Glossary of Linguistic Terms

question A sentence that asks for information or response. Also called interrogative. In a yes-no question, the expected answer is either “yes” or “no”: e.g., did you see them? A wh-question is formed with a wh- word like when, where, who: e.g., when did you see them?
raising Movement of the pronunciation of a vowel to a higher point in the mouth:
e.g., English in New Zealand is characterized by the raising of the short /æ/ to /ε/, and the short /ε/ to /i/.
Received Pronunciation (RP) Prestige accent in Present-Day British English. Originally based on English in London and southern England, RP has come to be spoken as a geographically non-localized variety among the educated class.
register A style or variety of language used for a specifi c occasion or purpose (e.g., liturgy, courting), or adopted by a particular social group or genre of writing (e.g., polite speech, legal document).
relative clause, relative pronoun See clause type.
rhotic May refer to varieties of English that articulate /r/ in all positions of a word. Non-rhotic varieties pronounce /r/ before vowels (e.g., red) but not after vowels (e.g., car, third).
RP = Received Pronunciation.
S = subject. See clause element.
schwa A vowel pronounced in the central part of the mouth: e.g., u in bud, a in trial. Its phonetic symbol is [ə]. See further “Note on Phonetic Symbols and Orthography.”
Second person singular and plural (you, thou, etc.) In Old and Early Middle English, second person singular and plural were morphologically distinguished (e.g., þu and ge). In the thirteenth century, English adopted the French custom of using the plural form for the singular to register respect or politeness. This dual usage of thou/ye for second-person singular lasted until early Modern English when the plural form (you) became the norm for the singular. Some varieties of English employ distinct forms for second-person plural: e.g., y’all, yous. semantics The linguistic study of meaning. shortening See lengthening. singular See number. sociolinguistics The study of language in its social context.