Exploring English unit definitions Flashcards
Linguistics
The scientific study of language and its structure, including the study of grammar,syntax and phonetics.
Grammar
Refer to ways of describing and analysing patterns of language
Traditional grammar
is used to analyse language. Sentences are first divided into smaller chunks and the word class labelled. Traditional grammar concentrates mainly on the properties of the nouns and verbs in a sentence and the relationship between them.
Phonetics
The study and classificationof speech sounds
Systemic functional grammar
Users begin analysing language by labelling sentence constituents according to their class, using box diagrams. Their main concerns are meaning and choice. The constituency analysis is used to investigate the function of each of these parts and therefore the meanings encoded in these chunks of language.
Constituents
A component part of something
Semantics
System of meanings
Syntax
The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language
Lexis
The level of language consisting of vocabularyas opposed to grammar or syntax
Morphology
The study of the form of words (how they are made up)
Phonology
System of sounds
Lexicogrammer
Systems of wording. Combination of word choices we use _the order we put the words in
Graphology
System of written symbols/letters
Syntactic
Relating to the rules of language
Clause
A grammatical structure that contains a verb. (A message that has any completeness about it -is a clause) consists of one or more groups/phrase and contains a verbal group.
Clause complex
Consists of one or more clauses
Morphemes
The most basic of the language building blocks. Every word is made up of one or more morphemes and this is so in all languages.
Experiential
Use language to explore our experience of the world or to set up the experience we want to offer our reader /listener
Interpersonal
We use language to relate to other people;we can inform or ask for information; we can give commands or make offers, we can express our opinions.
Textual
We use language to organise our thoughts into messages that have coherence and to make significant choices about what order to arrange the various parts of our message
Passive voice
A voice that indicates that the subject is the patient or recipient of the action denoted by the verb.
Agentless voice
Does not include the agent by phrase. Thematises the ‘done to’ and leaves out the do-er.
Active voice
A voice that indicates a subject has the semantic function of the actor (subject of the verb thermatises the ‘doer’).
Sentence
A language structure that consists of one or more clauses;at least one of the clauses must be a principal clause.
Arbitrariness
The quality of being based on random choice or personal whim.
Archaic
Very old fashioned
Phrase
A grammatical structure that does not contain a verb
Adjective
Are words that typically modify a noun
Adverb
Are words used to modify or limit a verb, an adjective or another verb.
Noun
Are words denoting persons, places, things and abstractions.
Verb
Are words that express the occurrence of an action, existence of a state, and the like. Sometimes a noun is turned into a verb and, while it is being used as such, will behave like a verb by using verb forms such as tense, aspect, active or passive voice.
Pronoun
Are words used as substitutes.
Article
Are little words with powerful messages about the nouns; in English represented by the, an or a. An or a indicatesthat any representative of the category denoted by a noun is sufficient for the speaker’s purposes, whereas the always assumes that the addressee will know which representative of that category is meant.
Conjunction
Are joining words. They can join small chunks of language such as nouns or verbs or larger chunks of language such as clauses
Preposition
Are words placed before nouns to indicate their relation to other words or their function in their sentence. Pre means before and position means placed. By, to, in from are examples of prepositions in English.
A finite verb
Are tied to a subject:by time (tense)or by probability, obligation or ability (modality). It is a verb that has a subject and shows tense. Example: he painted the fence
Non -finite verb
Are not tied to a subject. Are infinitive; no boundaries of time, or probability, obligation or ability. Is a verb that does not show tense. Eg singing, reading
Independent clause
Can stand alone as a complete sentence
adpositional
Is a cover term for prepositions and postpositions. It is a member of a closed set of items that: occur before or after a complement composed of a noun phrase, noun, pronoun, or clause that functions as a noun phrase.
Prepositional phrase
Is an adpositional phrase in which a preposition is the head. The preposition precedes its complement.
The Rank Scale
Clause complex Clause Group or phrase Word Morpheme
Nominal
Refers to a category used to group together nouns and adjectives based on shared properties
Constituency
Dividing up the sentence into ng,vg ,pp, adv.g
Experiential
Actor, process:material, goal,circumstance
Interpersonal
Subject,finite +(past),predictor,complement,adjunct
Interpersonal analysis
Subject, finite,predictor,complement→mood block and residue
The mood block
Subject, finite and polarity
Subject
Indicate the subject of a proposition.
Speech function
statement
– offer
– question
– command
Speech Function is about the social purpose the Mood choice is used for.
Subject
Who/what gets to be Subject of the finite clauses?
• Are the clauses active, with Subject mapped onto Actor in the case of material process for instance; or are the clauses passive, with the Goal/Range as Subject in the case of material process for instance?
Finite
Are the Finites all tense Finites (present, past, future) and which tense is dominant?
• Does the choice of tense change; if so where and why?
• Are there any modal Finites and what is the nature of the modality expressed: obligation, certainty, possibility, probability, ability etc?
Mood Adjuncts
closely associated with meanings construedby the Mood element: modality, temporality, intensity,
– often located very close to the verbal group,
– commonly signify speaker’s position in terms of: usuality, probability, certainty, typicality, obviousness: e.g. always, never, probably, maybe, generally, surely
Comment Adjuncts
Comment Adjuncts
– less closely tied to the grammar of mood;
– restricted to declarative and interrogative clauses,
– signify speaker’s opinion about the whole message of the clause;
– typically come first or last in the clause,and are often separated by means of a comma: e.g. understandably, thankfully, on the whole, to my surprise
Infinitive verb
Is the most basic form of the verb which signifies the event without specifying a subject and without indicating any time or duration of the event
Modality
Refers to all positioning by speakers about probability, usuality, typicality, obviousness, obligation and inclination.
3 ways of doing so:
- modal finite
- an adverbial group or prepositional phrase (mood adjunct)
- with an interpersonal grammatical metaphor
Passive voice
Subject of verb thematises the done to example garbage was thrown all over her driveway by neighbours
Agentless passive
Thematises the done to and leaves out the doer example garbage was thrown all over her driveway
Active voice
Subject of verb thematises the doer example neighbours through garbage all over her driveway
Mood adjuncts (book definition)
Purpose to express the speakers opinion about the probability obviousness typicality or usuality of the message in the clause : examples include probably perhaps surely obviously typically generally of course I think personally to my mind sometimes never often
Comment adjuncts (book definition)
Purpose to express the speakers comment or reaction to the message in the clause : examples include in general terms, strictly speaking ,honestly, thankfully, surprisingly, hopefully, foolishly, regrettably, frankly to tell you the truth initially to my delight on the whole by mistake presumably initially
Conjunctive adjuncts
Purpose to relate the clause to the preceding text examples include actually or rather in the same way therefore however nevertheless in conclusion in addition in other words next finally briefly for example alternatively in any case as a result
Appraisal
Is used to highlight the ways speakers position their audience. It’s used to explore the words and grammatical structures we use to make evaluative meanings including expressing our emotion, our judgements of people’s behaviour and our appreciation of phenomena in the world.
Cohesion
Cohesion deals with devices that give a text texture. Cohesive devices include the lexical devices of repetition, semantic relations, equivalence and semblance and the grammatical devices of reference, substitution and ellipsis.
