English Language all Terms Flashcards
1
Q
Metalanguage
A
Using language about language.
2
Q
Semiotics
A
Is the idea of ‘Signifier & Signified’ is what is known as semiotics. It is all about signs (which can be words) and their meanings or interpretations.
3
Q
Discourse Event
A
An act of communication occurring in a specific time and location involving writers/speakers and readers/listeners.
4
Q
Text
A
A rich and complex act of communication that we can call a ‘discourse event’ - it has a text producer (writer/speaker) and a text receiver (readers/listeners) engaged in the process of making meaning.
4
Q
Text Producer
A
The person or people responsible for creating a text.
5
Q
Text Receiver
A
The person or people interpreting the text.
6
Q
Mode
A
The physical channel of communication - either speech or writing.
7
Q
Oppositional View
A
A way of defining the difference between modes by arguing that they have completely different features.
8
Q
Continuum
A
A sequence in which elements that are next to each other are not noticeably different but elements at the opposite end are very different from each other.
9
Q
Intertextuality
A
A process by which texts borrow from or refer to conventions of other texts for a specific purpose and effect.
9
Q
Blended-Mode
A
A text which contains conventional elements of both speech and writing.
9
Q
Genre
A
Genres of language, grouping texts based on expected shared conventions.
10
Q
Lexis
A
All the words in a language. Plus new words and language change.
11
Q
Denotation
A
The literal meaning (in the dictionary)
12
Q
Connotation
A
The suggested meaning behind words.
13
Q
Etymology
A
The study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history.
14
Q
Lexical Item
A
A single word
15
Q
Collocation
A
Two words that ‘go together’. E.g. pay attention or fast food.
16
Q
Phonology
A
The conceptual study of the sound system; how speech sounds are put together and how they are stored in the mind.
17
Q
Pragmatics
A
The branch of linguistics dealing with language in use and the contexts in which it is used, including such Deixis (form/expression) the taking turns in conversation, text, organisation, presupposition and implicature (action of implying).
4 types of Pragmatics: speech acts, conventional implicature, rhetorical structure, managing the flow of reference in discourse.
18
Q
Phonetics
A
The sound of speech; how speech sounds are physically articulated and received.
19
Q
Phoneme
A
The basic / smallest unit of sound from which language is constructed.
20
Q
A non-phonetic language
A
Words whose pronunciation and spelling do not match.
21
Q
Grapheme
A
The smallest meaningful contrastive unit in a writing system. E.g. a letter.
22
Syllable
A single unit of speech or subdivision of a word.
Phonemes combine together to make syllables.
23
Phonetic Spelling
A system of spelling in which each letter represents one spoken sound.
24
Voiced Sounds
Speech sounds produced with the vocal cords vibrating - all vowel sounds.
25
Unvoiced Sounds
Consonant sounds that are made without vibrating the vocal cords.
26
Diphthong
A sound formed by the combination of two vowels into a single syllable in which the sound begins as one vowel and moves towards another as a 'gliding vowel'.
27
Received Pronunciation (RP)
A social accent.
An accent traditionally associated with high social status - 'Received' refers to the idea of social acceptance in official circles.
The English phonemic alphabet is based of RP.
28
International Phonetic Alphabet
Is a way of categorising and labelling sounds. It includes 107 sounds - constantly evolving.
29
Vowels
Voiced sounds.
Open speech sound.
A, E, I, O, U.
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Consonants
Unvoiced Sounds.
Speech sound with breath at least partly obstructed.
B, C, D, F, G, etc.
31
The Place of Articulation
Is the physical location in the vocal tract that a phoneme is produced in, and kinds of articulatory movements that are involved in producing a sound.
32
Articulators
The vocal organs about the larynx including the lips, teeth, tongue, and hard palate that help form sounds.
33
Semantics
Words and their meanings.
34
Semantic Field
Group of terms from the same domain.
35
Synonymy
Lexical items with similar semantic value/meaning.
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Antonymy
Lexical items with opposite semantic value.
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Hyponymy
The hierarchical structure that exists between lexical items (words holding more or less power than other words).
38
Neologism
A newly coined word or expression.
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To Coin
To invent a new word or phrase.
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Portmanteau
A word blending the sounds and combining the meaning of two others. E.g. 'Brexit'
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Acronym
An Abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word. E.g. LASAR, NASA.
42
Idiom
A figurative expression. A group of words meaning something different to the lexical items from which it comprises.
43
Euphemism
A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing. A type of Idiom.
44
Linguistic Taboo
Any element of a language bearing a quality that renders in intrinsically impolite or forbidden.
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Dysphemism
A derogatory or unpleasant term used instead of a pleasant or neutral one.
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Dental
Speech sounds produced by the tongue against the upper front teeth.
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Labiodental
Speech sounds produced by the lower lip and the upper teeth.
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Bilabial
Speech sounds produced by the upper and lower lips.
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Alveolar
Speech sounds produced by the tongue close to or touching the ridge behind the teeth on the roof of the mouth.
50
Post-Alveolar
Speech sounds produced by the tongue on the roof of the mouth behind the alveolar ridge.
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Palatal
Speech sounds produced by the tongue raising up towards the hard palate.
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Velar
Speech sounds produced by the back of the tongue touching or approaching the soft palate (velum) the back of the roof of the mouth.
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Glottal
Speech sounds produced using the glottis in the throat.
54
Manner of Articulation
The physical way of making a sound by how air moves through the vocal tract.
55
Plosives
Plosives involve a complete closure, where the vocal articulators fully meet and air flow is stopped.
This creates the 'explosion' of sound - the loudest.
56
Voiceless Plosives
Not using the vocal cords.
/t/ /k/ /p/
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Voiced Plosives
Using the vocal cords.
/d/ /g/ /b/
58
Fricatives
Fricatives involve a lesser obstruction where air is forced through a steady stream, resulting in a friction and a continuous sound.
59
Voiceless Fricatives
Not using the vocal cords.
/f/ /s/ /h/ /θ/ /ʃ/
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Voiced Fricatives
Using the vocal cords.
/v/ /z/ /ð/ /ʒ/
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Affricates
They have double symbols to represent that each one is a plosive followed by a fricative.
62
What are the two affricate sounds in English?
There are only two consonants affricate sounds in the English Language:
/tʃ/ (as in church) - is voiceless
/dʒ/ (as in judge) - is voiced
63
Nasals
Nasal sounds are produced by air coming out through the nose rather than the mouth.
Nasal sounds include:
/m/ /n/ /ŋ/
64
Laterals
Lateral sounds or 'liquid' sounds are made by placing the tip of the tongue on the teeth ridge sending air down the sides of the mouth.
The only sound in English is /l/
65
Approximants
Approximants involve less contact between the organs of speech than the other consonants. The final 3 consonants /r/ /w/ /j/ are grouped together because they share the property of being midway between consonants and vowels.
They are always voiced.
66
Glottal
It is a closure of the vocal cords, resulting in shutting off the airstream known as a glottal stop. It is sometimes produced as an alternative to certain plosive sounds.
The only glottal stop sound in English is /h/
67
Prosody
The patterns of stress and intonation in a language.
68
Pitch
In speech, the relative highness or lowness of voice.
69
Intonation / Inflection
The rise and fall of the voice in speech.
70
Prosody / Prosodics
The melody that our voices create via prosodic aspects such as rhythm and intonation.
71
Rhythm
The timing pattern of individual syllables.
72
Stress
The prominence of individual syllables.
73
Volume
Difference in volume (how loud or quiet the sound is) can convey a number of emotions and emphasising certain words that the speaker wants to emphasise.
74
Speed
Speeding up might convey a speaker's excitement or anger, while slowing down might convey their uncertainty or a lack of commitment towards a proposition.
75
Paralanguage
Aspects of an individual's vocal expression, such as whispering, laughter and breathiness.
76
Non-verbal behaviour
The same sentence can have different communicative meanings depending on the choice of prosody. Such as eye contact and facial expression.
