Language Acquisition Terms

verb to take in and incorporate as one's own; absorb

• The new employees quickly assimilated into the company culture.
• She assimilated into the group of friends effortlessly.
• He totally assimilated into the party scene after moving to the city.
• The foreign ideas were slowly assimilated into the traditional practices of the community.

verb to grant full citizenship to someone of foreign birth

• After living in the country for five years, she finally naturalized as a citizen.
• He's been talking about naturalizing for years, but he still hasn't done it.
• I heard she's finally gonna get naturalized next month.
• The new technology has quickly naturalized itself into our daily routines.

noun a person's internal mental dictionary that contains information about words and their meanings

• The mental lexicon is the storage system in our brain where we store words and their meanings.
• I'm trying to expand my mental lexicon by learning new words every day.
• My mental lexicon is full of all the latest slang terms and expressions.
• His mental lexicon was like a well-organized library, with each word neatly categorized and easily accessible.

noun the cry of a newborn baby

• The doctor noted the vagitus of the newborn as a sign of healthy lung function.
• The nurse smiled at the vagitus of the baby, knowing it was a good sign.
• I couldn't help but laugh at the little one's vagitus - it was so loud!
• The cacophony of vagitus filled the maternity ward, signaling new life and hope.

noun a person who specializes in the study of accents, especially in linguistics

• The accentologist conducted a detailed analysis of the speaker's pronunciation and intonation.
• My friend is training to become an accentologist so she can help actors perfect their accents.
• I heard that accentologist is the go-to person for mastering different regional accents.
• As an accentologist, she had a knack for deciphering the subtle nuances of speech patterns.

adjective describing or relating to the process of acquiring or obtaining something

• The acquisitional process involves the careful evaluation of potential assets before making a decision.
• I'm in the middle of an acquisitional phase where I'm trying to collect as many records as possible.
• I'm on a serious acquisitional kick right now, always looking for the next cool thing to add to my collection.
• His acquisitional nature extends beyond physical possessions, as he is always seeking new knowledge and experiences.