acrolect. ac·ro·lect. noun.

The variety of speech that is closest to a standard prestige language, especially

in an area in which a creole is spoken. For example, Standard Jamaican English is the acrolect where
Jamaican Creole is spoken.

(relative to the acrolect and the basilect) an intermediate dialect or variety of a particular language
(used especially in the study of Creoles).

basilect. bas·i·lect. noun. The variety of speech that is most remote from the prestige variety, especially
in an area where a creole is spoken. For example, in Jamaica, Jamaican Creole is the basilect whereas
Standard Jamaican English is the acrolect or prestige language

Phonological definition, the study of the distribution and patterning of speech sounds in a language and
of the tacit rules governing pronunciation.

Lexical- relating to words or the vocabulary of a language as distinguished from its grammar and
construction Our language has many lexical borrowings from other languages

The definition of syntactic is relating to the rules of language. An example of something syntactic is a
sentence that uses the correct form of a verb; syntactic sentence.

discourse refers to a unit of language longer than a single sentence. More broadly, discourse is the use
of spoken or written language in a social context.

Stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word, or to certain words in a
phrase or sentence.

m. Rhythm is the repetition of a pattern of sounds in poetry. Rhythm is created by the alternation of
long and short sounds and stressed and unstressed syllables.

A stress-timed language is a language where the stressed syllables are said at approximately regular
intervals, and unstressed syllables shorten to fit this rhythm. Stress-timed languages can be compared
with syllable-timed ones, where each syllable takes roughly the same amount of time

Lexicons are really dictionaries, though a lexicon usually covers an ancient language or the special
vocabulary of a particular author or field of study. In linguistics, the lexicon is the total stock of words
and word elements that carry meaning. Lexicon is from Greek lexikon (biblion) meaning "word(book),"
ultimately going back to legein "to speak."

collocation refers to a group of words that often go together or that are likely to occur together. Two
words that often go together, such as light sleeper or early riser are an example of collocation.

THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH

There are eight parts of speech in the English language: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb,
preposition, conjunction, and interjection. The part of speech indicates how the word functions in
meaning as well as grammatically within the sentence. An individual word can function as more than
one part of speech when used in different circumstances. Understanding parts of speech is essential for
determining the correct definition of a word when using the dictionary.
1. NOUN- A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea.

man... Butte College... house... happiness

A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. Nouns are often used with an article (the, a, an), but
not always. Proper nouns always start with a capital letter; common nouns do not. Nouns can be
singular or plural, concrete or abstract. Nouns show possession by adding 's. Nouns can function in
different roles within a sentence; for example, a noun can be a subject, direct object, indirect object,
subject complement, or object of a preposition.

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!

2. PRONOUN- A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun.

She... we... they... it

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. A pronoun is usually substituted for a specific noun, which
is called its antecedent. In the sentence above, the antecedent for the pronoun she is the girl. Pronouns
are further defined by type: personal pronouns refer to specific persons or things; possessive pronouns
indicate ownership; reflexive pronouns are used to emphasize another noun or pronoun; relative
pronouns introduce a subordinate clause; and demonstrative pronouns identify, point to, or refer to
nouns.

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!

 Subjective personal pronouns are the subject of the sentence and are: I, we, you, he, she, it, and
they
 Objective personal pronouns are the object of a preposition, verb, or infinitive phrase. These
are: me, us, you, him, her, it, and them
 Possessive personal pronouns show ownership. They are: mine, ours, yours, his, hers, its, and
theirs
 Demonstrative pronouns identify and point to the noun or pronoun. They are: this, that, these,
and those
 Interrogative pronouns are used to ask a question. These are: who, whom, what, which
whoever, whomever, whatever, and whichever
 Relative pronouns link clauses or phrases to the rest of the sentence. It could be: who, whoever,
whom, whomever, that, which, and whichever
 Indefinite pronouns are not specific and refer to all, some, or none. There are many of these,
and a few are: one, few, any, nobody, anything, and everything
 Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of a clause or sentence. These are: myself, yourself,
himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves

3. VERB- A verb expresses action or being.

jump... is... write... become

The verb in a sentence expresses action or being. There is a main verb and sometimes one or more
helping verbs. ("She can sing." Sing is the main verb; can is the helping verb.) A verb must agree with its
subject in number (both are singular or both are plural). Verbs also take different forms to express
tense.

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!

4. ADJECTIVE

An adjective modifies or describes a noun or pronoun.

pretty... old... blue... smart

An adjective is a word used to modify or describe a noun or a pronoun. It usually answers the question
of which one, what kind, or how many. (Articles [a, an, the] are usually classified as adjectives.)

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!

5. ADVERB- An adverb modifies or describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

gently... extremely... carefully... well

An adverb describes or modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, but never a noun. It usually
answers the questions of when, where, how, why, under what conditions, or to what degree. Adverbs
often end in -ly.

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!

6. PREPOSITION- A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying
another word in the sentence.

by... with.... about... until

(by the tree, with our friends, about the book, until tomorrow)

A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word in
the sentence. Therefore a preposition is always part of a prepositional phrase. The prepositional phrase
almost always functions as an adjective or as an adverb. The following list includes the most common
prepositions:

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!

