Glossary
The language-nerd glossary
From 諧音梗 to tone sandhi, Teekesselchen to agglutination: the words linguists use to sound clever, explained so you can too.
scripts & writingAbugida An abugida is a script where each consonant letter has a built-in vowel, and other vowels are added as marks around it, as in Thai, Khmer and Devanagari.untranslatable wordsAegyo 애교Aegyo is a Korean display of cuteness through baby voice, gestures and expressions, common in K-pop, dramas and couples.learning & SLAAffective filter 情感過濾 (情感过滤)The affective filter is Krashen's idea that anxiety, low motivation or low confidence block input from being acquired.grammar & typologyAgglutinative language 膠着語 / 교착어An agglutinative language builds words by gluing clear, separable suffixes or prefixes onto a stem, each adding one meaning, as Japanese, Korean and Turkish do.wordplay & rhetoricAjae gag (Korean dad joke) 아재개그Ajae gaegeu is the Korean dad joke: a groan-inducing pun, usually built on homophones or sound-alike words.phonologyAllophone An allophone is one of several ways a phoneme is pronounced in different positions, without changing meaning, like aspirated and unaspirated p in English.untranslatable wordsAmae 甘えAmae is the Japanese behaviour of presuming on someone's indulgence, seeking to be cared for like a child depends on a parent.wordplay & rhetoricAnagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of another, like listen and silent.wordplay & rhetoricAntithetical couplet 對聯 (对联)A duilian is a Chinese couplet of two lines matching in length, grammar and tonal pattern, hung on doorways especially as Spring Festival couplets.grammar & typologyAspect particle 動態助詞 (动态助词)An aspect particle marks how an action unfolds in time (completed, ongoing or experienced) rather than when it happened, such as Mandarin 了, 著 and 過.phonologyAspiration 送氣 (送气)Aspiration is the puff of breath after a consonant such as p, t or k; many Asian languages use it to tell words apart.scripts & writingAteji 当て字Ateji are kanji used for their sound or meaning regardless of etymology, often to write loanwords or for playful effect.grammar & typologyAustronesian voice system (focus) The Austronesian voice or focus system marks on the verb which participant (actor, object, place or beneficiary) is the grammatical focus of the sentence.grammar & typologyBa construction 把字句The ba construction moves a Mandarin object before the verb with 把 bǎ to emphasise what is done to it, often with a result.scripts & writingBatchim 받침Batchim is the final consonant at the bottom of a Korean syllable block, which is pronounced as one of only seven sounds.wordplay & rhetoricBuffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo is a grammatically correct English sentence using one word as city, animal and verb (to bully).learning & SLACalque 仿譯詞 (仿译词)A calque is a loan translation: a phrase borrowed by translating its parts literally, like Chinese 熱狗 règǒu for hot dog.learning & SLACEFR CEFR, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, describes language ability on six levels from A1 (beginner) to C2 (mastery).phonologyChao tone numbers Chao tone numbers describe pitch on a 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) scale, so Mandarin tone 1 is 55 and tone 4 is 51.Character sign A sign that traces or depicts the shape of a written Chinese character or kanji, e.g. the sign for 人 shaped by two fingers.phonologyChecked tone 入聲 (入声)A checked tone is a short syllable ending abruptly in -p, -t, -k or a glottal stop; Middle Chinese called it 入聲, the entering tone.wordplay & rhetoricChengyu 成語 (成语)Chengyu are traditional Chinese idioms, usually four characters long, often compressing a classical story or saying into a set phrase.wordplay & rhetoricChinese homophone pun 諧音梗 (谐音梗)諧音梗 (xiéyīn gěng) is a Chinese pun that swaps one word for another that sounds the same or similar, exploiting Chinese's many homophones.wordplay & rhetoricChinese number puns 數字諧音 (数字谐音)Chinese number puns use digits that sound like words, so 520 (wǔ èr líng) means I love you and 4 (sì) is unlucky because it sounds like death (死 sǐ).scripts & writingChữ Nôm 𡨸喃Chữ Nôm is