English Key Terms Flashcards
(25 cards)
What is an accent?
The way words are pronounced, varies based on region or social class.
What are adjacency pairs?
Parallel expressions used across boundaries of individual speaking turns. Formulaic. E.g how are you? - Fine thanks.
What is a back channel?
Non verbal words/utterances used by a listener to show there understanding of the conversation. ( e.g. i see , oh )
What are dietics ?
Words like ‘this’ , ‘that’ which that refer back or forwards or outside a text - verbal pointing. Context dependant.
What is dialect?
Distinctive grammar/vocabulary associated with a region/social use of language.
What is a discourse marker?
Used to signal the relationship between utterances and to signpost that what is said can be followed by the listener/reader. (E.g. first , on the other hand)
What is ellision?
Slurring of one or more sounds/syllables. (E.g. gonna = going to)
What is an ellipsis?
Not saying a part of grammatical structure to show a more casual tone/conversation. (E.g. You going to the party?/ Might be. - the pronouns ‘I’ and ‘are’ have been missed out)
What is a false start?
Speaker begins to talk but then restarts either repeats or reformulantes what they were gonna say.
What are Grices maxims?
Four basic conversational ‘rules’ (maxims)
1- quantity (dont say too much/little)
2- relevance (keep to the point)
3- manner (clear,coherent and orderly)
4- quality (be truthful)
What’s a hedge?
Words that soften/weaken the force of something that’s said. (E.g perhaps, maybe)
What is idiolecte?
An individually distinctive style of speaking.
What are non-fluency features?
Typical characteristics of spoken language that interrupt the flow of talk. (E.g. false starts, fillers)
What are paralinguistic faetures?
Body language - use of gestures,facial expressions etc to add further meaning to the speakers words.
What is phatic talk?
Conversation that has no other purpose than to establish/maintain personal relationships. Small talk. (E.g. ‘cold isn’t it?’/ ‘freezing’ )
What are pragmatics?
Discourse analysis that focuses on structure and contexts/purposes of people talking to eachother.
What are prosodic features?
Stress, rhythm, pitch, tempo, intonation. How things are said.
What are repairs?
An alteration suggested/made by a speaker, the adresse or audience in order to correct or clarify a previous conversational contribution.
What is a sociolect?
Social dialect used by a particular group such as working class or upper class speech.
What is transactional talk?
Language used to get things done or to transmit content or information. (Used when exchanging goods)
What is turn Taking?
A single person speaks, within a typical,orderly arrangement where the speakers have minimal overlap and gap between them. Principle unit of description in conversational structure.
What’s an utterance?
A complete unit of talk bound by the speakers silence.
What is vague language?
Statements that sound imprecise and unassertive. (E.g. and so on, or whatever )
What is a polypototon?
A figure of speech that involves the repetition of words derived from the same root. (E.g. ‘blood’ and ‘bleed’)
