Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

English > Glossary > Flashcards

Glossary Flashcards

1
Q

Accent

A

a set of distinctive pronunciations that mark regional or social identity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Acronym

A

A word formed from the initial letters of the words in a phrase. Eg. goat, rofl

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Active Voice

A

A grammatical construction in which the subject is the ‘actor’ of the verb in a clause. Eg. The Prime Minister spoke with his cabinet.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Adjacency pairs

A

Pairs of utterances that require turn-taking where the first utterance prompts a response.
Eg.
A: Can I borrow your book?
B: Sure, just take it.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Adjective

A

A word that describes or modifies a noun.
Eg. the stunning mountain range.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Adverb

A

A word that describes the action of the verb, can act as an intensifier / modifier.
Eg. He can always suggest…

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Adverbial

A

A lexeme or phrase that modifies a verb phrase. It relates to time, manner or place.
Eg. In the morning, I will study. Can we go to the market?

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Affix

A

A morpheme that is attached to stems. Can be a prefix, suffix or infix.
Eg. ‘government’ (suffix).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Agentless passive

A

A passive voice construction where the agent NP is ellipted; there is no ‘by…’ phrase revealing the agent.
Eg. The budget was delivered. Parents were informed.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Alliteration

A

The repetition of the same consonant sound in the initial position of a string of words.
Eg. ‘reduce, re-use, recycle’.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Ambiguous

A

A word, phrase, clause or sentence with multiple meanings.
Eg. Scott told his brother he was needed at the office. (We cannot be certain which one ‘he’ is.)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Anaphoric

A

A form of referencing in which a pronoun or noun phrase points backwards to something mentioned earlier in the discourse.
Eg. Ben said he was there.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Antithesis

A

Juxtaposition of words and ideas within parallel phrases or clauses to create balance or contrast.
Eg. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Antonymy

A

Words that are the opposite (and therefore connected) in meaning.
Eg It was insignificant yet important.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Apposition

A

A sequence of nouns or noun phrases that have the same meaning.
Eg. My neighbour, the builder, visited me yesterday. Prime Minister, Mr Turnbull,.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Archaism

A

A form of word loss whereby a word becomes considered old-fashioned or outdated.
Eg. wherefore, whilst.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Article

A

A word that determines whether a noun is definite (the) or indefinite (a / an).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Assimilation

A

The way in which the sounds of one word can change the sounds within it and of neighbouring words. Eg. Watcha want?

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Assonance

A

Repetition of the same or similar vowel sounds. Eg. The stream meandered eerily along.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Audience

A

The (group of) people that a text is aimed at, targeting or reaching out to.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Auxiliary

A

A verb that precedes the participle (lexical) verb in a verb phrase.
Eg. The children have finished the movie. All modal verbs act as auxiliaries,
eg. The children must finish their homework.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Back-channelling

A

Minimal Response. Either term is accepted.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Blend

A

A word composed of the parts of more than one word.
Eg. webisode, guesstimate, blog.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Borrowing

A

A word from one language is adapted for use in another.
Eg. focaccia, salsa.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Bound morpheme

A

A morpheme that cannot stand alone. Eg. clumsiness, raining, speaker.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Cataphoric

A

A form of referencing in which a pronoun or noun phrase points forward to something mentioned later in the discourse.
Eg. It was lovely, a day to remember.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

Clause

A

A group of words, with a subject (sometimes ellipted) and verb.
Eg. ‘Ask the teacher.’, ‘Grinning widely,’ ‘She went to karate.’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Clefting

A

Splitting a single clause idea into two connected clauses, each with its own verb.
Eg. ‘It was John who left the cinema.’ ‘What I like best is the view.’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

Closings

A

The deliberate ending of a spoken discourse, often related to conventions.
Eg. Catch you later, In conclusion, Thank you, goodbye

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

Code-switching

A

The practice of alternating between two or more languages or dialects in conversation.
Eg. He is a real malaka (Greek)! That is très belle (French).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

Coherence

A

The features of a text that bring about understanding it as a whole. FLICCC (Formatting, Logical order, Inference, Consistency, Conventions, Cohesion).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

Cohesion

A

Links and connections that unite the elements of a discourse or text.
Eg. synonymy ‘The worry of the group and its concern for….’ Other features include: antonymy, hyponymy, collocation, information flow including clefting, front focus, end focus, anaphoric & cataphoric references, deictics, repetition, ellipses, substitution, conjunctions and adverbials.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

Collocation

A

Two or more words that are connected as they frequently occur together (often as part of a set phrase).
Eg. Merry Christmas, cake of soap, strong coffee.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

