Semantics refers to the fact that children must learn combinations of phonemes that represent certain events, people, or objects. Pragmatics refers to the usage of different words, phrases, and slang terms. Children must learn how tone of voice and modulation can shape the meaning of a sentence. The same sentence might mean two different things in different contexts.

Wernicke's aphasia hinders one's ability to understand language. It is directly linked with damage to a particular part of the brain known as Wernicke's area. By contrast, Broca's area is linked to humans' ability to produce language. Broca's aphasia, in turn, is a diagnosis related to issues with language production, rather than comprehension.

Wernicke's area, located in the region known commonly as Brodmann 22 or at the junction of the temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes, has been found to contribute to language comprehension. Patients with Wernicke's aphasia can speak, but not comprehend language.

In a morpheme-exchange error (morphemic error), two or more morphemes (-er, -s, -ed, etc.) exchange places. These kinds of errors often occur in children or those learning a morpheme-heavy language like English for the first time.

It is always of great help to know a large range of prefixes and suffixes when heading into standardized exams. Note that “para” means besides or outside of, therefore, paralinguistics are those vocal (excluding actual words) and non-vocal elements of communication that carry meaning. Elements of paralinguistics include pitch, rate of speech, fluency of speech, volume, and a host of signs and sounds that work to color what we are saying.

Prosody concerns itself with the elements of speech which are generated from interactions between units of language beyond phonemic elements (syllables, word play, etc.), and covers parts of language like tone, stress, and rhythm. Aprosodia, or the inability to recognize and generate these elements of speech, is often a classic sign of Asperger's Syndrome.

Kinesics is the study of all forms of nonverbal communication given by bodily motions and facial expressions, and is generally considered to be founded by Ray Birdwhistell in the 1950's. The common term "body language" was actually never used by Birdwhistell, as linguists of the day would not consider bodily expressions to meet the technical definition of a language.

Broadly defined as the space around a person which that person regards as psychologically theirs, personal space is a concept under the umbrella of "nonverbal communication" and is thought to be controlled or heavily influenced by the amygdala. Research has shown that individuals with bilateral lesion of the amygdala show little or no reaction when their personal space is violated.

Developed in 1999, the IPV is a 10-item scale designed to test the extent to which cultures prefer to be engaged in at least two simultaneous tasks. The broader study of the role of time in communication, particularly in nonverbal communication, is known as chronemics.

In high-context cultures, most of the rules of social engagement are assumed to be known by members, and thus much more nonverbal communication is utilized. This type of communication is easier among nondiverse cohorts and in cultures which strongly value tradition and history, which may explain its relative prevalence in the Middle East, Africa, South America and Asia. The U.S. and Germany are examples of low-context cultures, where rules are spelled out more explicitly.