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The phenomenon of a single word having multiple meanings that are related by extension.

The study of the pattern of sounds in a language and how they are used to convey meaning.

A speaker's implicit knowledge of the rules of their native language.

A variant of a phoneme that does not change the meaning of a word and which is used in a specific phonetic context.

The deliberate effort to influence the function, structure, or acquisition of languages within a speech community, typically by a governing body.

The study of how languages change over time.

A geographic boundary line delimiting the area in which a certain linguistic feature occurs.

The study of the structure and form of words in a language.

A range of dialects spoken across a geographically contiguous region, with each being most closely related to its immediate neighbors, but with differences accumulating over distance.

The emotional or cultural association with a word that goes beyond its strict dictionary definition, or denotation.

The study of language-related issues applied in everyday life, particularly in language education, translation, and language policy.

The branch of linguistics that studies the relationship between language and the mind.

A stable, natural language that has developed from a pidgin (a simplified mixture of languages), becoming the first language of a community.

In transformational grammar, the final syntactic form of a sentence that can be heard or read by speakers.

A hypothetical module of the human mind posited to account for children's innate predisposition for language acquisition.

The literal or primary meaning of a word, as opposed to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests (connotation).

The study of how language is influenced by and varies according to social factors.

The study of a language at a particular point in time, often the present.

A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.

The scientific study of dialects within a particular language or language family.

Terms coined by Ferdinand de Saussure to distinguish between the system of rules and conventions of a language (langue), and the use of this system in daily communication (parole).

The study of meaning in language.

The study of how context influences the interpretation of meaning in language.

A major linguistic law describing the Proto-Indo-European plosive consonants as they evolved into Proto-Germanic (1st germanic sound law).

In transformational grammar, the underlying syntactic structure or level of a sentence.

A simplified form of speech formed from two or more languages and used for communication between people not sharing a common language.

A theory in historical linguistics postulating the existence of certain 'laryngeal' phonemes in the Proto-Indo-European language.

The practice of compiling, writing, and editing dictionaries.

The phenomenon of two words sounding the same but having different meanings, whether spelled the same way or not.

The set of all inflected forms of a word, which can be systematically organized.

A theory in linguistics that suggests that the ability to learn grammar is hard-wired into the brain.

A disorder caused by damage to the parts of the brain that control language, which can affect speaking, reading, writing, and understanding.

The study of the sounds of human speech.

Two words that differ by only a single sound, which can show that two sounds contrast in a language.

An utterance that performs an action, especially in the context of language used in communication.

The study of how sentences in spoken and written language form larger meaningful units such as paragraphs, conversations, interviews, etc.

The study of the historical development of a language over time.

The study of the origin and history of words and how their forms and meanings have changed over time.

The blending of two or more languages or language varieties in conversation.

The study of the rules for constructing sentences in a language.

The practice of alternating between two or more languages or dialects within a single conversation or utterance.

A word borrowed from one language and incorporated into another language without translation.

The level of formality or informality expressed in speech or writing, often determined by the occasion, purpose, or audience.

The study of language from a computational perspective, often focusing on natural language processing (NLP).

A set of rules about language based on how it is actually used, rather than how it should be used.

A set of rules about language based on how people think it should be used.

The conventional spelling system of a language.