Halcomb's Grammatical Glossary

© T Michael W Halcomb http://www.michaelhalcomb.blogspot.com

A Linguistic & Grammatical Glossary (With An Eye Towards English, German, Koine, Hebrew & French. In Alphabetical Order. The Symbol * marks other terms listed here.)

Accusative (Case): The noun *case that marks the *direct object of a *transitive verb. Active (Voice): When a verb is in active voice, the *subject of the sentence is carrying out an action. Adjective: A term used to *modify another part of a sentence, such as a noun. Adverb: Used to *modify a verb, *adverb or *adjective. Affix: Element added to the *base, *stem or *root of a word. Agent: Signifies the person/thing that carries out an action. Anaphoric: Part of speech that refers back to a previous part of speech. Anarthous: Lacking the *definite article. Aorist: Verb form that expresses action but does not reveal whether it is complete or ongoing. Sometimes Aorist denotes *tense and *aspect but occasionally, only *aspect. Apellative: A referential term, which can also function as the *subject or *object of a verb or the *object of a *preposition, or an *appositive (a noun in *apposition). Apodosis: The main clause of a conditional sentence. Apposition: When two nouns are placed beside one another and one is explanatory. Article: Indicates nouns and their applications (e.g. the word “the”). Aspect: The relationship of a verb to time (completion, duration, repetition). Assimilation: Process of a sound (e.g. A vowel) being modified (often times replaced) by another letter. Asyndetic: When terms or clauses lack *conjunctions or connective words. Attributive (Adj.): *Adjective that qualifies or *modifies another *adjective (& must be related to it). Aublaut: Term that refers to vowel gradation (vowel changes). Base: *Morphemes to which other *affixes or bases can be added.

Cardinal: Denoting a part of the sentence that is in the first position (e.g. a word, thought or number). Case: The function/role of a noun in a sentence (e.g. *Accusative, *Dative, *Nominative, etc.). Causal: Expresses or denotes the cause of an action. Causative: Expressed as the *subject of the verb causing another *subject to do something. Clause: Group or cluster of words with a *subject and *predicate only. Cognate: When words share a similar *root. Cohortative: Term, in the *first-person, that denotes a strong wish or desire. Comparative: When two or more nouns are compared to one another. Concessive: Denotes one action leading to another action. Conditional: Hypothetical; discussion of factual implications of an action. Conjugation: Parts of the verb that make it *person, *gender, *number, *aspect and action specific. Conjunction: *Particle that joins words or clauses together. Construct: A noun that forms *genitive relationships in a sentence. Coordinate: 1. When a term expresses equality. 2. Functions to link nouns together. 3. Functions to link verbs together. Dative: *Case that marks the *indirect-object of the verb. Declarative: Term or phrase that expresses evaluation or judgment. Declension: Forms given to nouns and *adjectives that give them person and gender functions. Definite Article: A referential term that denotes specificity (e.g. the word “the). Definiteness: The state of a noun when it is taking the *Definite Article. Deictic: See *Demonstrative. Demonstrative: Term that specifies something being referred to (e.g. “these” or “that”). Denominative: A term such as a verb that is derived from a noun or an *adjective. Dependent Clause: Also *subordinate clause: a clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence. Desiderative: Term that expresses a wish or desire.

