agglutinating language   A language  in which morphemes are easily divided, and which tends to express only one meaning per morpheme

biological adaptation   An inherited or acquired modification in organisms that makes them better suited to survive and reproduce in a particular environment

classifer   A counter word that is used to accompany nouns and can be considered to “classify” the noun depending on the type of its referent

consonant clusters   A group of consonants which have no intervening vowel

cultural adaptation   The process of ensuring a message, whether translated into another language or not, is presented using cultural references and role models that your intended audience will identify with

cultural evolution   the idea that human cultural change can be described as a Darwinian evolutionary process that is similar in key respects to biological/genetic evolution.

fusional language   A language which tends to express one meaning per morpheme

human natural language   Any language which arises, unpremeditated, in the brains of human beings

ideophones   Words that evoke an idea in sound, often a vivid impression of certain sensations or sensory perceptions

index of fusion   The degree to which a language tends to express one meaning per morpheme

index of synthesis The degree to which a language tends to have many morphemes per word

inflection   Conceptual categories that do not create new stems. Rather, they add specific “grammatical” information to already existing stems.

indicative   used to make factual statements, ask questions, or express opinions as if they were facts.

innateness   Existing in, belonging to, or determined by factors present in an individual from birth

isolating language   A language in which words tend to consist of a single morpheme

language family A group of languages of related through descent from a common ancestor

language universals   A trait or property of language that exists, or has the potential toexist, in all language

lexical entry   A linguistic sign of any size that expresses content meaning

nominal   A term sometimes used as an alternative for, or replacement of, noun in languages that do no distinguish adjectives and nouns as distinct part-of-speech

mark features   the additional articulatory features that are more complex in nature and less preferred in sound sequences

morphology   The branch of linguistics that studies the structure of words

phonology   The system of contrastive relationships among the speech sounds that constitute the fundamental components of a language

phonological hierarchies    Preference order of phonology in single phonemes and phonemic clustering across various positions in a word

phrasal categories   Traditional parts of speech (noun, verbs) in phrase structure grammar

positionals   Describe the position and form of persons and objects

semantic   Relating to meaning in language or logic

sign language   A system of communication using visual gestures and signs, as used by deaf people

sonority   Openness of a sound

sonority sequencing universals   Ranking of speech sounds by amplitude that is common

syntax   The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language

typology   Subfield of linguistic that studies and classifies languages according to their structural and functional features

universal grammar   The ability to learn grammar is hard-wired into the brain

verb affix  A bound morpheme attached to a root or stem of a verb, modifying its meaning in some way

word class   A category of words of similar form or function; a part of speech (noun, verb, adjectives etc)

word order   The sequence of words in a sentence, especially as governed by grammatical rules and as affecting meaning

6. Credits