the historical Vietnamese script that adapted Chinese characters and invented new ones to write native Vietnamese words.scripts & writingChữ Quốc ngữ 𡨸國語Chữ Quốc ngữ is the modern Latin-based Vietnamese alphabet, using diacritics to mark tones and vowel qualities.Classifier construction A sign where the handshape stands for a class of objects (vehicle, person, flat thing) and the movement shows what it does.learning & SLACloze deletion A cloze deletion is a fill-in-the-gap exercise or flashcard where a word is removed from a sentence for you to recall.CODA Child of Deaf Adults: a hearing person raised by Deaf parents, often a native signer.sociolinguisticsCode-switching 語碼轉換 (语码转换)Code-switching is alternating between two or more languages or varieties within a conversation or even a single sentence.learning & SLACognate 同源詞 (同源词)A cognate is a word sharing a common origin with a word in another language, like English night and German Nacht, or Sino-derived words across East Asia.learning & SLAComprehensible input 可理解輸入 (可理解输入)Comprehensible input is language you can mostly understand, slightly above your level; Stephen Krashen argued it is what drives acquisition.phonologyContour tone A contour tone is a tone defined by pitch movement within the syllable, such as rising, falling or dipping, rather than by a flat pitch level.sociolinguisticsCreole 克里奧爾語 (克里奥尔语)A creole is a stable, full language that develops from a pidgin when it acquires native speakers and expands its grammar and vocabulary.learning & SLACritical period hypothesis 關鍵期假說 (关键期假说)The critical period hypothesis claims there is a biological window, roughly before puberty, after which native-like language acquisition becomes much harder.wordplay & rhetoricDajare 駄洒落Dajare is the Japanese pun, especially a groan-worthy one based on sound-alike words, the classic oyaji gyagu (dad joke).Deaf (capital D) Written with a capital D, Deaf refers to people who identify with a Deaf community and its sign language, not just to hearing loss.sociolinguisticsDialect vs language 方言 vs 語言The difference between a dialect and a language is partly linguistic (mutual intelligibility) and largely political and social.sociolinguisticsDiglossia 雙層語言 (双层语言)Diglossia is when a community uses two varieties of a language for different jobs: a high one for writing and formal use, a low one for everyday speech.learning & SLAElectroharmonix Electroharmonix is a typeface by Ray Larabie whose Latin letters are drawn to look like Japanese katakana. Readers of English can read it; readers of Japanese find it very hard.sociolinguisticsEngrish Engrish (and Chinglish, Konglish signs) is humorous, mistaken or creative English on signs, menus and products in East Asia.phonologyErhua 兒化 (儿化)Erhua is the r-colouring of a Mandarin syllable by adding 兒 (儿) -r, typical of Beijing and northern speech.grammar & typologyEvidentiality Evidentiality is grammatical marking of how the speaker knows something: seen it, heard it from others, or inferred it.learning & SLAExtensive reading 多讀 (多读) / 多読Extensive reading means reading large amounts of easy, enjoyable text for meaning, without stopping to look up every word.learning & SLAFalse friend 假朋友 / 偽りの友A false friend looks or sounds like a word in another language but means something different, like Japanese 手紙 (letter) vs Chinese 手紙 (toilet paper).scripts & writingFeatural alphabet A featural alphabet encodes how sounds are made in the letter shapes themselves; Korean Hangul is the classic example.Fingerspelling Spelling words letter by letter (or syllable by syllable) with handshapes, used for names and borrowed words.learning & SLAFossilisation 石化Fossilisation is when learner errors become permanent and stop improving, even with more exposure or study.learning & SLAFSI language categories The FSI categories rank languages by how long the US Foreign Service Institute estimates English speakers need to reach professional working proficiency.scripts & writingFurigana 振り仮名Furigana are small kana printed above or beside kanji to show their pronunciation, common in children's books, manga and rare names.grammar & typologyFusional language 屈折語 (屈折语)A fusional (inflectional) language uses endings that pack several grammatical meanings into one form, as in Latin, Spanish, German or Russian.wordplay & rhetoricGarden-path sentence A garden-path sentence is grammatical but leads the reader into a wrong interpretation first, forcing a reread, like The old man the boat.phonologyGemination 促音Gemination is a doubled (lengthened) consonant; in Japanese it is written with a small っ and adds a one-beat pause before the consonant.untranslatable wordsGigil gigilGigil is the Tagalog urge to squeeze or pinch something unbearably cute, also used for trembling frustration.wordplay & rhetoricGiongo and gitaigo (Japanese mimetics) 擬音語・擬態語Giongo are Japanese words imitating sounds, and gitaigo are mimetic words depicting states, movements or feelings that make no sound.phonologyGlottal stop A glottal stop is a brief closure of the vocal cords that cuts off airflow, like the catch in the middle of English uh-oh.wordplay & rhetoricGoroawase 語呂合わせGoroawase is Japanese wordplay that reads numbers as words via their various readings, used for mnemonics, phone numbers and dates.learning & SLAGraded reader 分級讀物 (分级读物)A graded reader is a book written or simplified for learners using a controlled vocabulary and grammar level.wordplay & rhetoricGrass Mud Horse 草泥馬 (草泥马)The Grass Mud Horse (草泥馬) is a Chinese internet meme whose name puns on a vulgar insult, used to mock censorship.untranslatable wordsGuanxi 關係 (关系)關係 (guānxì) means relationships, specifically the network of personal connections and mutual obligations that help get things done in Chinese society.sociolinguisticsGuoyu 國語 (国语)Guoyu (national language) is the name for standard Mandarin in Taiwan, inherited from the Republic of China's 1930s standard.scripts & writingHanja 漢字 / 한자Hanja are Chinese characters used in Korean, today mainly for Sino-Korean words in names, newspaper headlines, academia and disambiguation.scripts & writingHanzi (Chinese characters) 漢字 (汉字)Hanzi are Chinese characters, the logographic script of Chinese, each usually representing one syllable and one meaningful unit.scripts & writingHepburn romanisation ヘボン式ローマ字Hepburn is the most widely used system for writing Japanese in Latin letters, following English spelling for consonants and macrons for long vowels.sociolinguisticsHeritage speaker 傳承語者 (传承语者)A heritage speaker grew up hearing a family language at home but became dominant in another, often understanding far more than they can speak or read.wordplay & rhetoricHeteronym 多音字A heteronym is a word spelt the same as another but pronounced differently with a different meaning; Chinese calls such characters 多音字.wordplay & rhetoricHomonym 同形同音異義詞A homonym is a word spelt and pronounced the same as another but with an unrelated meaning, like bank (river) and bank (money).wordplay & rhetoricHomophone 同音詞 (同音词)A homophone is a word that sounds the same as another but has a different meaning, and often a different spelling, like flower and flour.grammar & typologyHonorifics 敬語 / 존댓말Honorifics are grammatical forms, titles and word choices that show respect or social distance, built deeply into Japanese, Korean, Thai and Javanese.sociolinguisticsHuayu 華語 (华语)Huayu is the term for Mandarin used in Singapore, Malaysia and much of the Chinese diaspora, and in Taiwan for Mandarin taught to foreigners.learning & SLAHyperpolyglot A hyperpolyglot is someone who speaks a very large number of languages, often defined as eleven or more.learning & SLAi+1 i+1 is Krashen's shorthand for input one step beyond your current level (i), challenging enough to stretch you but still understandable.phonologyInitials and finals 聲母、韻母 (声母、韵母)Initials and finals are the traditional Chinese way of splitting a syllable: the initial consonant and the rest (vowel plus any ending), with tone on top.learning & SLAInterlanguage 中介語 (中介语)Interlanguage is a learner's own evolving system of a second language, with rules that are neither the native nor the target language.learning & SLAIntermediate plateau 瓶頸期 (瓶颈期)The intermediate plateau is the stage, around B1 to B2, where progress feels stalled despite continued study.grammar & typologyIsolating (analytic) language 孤立語 (孤立语)An isolating or analytic language has little or no inflection; grammar is expressed by word order and separate particles, as in Mandarin, Vietnamese and Thai.scripts & writingJamo 자모Jamo are the individual letters of Korean Hangul, consonants and vowels, combined into syllable blocks.grammar & typologyJapanese particles 助詞Japanese particles are short postpositions such as は wa, が ga, を o and に ni that mark the grammatical role of the word before them.untranslatable wordsJeong 정Jeong is a Korean concept of deep affection, attachment and loyalty that builds up over time between people, places or things.untranslatable wordsJiayou 加油加油 (jiāyóu), literally add oil, is a Chinese cheer meaning go for it, keep going, or you can do it.scripts & writingJyutping 粵拼 (粤拼)Jyutping is a romanisation system for Cantonese, devised by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong in 1993, marking tones with numbers 1 to 6.wordplay & rhetoricKakekotoba (pivot word) 掛詞Kakekotoba is a classical Japanese poetic device where one word carries two meanings at once, linking two readings of a poem.scripts & writingKana 仮名Kana are the two Japanese syllabaries, hiragana and katakana, each with 46 basic characters representing the same set of sounds.scripts & writingKanbun 漢文Kanbun is Classical Chinese as read and written in Japan, often with marks that let readers rearrange it into Japanese word order.scripts & writingKanji 漢字Kanji are Chinese-derived characters used in Japanese writing alongside hiragana and katakana, usually for word stems and Sino-Japanese words.grammar & typologyKeigo 敬語Keigo is the Japanese system of respectful language, with three main types: sonkeigo (respectful), kenjōgo (humble) and teineigo (polite).wordplay & rhetoricKenning A kenning is a compressed poetic metaphor, usually a compound, that names something indirectly, like whale-road for the sea.untranslatable wordsKiasu 驚輸 (惊输)Kiasu (驚輸), Hokkien for afraid of losing, describes a grasping, competitive anxiety about missing out, associated with Singapore and Malaysia.untranslatable wordsKilig kiligKilig is the Tagalog word for the giddy, fluttery rush you feel when something romantic happens, to you or on screen.scripts & writingKokuji 国字Kokuji are kanji invented in Japan rather than borrowed from China, usually for native concepts.learning & SLAKonglish 콩글리시Konglish is English-derived vocabulary used in Korean with altered forms or meanings, like 핸드폰 haendeupon for mobile phone.wordplay & rhetoricKorean ideophones 의성어·의태어Korean ideophones are sound-imitating words (uiseongeo) and shape or manner words (uitaeeo), often reduplicated and varied by vowel to shift nuance.grammar & typologyKorean speech levels 높임법 / 존댓말·반말Korean speech levels are verb endings that encode formality and politeness, from formal 하십시오체 to casual 해체 (banmal).untranslatable wordsKreng jai เกรงใจKreng jai is the Thai reluctance to impose on or inconvenience others, out of consideration and deference.untranslatable wordsKummerspeck KummerspeckKummerspeck, grief bacon, is the German word for weight gained from emotional overeating.scripts & writingKyūjitai 旧字体 (舊字體)Kyūjitai are the traditional kanji forms used in Japan before the postwar reforms, still seen in names, shrines and old texts.learning & SLAL1 transfer (language interference) 母語遷移 (母语迁移)L1 transfer is the influence of your first language on a new one, helping where they match and causing errors where they differ.learning & SLALanguage attrition 語言磨蝕 (语言磨蚀)Language attrition is the gradual loss of a language through lack of use, affecting both foreign languages and native ones.learning & SLALanguage chaining Language chaining is linking each new language to the one you learned just before it, so that your languages form a chain instead of all hanging from your native language.learning & SLALanguage immersion 沉浸式學習 (沉浸式学习)Language immersion means surrounding yourself with the target language, by living abroad, attending immersion programmes or recreating it at home.learning & SLALanguage laddering Language laddering is learning a new language through another foreign