Affixation: The process of adding prefixes
or/and suffixes to a base word to create a new
word.
E.g. adding “-Un” to “Happy” to form
“Unhappy”.
Lexis: The total vocabulary or word stock of a
language.
E.g. The word “Computer” is part of the lexis of
modern English.
Amelioration: The process by which a
word’s meaning becomes more positive over
time.
e.g. the word “knight” originally meant servant
but now refers to a person of noble rank.
Etymology: The study of the origin and
history of words and how their meanings have
changed over time.
e.g. the word ‘Alcohol’ comes from the Arabic
“al-Kuhl” meaning ‘the kohl’.
Pejoration: The process by which word’s
meaning becomes more negative over time.
e.g. The word ‘Silly’ used to mean ‘Happy’ but
now it is used to describe someone who lacks
sense.
Derivation: The process of creating a new
word by adding a morpheme.
e.g. ‘Happiness’ derives from ‘Happy’ by
adding the suffix ‘-ness’.
Broadening: When a word’s meaning
becomes more general/inclusive than its
original meaning.
e.g. The word ‘Holiday’ used to refer to
religious days but now it includes any day of
celebration or time off.
Narrowing: When a word’s meaning
becomes more specific over time.
e.g. The word ‘Meat’ used to refer to any food
stuff but now it specifically refers to animal
flesh.
Backformation: The process of creating a
new word by removing an affix from an
existing word.
e.g. Removing the ‘-Or’ in ‘Editor’ leads to the
creation of the word ‘Edit’.
Blending: The process of combining parts of
two words to create a new word.
e.g. By blending ‘Breakfast’ and ‘Lunch’ we get
the word ‘Brunch’.
Telescoping: Clipping parts of two words
together.
e.g. Combining ‘Guess’ and ‘Estimate’ leads to
the creation of the word ‘Guesstimate’
Coalescence: Merging of two sounds.
e.g. The phrase ‘Did you’ often coalesces in
casual speech to what sounds like ‘Didja’.
Compounding: The process of combining
two existing words to form a new one.
e.g. Combining ‘Tooth’ and ‘Brush’ to form
‘Toothbrush’
Borrowing: The process by which a
language takes a word from another language.
e.g. The word ‘Deja-vu’ comes from the French
language.
Acronyms: A type of abbreviation where
the first letters of a phrase are combined to
form a new related word.
e.g. ‘Nasa’ stands for ‘National Aeronautics and
Space Administration’.
Graphology: The study of handwriting and
the visual aspects of written language,
including letter shapes, fonts, and the
arrangement of text.
e.g. Different fonts used in books,
advertisements, or online publications are part
of graphology.
2. Orthography: The set of conventions for
writing a language, including spelling,
punctuation, and capitalization.
e.g. The difference in spelling between
American English ("color") and British
English ("colour") is a matter of
orthography.
Morphology: The study of the structure of
words and the formation of words from
smaller units called morphemes.
e.g. In the word "unhappiness," "un-" (prefix),
"happy" (root), and "-ness" (suffix) are
morphemes.
4. Lexis: The total vocabulary of a language;
words and expressions that make up a
language.
e.g. Words like "technology," "innovation," and
"software" are part of the modern lexis of
English.
Syntax: The arrangement of words and
phrases to create well-formed sentences in a
language.
e.g. "The cat sat on the mat" follows English
syntax, while "Sat on the mat the cat" does
not, although both have the same words.
6. Phonetics: The study of the physical
sounds of human speech, including how
sounds are produced and heard.

e.g. The /p/ sound in "pat" and the /b/
sound in "bat" are distinct phonetic
sounds.
7. Phonology: The study of how sounds
function within a particular language or
languages.
e.g. In English, the sounds /p/ and /b/
differentiate words like "pat" and "bat," but in
other languages, such sounds may not create
different words.
8. Affixation: The process of adding prefixes or
suffixes to a root word to change its meaning.
e.g. Adding the suffix "-ness" to "happy" to
form "happiness" or adding the prefix "un-" to
form "unhappy."
9. Semantics: The study of meaning in
language, how words and sentences convey
meaning.
e.g. The word "bank" can refer to the side of a
river or a financial institution. Semantics
studies how context determines which
meaning is intended.
10. Pragmatics: The study of how context
influences the interpretation of meaning in
communication.
e.g. If someone says, "It's cold in here,"
pragmatics might suggest that the speaker is
requesting for the window to be closed or the
heater to be turned on.
11. Grammar: The system and structure of a
language, including syntax, morphology, and
sometimes phonology and semantics.
e.g. In English, the subject-verb-object
structure in a sentence like "I read a book" is
part of the grammar.
12. Inflections: The changes made to words
to express different grammatical categories like
tense, mood, number, or gender.
e.g. Adding "-ed" to "walk" to make "walked"
(past tense) is an example of inflection.
14. Obsolete: A word, form, or usage that is
no longer in active use.
e.g. Words like "thou" and "thee" are obsolete
in modern English but were common in older
forms.
15. Derivation: The process of forming a
new word by adding prefixes or suffixes to an
existing word.
e.g. Adding the suffix "-ly" to "quick" to form
"quickly."
16. Coinage: The invention of new words or
phrases, often for new concepts or products.
e.g. The word "Google" was coined as a verb to
mean searching something on the internet.
17. Neologism: A newly coined word or
expression.
e.g. "Selfie" is a neologism that emerged with
the rise of smartphones.
18. Eponym: A word derived from a person’s
name.
e.g. "Sandwich" is an eponym, named after
John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich.