0. U3+4 ML Glossary (2024 SD) Flashcards
What are the prosodic features in phonetics?
Pitch, stress, volume, tempo, intonation
List connected speech processes
- Assimilation
- Vowel reduction
- Elision
- Insertion
What is phonological patterning in texts?
- Alliteration
- Assonance
- Consonance
- Onomatopoeia
- Rhythm
- Rhyme
What does the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represent?
A system for phonetic transcription of languages
Define hypocoristic use of suffixes
The use of diminutive or affectionate suffixes in language
What are word formation processes in morphology?
- Affixation
- Abbreviation
- Shortening
- Compounding
- Blending
- Backformation
- Conversion of word class
- Initialism
- Acronym
- Contraction
Identify the main word classes
- Nouns (including pronouns)
- Verbs (including auxiliary and modal verbs)
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Prepositions
- Conjunctions
- Determiners
- Interjections
What is nominalisation in lexicoogy?
The process of converting verbs or adjectives into nouns
What are the types of phrases in syntax?
- Noun phrase
- Verb phrase
- Adjective phrase
- Adverb phrase
- Prepositional phrase
What functions can clauses serve?
- Subject
- Object
- Predicate
- Complement
- Adverbial
What are the sentence types based on communicative function?
- Declarative
- Imperative
- Interrogative
- Exclamative
What are the different sentence structures?
- Sentence fragments
- Simple
- Compound
- Complex
- Compound-complex
What is the difference between active and passive voice?
Active voice has the subject as the actor; passive voice emphasizes the action’s recipient
What is syntactic patterning in texts?
- Antithesis
- Listing
- Parallelism
What does word order typically follow in English?
Subject, verb, object; modifiers in a noun phrase; adverbials
What are paralinguistic features?
- Vocal effects (e.g., whispers, laughter)
- Non-verbal communication (e.g., gestures, facial expressions, eye contact)
Define code-switching
The practice of alternating between two or more languages or dialects in conversation
What factors contribute to a text’s coherence?
- Cohesion
- Inference
- Logical ordering
- Formatting
- Consistency and conventions
What factors contribute to a text’s cohesion?
- Lexical choice (synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy)
- Hypernymy
- Collocation
- Information flow
- Anaphoric and cataphoric reference
- Deictics
- Repetition
- Ellipsis
- Substitution
- Conjunctions and adverbials
What are features of spoken discourse?
- Openings and closings
- Adjacency pairs
- Minimal responses/backchannels
- Overlapping speech
- Discourse particles/markers
- Non-fluency features
What are the strategies used in spoken discourse?
- Topic management
- Turn-taking
- Management of repair sequences
What are politeness strategies?
- Positive and negative face
- Positive and negative face threatening acts
- Positive and negative politeness
What is semantic patterning?
- Figurative language
- Irony
- Metaphor
- Oxymoron
- Simile
- Hyperbole
- Personification
- Animation
- Puns
- Lexical ambiguity
Define euphemism
A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt
What does the term ‘context’ refer to in linguistics?
The environment in which a text appears, including the circumstances of speakers and listeners
What is the difference between denotation and connotation?
Denotation is the literal meaning; connotation refers to the associations attached to a word
What are the different types of accents in English?
- Broad
- General
- Cultivated
What is a compound word?
A word formed by joining two free morphemes, e.g., skateboard
What is the role of an auxiliary verb?
To precede the participle (lexical) verb in a verb phrase
Define antithesis
Juxtaposition of words and ideas within parallel phrases or clauses to create balance or contrast
What is an adjacency pair?
Pairs of utterances that require turn-taking where the first utterance prompts a response
What is the purpose of clefting in syntax?
To split a single clause idea into two connected clauses, each with its own verb
What is an acronym?
An abbreviation formed from the initial letters of words in a phrase and pronounced as a word
What does ‘commonisation’ mean?
When a proper noun becomes a common noun through general use
What iscriptivism?
Language behaviour that can actually be observed, emphasising an objective account of the patterns and use of a language.
Define Determiner.
A closed class lexical item which specifies the number and definiteness of a noun. Eg the game, that decision, your friend.
What is a Dialect?
A language variety that identifies the geographical or social background of a person, characterised by distinctive words and grammar.
What is a Direct object?
A sentence element directly affected by the action of a verb. Eg. She ate the pie.
Define Discourse.
Any spoken or written language in a given context.
What is a Discourse marker/particle?
A brief word or phrase uttered to mark something within the discourse, such as the beginning of a turn or a change in topic. Eg. well, ok.