language you already know, instead of through your native language.sociolinguisticsLanguage shift 語言轉移 (语言转移)Language shift is when a community gradually abandons its language for another, usually a more prestigious or economically useful one.learning & SLALanguage stacking Language stacking is building a strong foundation in one language and then using it as the base on which the next foreign language is learned.wordplay & rhetoricLantern riddle 燈謎 (灯谜)A lantern riddle (燈謎) is a Chinese riddle traditionally hung on lanterns at the Lantern Festival, often solved by dissecting or punning on characters.sociolinguisticsLingua franca 通用語 (通用语)A lingua franca is a language used for communication between people with different native languages, like English today or Malay historically in Southeast Asia.wordplay & rhetoricLion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den 施氏食獅史The Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den is a Classical Chinese poem by Yuen Ren Chao in which every syllable is pronounced shi in Mandarin, varying only in tone.wordplay & rhetoricLipogram A lipogram is a text written while deliberately avoiding one or more letters, most famously the letter e.phonologyLiterary and colloquial readings 文白異讀 (文白异读)Literary and colloquial readings are two pronunciations of the same Chinese character: a formal reading from book learning and an everyday spoken one.learning & SLALoanword 外來語 (外来语) / 外来語A loanword is a word adopted from another language with little or no translation, like Japanese パン pan (bread) from Portuguese.scripts & writingLogogram 語素文字 (语素文字)A logogram is a written sign that represents a word or meaningful unit rather than a sound, like a Chinese character or the digit 7.wordplay & rhetoricMalapropism A malapropism is the mistaken use of a similar-sounding word with the wrong meaning, often to comic effect.untranslatable wordsMalu maluMalu is a Malay and Indonesian word combining shame, shyness and modesty, an important social emotion.sociolinguisticsManglish Manglish is Malaysian colloquial English, mixing English with Malay, Hokkien, Cantonese and Tamil words and particles.grammar & typologyMeasure word (classifier) 量詞 (量词)A measure word or classifier is a word required between a number and a noun, chosen by the noun's shape or category, as in Mandarin 一本書.untranslatable wordsMianzi (face) 面子面子 (miànzi), face, is social prestige and reputation in the eyes of others, which people work to give, gain and avoid losing.phonologyMinimal pair A minimal pair is two words that differ in only one sound or tone, like Mandarin mā and mà, used to train listening and pronunciation.wordplay & rhetoricMondegreen 空耳A mondegreen is a misheard phrase, especially song lyrics, that produces a new meaning; Japanese calls it soramimi (空耳, empty ear).phonologyMora 拍 / モーラA mora is a unit of sound timing; in Japanese each kana, long vowel, moraic n (ん) and doubled consonant (っ) counts as one beat.untranslatable wordsMottainai もったいないMottainai expresses regret at waste, the feeling that something valuable is being squandered.Mouthing Silently mouthing (part of) a spoken word while signing, often to tell apart signs with the same hand form.sociolinguisticsMutual intelligibility 相互理解度Mutual intelligibility is the degree to which speakers of two varieties can understand each other without prior study.phonologyNeutral tone 輕聲 (轻声)The neutral tone is a short, light, unstressed syllable in Mandarin whose pitch depends on the tone before it rather than having its own contour.untranslatable wordsNunchi 눈치Nunchi is the Korean skill of reading a room: sensing others' moods and unspoken expectations and responding appropriately.scripts & writingNüshu 女書 (女书)Nüshu is a syllabic script used exclusively by women in Jiangyong County, Hunan, to write their local Chinese dialect.scripts & writingOkurigana 送り仮名Okurigana are hiragana written after a kanji stem to show inflection and help indicate the reading, as in 食べる taberu.scripts & writingOn'yomi and kun'yomi 音読み・訓読みOn'yomi is the Chinese-derived reading of a kanji and kun'yomi is the native Japanese reading attached to the same character.wordplay & rhetoricOnomatopoeia 擬聲詞 (拟声词)Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it describes, like buzz, Mandarin 汪汪 wāngwāng (woof) or Japanese ワンワン wanwan.untranslatable wordsOtsukaresama お疲れ様お疲れ様 (otsukaresama) is a Japanese expression acknowledging someone's hard work, used as a greeting, thanks or farewell at work.learning & SLAOutput hypothesis 輸出假說 (输出假说)The output hypothesis, proposed by Merrill Swain in 1985, holds that producing language helps learners notice gaps and test their knowledge.wordplay & rhetoricOxymoron 矛盾修辭 (矛盾修辞)An oxymoron is a figure of speech that joins contradictory words for effect, like deafening silence or sweet sorrow.untranslatable wordsPaiseh 歹勢Paiseh (歹勢) is a Hokkien word meaning embarrassed, sorry or excuse me, used in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.wordplay & rhetoricPalindrome 回文A palindrome is a word, phrase or number that reads the same backwards and forwards, like level, or Chinese 上海自來水來自海上.wordplay & rhetoricPangram A pangram is a sentence that uses every letter of an alphabet at least once, like The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.wordplay & rhetoricPantun pantunA pantun is a traditional Malay poetic form, typically a rhyming ABAB quatrain whose first couplet hints at the meaning of the second.scripts & writingPe̍h-ōe-jī 白話字 (白话字)Pe̍h-ōe-jī (POJ) is a Latin-based script for Hokkien, created by 19th-century Presbyterian missionaries and still used for Taiwanese.phonologyPhoneme 音位A phoneme is the smallest sound unit that can change meaning in a particular language, such as /p/ vs /b/ in English pat and bat.scripts & writingPhono-semantic compound 形聲字 (形声字)A phono-semantic compound is a Chinese character combining a meaning component and a sound component; it is by far the most common character type.sociolinguisticsPidgin 洋涇浜 (洋泾浜)A pidgin is a simplified contact language that develops between groups with no common language, with a limited vocabulary and grammar and no native speakers.scripts & writingPinyin 漢語拼音 (汉语拼音)Pinyin is the official romanisation of Standard Mandarin, writing pronunciation with Latin letters and tone marks.phonologyPitch accent 高低アクセントPitch accent is a system where a word is marked by where the pitch drops or rises, rather than every syllable carrying its own tone.learning & SLAPolyglot 多語者 (多语者)A polyglot is a person who speaks several languages well; definitions vary, but four or five or more is a common threshold.grammar & typologyPolysynthetic language 多式綜合語 (多式综合语)A polysynthetic language forms very long words that combine many morphemes, so one word can express a whole sentence.grammar & typologyPostposition 後置詞 (后置词)A postposition is a grammatical word placed after the noun it relates to, the mirror image of an English preposition.sociolinguisticsPrestige dialect 標準語 / 표준어A prestige dialect is the variety a society regards as most correct or high-status, often the basis for the standard language.grammar & typologyPro-drop language A pro-drop language allows pronouns to be omitted when they are clear from context, as Japanese, Korean, Mandarin and Spanish do.wordplay & rhetoricPun 雙關語 (双关语)A pun is wordplay that exploits multiple meanings or similar sounds of words for humour or rhetorical effect.sociolinguisticsPutonghua 普通話 (普通话)Putonghua (common speech) is the official standard Mandarin of the People's Republic of China, based on Beijing pronunciation and northern grammar.scripts & writingRadical 部首A radical is the component of a Chinese character used to classify it in dictionaries, often hinting at its meaning, such as 氵 water.grammar & typologyReduplication 重疊 (重叠)Reduplication is repeating all or part of a word to change its meaning, for plural, intensity, softness or casualness.sociolinguisticsRegister 語域 (语域)Register is the variety of language chosen for a particular context, from formal written prose to casual chat with friends.phonologyRegister tone A register tone (level tone) is distinguished by relative pitch height, high, mid or low, held fairly flat across the syllable.untranslatable wordsRenao 熱鬧 (热闹)熱鬧 (rènao) describes a lively, bustling, noisy and joyful