7. CONJUNCTION

A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses.

and... but... or... while... because

A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses, and indicates the relationship between the elements
joined. Coordinating conjunctions connect grammatically equal elements: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet.
Subordinating conjunctions connect clauses that are not equal: because, although, while, since, etc.
There are other types of conjunctions as well.
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!

8. INTERJECTION

An interjection is a word used to express emotion.

Oh!... Wow!... Oops!

An interjection is a word used to express emotion. It is often followed by an exclamation point.

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!

An article is a kind of adjective which is always used with and gives some information about a noun.
There are only two articles a and the, but they are used very often and are important for using English
accurately.

Pronoun-Antecedent Incongruence

Pronoun: A word that substitutes for a noun, noun phrase, or another pronoun.

Antecedent: Noun or noun phrase that the pronoun refers to.

A pronoun antecedent is a word that comes before a pronoun to which the pronoun refers. Following
are definitions of antecedent as well as a review about the types of pronoun, information about the
functions of an antecedent in a sentence, and examples of how to use in a sentence

Rules:

 If the pronoun takes the place of a singular noun, you have to use a singular pronoun.
 Agree in person: Do not switch between first, second, and third person.
 Make it clear what noun you are referring to.

Example:

Ask John if John has done John’s homework. Ask John if he has done his homework.

Both of Sally’s friends said both would help Joy to find Joy’s books. Both of Sally’s friends said they
would help Joy to find her books.

Subject-predicate Incongruence

Subject: The part of the sentence that refers to who it is about.

Predicate: The part of the sentence that describes what the subject is doing or what the subject is.

Subject-Predicate Rules

In order for a sentence to make sense, the predicate needs to coincide with the subject of the
sentence. The predicate starts with a verb and is followed by the direct or indirect object. In order for
there to be an agreement, a singular subject needs to have a singular verb and the same goes for a
plural subject and plural verb.

Singular Example: The man from the shop (subject) is a student. (predicate)
Plural Example: His supervisor (subject) wants him to work the night shifts. (predicate)

Another examples:

The girl in blue dress bought a luxurious bag.

She scolded her child.

Rules:

 When using present tense, subject and verb must agree in person (first, second,or third) and
number (singular or plural).
 When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by
and, use a plural verb
 When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by or or nor, use a singular verb.
 When a compound subject contains both a singular and a plural noun or pronoun joined by or or
nor, the verb should agree with the part of the subject that is nearer the verb.
 Do not be misled by a phrase that comes between the subject and the verb. The verb agrees
with the subject, not with a noun or pronoun in the phrase

A verb can be described as transitive or intransitive based on whether it requires an object to express a
complete thought or not. A transitive verb is one that only makes sense if it exerts its action on an
object. An intransitive verb will make sense without one. Some verbs may be used both ways.

Transitive verbs are not just verbs that can take an object; they demand objects. Without an object to
affect, the sentence that a transitive verb inhabits will not seem complete.

Examples: The girls carry water to their village. Juan threw the ball. Could you phone the neighbors? I
caught a cold. She loves rainbows. Lila conveyed the message.

An intransitive verb is the opposite of a transitive verb: it does not require an object to act upon.

Examples: They jumped. The dog ran. She sang. A light was shining.

The 12 Basic English Tenses

The Present Tenses

 Present Simple- most basic tense in English and uses the base form of the verb (except for the
verb be). (I do, I do do)
 Present Continuous- We often use the Present Continuous tense in English. It is very different
from the Present Simple tense, both in structure and in use. (I am doing)
 Present Perfect- a rather important tense in English, but it gives speakers of some languages a
difficult time. That is because it uses concepts or ideas that do not exist in those languages. (I
have done)
 Present Perfect Continuous- uses two auxiliary verbs together with a main verb. (I have been
doing)

The Past Tenses

  Past Simple- sometimes called the "preterite tense". We can use several tenses and forms to
talk about the past, but the Past Simple tense is the one we use most often. (I did, I did do)
 Past Continuous- an important tense in English. We use it to say what we were in the middle of
doing at a particular moment in the past. (I was doing)
 Past Perfect- quite an easy tense to understand and to use. This tense talks about the "past in
the past". (I had done)
 Past Perfect Continuous- another tense that expresses the "past in the past". (I had been doing)

The Future Tenses

 Future Simple- often called the "will tense" because we make the Future Simple with the modal
auxiliary will. (I will do)
 Future Continuous- often used in English as a way to talk about something happening at a given
point in the future. (I will be doing)
 Future Perfect- quite an easy tense to understand and use. The Future Perfect talks about the
past in the future. (I will have done)
 Future Perfect Continuous- looks at the past from the future. (I will have been doing)

Register- a variety of language used for a particular purpose or in a particular communicative situation.

Genre (from French genre, meaning 'kind, sort')- any form or type of communication in any mode
(written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed upon conventions developed over time.

Style- a set of linguistic variants with specific social meanings. In this context, social meanings can
include group membership, personal attributes, or beliefs.

