Glossary of Linguistic Terminology
Definitions adapted from
Wikipedia
.
Absolutive:
a noun of an intransitive verb.
Absolutive case:
a grammatical case identifying a noun as an absolutive.
Accusative case:
a grammatical case identifying a noun as a patient.
Agent:
a noun of a transitive verb that initiates an action.
Alter:
a grammatical person signifying an entity that is not the speaker.
Alveolar consonant:
a consonant articulated with the tongue against the superior alveolar ridge.
Back vowel:
a vowel articulated with the highest point of the tongue positioned in the back of the mouth.
Bilabial consonant:
a consonant articulated with both lips.
Close vowel:
a vowel articulated with the highest point of the tongue positioned in the back of the mouth.
Coda:
the consonant sound of a syllable that succeeds the nucleus.
Consonant:
a sound articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract.
Dozenal:
the positional number system using twelve as its base.
Ego:
a grammatical person identifying an entity as the speaker.
Ergative case:
a grammatical case identifying a noun as an agent.
Fricative consonant:
a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel of the vocal tract.
Front vowel:
a vowel articulated with the highest point of the tongue positioned in the front of the mouth.
Grapheme:
the smallest unit of writing.
Grammatical case:
the grammatical relationship between a noun and other words in a certain context.
Grammatical number:
the number of nouns performing an action.
Grammatical person:
the deictic distinction between the speaker and others.
Grammatical tense:
the expression of time relative to the moment of speaking.
Infix:
a modification to a word inserted into the word.
Inflection:
the modification of a word to express grammatical features.
Intransitive verb:
a verb that allows an absolutive.
Lexicon:
the vocabulary of a language.
Mora:
a unit of speech given one timing unit.
Morphology:
the way words of a language are formed.
Nasal consonant:
a consonant produced by allowing air to escape freely through the nose.
Nonpast tense:
a grammatical tense identifying a time not before the current moment.
Noun:
a word that functions as the name of a thing.
Nucleus:
the vowel of a syllable.
Onset:
the consonant sound of a syllable that precedes the nucleus.
Open vowel:
a vowel articulated with the tongue positioned as far away from the roof of the mouth as possible.
Orthography:
the way a language is written.
Past tense:
a grammatical tense signifying a time before the current moment.
Patient:
a noun of a transitive verb upon whom an action is carried out.
Phonemic inventory:
the sounds used in a language.
Phonology:
the way sounds function within a language.
Place of articulation:
the point of contact where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract.
Plosive consonant:
a consonant articulated by blocking the vocal tract so that all airflow ceases.
Romanization:
a system for the conversion of writing from a writing system to the latin script.
Rounded vowel:
a vowel articulated while the lips form a circular opening.
Script:
the writing system a language uses.
Syllable:
a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds.
Syntax:
the principles that govern the structure of sentences.
Transitive verb:
a verb that allows an agent and a patient.
Unrounded vowel:
a vowel articulated while the lips are relaxed.
Velar consonant:
a consonant articulated with the back of the tongue against the soft palate.
Verb:
a word that conveys an event.
Voiced sound:
a sound articulated when the vocal cords vibrate.
Voiceless sound:
a sound articulated when the vocal cords do not vibrate.
Voicing:
the state of whether the vocal cords vibrate.
Vowel:
a sound articulated with an open vocal tract.
Word:
the smallest unit of meaning.