atmosphere, generally seen as a good thing in Chinese culture.phonologyRendaku 連濁Rendaku is sequential voicing in Japanese: the first consonant of the second part of a compound often becomes voiced, as in te + kami = tegami.grammar & typologyResultative complement 結果補語 (结果补语)A resultative complement is a verb or adjective added after a Mandarin verb to show the result of the action, as in 聽懂 (listen + understand).phonologyResyllabification (liaison) 연음Resyllabification is when a final consonant moves to the start of the next syllable that begins with a vowel, as in Korean 한국어 hangugeo.phonologyRetroflex consonant 捲舌音 (卷舌音)A retroflex consonant is made with the tongue tip curled back towards the roof of the mouth, like Mandarin zh, ch, sh and r.scripts & writingRevised Romanization of Korean 국어의 로마자 표기법Revised Romanization is South Korea's official system for writing Korean in Latin letters since 2000, without diacritics or apostrophes.scripts & writingRomanisation Romanisation is writing a non-Latin script in Latin letters, such as Pinyin for Mandarin, Hepburn for Japanese or Revised Romanization for Korean.untranslatable wordsSajiao 撒嬌 (撒娇)撒嬌 (sājiāo) is acting cute, pouty or childlike to get affection or a favour, especially from a partner or parent.untranslatable wordsSchadenfreude SchadenfreudeSchadenfreude is pleasure derived from someone else's misfortune.learning & SLASemantic satiation ゲシュタルト崩壊Semantic satiation is when a word repeated or stared at many times temporarily seems to lose its meaning; Japanese calls a visual version ゲシュタルト崩壊.learning & SLASentence mining Sentence mining is collecting real sentences containing one new word or structure from native content and turning them into flashcards.grammar & typologySentence-final particle 語氣詞 (语气词)A sentence-final particle is a small word at the end of a sentence that adds mood, attitude or a question, such as Mandarin 嗎, 吧, 呢 or Japanese ね and よ.grammar & typologySerial verb construction 連動句 (连动句)A serial verb construction strings two or more verbs together in one clause without conjunctions, as in Mandarin 去買菜 (go buy groceries).learning & SLAShadowing シャドーイングShadowing is repeating audio aloud almost simultaneously with a native speaker, copying rhythm, intonation and pronunciation.scripts & writingShinjitai 新字体Shinjitai are the simplified kanji forms adopted in Japan after 1946, which often differ from both traditional and mainland Simplified Chinese.Signed system Signs put in the word order of a spoken language (e.g. SIBI in Indonesia, SEE-II in Singapore), as opposed to a natural sign language.learning & SLASilent period 沉默期The silent period is a stage in which a learner, especially a child, mostly listens and does not yet speak the new language.scripts & writingSimplified Chinese characters 簡體字 (简体字)Simplified Chinese characters are reduced-stroke standard forms introduced in the PRC in the 1950s and 1960s, used in mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia.sociolinguisticsSinglish 新加坡式英語 (新加坡式英语)Singlish is Singapore's colloquial English, with grammar, particles and vocabulary from Hokkien, Malay, Cantonese, Tamil and Mandarin.sociolinguisticsSinitic languages 漢語族 (汉语族)The Sinitic languages are the Chinese branch of Sino-Tibetan, including Mandarin, Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Min (Hokkien), Hakka, Xiang and Gan.learning & SLASino-xenic vocabulary 漢字語 / 漢語 / Hán ViệtSino-xenic vocabulary is the large layer of Chinese-derived words in Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese, pronounced in each language's own way.scripts & writingSinosphere 漢字文化圈 (汉字文化圈)The Sinosphere (East Asian cultural sphere) is the group of cultures that historically used Chinese characters: China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam.untranslatable wordsSitzfleisch SitzfleischSitzfleisch, literally sitting flesh, is the German word for the stamina to sit through long, tedious work, or to overstay.grammar & typologySOV word order SOV is the subject-object-verb word order, in which the verb comes last, as in Japanese, Korean and Mongolian.learning & SLASpaced repetition 間隔重複 (间隔重复)Spaced repetition is reviewing