Samples of Philippine English

1. Chancing- The concept of “making a move” in the sexual context is called panananching or
“chancing”. It means to take the “chance” to “cop a feel” and other sexual advances over someone who
is most likely not wanting the advances.

2. Eat-All-You-Can- It is the version of the all-you-can-eat buffet, which offers unlimited food and drinks
at a fixed time or price. With the Filipinos; immense love for food, it does not come as a shock to see
long lines in restaurants or diners with this kind of service.

3. Salvage- Despite having the original meaning as an act of saving or protecting someone or something
from destruction, the word “salvage” gets a whole new meaning when it was tied along the same lines
like that of “murder” and is most often heard from the media regarding murder cases. The origin of the
word is considered a pseudo-anglicism of the Spanish word “salvaje”, which is pronounced in the same
way of the Tagalog word for salvage.

4. Live-In- Due to the Philippines’ conservative nature towards marriage, live-in or the state of an
unmarried couple living together is frowned upon. Despite the common practice of moving together in
other countries, the idea of living together is considered as taboo and against the public morals.
5. Bedspace- Not limited to the space in a ved, the term began to mean an entire room in general that
people can rent for use, and are eventually called “bedspacers”.

6. Double deck- A double deck is the popular term for the bunk bed, which is also known as the double
bed.

7. Comfort Room- With a variation from different establishments who opt to use the term “restroom”,
the comfort room (abbreviated as C. R.), it is the prevailing room for the bathroom.

8. Boodle fight- Conceptualized by Philippine Military Academy cadets to strengthen the camaraderie
between participants, a boodle fight is a gathering usually serving rice with viand or pancit in banana
leaves and eaten using bare hands.

9. Vulcanizing Shop- Not in any way related to the Roman god of fire and volcanoes, it is the Filipino
equivalent for the automobile and tire repair shop.

10. Videoke- The videoke is the outcome after combining karaoke with video and was first introduced in
the country in the 1990s.

11. Overpass- A structure referring to a bridge made from cement or steel that people can use to get to
the other side of the street. A way going underground is called an underpass.

Sample of Malaysian English

1. On- In English, ‘on’ is a preposition, for instance “The book is on the table”, or used to indicate
wanting to use an electrical appliance such as turning on the lights. In Malaysia, we use ‘on’ to indicate
that we’re ‘up for the plan/activity’. Example: “We are going to mamak tonight, you on ah?” “On lah!”

2. Power/Terror- We use these two words to indicate how awesome/great something or someone is. It
can be food, a person, or just about anything really! Example: Jason just helped me solve this super
complicated math question! So power/terror right!

3. Steady- While English speakers use this to describe something that’s firm or stable, we Malaysians use
this word when we’re describing someone who’s laid back and chill. Example: “Sean is taking his big
exam today but he still seems very steady ah.”

4. One- No we don’t mean ‘one’ the numerical digit. We very often use this word as a confirmation for
our statement or question, usually added at the end of each sentence. Example: “Ask this girl any
questions about Malaysia, she sure know one.”

5. Action- We use this word to describe someone who is being braggy, cocky or arrogant. Example: “This
guy is very action. He purposely drove out his BMW just to go to the pasar malam.”

6. Stoned- English speakers use this word to describe a person who’s drunk or under the influence of
drugs, especially marijuana. However, we Malaysian are so laid back that we get stoned just by staring
into blank space. Or sometimes used to describe someone who looks lifeless. Example: “Eh, didn’t sleep
well yesterday? You look super stoned.”

7. Slumber- People would think you mean ‘sleep’ when you say slumber. But in Malaysians context, it’s
used to describe a person who isn’t anxious nor worried about something. Example: “He came in 3
hours late to work but he’s still so slumber.”
8. Tackle- This one can be tricky for foreigners! When someone asks you to ‘tackle’ a person in Malaysia,
90% of the time it means to apprach and flirt with an individual. Don’t end up beating someone up!
Example: “I think she likes you. Quickly go and tackle her lah!”

9. Banana- While banana means a type of fruit, in Malaysia, it’s used to represent a ‘type’ of human – a
Chinese who can’t speak the Chinese language! Banana because… yellow on the outside, white on the
inside! Example: “He’s a banana lah, he won’t understand if you speak in Mandarin.”

10. Pattern- When English speakers say ‘pattern’, they mean repeated decorative designs. In Malaysia,
this word is used pretty frequently to describe a person who acts in various kinds of unusual behaviour.
Example: “So you’re telling me that you like banana flavoured ice cream but not the fruit? Can you don’t
be so pattern ah?”

Sample of Singaporean English

1. Ang moh- A light-skinned person, especially of Western origin or descent; a Caucasian.

2. Blur- Slow in understanding; unaware, ignorant, confused.

3. Hawker Centre- A food market at which individual vendors sell cooked food from small stalls, with a
shared seating area for customers.

4. HDB- Housing and Development Board; used chiefly with reference to public housing estates built and
managed by the Singapore government.

5. Shiok- Interjection: expressing admiration or approval. Adjective: delicious, superb; admirable,

enjoyable, excellent.