What does Double-speak refer to?
Language that misleads, conceals, and/or makes something undesirable seem positive.
Define Dysphemism.
A harsher or more direct and impolite word or phrase to refer to a taboo or unpleasant topic. Eg. She’s knocked up.
What is Elision?
The omission of sounds in connected speech. Eg. salt an’ pepper.
What does Ellipsis mean?
The omission of a grammatical element from a sentence where the meaning is still understood.
What is End focus?
A feature of information flow where the most important ideas are presented finally in a sentence.
Define Euphemism.
A milder or more polite word or phrase to refer to a taboo or unpleasant topic. Eg. She’s peachy.
What is an Exclamative?
A sentence type that starts with an interrogative pronoun but is an emotive statement. Eg. What a fabulous dress that is!
What are Existential sentences?
Sentences that begin with There is, It is or There are to shift the theme out of its usual position.
What is a False start?
A feature of spoken discourse where an interlocutor begins an utterance and then makes an immediate repair.
Define Field in discourse.
The content or subject matter of a discourse.
What is Figurative language?
Language that involves the use of figures of speech.
What does Formatting refer to in writing?
A feature of coherence that involves alterations to the graphology / physical appearance of a written text.
What is a Fragment?
Part of a sentence, presented as a sentence with clause elements missing.
What are Free morphemes?
Morphemes that can stand alone as a lexeme. Eg. chair.
Define Front focus.
A feature of information flow that involves moving a phrasal element out of its usual position to the front of a sentence.
What is Fronting?
Moving grammatical elements to the front of a sentence, before the subject noun phrase.
What are the functions of language as defined by Jakobson?
- Referential
- Emotive
- Conative
- Phatic
- Metalinguistic
- Poetic
Define Graphology.
The writing system of English – letters and other ‘markers’, including context-specific graphemes.
What is Hedging?
A word or phrase uttered to ‘soften’ part of a spoken discourse.
Define Hyperbole.
Language that creates deliberate exaggeration for effect.
What is a Hypernym?
The superordinate within a lexical field.
What does Hyponymy refer to?
The relationship between words where the meaning of one lexeme is included in another.
What is Idiolect?
The unique language or speech pattern of an individual at a specific period of their life.
Define Idiom.
A playful, cultural expression that is non-literal.
What is an Imperative?
A sentence type that expresses a directive or command.
What is an Indirect object?
A sentence element indirectly affected by the action of a verb.
What is Inference?
A feature of coherence that involves the audience’s background, cultural knowledge to fully understand a text.
What does Information flow refer to?
How clauses and sentences are constructed and connected in a discourse to build cohesion.
Define Infinitive.
A verb in its base form, often preceded by the preposition ‘to’.
What is Inflection?
The indication of grammatical information, such as tense and number.
What is an Infix?
A morpheme that exists within a stem.
Define Initialism.
A word formed with the initial letters of words in a phrase, pronounced separately.
What does Insertion mean?
The addition of one or more sounds to a word.
What is an Interjection?
A sudden, brief utterance that is usually not part of a syntactic structure.
Define Interrogative.
A sentence type that expresses a question.
What is an Interrogative tag?
An incomplete clause that includes inversion added to the end of a declarative.
What does Intonation refer to?
Differences in the pitch level of the voice in spoken discourse.
What is Inversion?
Reversing the order of clause elements, usually subject and verb to form interrogatives.
Define Irony.
A semantic feature that creates a contrast between what actually occurs and what is expected.
What is Jargon?
The specialised language of a field, often difficult for outsiders to understand.
What is Lexical ambiguity?
When a word can be understood in two or more senses.
Define Lexical patterning.
The repetition of a word in various forms within a discourse.
What does Listing refer to in syntax?
A form of syntactic patterning where lexemes or phrases are arranged in a cohesive series.
What is Logical ordering?
A feature of coherence that relates to the clear sequencing of a text.
Define Metalanguage.
The language used to talk about language.
What is a Metaphor?
A descriptive and figurative use of language where one thing is seen in terms of another.
What is a Migrant ethnolect?
A variety of language associated with a certain ethnic or cultural subgroup.
What are Minimal responses/back-channelling?
Brief utterances in spoken discourse to signal understanding, engagement, or agreement.
Define Modal.
Auxiliary verbs that express obligation, possibility, and prediction.
What is a Morpheme?
The smallest unit of meaning.
What does Morphology study?
The internal structure of words and processes by which words are formed.