77
Linguistic iconicity
Is the similarity or analogy between a linguistic sign and its meaning, as opposed to arbitrariness.
78
Sound Symbolism
Is the perceptual similarity between speech sounds and concept meanings. It is a form of linguistic iconicity.
79
Consonance
A pattern of repeated consonant sounds.
80
Assonance
A pattern of repeated vowel sounds.
81
Sibilance
A pattern of repeated fricative sounds especially /s/ for effect.
82
Onomatopoeia
Is a form of sound symbolism.
The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named.
83
Lexical Onomatopoeia
Words that have some associated meaning between their sound and what they represent.
84
Non-lexical Onomatopoeia
'Non-words' that nonetheless are intended to signify some meaning through their sound. E.g. 'brrrm' to describe the noise of a car.
85
The 'takate-maluma' effect
A cognitive neuroscience phenomenon that links certain language sounds with angular or rounded shapes.
That sonorants /m/ /n/ /l/ were associated with round shapes. Voiceless stops (e.g. /p/ /t/ /k/) were associated with sharp shapes. Association between certain phonemes and either visual roundness or sharpness.
86
Heterophones
Words that have the same spelling but very different pronunciations and meaning. E.g. present and present.
87
Homophones
Words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings and may have different spellings. E.g. there and their.
88
Pragmatics (long definition)
The branch of linguistics dealing with language in use and the contexts in which it is used, including such Deixis (form/expression) the taking turns in conversation, text, organisation, presupposition and implicature (action of implying).
4 types of Pragmatics: speech acts, conventional implicature, rhetorical structure, managing the flow of reference in discourse.
89
Pragmatics (short)
The Study of implied meaning. Meanings below the surface.
90
What are the 4 types of Pragmatics
4 types of Pragmatics: speech acts, conventional implicature, rhetorical structure, managing the flow of reference in discourse.
91
Pragmatics
The Study of language in use and the contexts in which it is used in, the contextual factors that influence meaning.
92
Linguistic Context
Context within words and grammar - what has been said before.
93
Physical Context
Objects surrounding the communication as well as place and time.
94
Utterance
A segment of speech
95
Schema
A bundle of knowledge about a concept, person or event.
96
Cooperative Priniciple
The general principle that people work together to communicate. (assumption)
97
Conversational (Grice's) Maxims
Explicit principle that provide a backdrop for conversation to take place so that speakers can easily understand one another.
98
The Maxim of Quantity
Do not say too little or too much.
99
The Maxim of Quality
Speak the truth - be honest.
100
The Maxim of Relevance
Keep what is being discussed relevant to the topic at hand.
101
The Maxim of Manner
Be clear, concise and avoid ambiguity.
102
Flout
Openly disregard. In terms of Maxims 'flout' is used when a speaker breaks a maxim(s) either for a specific reason such as others will understand / for comedic effect.
103
Implicature
An implied meaning that has to be inferred by a speaker as a result of knowing the maxims are being broken.
104
Grammar
The whole organisation and structure of a language - sentences and words.
105
Prescriptivist
If you take this approach it means you focus on the rules of grammar and believe in being correct and accurate.
106
Descriptivist
If you take this approach it means you focus on how language is actually used. You accept that language changes and that there is no right way to speak or write.
107
Syntax
x1 Main area of Grammar.
How words (lexical items) are ordered into phrases, clauses and sentences.
108
Morphology
x1 Main area of Grammar.
The study of word formation and the meaningful parts of words.
109
Morpheme
The smallest element of meaning smaller than a word.
110
Morpheme (long definition)
A word or a part of a word that has meaning. It cannot be divided into smaller meaningful segments without changing its meaning or leaving a meaningless remainder.
111
Affix - Prefix
A morpheme placed before another.
112
Root
The most basic part of a word - it has NO prefixes or suffixes.
113
Affix - Suffix
A morpheme placed after another.
114
Inflectional Function
A function of an Affix.
When an affix changes grammatical function of the word but not its meaning. E.g. tense.
115
Derivational Function
A function of an Affix.
