Glossary of Linguistic Terms

third person present singular –(e)th and –(e)s The OE and ME form for this verb conjugation was –(e)þ/–(e)th: e.g., he drincþ win (‘he drinks wine’). This historical form was gradually replaced by the dialectal variant –(e)s until the latter became the norm by 1600. Some varieties of PDE demonstrate -s absence: e.g., she walk for she walks.
transitive Pertains to verbs occurring with a direct object: e.g., she has a car. Verbs are intransitive when they take no direct object: e.g., she walks to school. Some verbs may be used either as transitive or intransitive: e.g., God divided the Red Sea; the Red Sea divided.
trisyllabic See disyllabic.
typology Classifi cation of languages according to general features of their design, such as synthetic/analytic spectrum or element order. Typologically, English became more analytic (and less synthetic) as it passed from OE to ME to ModE. Like many other Germanic languages, OE had a tendency towards verb-second (V-2) order, that is, a tendency to place the fi nite verb immediately after the fi rst constituent, or element, of an independent clause (cf. never did I know the fact); subsequently, English became an SVO language, that is, a language characterized by Subject–Verb–Object element order (e.g., I never knew the fact).
variant An alternative form for a given linguistic unit, such as spelling, infl ection, intonation, phoneme. A variant usu. refers to a less common or non-standard form. velar A consonant produced by the back of the tongue against the velum or the soft palate: e.g., /k, g, ŋ/. See further “Note on Phonetic Symbols and Orthography.” verb second (V-2) See typology.
vernacular 1. A native tongue spoken by members of a community where a different language carries prestige: e.g., in medieval England, English was a vernacular in relation to Latin, the language of the Church; in colonies or post-colonies where English was or is the offi cial language, local varieties – whether non-European aboriginal languages or English-based creoles – may be considered vernaculars. 2. A nonstandard variety native to some members of the community: e.g., AAVE or Latino varieties of English as opposed to standard American English.