Grammar Glossary

33 Terms Every True Grammar Geek Should Know

Even the most vocal detractor of language lessons knows the difference between a noun and a pronoun. But it takes a special kind of grammar aficionado to pick up on the intricacies between the various verbs and plethora of pronouns. As with every passion, linguistics comes with its own unique vocabulary challenging fans to memorize them all. Hundreds more exist beyond these 33, but they certainly make for an amusing start! Especially that "eggcorn…"

1. Adverbials: Though not the same as those –ly adverbs with which all English speakers are familiar, these word clusters perform an identical function.
2. Affixes: Prefixes, suffixes and infixes are all known collectively as "affixes," or morphemes added to words to change their meanings around.
3. Allophone: For such an intimidating, but thoroughly fun to say, word, allophone actually sports a pretty straightforward definition. It simply means a different way to pronounce the same sound.
4. Ambigram: These words can be quite a bit of fun, especially for children. Ambigrams can be read the same regardless of whether or not they're upside-down or right side-up!
5. Anaphora: Everyone uses anaphora, regardless of whether or not they recognize it. The phrase references pronouns related to nouns previously found in a sentence or paragraph.
6. Anti-Language: A Clockwork Orange fans have a great example of anti-language at their disposal. This concept takes actual words and phrases, but changes their meanings around so only those "in the know" understand the true intentions.
7. Apposition: Apposition is little more than the act of using an appositive, the definition of which can be found below.
8. Appositive: Nouns or noun phrases used to further describe and clarify the main subjects are known as appositives.
9. Cataphora: The opposite of anaphora, cataphora involves a pronoun referencing a more specific noun found later in the text.
10. Dangling Modifiers: This is a modifier (of course) that just doesn't jive with the rest of the sentence, as it's unclear what object the subject references. All it takes is a bit of editing to help the common mistake start making sense.
11. Definite Article: English only has one definite article — "the." When used with a noun, it denotes the specifics of what speakers mean.
12. Deontic Modality: Deontic modality uses a modal verb to indicate permission. Sentences involving "can" and "cannot" are particularly adroit examples.
13. Disjunct: "Fortunately, "unfortunately" and their ilk all express some sort of opinion in adverb form, thus making them disjuncts.
14. Dynamic Modality: Sentences practicing dynamic modality only reflect facts, never opinions. For example, the previous sentence defining dynamic modality is an example of…well…dynamic modality.
15. Eggcorn: Yes, there's plenty of laughs to be had at the name, with most of them unsuitable for an academic website. Its true definition, sadly, is not so humorous. Eggcorns happen when people accidentally write homophones or other similar words in place of the one they really mean.
16. Emphatic Forms: Used when discussing verbs, emphatic forms (also known as emphatic moods or tenses) combine the past or present tense of "do" — an auxiliary verb – with the base form of the primary verb.
17. Epistemic Modality: Unlike dynamic modality, the epistemic variety reflects attitudes and opinions rather than the cold, hard facts.
18. Homograph: Even non-grammar geeks are aware of homophones, but language aficionados take it one step further and talk of homographs. These are words spelled the same, but sporting entirely different meanings and connotations.
19. Indefinite Articles: "A" and "an" are the two indefinite articles used in English. Speakers and writers use them to indicate singular nouns with plural varieties.
20. Malapropism: This grammatical phenomenon can make for some pretty entertaining (or, alternately, terrible) jokes, as they involve switching around similar-sounding words with different definitions.
21. Meiosis: Any students who've ever taken a biology class might think "meiosis" sounds eerily similar to some of the concepts found in their cellular studies. In actuality, though, it's merely a synonym for irony and understatement.
22. Metaplasm: It sounds like science fiction, but metaplasm as a concept has its feet planted firmly in terran soil. The term means a word modification involving altered syllables and sounds.
23. Metonymy: Metonymies are pretty much the same thing as a symbol, where words or phrases symbolize a far broader concept.
24. Modal Verbs: These verbs, such as "could," "would," "should" and "need," reflect intention, obligation, possibility, necessity and similar concepts.
25. Morpheme: A "morpheme" is the smallest possible word or phrase with an understood meaning. Prefixes and suffixes make for the best examples.
26. Participle: The word gets bandied about as a particularly funny grammar term — and for good reason — but good luck getting many people to explain what it is. A present participle adds -ing to the end of a verb, while a past adds -ed, and both can be used as adjectives as well.
27. Passive Voice: No, it's not what a dominatrix loves to hear on a daily basis. The passive voice combines a "to be" verb and a past participle to emphasize the more important components of a sentence.
28. Phonemes: "Phoneme" is just a fancy synonym for "syllable," the shortest sound in any given language. Peruse the phonetic alphabet for the best examples!
29. Quantifier: Any word used to indicate the amount or number of a noun is known as a "quantifier." This is one of the easier grammatical terms to remember!
30. Reflexive Pronouns: When the complement and the subject of a verb align, reflexive pronouns result. They're easy to spot, too! Just look for pronouns with -self tacked onto the end.
31. Synecdoche: When a small portion of something is utilized as a representation of the whole, grammar fans are looking at a synecdoche.
32. Tmesis: Also known as an infix, the tmesis is a word of phrase placed in the middle of a word to change its meaning or add emphasis. Ned Flanders and his persistent abuse of "diddly" makes for the best example of this grammatical phenomenon.
33. Zero Article: As its name implies, the zero article is a grammatical term meaning the absence of either a definite or an indefinite article in a sentence.

Source: http://www.onlinecollegesanduniversities.net/blog/2011/33-terms-every-true-grammar-geek-should-know/