Language Levels - Definitions

Grammar - The study of the system and structure of language

Syntax - Sentence Structure

Morphology - Words

Discourse structure - The way in which text is organised and sequenced

Pragmatics - pragmatics is the study of the implied and intended meaning of a text - the context of language.

Word class - a group of words that fulfil the same kind of role and function in speech and writing

Lexical word classes -  Have the most members and are open to new membership (nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs)

Grammatical/closed word classes - Provide connections and cohesion between other words (pronouns, determined, preposition, conjunctions)

Noun Phrase - groups of words entered around a noun that acts as the ‘head’ of the phrase

Nouns - names a person, place, thing or idea.

Pronouns - takes the place of a noun (I, me, he, she, herself, you, it, that, they, each, many, who, whose, someone etc)

Concrete nouns - things you can experience through your 5 senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch)

Abstract nouns - refers to intangible things like, feeling, qualities, concepts etc

Verbs - Either auxiliary or main. Main verbs tell you the action, auxiliary verbs give extra information on the main verb.

Auxiliary can be subcategorised between the following:

Primary Auxiliary - Be, do and have

Modal auxiliary - Can, could, may, must, might, will, would, shall and should (have the ability to emphasise something’s importance or add formality)

Adjectives - describing words (describes an attribute of a noun)

Adverbs - words that describe how verbs are carried out (eg: quickly)

Graphology - The features that contribute to the appearance of a text (eg: fonts, colours etc)

Iconic signs - a direct picture of the thing it represents (often simplified eg: male/female toilet sign)

Symbolic sign - Draw on association and are defined by cultural convention (eg: school logo)