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AS Key Terms Flashcards

0
Q

Accent

A

The distinctive way a speaker from a particular region pronounces words

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1
Q

Abstract noun

A

A noun that refers to a concept, state, quality or emotion

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2
Q

Acronym

A

A new word made from the initial letters of all the words in a name or phrase eg. NASA

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3
Q

Active voice

A

When the subject of the sentence is directly performing the verb e.g. Steve burst the bubble

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4
Q

Adjacency pair

A

Dialogue that follows a set pattern e.g. When speakers greet each other

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5
Q

Adjective

A

A class of word that can appear before (attributive) or after (predicative) a noun to describe it

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6
Q

Adverb

A

A class of words that modify verbs according to time, place, manner, frequency, duration or degree. They can also sometimes modify nouns and adjectives too.

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7
Q

Affixation

A

The process of adding an affix before (prefix) or after (suffix) an existing word to change either its meaning of grammatical function

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8
Q

Alliteration

A

When two or more words close to each-other in a phrase begin with the same sound

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9
Q

Anaphoric reference

A

When a word, usually a pronoun, refers back to something or someone that has already been mentioned

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10
Q

Antithesis

A

Type of rhetorical language where contrasting words or ideas are balanced against each other

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11
Q

Antonyms

A

Words with opposite meanings

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12
Q

Article

A

A kind of determiner that shows if the reference to the noun is general (a/an) or specific (the)

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13
Q

Aspect

A

A verb’s aspect shows whether the action it refers to is already completed or if it is still taking place

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14
Q

assimilation

A

When sounds next to each other in a spoken word or sentence are pronounced differently from how they normally would be to make them easier to say

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15
Q

Assonance

A

When the main vowel sounds of two or more words that are close together in a text are similar or the same

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16
Q

Auxiliary verbs

A

Verbs used before the main verb in a sentence to give extra information e.g. I have seen him

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17
Q

Back-channeling

A

A kind of feedback in spoken language that supports the supports the person speaking and shows that what is being said is understood

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18
Q

Blending

A

When parts of two words are combined to make a new one

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19
Q

Cataphora

A

A deference in a text to something that follows in later sentences or phrases. E.g. These are the directions…

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20
Q

Clipping

A

When a shortened version of a word becomes a word in its own right

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21
Q

Coining

A

The general term for creating new words

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22
Q

Collocation

A

Words that commonly appear together in order, in specific lexical units e.g. Done and dusted, salt and pepper

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23
Q

Conversion

A

When a word becomes part of a different word class in addition to its original sense

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24
Coordinate Clause
An independent clause that is linked to another independent clause in the same sentence
25
Coordinating conjunction
A liking word that connects independent phrases and clauses to each other.
26
Count noun
A noun preceded by a number
27
Deixis
A reference to something outside the text that can't be understood unless you know the context
28
Denotation
The literal meaning of a word
29
Dialect
The distinctive lexis, grammar and pronunciation of a persons spoken English, usually effected by the region they're from and their social background
30
Dialect levelling
A process of language contact where differences between dialects in proximity to each other are gradually lost
31
Difference model
Tannen's (1990) theory about gender and conversation which states that men and women have different objectives when they interact
32
Dominance model
Zimmerman and west's (1975) theory that gender differences in conversations reflect male dominance in society
33
Double negative
When negatives are used twice in a sentence
34
Elision
When sounds or syllables are slurred together in speech to make pronunciation easier and quicker
35
Ellipsis
When part of a grammatical structure is left out of the sentence without affecting the meaning.
36
Exophoric reference
Referring to something outside a text e.g. That tree over there
37
Generic term
A marked term that is used to refer to men and women e.g chairman
38
Grapheme
The smallest unit of writing that can create contrasts in meaning e.g individual letters or symbols
39
Interrogative
A sentence or utterance that asks a question
40
Intertertextuality
When a text makes reference to another existing text for effect
41
Lexical asymmetry
When two words that appear to be direct opposites of each other actually have different connotations e.g. To father means to conceive a child, to mother means to look after it
42
Marked term
A word that reveals a persons gender e.g. Waitress
43
Mass noun
A noun that can't be counted and doesn't have a plural e.g. Information
44
Metonymy
Using a part of something or one of its attributes to describe the whole thing e.g. The press refers to journalists and the news industry
45
Oxymoron
A phrase that brings together the two conflicting ideas e.g. Bittersweet
46
Parallelism
The repetition of structural features in a sentence or throughout a text e.g repeated use of past tense verb forms within a sentence
47
Phatic language
Expressions that have a social function rather than expressing a serious meaning
48
Phoneme
The smallest unit of sound that can create contrast in meaning
49
Politeness strategy
A way of phrasing something to avoid causing offence
50
Preposition
A word that defines the relationship between things in terms of time, space or direction
51
Prosody
Non-verbal aspects of speech like pace, stress, pitch, intonation, volume and pauses
52
Quantifier
A word that gives information about the quantity of a noun
53
Referential language
Spoken language that gives information by referring to objects or concepts. If usually only makes sense if the listener understands the context
54
Sociolect
A variety of language used by a particular social group
55
Substitution
When a child replaces a consonant in a word with one that's easier to say
56
Subtext
The implied meaning behind what's actually being said or described
57
Symbolism
When a word or phrase represents something other than its literal meaning
58
Tag question
A question added to the end of a statement to encourage a response
59
Turn-taking
A feature of orderly conversations when the chance to speak switches back and forth between the participants

English Language (4 decks)

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