Colloquialism

A

An informal, cultural expression – much the same as an idiom.
Eg. fair dinkum, no flies on you, the duck’s nuts.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

Commonisation

A

A proper noun becomes a common noun through general use.
Eg. kleenex, esky, glad wrap, band-aid.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

Complement

A

A pronoun, NP or adjective following a form of the verb ‘to be’ that modifies or refers to the subject (or object).
Eg. You are beautiful (subject complement). Make me a supermodel (object complement).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
37
Q

Compounding

A

A word formed by joining two free morphemes.
Eg. skateboard, firewall.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
38
Q

Compound sentence

A

A sentence that has two or more independent clauses.
Eg. We went to the park but the weather was terrible.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
39
Q

Compound-Complex

A

A sentence that has two or more independent clauses and one or more subordinate clauses.
Eg. We spoke and they listened, although it won’t make much difference.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
40
Q

Conjunction

A

A word that joins or connects two words, phrases or clauses.
Eg. because, while, if, and, although, but…

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
41
Q

Connotation

A

The associations attached to a word in addition to its literal meaning.
Eg ‘white’ has connotations of purity, innocence, cleanliness, surrender…

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
42
Q

Consistency

A

A feature of coherence that relates to the same perspective, tense or semantic field throughout a text or section of a text. Person and tense may change but they remain consistent to the perspective or time frame of the text as a whole.
Eg the school website will have lexemes and phrases that consistently relate to the semantic field of ‘school’.
Eg. learning, staff, teaching, students.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
43
Q

Consonance

A

Repetitive consonant sounds with a phrase or clause.
Eg. pitter patter, ‘take arms against a sea of troubles’.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
44
Q

Context

A

The circumstances in which speech and writing take place.
Eg. café, government website, schoolyard… (situational); Easter, racism, dieting (cultural).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
45
Q

Contraction

A

A shortened word. A Standard feature indicated through punctuation.
Eg. don’t, we’ll…

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
46
Q

Conventions

A

A feature of coherence that relates to expected features of a context or text type.
Eg. Yours sincerely, Click here for further information. Ready, set, go.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
47
Q

Conversion

A

A from of morphological patterning where a word changes word class but does not change its structure.
Eg. google (proper noun > verb), chair (noun > verb).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
48
Q

Coordination

A

The joining of clauses using coordinating conjunctions [for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so].
Eg. I walked to the bus stop but it didn’t come so I called mum and she came to get me.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
49
Q

Covert norms

A

Features on non-Standard Australian English that help to build belonging and identity.
Eg. She’s a top chick.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
50
Q

Declarative

A

A sentence type that expresses a statement.
Eg. It might snow today.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
51
Q

Deictic

A

A ‘tie’ – term used to denote words or expressions that rely on and link to the context to convey meaning. Words that place the text in time and place.
Eg. now, there, last….

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
52
Q

Denotation

A

The literal definition of a word.
Eg. ‘white’ – a colour without hue, very pale.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
53
Q

Derivation

A

The indication (usually through morphology) of word class / grammatical category of a word.
Eg. The singer at the concert was particularly fabulous.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
54
Q

Determiner

A

A lexical item which specifies the number and definiteness of a noun.
Eg the game, that decision, your friend.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
55
Q

Direct Object

A

A sentence element directly affected by the action of a verb.
Eg. She ate the pie.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
56
Q

Discourse

A

Any spoken or written language in a given context.
Eg. ‘Lest we Forget.’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
57
Q

Discourse marker

A

A brief word or phrase uttered to mark something within the discourse, such as the beginning of a turn or a change in topic.
Eg. well, ok.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
58
Q

Discourse particle

A

A brief word or phrase used to slightly redirect a spoken discourse without significantly altering meaning.
Eg. you know, oh, well, like.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
59
Q

Domain

A

The semantic field of the discourse.
Eg. Chemistry, climate, cattle farming.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
60
Q

Double-speak

A

Language that misleads, conceals, and/or makes something undesirable seem positive.
Eg. nation-building investments to bolster our future capabilities.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
61
Q

Dysphemism

A

A harsher or more direct and impolite word or phrase to refer to a taboo or unpleasant topic.
Eg. She’s knocked up. He did a shit. They carked it.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
62
Q

Elision

A

The omission of sounds in connected speech.
Eg. salt an’ pepper, how ‘bout that.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
63
Q

Ellipsis

A

The omission of a grammatical element from a sentence where the meaning is still understood.
Eg. ‘I didn’t  but he saw them’, ‘ you like coffee?’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
64
Q

End focus

A

A feature of information flow where the most important ideas are presented finally in a sentence.
Eg. They had gathered there with all their treasures.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
65
Q

Ethnolect

A

A (mainly spoken) variety that is influenced by a language other than English.
Eg. Yesterday, I buy some domadoes from thisa woman.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
66
Q

Euphemism

A

A milder or more polite word or phrase to refer to a taboo or unpleasant topic.
Eg. She’s peachy. He did number 2s. They passed away.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
67
Q

Exclamative

A

A sentence type that starts with an interrogative pronoun but is an emotive statement.
Eg. What a fabulous dress that is! Why that’s fantastic!