Direct Object: Term that references the person/thing receiving the action of a *transitive verb. Distributive: A term that singles persons, things, etc. out (especially from a group/collection). Elide / Elision: When something is omitted in pronunciation (often the first or last sound of a word). Ellipses / Elliptical: A *clause missing omitting certain parts of speech. Epexegetical: When additional explanation or emphasis is given. Euphonic: Term/part of speech with no other function than for sound effect. Explicative: Term whose purpose is “to explain.” Factitive: Verb form that denotes the causing of a state to someone/something. Feminine: One of three *genders in language; often refers to female-classified persons/things, etc. Fientive: Verb denoting an action or change of state. Finite: Form of a verb that can occur on its own in a main clause (expresses person, number, tense, mood and voice). First-Person: Part of speech that allows one to refer to him or herself. Frequentative: Reference to an action that is repeated. Future (Tense): Tense of a verb that expresses an action that is yet to have taken place, but will. Gender: Grammatical category that classifies nouns,*adjectives, *pronouns and verbs by animacy or sex (*male, *female, *neuter). Genitive: *Case used of a noun to denote an *attributive or possessive state. Gerund: Noun derived from a verb having all of the *case forms except the *nominative. Governing Verb: Initial verb in a *coordinating relationship that affects the *aspect of other verbs. Hapax Legomenon: Term that only occurs once in a text. Hendiadys: Two terms connected by a *conjunction that express a single idea. Hiphil / Hifil: Form of a Hebrew verb that has a *causative meaning. Hithpael: Form of a Hebrew verb that expresses the *reflexive action of a *Qal or *Piel. Hophal: Form of a Hebrew verb that expresses the *passive action of a *Qal or *Piel. Imperative: *Mood that expresses a command (sometimes as a request).

Imperfect: Verb tense that shows the incompleteness or continuousness of an action, often in the past, and often in relationship to other action(s). Indefinite: Lacking *definiteness. See: *Indefinite Article. Indefinite Article: An *article that does not fix the identity of a noun (e.g. The term “a”). Independent Clause: *Clause containing a verb and a *subject and is able to stand alone. Indicative: The *mood of a verb (or terms pertaining to the *mood) used in objective statements. Indirect-Object: *An person/thing (*object) that is indirectly affected by the action of the verb. Infinitive: Verb (form) that acts as a *substantive while retaining some of its verbal characteristics. Often preceded by the word “to” (e.g. “to hit,” “to walk,” etc.). Un-*inflected terms. Infinitive Absolute: Infinitival use in Hebrew to emphasize or add certainty to the verb. Infinitive Construct: Infinitival use in Hebrew that is used after *prepositions and is *inflected to agree with its *subject or *object. Inflection / Inflexion: When the base of a term is modified by an *affix to indicate *person, *number, *tense or *mood. Inordinate: Not fixed in a certain order; not static. Instrumental: Noun used as an *agent to perform an action. Intensive: A term, such as an *adverb, that intensifies another term (e.g. an action). Interrogative: A question or a term referring to the act of asking a question. Intransitive (Verb): Verb that does not require a *direct-object to complete its meaning. Irregular: Deviating from the usual rules of *inflection. Iterative: See *frequentative. Jussive: Term, *mood or form that denotes a command. Locative: *Inflection of a noun that denotes time or place. Masculine: One of three *genders in language; often refers to male-classified persons/things, etc. Middle (Verb): A verb that is *active in form but often *passive in meaning. Middle (Voice): Verb (form or set) that indicates the relationship between the *subject and the action. Modal: Expressing or relating to the *mood of the verb. Often denoting contingency between actions.

Can pertain to an expression of wish or strong desire. Modify: 1. A vowel change. 2. Qualifying or changing the meaning of a term. Mood: Verb (form or sets) that reveal the speaker's attitude towards the likelihood of the action being expressed or wished to be carried out. Often used with *modal or *volitional verbs. Morpheme: Word element that cannot be broken down or it will lose its meaning. Morphology: The formation of words. Often used in reference to *affixes or *modifications. Neuter: One of three *genders in language; often refers to genderless-classified persons/things, etc. Niphal / Nifal: Hebrew verb form that is usually rendered as *passive or *reflexive. Nominal: Pertaining to nouns or noun groups. Nominative: Noun case which marks the *subject of the verb. Number: Reveals singularity, duality or plurality of an *inflected term (e.g. a noun). Object: A noun, *pronoun or noun phrase affected by a verb; a *substantive governed by a *preposition. Optative: *Mood often used when expressing a wish or desire. Ordinate / Ordinal: The initial or first of a group (e.g. numbers; statements, etc.). Participle: Verb form that can function as an *adjective. Particle: 1. Words with small functions (e.g. *articles, *prepositions, etc.). 2. Un-*inflected part of term that does not belong to any of the major parts of speech. Passive (Voice): *Voice used when the subject of the sentence is acted upon (as denoted by the verb). Past (Tense): *Tense of a verb that expresses an action that has already taken place. Perfect (Tense): *Tense used to express that an action took place before a fixed point in time. Performative: Action completed by an utterance/speech. Permissive: Action permitted to occur by the *subject and is agreeable to the *object. Person: *Inflection of a term that refers to its *pronounal sense. Perspective: The point-of-view of the speaker. Phoneme: Smallest unit of sound in a term (e.g. the sound of each letter of a word).

