Introducing English Linguistics

a headache, The bank loaned me some
money.
ellipsis:
The omission of some element under identity with some other element.
For instance, in the sentence The burglars were jailed, and their accomplices [ ]
released, the second instance of were is elided under identity with were in
the first clause.
embedding:
A structure occurring within some other structure. In the phrase the
leader of the company, of the company is a prepositional phrase occurring
within a noun phrase. Therefore, the prepositional phrase is embedded in
the noun phrase.
end-focus:
The tendency in English to put the most important information, which is
typically new information, towards the end of a clause.
endophora:
Reference
within a text. In the sentence The woman was late for work because
her car broke down, the pronoun her refers back in the text to The woman.
equals:
Individuals between whom no power imbalance exists.
exclamatory
A sentence, such as What a lovely day it is! or How lovely the weather 
sentence:
is!, that begins with what or how and that is often used for purposes of
emphasis. In writing, exclamatory sentences will typically end with an
exclamation mark.
exophora:
Reference
outside a text. In the sentence I will call you later, both I and you
refer outside the text to the speaker and hearer, respectively.
explicit speech act:
A speech act containing a performative verb, a verb that names the
speech act. For instance, the verb apologize in I apologize for being late marks
this speech act as an expressive.
expressive:
A type of speech act in which the speaker expresses his or her attitude.
An apology is a type of expressive.
external influences
Social and cultural forces that cause a language to change. Typically, 
on language change:
external influences result from language contact: English has so many
words of French origin, for instance, because of the Norman Conquest
and subsequent contact with speakers of French.
face:
The self-image that an individual projects in encounters with others.
face-threatening
In politeness theory, an utterance that undermines the face of the 
act (FTA):
individual to whom the utterance is directed. For instance, if three people
are speaking and one says to another, “You look horrible today,” the
embarrassment that this utterance causes results in a face-threatening
act.
felicity conditions
: See appropriateness conditions.
finite verb:
A verb that is marked for tense (e.g. walks, walked). Compare with non-
finite verb.
foreign language:
An additional language that has no official status. English is a foreign
language in Germany because while it is commonly taught in schools, it
is not used in any official capacity (e.g. in government or courts of law).
form:
All word classes, phrases, clauses, and sentences have a particular form.
Most nouns, for instance, can be pluralized by adding -s. Verbs take partic-
ular verb endings, such as -ed or -ing. A relative clause is headed by a rela-
tive pronoun, such as who or which. Similar types of descriptions can be
given of any linguistic construction.
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GLOSSARY

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formal definitions:
Definitions of linguistic constructions that are based on morphology or
syntax. Adverbs, for instance, sometimes end with the suffix -ly (e.g. will-
ingly, desperately) and can often be preceded by another adverb (e.g. some-
what willingly, very desperately).
free morpheme:
A morpheme such as cat or house that can stand alone. Compare with