HOMONYM One of a group of words that share the same spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings Homograph = same spelling, different meaning Homophone = same sound, different meaning

HYBRID WORD etymologically derived from two or more languages

INFLECTION The change in the form of a word to mark such distinctions as tense, person, number, gender, mood, voice, and case Many other languages have a more extensive system of inflection.  Vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, viven Examples  Cat, cats  Girl, girl’s, girls’  Walk, walked, walking  Big, bigger, biggest

INFORMAL LANGUAGE casual, familiar, and generally colloquial

INFUSION The introduction of a new element or quality into something

JARGON specific words associated with a profession Example:  AP, AD: Assistant Principal, Athletic Director  AWOL: Away Without Leave

LINGUISTICS The study of language and its structure Includes:  Morphology  Syntax  Phonetics  Semantics

LOAN WORDS adopted by speakers of one language from a different language Example  Faux pas  Schadenfreude

METATHESIS The transposition of two letters or sounds in a word. Examples:  Bridd (OE) → bird (ME)  Forst (OE) → frost (E)  Naefre (OE) → never (E)  Hwar → where  Hwider → whither  Hwil → while

MODIFY Make minor changes

ONOMATOPOEIA A word that imitates or suggests the source of the sound Spelling differs according the linguistic system they are found in as well as regional variations in the sounds  Ribbit vs. croak.

PHILOLOGY Literally “lover of learning” Today, the study of language in written historical texts

PREFIX Affix added to the front of the word

ROMANCE LANGUAGE Languages that originate from Latin Examples:  French  Spanish  Italian

ROOT/BASE WORD Primary lexical unit of a word (root), and of a word family (base) Cannot be reduced into smaller meaningful parts

SEMANTICS The way words are arranged in a sentence Example:  Yesterday, I went to the store.  I went to the store yesterday.

SLANG The use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard Slang vs. Jargon  Jargon is technical vocabulary of a profession  Slang is particular to a region or subculture; is also used to refer to taboo

SUFFIX Affix added to the end of a word Example:  -ly: friend > friendly  -ology: bio + ology = biology

SYNONYM Has a similar meaning to the word

WORD COMPONENT Individual parts of a larger word Example  Roots  Affixes