and symbols are arranged; frequency rank 191374
- shibboleth — a slogan, belief, or custom strongly associated with a group, especially one repeated after it has lost much of its original force or truth; frequency rank 191656
- orthography — the conventional spelling and writing system of a language; frequency rank 198287
- neologism — A word or phrase which has recently been coined; a new word or phrase.; frequency rank 202394
- inflect — grammar: to change a word's form to express features such as tense, number, case, or gender; frequency rank 216051
- cognate — related in origin, nature, or character; frequency rank 227676
- syllabic — Relating to syllables.; frequency rank 255258
- mispronunciation — an incorrect pronunciation or the act of pronouncing something incorrectly; frequency rank 259910
- reduplication — a word-formation process in which all or part of a word, root, or syllable is repeated; frequency rank 276516
- periphrasis — an indirect or roundabout way of expressing something; frequency rank 369578
- archaism — an old-fashioned word, expression, spelling, grammatical form, custom, or stylistic feature no longer in ordinary use; frequency rank 397783
- agglutinate — to cause particles, cells, or other separate things to stick together in a clump or mass, or to undergo such clumping; frequency rank 1368599
- occasionalism — philosophy: the doctrine that created things do not directly cause events but merely provide occasions on which God produces the corresponding effects
- homophony — the relation or quality of words having the same pronunciation but different meanings or origins
- polysemy — The property of a word or other sign having several related meanings.
- copula — A linking verb, especially a form of be, that connects a subject with a complement.

### C2+
- affix — to attach or fasten; a prefix or suffix added to a word
- archaic — belonging to an earlier period; old-fashioned or no longer in use
- ellipsis — the omission of words, or the mark (…) indicating such omission
- obsolete — no longer in use or out of date
- vernacular — the everyday language of ordinary people in a region
- lemma — a subsidiary proposition proved as a step toward a theorem; a headword
- lexicon — the vocabulary of a language, person, or field; a dictionary
- argot — the specialized slang or jargon of a particular group
- derivation — the origin or source of something, especially a word's formation
- dialect — a regional or social variety of a language with distinctive features
- durative — in grammar, denoting continuing or ongoing action
- semivowel — a speech sound such as w or y that functions like both vowel and consonant
- simile — a figure of speech comparing two things using 'like' or 'as'
- transcription — a written or printed representation of something said or recorded
- ambisyllabic — of a consonant belonging to two adjacent syllables at once
- articulatory — relating to the physical production of speech sounds
- conjugation — the set of inflected forms of a verb, or the act of forming them
- inchoative — expressing the beginning of an action or a change of state, especially in grammar
- infix — an affix inserted within a word, or to fix something firmly inside
- modal — relating to mode or form; in grammar, expressing possibility or necessity
- modifier — a word or element that qualifies or limits the meaning of another
- monosyllabic — consisting of one syllable; using few words and uncommunicative
- prosody — the patterns of rhythm, stress, and intonation in speech or verse
- reflexive — performed automatically; in grammar, referring back to the subject
- sentential — relating to a sentence or to logical propositions
- suppletion — in linguistics, the use of an unrelated form to complete a word's paradigm
- syllabary — a set of written characters each representing a syllable