Piel: Form of a Hebrew verb that expresses the simple *active action of a *Qal. Pleonasm: The use of extra words in a sentence; redundancy. Pluperfect: Verb *tense used to express the complete of an action before a specific or implied time. Postpositive: Term or *particle following a word. Predicate: Part of a sentence or *clause that modifies and reveals what is being said about the *subject. Predicate Adjective: *Adjective used to *modify the some attribute of the *subject. Prefix: An *affix attached to the beginning of the word that causes *inflection. Preposition: Term placed before a *substantive that reveals its relationship to another *substantive, a verb or an *adjective. (e.g. at, by, with, etc.) Present (Tense): Verb *tense used to express the notion that an action is occurring right now. Preterite: Verb tense (esp. in Heb.) that denotes a past action or state. Pronomial: When a *pronoun (or pronoun ending) acts as a *suffix (esp. in Heb.). Pronoun: Part of speech that acts as a substitute for a noun (e.g. he, she, etc.). Protasis: *Dependent clause that is located in a *conditional sentence. Pual: Form of a Hebrew verb that is a *causative/*passive stem that is the counterpart of the *Piel. Qal: Form of a Hebrew verb that expresses a simple past action. Reciprocal: Denotes mutuality in action. Reflexive: Denotes when the speaker does something to him or herself; when the *subject and *directobject are identical with the verb. Root: The part of the term to which *affixes, etc. are added; element of term carrying main component of meaning. Second-Person: Part of speech that allows one person to refer to another (e.g. “you”). Spatial: Of, relating to area, space. Stative (Verb): Verb expressing a state rather than an action. Stem: Vowel pattern (esp. in Heb.) applied to a verbal *root that denotes an action. Strong (Verb): Verbs, esp. in German, that are marked to denote past-tense (usually by an *ablaut).

Subject: *Agent that performs the action of a verb. Subjunctive: *Mood expressing contingency (hypotheticals). Subordinate Clause: *Clause that cannot stand alone as a full sentence but serves a nounal, *adjectival or *adverbial purpose. Substantive: A noun or its equivalent. Suffix: An *affix attached to the end of the word that causes *inflection. Superlative: The best or greatest of any number of items when compared to one another. Syntax: Elements of sentence structure. Telic: Denoting an end-goal, conclusion or end-purpose. Temporal: A *substantive's relationship to time. Tense: Form of a verb expressing duration (time). Terminative: Often expressing movement, especially towards an end-goal or completion. Third-Person: Part of speech that allows one person to refer to another (e.g. he/ she). Transitive (Verb): A verb that necessitates a *subject and an *object. Umlaut: A change in a term's vowel sound, often caused by *assimilation. Diacritic mark placed over a vowel ( ¨ ). Vocative: *Inflected term that indicates the person/thing being addressed. Voice: Verb or verb set indication the relationship between the *subject and the action expressed by the verb. Volitional: Verbal form denoting a choice that is being or will be carried out by the speaker. Weak (Verb): Form that designates a *conjugation or *declension when a language employs two parallel systems.