When an affix creates a new word with a new meaning.
116
Politeness Theory
Politeness assumes that we all have face, and we all have face wants and needs. There are different types of face threatened in various face-threatening acts, and sometimes the face threats are to the hearer or to the speaker. When a face is threatened it will change - affecting our language.
117
Positive Face
Feels (or wants to) appreciated and valued.
118
Negative Face
The desire to feel independent and not imposed on.
119
What does a negative face feel when threatened?
They might feel offended or imposed upon.
120
What does a positive face feel when threatened?
They might feel ashamed or embarrassed.
121
A Face Saving Act
Saying something to lessen any threat to positive / negative face.
122
Positive Politeness Strategy
Make the listener feel good about themselves and avoid conflict or offence by emphasising friendliness, courteousness & politeness. Shows that the speaker recognizes if the listener has a desire to be respected.
E.g. 'I'm really sorry to ask you this but...'
123
Direct Request
Commanding Request.
E.g. 'Turn that music down!'
124
Indirect Request
Flouts Maxims, avoids confrontational, creates implicature.
E.g. 'This is a great book I'm reading'
125
Negative Politeness Strategy
Attempting not to disrupt independence and aimed at the listener's negative face and are meant to avoid any imposition on the listener.
E.g. 'Can you turn the music down a little?'
126
Hedging
We use hedging devices to soften a claim or to express uncertainty or certainty about it. E.g. believe, conceivably, presumably, perhaps, probably, possibly, maybe, and likely. E.g. 'Erm, could you, erm perhaps, turn down the, erm, music?'
127
Pessimism
The tendency to see the negative side of things or to expect the worst possible outcome from an event. E.g. ' I don't suppose you could possibly turn down the music?'
128
Indicating Deference
'Excuse me, sir, would you mind if I asked you to turn down the music?'
129
Apologising
'I'm terribly sorry to put you out but could you turn down your music?'
130
Impersonalising
'The management requires you to turn the music down?'
131
Deixis
Content - dependent language
132
Deictic
A word or expression whose meaning is dependent on the context in which it is used.
133
Personal Deixis
Names, personal pronouns and names of things/places.
134
Temporal Deixis
Adverbs of time such as 'today', 'yesterday' and 'tomorrow' each of these both locates a speaker in and points from a particular deictic centre.
135
Spatial Deixis
Adverbs of place such as 'here' and 'there' ; demonstratives showing location such as 'this' and 'that', orientational words such as 'left' and 'right' and deictic verbs such as 'come' and 'go'
136
Spatial Proximal Deixis
Refers to concepts, events or people close to the speaker. E.g. 'This'
137
Spatial Distal Deixis
Refers to concepts, events or people at a distance to the speaker. E.g. 'that'.
138
Demonstratives (DEM)
Are words, such as 'this' and 'that' used to indicate which entities are being referred to and distinguish from others. Their meaning cannot be understood without context.
139
Deictic Verbs
Also known as Deictic motion verbs refer to any verb that marks the direction in which an entity is moving such as 'come' and 'go'.
140
Phrase
A group of words that are grammatically connected and defined by its head.
141
Noun Phrase
A group of words built around a head noun and function as a noun.
142
Head Noun
The main noun in the phrase
143
Pre-modifier
A word or words that go before the head to add detail or clarity.
144
Qualifier
An additional word or phrase that adds further detail to the noun.
145
Post-modifier
A word or words that go after the head to add further detail or clarity.
146
Verb Phrase
A group of words built around a verb and function as a verb.
147
Head Verb
The main verb in the phrase.
148
Primary Auxiliary Verb
A verb that helps show the tense.
149
Modal Auxiliary Verb
Shows someone's degree of commitment.
150
Clause
A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb that have a relationship.
151
Subject
Key focus ON the verb - acts ON the verb
152
Object
The entity being act upon.
153
Complement
An attitude of the subject.
154
Adverbial
The circumstances of the verb - time, manner, place, frequency, degree, conjunction.
155
Active Voice
Agent is in subject position; verb phrase in past or present tense.
