English Vocabulary in Use: Advanced Book with Answers and Enhanced eBook Vocabulary Reference and Practice 3rd Edition

37.1
37.2
37.3
Over to 
you
•
Which of these important days are celebrated in your country? What happens on them?
Mother’s Day Independence Day May Day Valentine’s Day
•
What is the most important day of the year in your country? What does it symbolise or 
commemorate? What does it feature? What are its origins? What sort of atmosphere does 
it have?

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82
English Vocabulary in Use Advanced
Talking about language
38
Specialist terms for talking about language
Syntax: the grammar and word order
Different languages express 
modality in different ways. 
[meanings such as possibility and necessity]
English does it with 
modal verbs like 
must
, 
could 
and 
should
.
Phonology: the sound system, i.e. pronunciation and intonation
All languages have 
phonemes, such as 
/b/
and 
/v/
. 
[different sounds that distinguish meanings] 
English 
has ten
diphthongs
. [sounds made by combining vowels, such as 
/eɪ/
and 
/aʊ/
]
Lexicon: specialised term for vocabulary
Orthography: specialised term for writing systems and spelling
The English alphabet has 26 
characters. 
[letters or symbols]
Some writing systems, such as Chinese, 
are not alphabetic but have 
pictograms or ideograms. 
[characters representing pictures]
[characters 
representing ideas/concepts]
Morphology: how words are formed
In English, there are three 
morphemes in 
unthinkable
: 
un
, 
think 
and 
able
. 
[units of meaning]