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English Education & English Writing: Search Terms

Why Is This Page Relevant?

Kicking off your linguistic project can be tough. Knowing which terms to search for can be challenging. So, to help you out, we have come up with some search terms to help get you started! . Terminology is important because it could help narrow your search results. Some terms may be familiar while others may not. If you come across a term that you're unfamiliar with, be adventurous and look deeper. It could turn out to be exactly what you're looking for or interested in.

Some terms may turn out to be definitive for drawn out explanations.

For example: The term "elisions" means to replace a phrase such as "going to" with "gonna".

You are NOT restricted to using only the listed terms. Feel free to explore! Maybe the listed terms can help you get to what your actual project interest.

Happy Searching! :)

Syntax, Grammar, Semantics

Here are some terms to get you looking at grammar styles:


  • Copula Absence
  • Slang
  • Double negatives
  • Hedges
  • Complementizers
  • Euphemisms
  • Profanity/Swearing
  • Fillers
  • Pragmatics
  • Tag Questions
  • Politeness

 

Phonology

Wondering if everyone sounds like that, or is it just you? Here are some terms for phonology:

  • Monophthongs
  • Diphthongs
  • Elisions
  • Phonetic Reduction
  • Rhotic
  • ​Vowel Variation
  • ​Accents
  • ​G-Dropping

Morphology

If morphology is your thing, check out some of these terms:

  • Clipping/Truncation:
    • Apocope/Back-clipping
    • Apheresis/Fore-clipping
    • Syncope
    • Mixed clipping
    • Hypocorism
  • Backformation
  • Conversion
  • Ablaut
  • Reduplication
  • Acronymisation

Characteristics

REMEMBER!!!

​You can look up these terms in association to regional differences, gender, race, age, and other variations.