Accents and Dialect key terms Flashcards
Accent
A distinctive way of pronouncing a language.
Dialect
A particular form of a language which is peculiar to a specific region or social group.
Slang
A type of language consisting of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal.
Social networks
A social network is a set of people who interact.
Dialect levelling
Dialect levelling or levelling is the process of an overall reduction in the variation or diversity of features between two or more dialects.
Standard English
Widely accepted as the correct form.
Non-standard English
Informal version of English.
Convergence
The process whereby two or more individuals alter or shift their speech to resemble that of those they are interacting with.
Divergence
When we emphasise the differences in our language versus the language of the person we are talking to.
Idiomatic phrases
An idiom is a phrase that, when taken as a whole, had a meaning you wouldn’t be able to deduce from the words.
Code switching
The process of alternating between one linguistic code to another.
Received Pronunciation (RP)
Regionally neutral accent used by many M/C speakers in the UK.
Colloquial
Used in ordinary family conversation.
Turn-taking
Occurs in a conversation when one person listens while the other person speaks.
Adjacency pairs
Composed of two utterances by two speakers, one after the other.
Elocution
The skill of clear and expressive speech, especially if distinct pronunciation and articulation.
Etiquette
The customary code of polite behaviour in society or among members of a particular profession or group.
Omission
The act of not including something or someone that should have been.
Overt prestige
Prestige acquired in a community by using a standard of formal language variety associated with power and status.
Covert prestige
Refers to the relatively high value placed towards a non-standard form of a variety in a speech community.
Social mobility
Change in a persons socio-economic situation, either in relation to their parents, or throughout their lifetime.
Code mixing
Mixing of two or more languages or language varieties in speech.
Multiple negation
Involved the presence of more than one negative in a particular sentence.
Plural marking
The plural is marked clearly.
Unmarked plurality
The plural is marked unclearly.
Neologisms
A newly coined word or expression.
