Appendix:Glossary: Difference between revisions

==A==

: An {{glossary|inflection}}, or different form, of a '''{{glossary|comparable}}''' adjective showing a relative quality, used to express a {{glossary|superlative}} that cannot be exceeded, having the sense ''as [adjective] as possible'' or ''very/absolutely/completely [adjective]''. (See also ''{{glossary|comparative}}'', ''{{glossary|superlative}}'' and ''{{glossary|degrees of comparison}}''.) It usually contrasts with {{glossary|relative superlative}}.

: A word like {{eng|big}} or {{eng|childish}} that usually serves to modify a {{glossary|noun}}.

: A word with a meaning that is the opposite of a meaning of another word. For example, ''{{eng|good}}'' is an antonym of ''{{eng|bad}}''. Contrast {{glossary|synonym}}.

==C==

: Of an adjective or adverb: able to be compared, having {{glossary|comparative}} and {{glossary|superlative}} forms that end in ''-er'' and ''-est'' (adjectives only), or in conjunction with the words ''more'' or ''most'', or sometimes ''further'' or ''furthest''. Examples: ''big'', ''bigger'', and ''biggest''; ''talented'', ''more talented'', and ''most talented''; ''upstairs'', ''further upstairs'', and ''furthest upstairs''. Some adjectives are truly '''{{glossary|uncomparable}}''', such as ''daily'', ''additional'', and ''else''. Many other adjectives, such as ''unique'', ''existential'', and ''bearable'' are generally considered uncomparable, but controversially so, where examples can be readily cited of something being "''more bearable''" or "''most perfect''".

: An {{glossary|inflection}}, or different form, of a '''{{glossary|comparable}}''' adjective showing a relative quality, usually denoting "to a greater extent" but not "to the ultimate extent". (See also ''{{glossary|superlative}}'' and ''{{glossary|degrees of comparison}}''.) In English, the ''comparative'' form is usually formed by appending ''-er'', or using the word ''more''. For example, the comparative of ''hard'' is "''harder''"; of ''difficult'', "''more difficult''".

: The inflection of {{glossary|verbs}}. See also {{glossary|declension}}.

: Describes a noun which can be freely used with the {{glossary|indefinite}} {{glossary|article}} (''{{eng|a}}'' or ''{{eng|an}}'' in English) and with numbers, and which therefore has a {{glossary|plural}} form. {{glossary|antonym|Antonym}}: {{glossary|uncountable}} or mass noun.

==D==

: The {{glossary|inflection}} of {{glossary|noun|nouns}} and words like them, or used together with them (i.e. {{glossary|nominal|nominals}}). See also {{glossary|conjugation}}.

: {{glossary|inflection|Inflections}} of adjectives and adverbs which allow comparisons. English has three ''degrees of comparison'': {{glossary|positive}}, {{glossary|comparative}} and {{glossary|superlative}}. Some other languages have other degrees, e.g.: {{glossary|comparative superlative}}, {{glossary|relative superlative}}, {{glossary|elative}}.

: In {{language name|rad}} grammar, depersonalisation, also known in Hirdic linguistics as the '''disjunctive''', refers to the morphosyntactic phenomenon of verbs losing their {{glossary|person|personal}} {{glossary|conjugation|endings}} to preceding conjunctions or particles, thus carrying only {{glossary|number}} φ-features. They are typically listed as their own forms in tables. Not to be confused with {{glossary|impersonal|impersonal verbs}}.

: A {{glossary|number|grammatical number}} that indicates exactly two items or individuals. Usually contrasts with {{glossary|singular}} and {{glossary|plural}}.

==E==

: An {{glossary|inflection}}, or different form, of a '''{{glossary|comparable}}''' adjective showing a relative quality, used in Laefevian to denote ''too [adjective]''. (See also ''{{glossary|comparative}}'', ''{{glossary|superlative}}'' and ''{{glossary|degrees of comparison}}''.)  

