synthetic language
- noun
- /sɪnˈθɛtɪk ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/
- Specialized
:
lengua sintética
- Old Russian was a synthetic language with many case endings and verb forms.
Examples
-
Latin is a well-known synthetic language.
-
The distinction between analytic and synthetic language types is important in linguistic studies.
-
Latin is a classic example of a synthetic language due to its complex system of inflections.
-
Many synthetic languages use inflection to convey meaning.
-
Latin is an example of a synthetic language because it uses inflectional endings to convey grammatical relationships.
-
Many synthetic languages, like Russian, rely on morphological changes to indicate tense and case.
-
In a synthetic language, such as Hungarian, word endings modify the meaning to indicate the subject or object.
Antonyms
How Synthetic
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
1
8.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built from 'synthetic' + 'language', so there is an obvious relation that the adjective modifies the noun. However, its precise linguistic meaning — languages that mark grammatical relationships through inflectional endings or affixes — is a technical, domain-specific sense that a typical B1 learner who knows the common meaning of 'synthetic' (e.g. 'artificial' or 'made') would not reliably infer. Because the connection is partly clear but requires specialized knowledge to grasp fully, it is best classified as semi-transparent.
Etymology
Synthetic language comes from an old word meaning 'put together'. Imagine building a word like a tower of blocks: speakers add small parts, called affixes or endings, onto a root to show things like tense or case, so the phrase means a language that uses added parts to show grammar.