metalinguistic (adj.)

In SEMANTICS and PRAGMATICS, a term sometimes applied to OPERATORS, PREDICATES, etc. when referring to non-semantic features of the EXPRESSIONS they combine with, such as their PHONETIC or MORPHOLOGICAL FORM. An example is provided by metalinguistic negation, in which the word not is not used in its usual TRUTH FUNCTIONAL sense, but instead registers an objection to such features as the pronunciation or style of a previous or hypothetical utterance.