==F==

: A {{glossary|person|grammatical person}} that indicates the speaker him/her/itself, or a group to which the speaker belongs. Examples are the English pronouns ''{{eng|I}}'' and ''{{eng|we}}''.

==G==

: A way of classifying {{glossary|noun|nouns}} in some languages. In such languages, each noun has a specific gender (often determined by its meaning and/or form), and other words (especially {{glossary|adjective|adjectives}} and {{glossary|pronoun|pronouns}}) will often change form to agree with the noun's gender. See also {{glossary|noun class}}.

==I==

: A verb that cannot take a subject.

: Refers to forms of words that present something as not yet identified or not immediately identifiable; in English, this is the basic meaning of the {{glossary|article}} ''{{eng|a}}''; in some languages, this is a nominal or adjectival {{glossary|inflection}}.

: The change in form of a word to represent various grammatical categories, such as {{glossary|tense}} (e.g. past tense, present tense, future tense) or {{glossary|number}} (e.g. singular, plural). For example, the verb ''{{eng|run}}'' may be inflected to produce ''{{eng|runs}}'', ''{{eng|ran}}'', and ''{{eng|running}}''. In highly inflected languages, such as Latin, there will be many more forms. Two major types of inflection are {{glossary|conjugation}} (inflection of {{glossary|verb|verbs}}) and {{glossary|declension}} (inflection of {{glossary|noun|nouns}}, {{glossary|adjective|adjectives}}, and {{glossary|pronoun|pronouns}}).

==M==

: Belonging to the male grammatical {{glossary|gender}}, in languages that have gender distinctions.

==N==

: Related to {{glossary|noun|nouns}}. See also {{glossary|denominal}}.

: As a noun, it refers to any {{glossary|part of speech}} that is noun-like in some way, and normally includes {{glossary|nouns}} themselves along with {{glossary|adjective|adjectives}}, {{glossary|pronoun|pronouns}} and {{glossary|determiner|determiners}}. The {{glossary|inflection}} of nominals is commonly called {{glossary|declension}}.

: A word that refers to a person (such as an ''{{eng|actress}}''), a place, a physical thing (such as ''{{eng|wood}}''), or concept (such as ''{{eng|beauty}}'', ''{{eng|joy}}'', or ''{{eng|time}}''). See also {{glossary|countable}}, {{glossary|uncountable}} and {{glossary|plural}}.

: A grammatical category that indicates how many items or individuals. Examples are {{glossary|singular}}, {{glossary|plural}} and {{glossary|dual}}.

==P==

: The category that a word belongs to, with respect to how it's used as part of phrases and sentences. Examples are {{glossary|noun|nouns}}, {{glossary|adjective|adjectives}} and {{glossary|verb|verbs}}. The part of speech is inherent in the word itself, and is independent of any specific role that the word may have within any given sentence (e.g. subject, direct object). Words may belong to more than one part of speech: English ''{{eng|this}}'' is both a {{glossary|determiner}} and a {{glossary|pronoun}}, while ''{{eng|coat}}'' is both a noun and a verb.

: A grammatical category that indicates the relationship between the speaker and what is being spoken of. Examples are {{glossary|first_person|first person}}, {{glossary|second_person|second person}} and {{glossary|third_person|third person}}.

: A {{glossary|number|grammatical number}} that indicates multiple items or individuals. Most languages contrast it with {{glossary|singular}}, and plural indicates two or more. Some languages also possess the {{glossary|dual}} or even {{glossary|trial}} numbers; in these instances the plural indicates more than the highest specific number.

: A {{glossary|part of speech}} that acts as a substitute for a {{glossary|noun}} or noun phrase and refers to a topic of the discussion. Pronouns can refer to a participant in the discussion and can be used instead of a person's name, such as with the pronouns ''{{eng|I}}'' and ''{{eng|you}}''. Other pronouns, such as ''{{eng|he}}'', ''{{eng|she}}'', and ''{{eng|it}}'', can be used to refer to other people or objects that have already been mentioned without repeating their names.