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
68
Q

Existential

A

Sentences that begin with There is, It is or There are to shift the theme out of its usual position, creating end-focus.
Eg. There are several options.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
69
Q

False start

A

A feature of spoken discourse where an interlocutor begins an utterance and then makes an immediate repair.
Eg. Tomor..Wednesday night is the show.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
70
Q

Formatting

A

A feature of coherence that involves alterations to the graphology / physical appearance of a written text, including l a y o u t, font, size, bolding, CAPITALISATION, italics, underlining etc.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
71
Q

Free morphemes

A

Morphemes that can stand alone as a lexeme.
Eg. chair, build.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
72
Q

Front focus

A

A feature of information flow where the most important ideas are presented initially in a sentence.
Eg. Thousands of people with their treasures had gathered there.

73
Q

Fronting

A

Moving grammatical elements to the front of a sentence, before the subject noun phrase.
Eg. Into the sea, I dived. Certainly, they felt very pleased.

74
Q

Function

A

The role/purpose of words, phrases or clauses in their context.

75
Q

Graphology

A

The writing system of English – letters and other ‘markers’, includes context-specific graphemes. Eg. #, @, www,🙄

76
Q

Hedging

A

A word or phrase uttered to ‘soften’ part of a spoken discourse, to signal doubt, uncertainty or to avoid a sense of authority and reduce status.
Eg. sort of, actually, I mean.

77
Q

Hyperbole

A

Language that creates deliberate exaggeration for effect.
Eg. It was the most fabulous idea ever!

78
Q

Hyponymy

A

The relationship and connection between words where the meaning of one lexeme is included in another.
Eg. tree (hypernym) – oak, gum (hyponyms). Drink (hypernym) – wine, coffee (hyponyms)

79
Q

Idiolect

A

An individual’s own distinctive way of speaking.

80
Q

Idiom

A

A playful, cultural expression that is non-literal.
Eg. in a pickle, full of beans.

81
Q

Imperative

A

A sentence type that expresses a directive or command. They are second person and usually verb first.
Eg. Pay the bill. Show me the money.

82
Q

Inference

A

A feature of coherence that involves the audience’s background, cultural knowledge to fully understand a text.
Eg. The MCG was transformed into a sea of yellow and black. (yellow and black are Richmond colours), When everyone asked for second helpings, she smiled contently. (They liked her food which pleased her).

83
Q

Information flow

A

How clauses and sentences are constructed and connected in a discourse to build cohesion. Features include clefting, front focus and end focus.

84
Q

Infinitive

A

A verb in its base form, before agreement, often preceded by the preposition ‘to’.
Eg. to live, to sleep

85
Q

Inflection

A

The indication (usually through morphology) of grammatical information, such as tense and number.
Eg. The lucky children eagerly climbed the ladders.

86
Q

Infix

A

A morpheme that exists within a stem.
Eg. fan-bloody-tastic, abso-bloody-lutely.

87
Q

Initialism

A

A word formed with the initial letters of words in a phrase, pronounced separately.
Eg. Racv, FYI, AFL.

88
Q

Insertion

A

The addition of one or more sounds to a word (epenthesis).
Eg. athalete, filum, drawring, something.

89
Q

Interjection

A

A sudden, brief utterance that is usually not part of a syntactic structure.
Eg. wow, psst, ugh, excellent.

90
Q

Interrogative

A

A sentence type that expresses a question, usually the subject and verb are inverted.
Eg. When are you going to Melbourne?

91
Q

Interrogative tag

A

An incomplete clause that includes inversion added to the end of a declarative.
Eg. You love English Language, don’t you?

92
Q

Intonation

A

Differences in the pitch level of the voice in spoken discourse.
Eg. do you/

93
Q

Intransitive

A

A verb that does not take a direct object.
Eg. He is sleeping. I dance.