material at increasing intervals, timed just before you would forget it, as done by apps like Anki.wordplay & rhetoricSpoonerism A spoonerism is an accidental or deliberate swap of the initial sounds of two words, producing a new, usually funny phrase.sociolinguisticsSprachbund A Sprachbund is a group of languages that share features through long contact rather than common ancestry; mainland Southeast Asia is a classic example.scripts & writingStroke order 筆順 (笔顺)Stroke order is the conventional sequence for writing the strokes of a character, generally top to bottom and left to right.grammar & typologySVO word order SVO is the subject-verb-object word order, used by English, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Thai, Malay and Indonesian.scripts & writingSyllabary 音節文字 (音节文字)A syllabary is a writing system where each symbol stands for a syllable (or mora), such as Japanese hiragana and katakana.sociolinguisticsTaglish Taglish is the mixing of Tagalog (Filipino) and English in the Philippines, often within a single sentence.sociolinguisticsTaiwanese Mandarin 臺灣華語 (台湾华语)Taiwanese Mandarin is the variety of Mandarin spoken in Taiwan, differing from mainland Putonghua in pronunciation, vocabulary and characters.wordplay & rhetoricTeekesselchen TeekesselchenTeekesselchen (little teapot) is a German word game and the colloquial German term for a homonym, a word with two unrelated meanings.phonologyTense consonants 된소리 / 경음Tense (fortis) consonants are the Korean doubled letters ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ, pronounced with a tight throat and no puff of air.wordplay & rhetoricTetraphobia Tetraphobia is the avoidance of the number 4 in East Asia because its pronunciation resembles the word for death in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese.phonologyTone 聲調 (声调)A tone is a pitch pattern that changes the meaning of a syllable, so the same sounds said with a different pitch become a different word.phonologyTone sandhi 變調 (变调)Tone sandhi is the rule-governed change of a tone when it meets certain neighbouring tones, so a word is not always pronounced with its dictionary tone.wordplay & rhetoricTongue twister 繞口令 (绕口令)A tongue twister is a phrase designed to be hard to say quickly because of similar, repeated sounds; Chinese calls it 繞口令, sentences that wind the mouth.phonologyTonogenesis Tonogenesis is the historical process by which a language develops tones, usually from lost consonants or voicing distinctions.grammar & typologyTopic-prominent language 主題優勢語言 (主题优势语言)A topic-prominent language organises sentences around a topic (what we are talking about) rather than a grammatical subject, as Chinese, Japanese and Korean do.sociolinguisticsTopolect 方言Topolect is a neutral translation of Chinese 方言 fāngyán (regional speech), avoiding the dialect vs language debate.untranslatable wordsTorschlusspanik TorschlusspanikTorschlusspanik, gate-closing panic, is the German fear that time is running out to achieve something, especially life goals.scripts & writingTraditional Chinese characters 繁體字 (繁体字) / 正體字Traditional Chinese characters are the older, unsimplified standard forms, used today in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.untranslatable wordsTsundoku 積ん読Tsundoku is buying books and letting them pile up unread, a pun on 積む tsumu (pile up) and 読書 dokusho (reading).Village sign language A sign language that arises in a small community with many deaf members, often used by hearing villagers too.phonologyVowel devoicing 母音の無声化Vowel devoicing is when i and u in Japanese become whispered or nearly silent between voiceless consonants or at the end of words.phonologyVowel harmony Vowel harmony is a rule that vowels within a word (or word plus suffixes) must come from the same class, such as all front or all back.phonologyVowel length 長音Vowel length is a contrast between short and long vowels that can change meaning, as in Japanese ojisan (uncle) and ojiisan (grandfather).scripts & writingWade-Giles 威妥瑪拼音 (威妥玛拼音)Wade-Giles is an older romanisation of Mandarin, using apostrophes to mark aspiration; it survives in Taiwanese place and personal names.