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English Language > AS Key Terms > Flashcards

AS Key Terms Flashcards

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Proverbs and Idioms 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
Q

Coordinate Clause

A

An independent clause that is linked to another independent clause in the same sentence

25
Q

Coordinating conjunction

A

A liking word that connects independent phrases and clauses to each other.

26
Q

Count noun

A

A noun preceded by a number

27
Q

Deixis

A

A reference to something outside the text that can’t be understood unless you know the context

28
Q

Denotation

A

The literal meaning of a word

29
Q

Dialect

A

The distinctive lexis, grammar and pronunciation of a persons spoken English, usually effected by the region they’re from and their social background

30
Q

Dialect levelling

A

A process of language contact where differences between dialects in proximity to each other are gradually lost

31
Q

Difference model

A

Tannen’s (1990) theory about gender and conversation which states that men and women have different objectives when they interact

32
Q

Dominance model

A

Zimmerman and west’s (1975) theory that gender differences in conversations reflect male dominance in society

33
Q

Double negative

A

When negatives are used twice in a sentence

34
Q

Elision

A

When sounds or syllables are slurred together in speech to make pronunciation easier and quicker

35
Q

Ellipsis

A

When part of a grammatical structure is left out of the sentence without affecting the meaning.

36
Q

Exophoric reference

A

Referring to something outside a text e.g. That tree over there

37
Q

Generic term

A

A marked term that is used to refer to men and women e.g chairman

38
Q

Grapheme

A

The smallest unit of writing that can create contrasts in meaning e.g individual letters or symbols

39
Q

Interrogative

A

A sentence or utterance that asks a question

40
Q

Intertertextuality

A

When a text makes reference to another existing text for effect

41
Q

Lexical asymmetry

A

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
Q

Marked term

A

A word that reveals a persons gender e.g. Waitress

43
Q

Mass noun

A

A noun that can’t be counted and doesn’t have a plural e.g. Information

44
Q

Metonymy

A

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
Q

Oxymoron

A

A phrase that brings together the two conflicting ideas e.g. Bittersweet

46
Q

Parallelism

A

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
Q

Phatic language

A

Expressions that have a social function rather than expressing a serious meaning

48
Q

Phoneme

A

The smallest unit of sound that can create contrast in meaning

49
Q

Politeness strategy

A

A way of phrasing something to avoid causing offence

50
Q

Preposition

A

A word that defines the relationship between things in terms of time, space or direction

51
Q

Prosody

A

Non-verbal aspects of speech like pace, stress, pitch, intonation, volume and pauses

52
Q

Quantifier

A

A word that gives information about the quantity of a noun

53
Q

Referential language

A

Spoken language that gives information by referring to objects or concepts. If usually only makes sense if the listener understands the context

54
Q

Sociolect

A

A variety of language used by a particular social group

55
Q

Substitution

A

When a child replaces a consonant in a word with one that’s easier to say

56
Q

Subtext

A

The implied meaning behind what’s actually being said or described

57
Q

Symbolism

A

When a word or phrase represents something other than its literal meaning

58
Q

Tag question

A

A question added to the end of a statement to encourage a response

59
Q

Turn-taking

A

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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