Features of Spoken Language Flashcards
What is an Utterance? (Syntax)
- Unit of speech, amount one speaker speaks at once
- E.g. Speaker A says: Hi. Speaker B replies: Hello. (two 1 word utterances)
Define Turn-Taking.
- The process of taking turns in a conversation, where only one speaker speaks at a time.
What are Contractions? (Lexis)
- Shortening or running together of words.
- Apostrophe replaces missing letters
- E.g. won’t instead of will not
What are Deixis/Deictic Language? (Lexis)
- Term for ‘pointing’ words that rely on context to give meaning
- E.g. This one here
What are Elisions? (Lexis)
- Omission of sounds or syllables
- Typically not used in writing
- E.g. Gonna, Wanna
What is an Ellipsis? (Lexis)
- Missing out words to create an incomplete construction
- E.g. Want to go to the Cafe?
What are Fillers? (Lexis)
- Sounds or Words spoken to fill gaps in an utterance
- E.g. er, urm
What is Hedging? (Lexis)
- Word or phrase which softens the force with which something is said
- E.g. I hope you don’t mind me saying
What is Phatic Language? (Lexis)
- Utterances which have a purely social function
- Speech which is really just designed to maintain social relationships + doesn’t carry significant meaning
- Often used to start a conversation
- Example: ‘hi there (.) how are you?’
What is Repetition? (Lexis)
- Repeating a word/phrase
- Sometimes accidental, not always for emphasis
- E.g. What, What
What is Vague Language? (Lexis)
- Words without precise meaning
- E.g. Whatever, sort of, like
What is Colloquial Language? (Lexis)
- Informal, everyday language
- E.g. Cool, wicked
What are Dialects? (Lexis and Grammar)
- Specific words and uses of grammar associated with a specific region
- Characterised by variations in grammar, syntax, pronunciation or vocabulary
- E.g. Mardy
What is Taboo Language? (Lexis)
- Language considered forbidden/inappropriate in certain social situations
- E.g. swear words
What are Paralinguistic Features? (Lexis)
- Non-verbal communication- gestures, posture, facial expressions
- E.g. Speaker frowns, points at something
What are Prosodic Features? (Lexis)
- Way a speaker communicates through tone, pace, stress, volume
- E.g. speaking loudly/emphatically
Main Prosodic features are:
- Intonation- rising and falling
- Rhythm- depends on stresses: WHAT did you say? What did YOU say?
- Pitch- louder or softer
- Pace- slower or faster
What is Clipping? (Lexis)
- Removal of beginning/end of a word
- E.g. ‘Going’, ‘Cause’
What is Back-Channeling? (Syntax)
- Feedback which listener gives to speaker to show they are following what the speaker is saying
- E.g. Uhm, oh no
What are Discourse Markers?
- Words that show a shift in topic of conversation
- E.g. anyway, finally
What are Non-Fluency Features?
- Typical and normal characteristics of spoken language that interrupt the ‘flow’ of talk
- E.g. hesitations, false starts, overlaps, interruptions
What are False Starts and Repairs? (Syntax)
- When speaker begins an utterance, then stops and either repeats or reformulates it (sometimes called Self-Correction)
- E.g. How umm I mean when are you meeting him?
What are Tag Questions? (Syntax)
- String of words normally added to a Declarative Statement to turn the Statement into a question
- E.g. It’s expensive, isn’t it?
What is Synchronous Communication?
- Live communication
- E.g. participants talking on the phone
What is Asynchronous Communication?
- Communication that doesn’t occur live
- E.g. VOPPs
What is a Skip Connector?
- Word/Phrase that returns conversation back to a previous topic
What are Pragmatics?
The real meaning behind words
What are preferred and Dispreferred Responses?
- Preferred response- second part of adjacency pair that fits in with what speaker of first part wanted to hear
- Dispreferred response- second part of an adjacency pair that doesn’t fit with what speaker of first part wanted to hear.
What is Phonology?
- Sounds that are created by words
- E.g. Sibilance
What is an Idiolect?
Individual way of talking
What is a Sociolect?
The way you speak is affected by your social group/social class
What is Euphemism?
Socially accepted phrase to talk about something taboo
What is a Fronted Conjunction?
- Conjunction that is at the beginning of a sentence
- Grammatically incorrect
- E.g. “But she said no”, “And I got”
Define an Adjacency Pair.
- A pair of utterances in a conversation that go together
- Examples: greeting + replying, question + answer, e.t.c
Define Framing.
- Controlling the agenda of a conversation (its direction + subject)
- Or making utterances that encourage a child to fill in the blanks.
Define a Self-Related Comment.
- A speaker makes a comment about himself/herself
- Example: ‘I’m run off my feet’
Define an Other-Related Comment.
- Speaker comments about another speaker
- Example: ‘You look like you need a drink’
Define a Neutral Comment.
- Speaker makes a comment on something neutral in the surroundings like the weather
- Example: ‘It’s very sunny today’
Define Openers + Closers.
• Opener: expressions (or discourse markers) which open a conversation (‘so, what are your holiday plans this summer?’)
• Closer: expressions (or discourse markers) which are designated to close a conversation (e.g. ‘see you later’)
Define Agenda Setting.
- Where a speaker sets up the main topic of conversation.
Define Topic Management.
- The way topics in a conversation are organised or handed from speaker to speaker.
Define Transition Relevance Place (TRP).
- The point at which one turn is ending + another turn is signalled.
Define a Vocative.
- Directly addressing someone via their name.
Define Accent.
- Way of pronouncing words that occurs among the people in a particular region
- Variations in pronounction
- Associated with geographical location socioeconomic background + status
Define dialect.
Non-standard variety of language, including lexis + grammar, particular to a region.
Define idiom.
- Form of common non-literal expression
- Example: ‘I was dead on my feet’
Define isogloss
Divisions that linguistics draw between regions according to different dialects.
Define extra-linguistic variables.
Factors affecting the way you speak (e.g. age, where you live, e.t.c.)
Define idiolect.
- Your own individual way of speaking
- Introduced to lang in mid 20th century to capture idea that we all have our own personal dialects.
- Part of your sociolect + could have features of regional dialect as well.
Define sociolect.
Variety of language that is characteristic of social background / status of its user.
Define mainstream dialect.
- Dialect that’s spoken by the whole English nation.