What are Multi-word lexemes?
Sequences of words that are stored and retrieved as single units from memory.
What are Negative face needs?
Language that supports one’s need to be autonomous and not intruded upon.
Define Neologism.
A newly coined word or phrase.
What is Nominalisation?
A word formation process that transforms a verb or adjective into an abstract noun.
What is Non-discriminatory language?
Language that aims to remove pejorative connotations and unnecessary distinctions based on personal characteristics.
Define Non-fluency features.
Features such as pauses, filled pauses, false starts, repetition, and repairs.
What does Non-verbal communication include?
Paralinguistic features of gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact.
What is a Noun?
A word class with a naming function, often a person, place, or thing.
What is an Object in a sentence?
A sentence element affected by the action of the verb.
Define Onomatopoeia.
Words that imitate the sounds they describe.
What are Openings in discourse?
The deliberate beginning of a spoken discourse.
What does Orthography refer to?
Spelling.
What is Overlap in discourse?
Two participants in a discourse speak simultaneously.
Define Overt norms.
Features of Standard Australian English that lead to overt prestige.
What is an Oxymoron?
A semantic feature involving the use of apparently contradictory words in a phrase.
Define Paradox.
A statement that seems contradictory yet involves a form of truth.
What are Paralinguistic features?
Features of speech that are considered marginal to language.
What is Parallelism?
The patterning of pairs or more of words or structures to create a sense of balance.
What are Pauses in discourse?
A non-fluency feature used to provide thinking time or for dramatic effect.
Define Passive voice.
A grammatical construction where the subject is not carrying out the action but having it done to them.
What does Person refer to in grammar?
The number and perspective of participants in a discourse.
What is Personification?
A semantic feature where non-human elements are given human characteristics.
Define Phatic language.
Language used to create and maintain social contact.
What is a Phoneme?
The smallest segment of sound.
What is a Phrase?
A group of related words without an agreeing subject and verb.
Define Pitch.
The height of the voice’s sound production.
What is Politeness in language?
An awareness of the public and/or personal image of another individual.
What are Positive face needs?
Language that supports one’s need to be liked, included, and appreciated.
What is a Prefix?
A bound morpheme that occurs before a stem.
What is a Predicate?
Part of a clause containing the verb and elements related to the subject.
What is a Preposition?
A closed class word that denotes a positional relationship between nouns.
Define Prescriptivism.
Correctness and describing language behaviour that aims to preserve imagined standards.
What is a Pronoun?
A closed class word that replaces a noun.
What does Prosodics refer to?
Features of spoken discourse that manipulate voice production for effect.
Define Public language.
Language that upholds expectations of the public domain.
What is a Pun?
A play on the semantics of similar sounding or related words.
What does Purpose(s) refer to in text creation?
The many reasons a text is created.
What is Rapport?
Agreement or sympathy between individuals, people, and/or groups.
Define Reflexive.
Not provided in the text.
What is a pun?
A play on the semantics of similar sounding or related words. Eg. Gun lobby protest misfires. Dairy farmers want to be heard (herd).
What does ‘Purpose(s)’ refer to in text creation?
The many reasons a text is created, including:
* Meeting politeness expectations
* Establishing expertise and authority
* Reinforcing social distance and hierarchies
* Negotiating social taboos
Define rapport.
Agreement or sympathy between individuals, people, and/or groups.
What is a reflexive pronoun?
A type of pronoun ending in –self or –selves where the subject and object are directly related. Eg. I hurt myself.
What does ‘register’ involve?
Language variation defined by use, including features across subsystems that link to a particular domain and the level of formality of the language features of a text.
What is a relative pronoun?
A pronoun that begins a relative clause. Eg. The weather, which was unpredictable, …
What is ‘repair’ in spoken discourse?
A non-fluency feature that corrects a mistake or misunderstanding. Eg. He was born in Febru..August.
What does repetition refer to in language?
A feature repeated in close proximity to the first occurrence, used for emphasis or as an unplanned utterance. Eg. many, many times.
Define rhetoric.
The way persuasive speech/writing is used/manipulated to influence an audience.
What is rhyme?
Two or more words that have or end with corresponding sounds. Eg. Sam I am, I do not like green eggs and ham.
What is rhythm in language?
The creation of long and short patterns of spoken or written discourse through stressed and unstressed syllables. Eg. ‘Double, Double, Toil and Trouble.’
Define ‘root’ in linguistics.
The stem of a word, the morpheme that carries the most meaning. Eg. restructuring.