E.g. Beast seriously injuries baby.
156
Passive Voice
Agent omitted or placed later in the clause use a prepositional phrase.
157
Agent
The noun phrase or pronoun that identifies the person or thing which initiates or performs an action in a sentence
158
Simple Sentence
A sentence consisting of only one main clause with a single subject and predicate.
159
Predicate
The part of a sentence or clause containing a verb and stating something about the subject.
160
Compound Sentence
A sentence containing at least two main clauses connected with either a semicolon or comma that is followed by a coordinating conjunction.
161
Complex Sentence
A sentence containing one main clause and a subordinate clause or clauses connected together with a subordinating conjunction.
162
Independent (Main) Clause
A clause that can form a complete sentence standing alone, having a subject and predicate.
163
Dependent (Subordinate) Clause
A clause, typically introduced by a conjunction, that forms part of and is dependent on a main clause. Cannot stand alone as a sentence.
164
Subordinating Conjunction
A conjunction that introduces a subordinate clause, e.g. although, because - everything else that's not coordinating conjunctions.
165
Coordinating Conjunction
A conjunction placed between words, phrases, clauses, or sentences of equal rank. E.g. For And Nor But Or Yet So are all the coordinating conjunctions.
166
Article
An article comes before the noun. There is one definite article: "the." There are two indefinite articles: "a" and "an." The articles refer to a noun.
167
Discourse
Refers to any form of extended writing or spoken communication. It is the text as a whole, the flow and form of the whole text.
168
What purpose can a discourse serve?
Informative, Persuasive, Narrative, Expository.
169
Informative
170
Persuasive
171
Narrative
172
Expository
173
What can influence the shape of how language is used (discourse) ?
Influenced by social + cultural contexts meaning time, place, audience, and purpose of the text.
174
Why do we analyse discourse?
We analyse how language is structured to convey particular attitudes, create meaning and influence audience.
175
Prong One
What the subject is and how the subject matter is being discuss.
176
Prong Two
How the writers are presenting themselves and creating a voice.
177
Prong Three
How the writers are addressing and positioning the reader.
178
Pejorative
A judgemental term that usually implies disapproval or criticism.
179
How does a writer self-represent themselves? (P2)
Use of personal pronouns, parentheses or brackets, humour + sarcasm, clauses.
180
How does the writer position their audience (P3)
Pronoun usage and address (direct or indirect), modality, sentence functions, rhetorical questions.
181
Modality (**MAYBE PUT THIS IN ANOTHER DECK AS WELL**)
Modal verbs and adverbs which consider levels of certainty, doubt and commitment).
182
Graphology
Analysis of the visual aspects of written language and how this contributes to meaning of a text.
183
Typeface
A design of letters, numbers and other symbols to be used in printing or for electronic display.
184
Lettering
Symbols that are used to represent sounds.
185
Orthography
Spelling or spelling wrongly intentionally for a specific meaning.
186
Layout
The physical organisation of a text.
187
Iconic Sign
A sign or image that is a direct picture of the thing it represents.
188
Symbolic Sign
A sign or image where an associated meaning is drawn from some shared degree of knowledge.
189
Typographical Feature
A feature related to the use of fonts in text.
190
Font
an assortment or set of type or characters all of one style and sometimes one size. a set of printable or displayable typography or text characters in a specific style and size
191
Multimodal text
A text that relies on the interplay of different codes (e.g. visual and written) to help shape meaning.
192
Stereotype
Are formed through our observations of others in daily life, which is then reflected in the language we use to refer to specific groups of people in society.
193
Hegemony
How one social group can use language to get other people to accept its way of seeing the world as natural.
194
Ideology
A system of ideas.
195
Linguistic Relativity
The idea that the language we use to talk and write about things can determine the way we think and are influenced about/by them.
196
Idiolect
Your own personal way of speaking.
197
Sociolect
The way you speak in specific group / in social situations.
198
Social Construct
An idea that has been created and accepted by the people in a society.
199
Stereotypical Language
The language used to make preconceived judgements or assumptions about a person or group of people.