94
Q

Inversion

A

Reversing the order of clause elements, usually subject and verb.
Eg. I like good chocolate, as does Jacqui. “Help!” called David. Then came the war. In a quiet and homely burrow lived a little white rabbit.

95
Q

Irony

A

A semantic feature that can create semantic patterning where what actually occurs goes against what is expected.
Eg. My hairdresser has a terrible hair.

96
Q

Jargon

A

Language particular to a semantic field, often technical and domain-specific.
Eg. sauté, blanche, dice, cream, pipe (cooking).

97
Q

Lexical ambiguity

A

When a word can be understood in two or more senses.
Eg. He is lying over there. (Lying down or not telling the truth?) The musician’s note was quite long. (tone or written note?)

98
Q

Lexical patterning

A

The repetition of a word (in various forms) within a discourse.
Eg. never….never… (caution, careful, care, careless, carefully).

99
Q

Listing

A

A syntactic feature where lexemes or phrases are arranged in a (usually parallel) construction in a cohesive ‘series’.
Eg. You need to gather seeds, leaves, flowers and lots of bark.

100
Q

Logical Order

A

A feature of coherence that relates to the clear sequencing of a text. This may be evident in many ways (numbering, hyponymy, cause and effect etc).

101
Q

Metalanguage

A

The language used to talk about language.
Eg. inflectional morpheme.

102
Q

Metaphor

A

A descriptive use of language in which one thing is directly seen in terms of another.
Eg. He was in a world of hurt. The branches lashed at my skin.

103
Q

Metonymy

A

The use of an attribute for the thing in discussion.
Eg. ‘the crown’ for kingdom or royalty, ‘silver’ for cutlery

104
Q

Minimal responses

A

Brief utterances in spoken discourse to signal understanding, engagement, encouragement and/or agreement.
Eg. yep, aha, good, yeah.

105
Q

Modal

A

Auxiliary verbs that make reference to obligation, possibility and prediction.
Eg. must, should, would, can, may.

106
Q

Morpheme

A

The smallest unit of meaning.
Eg. un (negates).

107
Q

Morphology

A

The study of the internal structure of words.
Eg de-struct-ion.

108
Q

Negative face

A

Language that supports one’s need to be autonomous / independent, not to be imposed or intruded upon.
Eg. Excuse me, do you mind if…?

109
Q

Neologism

A

A newly coined word or phrase.
Eg. crowdsourcing, trolling, staycation.

110
Q

Nominalisation

A

This affects the structure of a clause as it involves a verb or adjective (mainly) being used as or transformed into a noun (nominal group).
Eg. The decision by the government…, The student’s performance was brilliant.

111
Q

Non-Standard

A

The form or variety of a language that deviates / differs from the Standard.
Eg, loo, fab, tinnie, laughing gear (mouth).

112
Q

Noun

A

A word class with a naming function, often a person, place or thing. It can be concrete/common, abstract, collective or proper.
Eg. Canberra, team, coffee.

113
Q

Object

A

A pronoun or noun phrase that is receiving the action of the verb.
Eg. They are considering the options.

114
Q

Onomatopoeia

A

Words that imitate the sounds they describe.
Eg. crash, bang, zip, pow.

115
Q

Openings

A

The deliberate beginning of a spoken discourse, often relates to conventions.
Eg. Hi Tracey… Ladies and Gentlemen… Let me start by welcoming…

116
Q

Orthography

A

Spelling

117
Q

Overlap

A

Two participants in a discourse speak simultaneously, a natural part of speech.
Eg. A: Hi *Ben B: *G’day

118
Q

Overt norms

A

Features of Standard Australian English.
Eg. She is a lovely girl.

119
Q

Oxymoron

A

A semantic feature involving the use of apparently contradictory words in a phrase.
Eg. delicious poison, exam festival

120
Q

Paradox

A

A statement that seems contradictory yet involves a form of description or truth.
Eg. to be cruel to be kind… ‘I can resist everything except temptation.’ (Oscar Wilde)

121
Q

Parallelism

A

The patterning of pairs (or more) of words or structures to create a sense of balance and grouping.
Eg. reduce, reuse, recycle. To be fair and to be firm. You can snorkel the reef, paddle the rivers and sip the cocktails.

122
Q

Pauses

A

A non-fluency feature of spoken discourse used to briefly provide thinking time.
Eg. I would like…vanilla.
Pauses can also be deliberate, phonological features when used for dramatic effect.
Eg. The winner is…Rebel Wilson.

123
Q

Passive

A

A grammatical construction in which the subject of the clause is not carrying out the action of the verb but is having it done to them. It alters the focus of a sentence. (In passive voice the object of an active sentence occurs in the subject position.)
Eg. The budget was delivered by the Treasurer. Parents were informed by the school.

