| Word | Definition & Example |
|---|---|
| linguistics n. |
The scientific study of language. "Linguistics covers everything from sound systems to grammar to meaning." Collocations: applied linguistics, theoretical linguistics |
| phoneme n. |
The smallest unit of sound that distinguishes one word from another. "The English words 'pin' and 'bin' differ only in their initial phoneme." Collocations: phoneme inventory |
| morpheme n. |
The smallest unit of meaning in a language. "The word 'unhappy' contains two morphemes — 'un' and 'happy'." Collocations: free morpheme, bound morpheme |
| syntax n. |
The rules governing how words combine into sentences. "English syntax requires the subject before the verb in declarative sentences." Collocations: syntax rule, syntactic structure |
| semantics n. |
The study of meaning in language. "Semantics deals with how words and sentences carry meaning." Collocations: lexical semantics |
| pragmatics n. |
The study of how context affects meaning. "Pragmatics explains why 'can you pass the salt' is a request, not a question." Collocations: pragmatic interpretation |
| dialect n. |
A regional or social variety of a language. "American and British English are dialects of the same language." Collocations: regional dialect, local dialect |
| accent n. |
A way of pronouncing a language characteristic of a region or group. "She speaks fluent English with a noticeable French accent." Collocations: regional accent, native accent |
| fluency n. |
The ability to speak or write smoothly and easily. "Speaking fluency improves much faster with frequent practice than with study alone." Collocations: near-native fluency, lack of fluency |
| acquisition n. |
The process of acquiring a language. "First-language acquisition is mostly complete by age six." Collocations: language acquisition, second-language acquisition |
| bilingual adj. |
Able to use two languages with similar facility. "Bilingual children show measurable cognitive advantages on certain tasks." Collocations: bilingual education, balanced bilingual |
| literacy n. |
The ability to read and write. "Universal literacy is a relatively recent achievement, even in wealthy countries." Collocations: adult literacy, literacy rate |
| vocabulary n. |
The words known to a speaker of a language. "An educated adult typically commands a vocabulary of 30,000 words or more." Collocations: active vocabulary, passive vocabulary |
| grammar n. |
The rules governing the structure of a language. "English grammar relies more on word order than many languages do." Collocations: grammar rule, prescriptive grammar |
| origin n. |
The point at which something began. "The origin of human language remains a contested topic." Collocations: linguistic origin, etymological origin |
| evolution n. |
Gradual development over time. "Language evolution is driven by social contact, migration, and innovation." Collocations: linguistic evolution |
| context n. |
The setting in which something occurs. "Context determines whether 'bank' means a riverside or a financial institution." Collocations: social context, linguistic context |
| intonation n. |
The rise and fall of pitch in speech. "Rising intonation at the end of a sentence often signals a question." Collocations: rising intonation, falling intonation |
| stress n. |
Emphasis on a particular syllable. "In English, stress can change meaning — 'PRESENT' (gift) vs 're-PRESENT' (depict)." Collocations: stress pattern, primary stress |
| loanword n. |
A word adopted from another language. "English has thousands of loanwords from French, Latin, and German." Collocations: loanword from Latin |
| mother tongue n. |
A person's native language. "Most people learn their mother tongue without explicit instruction." Collocations: mother tongue interference |
| distinguish v. |
To recognise the difference between things. "Tonal languages use pitch to distinguish words that share the same consonants and vowels." Collocations: distinguish between two things |
| transcribe v. |
To write down spoken language using symbols. "Linguists transcribe speech using the International Phonetic Alphabet." Collocations: transcribe phonetically |
| categorise v. |
To place into groups according to shared features. "Linguists categorise languages by their structural similarities and historical origins." Collocations: categorise into groups |
| coherence n. |
The quality of holding together logically. "Strong essay writing depends on coherence across paragraphs." Collocations: logical coherence, lack of coherence |
How this vocabulary appears on the TOEFL
Linguistics terms appear directly in passages and audio across Reading · Listening. The questions you'll see most frequently target this vocabulary are paraphrase identification (the test rewords a sentence using a synonym from this list), inference questions (you need the term's meaning to follow the argument), and reference questions (the term is the antecedent of a pronoun in another sentence). Knowing the term plus one or two natural collocations lets you decode passages faster and recognise paraphrases on the answer choices without re-reading.
How to study this list effectively
Don't try to memorise the whole list in one sitting. Effective vocabulary study works in three passes: (1) recognise — read each entry once until the word feels familiar; (2) retrieve — cover the definitions and try to recall each one from the word alone; (3) produce — write a sentence of your own that uses the word in a TOEFL context. Spaced repetition over 5–7 days will make the words stick far better than a single intensive review session. Pair this list with a practice test in the same section so you encounter the words in real test contexts.
Practise this vocabulary on real TOEFL tests
- Reading practice tests — passages on academic topics
- Listening practice tests — campus conversations and academic talks
- Full-length practice tests — vocabulary in context across all four sections
- More TOEFL vocabulary by topic