What is a semantic domain?
A lexical set of words grouped by meaning that share a common semantic property. Eg. spaniel, corgi, collie, and terrier are all part of the semantic domain of dogs.
What does semantics study?
The study of the meaning of language. Eg. ‘bright’ can mean ‘intelligent’.
What are sense relations?
Connections between words based on meanings, including:
* Synonymy
* Antonymy
* Hyponymy
* Hypernymy
* Idiom
* Denotation and connotation
What is a sentence?
A grammatical structure made up of one or more clauses. Eg. The sun is shining.
What does ‘setting’ refer to?
The time and place in which a communicative act occurs.
Define shortening in linguistics.
A word formed through the omission of one or more syllables. Eg. coxswain, examination.
What is a simile?
A semantic feature that describes a direct comparison between two things using like or as. Eg. Her hair was like golden silk.
What is a simple sentence?
A sentence with a single clause (1 x VP). Eg. Yesterday, we went to the zoo.
Define situational context.
The extralinguistic circumstances that influence language use, including field, tenor, language mode, setting, and text type (FiTMoST).
What is slang?
Informal language characterized by metaphorical, playful, vulgar, and/or socially taboo vocabulary. Eg. dunny, ripper.
What is social distance?
The conceptual space between individuals or groups created by factors like social class, ethnicity, gender, and education.
Define sociolect.
A variety of language used by a particular social group, such as teenspeak. Eg. that’s lit.
What is Standard Australian English (SAE)?
The variety of spoken and written English in Australia that represents a common language standard agreed upon by the general population.
What is Standard English (SE)?
The variety of spoken and written English that represents a common language standard recorded in dictionaries and style guides.
What are strategies in spoken discourse?
Techniques for managing conversation, including:
* Topic management
* Turn-taking
* Code switching
* Management of repair sequences
Define stress in language.
The degree of emphasis given to sounds or syllables in speech. Eg. I ^did speak to him.
What is a subject in grammar?
A noun phrase or pronoun that agrees with the verb in a clause. Eg. They are considering the options.
What is a subordinate clause?
A clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence, also known as a dependent clause. Eg. The man, who spoke, left the room.
Define subordination.
The joining of clauses through subordinating conjunctions to create dependent clauses. Eg. If I told you, it wouldn’t work.
What is substitution in language?
A cohesive device where a noun, phrase, or clause is substituted with another in a related clause. Eg. Do you prefer this colour or that one?
What is a suffix?
A bound morpheme that occurs at the end of a stem. Eg. happiness.
Define superlative.
The form of an adjective that shows the extreme of a quality. Eg. That boy is tallest.
What is synonymy?
Different words with the same or similar meanings. Eg. They were happy with the choice.
What is syntactic patterning?
The use of specific structures in language, including:
* Parallelism
* Antithesis
* Listing
What does syntax study?
The conventions and processes by which words are ordered to create grammatically well-formed phrases, clauses, and sentences.
What is swearing?
The use of offensive or vulgar language, including expletives.
Define taboo language.
Language that is socially proscribed as improper or unacceptable, often avoided using euphemism.
What is tempo in spoken discourse?
The rate or pace of spoken discourse.
What does tenor refer to in language?
The relationships between participants in a language activity, affecting social distance and formality.
What is topic management?
Devices used by speakers to maintain or alter the subject of a discourse.
What is turn-taking?
The process of holding, taking, and passing the floor in spoken discourse.
Define verbs.
Open class words that express states, actions, or processes. Eg. am, to paint.
What are vocal effects?
Paralinguistic features of noises accompanying speech production. Eg. sighing, laughter.
What are vocatives?
Words used to address people directly. Eg. buddy, mate.
What are voiced hesitations?
Filled pauses in spoken discourse that provide thinking time. Eg. I would like um vanilla.
What is voicing?
Pronunciation of phonemes where the vocal cords vibrate. Eg. /v/, /g/.
Define volume in spoken discourse.
The degree of loudness in spoken discourse.
What is a vowel?
A sound that is not a consonant and does not restrict airflow. Eg. /u/, /ɔ/.
What is vowel reduction?
The weakening of unstressed vowel sounds, often towards the middle of the mouth. Eg. Where did ya go?
What is word class?
Words that share similar grammatical characteristics, such as nouns and prepositions.
What is word loss?
The process whereby words fall out of common use. Eg. ruthful.
Define word order.
The arrangement of words in a sentence to indicate their relationship. Eg. SVO (I like lemonade).
