Additional Metalanguage Flashcards
Highly informal, non-Standard language that is new and associated with particular social groups, e.g. “dunny”
Slang (Usually lexical)
Informal, everyday language that is typically older than slang and may be included in the dictionary and used by different people across society, e.g., “g’day mate.”
Colloquialism (Usually lexical)
Highly precise and technical language, e.g., legal terms like “malice aforethought.”
Jargon (Usually lexical)
Offensive or vulgar language, e.g., “f**k.”
Swearing (Usually lexical)
Cutting off part of a word, e.g., “uni” (from “university”).
Shortening (Morphology)
A sequence of words or phrases of the same type or word class. May be presented in dot points, numbered lists, or simply with commas, e.g., “She’s travelled to Russia, Spain, Greece, and Germany.”
Listing (Syntax)
Two or more interlocutors speaking at the same time. Usually indicated by square brackets on a transcript. Can be cooperative (e.g., two friends are talking and excitedly finishing each other’s sentences) or uncooperative (e.g., one speaker trying to interrupt another to take the floor from them).
Overlapping speech (Discourse)
Words/phrases that act as markers conveying subtle nuances of language, e.g., “well” (to take the floor or introduce a topic), “anyway” (to change a topic), “you know” (to seek feedback), “like” (to hedge - soften strength of assertion).
Discourse particle (Discourse)
How the text starts and ends, e.g., an interview usually opens with the host introducing and greeting the interviewee and ends with the host thanking the interviewee for their time.
Opening/closing (Discourse)
A term of address that is not grammatically required in a sentence, e.g., “Mr Lilley, why do you like Syntax?”
Vocative (Discourse):
A two-part exchange in which an initiating utterance from one interlocutor demands a particular, expected kind of response from the other interlocutor. E.g., question-answer adjacency pairs (a question asked by one interlocutor demands an answer from the other interlocutor).
Adjacency pair (Discourse)
An utterance that fills in what would otherwise be a pause, e.g., “um,” “er,” “ahhh.”
Pause filler (Discourse)
Supporting the interlocutor who is holding the floor by uttering sounds and words without taking the floor (e.g., saying “hmm” or laughing while another interlocutor is speaking).
Back-channelling (Discourse)
The spelling system, e.g., you might comment on how spelling “library” as “libry” in a written text involves using non-standard orthography to represent the phonetic feature of elision.
Orthography (This is a subsystem in itself!)