==R==

: Referring back to the subject, or having an object equal to the subject. Pronouns can be reflexive (e.g. ''{{eng|myself}}'', ''{{eng|oneself}}''). Romance and Slavic languages make extensive use of reflexive verb forms (e.g. Italian ''lavarsi'', Spanish ''lavarse'' (“to wash oneself”)). These are part of a larger group of {{glossary|pronominal_verb|pronominal verbs}}.

: An {{glossary|inflection}}, or different form, of a '''{{glossary|comparable}}''' adjective showing a relative quality, used to express the highest degree of something in relation to something else. (See also ''{{glossary|comparative}}'', ''{{glossary|superlative}}'' and ''{{glossary|degrees of comparison}}''.) It usually contrasts with {{glossary|absolute superlative}}. In Laefevian the relative superlative is equivalent to the superlative in English.

==S==

: A {{glossary|person|grammatical person}} that indicates the person or group to whom one is speaking. Examples are the English pronouns ''{{eng|you}}'' and ''{{eng|thou}}''.

: A {{glossary|number|grammatical number}} that indicates exactly one item or individual. Usually contrasts with {{glossary|plural}}, and, in some languages, with {{glossary|dual}}.

: The substantive forms of a Radestrian adjective are used for nominalised adjectives or adjectives in post-nominal position to describe inalienable qualities of a concept.

: An {{glossary|inflection}}, or different form, of a '''{{glossary|comparable}}''' adjective showing a relative quality, denoting "to the ultimate extent". (See also ''{{glossary|comparative}}'' and ''{{glossary|degrees of comparison}}''.) In English, the superlative form is often formed by appending ''{{eng|-est}}'', or using the word ''{{eng|most}}''. For example, the superlative of ''big'' is "''biggest''"; of ''confident'', "''most confident''".

: A word or phrase with a meaning that is the same as, or very similar to, another word or phrase. Contrast {{glossary|antonym}}.

==T==

: A {{glossary|person|grammatical person}} that indicates someone or something that is neither the person or group to which the speaker belongs, nor the person or group that the speaker is speaking to. Examples are the English pronouns ''{{eng|he}}'', ''{{eng|she}}'', ''{{eng|it}}'', ''{{eng|this}}'', ''{{eng|that}}'', and so on. All {{glossary|noun}}s are generally considered third person. In some languages (like German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hungarian), the third_person conjugation is also used to express the formal you (sometimes combined with the plural and/or capitalizing the personal pronoun in writing).

==U==

: (of adjectives) unable to be compared, or lacking a {{glossary|comparative}} and {{glossary|superlative}} function. ''See'' '''{{glossary|comparable}}'''. Examples of adjectives that are not comparable: ''annual'', ''first'', ''extra'', ''satin'', ''six-figure''.

: A {{glossary|noun}} that cannot be used freely with numbers or the {{glossary|indefinite}} {{glossary|article}}, and which therefore usually takes no {{glossary|plural}} form. For example, the English noun ''{{eng|information}}'' is a mass noun, and at least in its principal senses is uncountable in most varieties of English. For those senses, we cannot say that we have *one information, nor that we have *many information (or *many informations). Many mass noun senses often have corresponding plural {{glossary|countable|count}} senses that denote types of the mass sense, instances of the mass sense, or portions (servings) of the mass sense. For example, the main sense of ''{{eng|butter}}'' is the uncountable sense, so the plural form butters is seldom used, although it occasionally is used to mean "types of butter" (''many {{eng|herb butter|herb butters}} contain garlic'') or "[packets of] butter". Compare also other implicit references to a container and the portion/serving that it contains (''get me a water, order two sodas, have a few beers''). Many languages do not distinguish between countable and uncountable nouns. {{glossary|antonym|Antonym}}: {{glossary|countable}} or count noun.