Analysing Flashcards
What is formal lexis?
Serious and impersonal
Tends to use standard English vocabulary
Unlikely to contain slang
Words won’t be abbreviated, e.g. “Do not” instead of “don’t”
Includes Latin roots
What is a conversion
Where the word classes of existing words are altered
E.g. Water can be a noun (the water) and a verb (to water)
What is a suffix/prefix?
Suffix: before the root/stem of the word, e.g. -tion, -ness, -ish
Prefix: before the root/stem of the word, e.g. Multi-, dis-, trans-, sub-
What is a neologism?
A new word commonly created for science & technology, e.g. Email, genome
What is a semantic field?
(Also called lexical fields)
Groups of words that are connected in meaning, e.g. Classroom, teacher, lesson, etc.
What is a synonym?
Words that have similar meanings, e.g. “Grub” and “comestibles” are synonyms for food
What are antonyms?
Words with opposite meanings?, e.g. Hot/cold, male/female
What is a hypernym/hyponym?
Hypernym: a general word
Hyponym: a specific word with a meaning that’s linked to the hypernym
What is jargon?
Specialist vocabulary associated with a particular occupation/activity
What is a pre/post-modifier?
Pre: before the noun
Post: after the noun
What are the four sentence functions?
Declarative: gives info
Imperative: gives orders
Interrogative: a question
Exclamative: has an expressive function
What is idiolect?
The unique language of an individual, e.g. Grandmother = “nan”
What is a euphemism?
Jargon that is used as a substitute for harsher sounding words, e.g. “She passed away”
What is deixis?
A reference to something that can’t be understood unless you know the context, e.g. Date, location, time, etc.
What are the four main purposes a piece of text is generally trying to achieve
To inform
To instruct
To persuade
To entertain
What is an idiom?
Spoken metaphors, e.g. “It’s raining cats and dogs”
What are discourse markers?
Words/phrases that mark the beginning or end of a conversation.
Often conjunctions/connectives
E.g. “Anyway…”, “so…”, “others disagree…”
What are borrowed words?
Using words from another language within English, e.g. Cliché, café, risqué
What is an initial position conjunction?
A conjunction used at the beginning of a conversation, e.g. “So…”
What is tripling?
Often referred to as ‘the power of three’
“Newer, shinier, brighter”
What’s an imperative?
Using the verb at the beginning of a sentence
“Remember where we’ve come”
What is a minor sentence?
A sentence that lacks the correct grammar
What is informal lexis?
Vocabulary that is often relaxed, familiar & conversational
Commonly contains slang
Contains more monosyllabic words, e.g. “nice” “grub”
Abbreviations, e.g. Can’t, you’ll, etc.