124
Q

Person

A

Grammatical term referring to the number and perspective of participants in a discourse. First person is the speaker / writer themselves (and the group they are included in) (I, we). Second person relates to the person or those addressed by the speaker / writer (you). Third person relates to other people, animals, things being spoken or written about (she, it, he, they).

125
Q

Personification

A

A semantic feature in which non-human elements are described given human characteristics.
Eg. The warmth hugged me and kissed my face.

126
Q

Phatic

A

Language used to create and / or maintain social contact.
Eg. Lovely day today. How’s your day been?

127
Q

Phoneme

A

Smallest segment of sound.
Eg. /s/, /k/, /ə/, /θ/

128
Q

Phrase

A

A group of related words without an agreeing subject and verb.
Eg. Through the tunnel… wonderfully beautiful poetry… had been caught…

129
Q

Pitch

A

The ‘height’ of the voice’s sound production, either higher or lower. (It is the rate of the vibration of the vocal folds.)

130
Q

Political Correctness

A

Language that aims to remove pejorative connotations and remove unnecessary distinctions based on personal characteristics.
Eg. flight attendant, police officer, hearing impaired, person with a disability

131
Q

Positive face needs

A

Language that supports one’s need to be liked, included, appreciated and approved of.
Eg. you ol’ bastard… Hey Cassie… that’s a great idea…

132
Q

Prefix

A

A bound morpheme that that occurs before a stem.
Eg. unnecessary, rewire.

133
Q

Preposition

A

Closed class word that denotes a positional relationship between nouns.
Eg. in the bath, beside the road, through the air.

134
Q

Pronoun

A

Closed class word that replaces / stands in for a noun / NP.
Eg. she, they, we.

135
Q

Prosodics

A

Features of spoken discourse that manipulate the voice production in some way.
Eg. stress, intonation, pace.

136
Q

Public language

A

Language that upholds expectations of the public domain, meeting social expectations and acknowledging social attitudes of appropriateness.

137
Q

Pun

A

A play on the semantics of similar sounding or related words.
Eg. Gun lobby protest misfires. Dairy farmers want to be heard (herd).

138
Q

Reflexive

A

A type of pronoun ending in –self or –selves. The subject and object are directly related.
Eg. I hurt myself. They challenged themselves.

139
Q

Register

A

The level of formality of language defined according to use.
Eg. ‘get’ v ‘obtained’, ‘view’ v ‘perspective’.

140
Q

Relative

A

A pronoun that begins a relative clause.
Eg. The weather, which was unpredictable, … The children, who were overjoyed, sang all the way.

141
Q

Repair

A

A non-fluency feature that is the correction of a mistake or misunderstanding in conversation.
Eg. He was born in Febru..August. I spoke to her yest..no..last week.

142
Q

Repetition

A

A feature repeated in close proximity to the first occurrence. It can be used deliberately for emphasis or may occur as an unplanned utterance (non-fluency feature).
Eg. many, many times, I will..will not listen to that.

143
Q

Rhetoric

A

The way language is used / manipulated to influence an audience

144
Q

Rhyme

A

Two or more words have or end with corresponding sounds, matching phonology.
Eg. Sam I am, I do not like green eggs and ham.

145
Q

Rhythm

A

The creation of long and short patterns of spoken discourse through stressed and unstressed syllables.
Eg. ‘Double, Double, Toil and Trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble.’

146
Q

Root

A

The stem of a word, the morpheme that carries the most amount of meaning, to which other morphemes may be added.
Eg. restructuring.

147
Q

Semantics

A

The study of the meaning of language.
Eg. ‘bright’ can mean ‘intelligent’.

148
Q

Sentence

A

A grammatical structure made up of one or more clauses.
Eg. The sun is shining. We love the beach and the snow.

149
Q

Shortening

A

A word formed through the omission of one or more syllables from a word.
Eg. coxswain, examination, second

150
Q

Simile

A

A semantic feature which describes a direct comparison between two things, using like or as.
Eg. Her hair was like golden silk.

151
Q

Simple sentence

A

A sentence with a single clause (1 x VP).
Eg. Yesterday, we went to the zoo.

152
Q

Slang

A

Distinctive words and phrases associated with informal speech.
Eg. dunny, ripper, tinnie, chompers.

153
Q

Social purposes

A

The functions or reasons of a text – why the text exists and what it is aiming to do.
Eg. Fold in the cream – to instruct, explain, direct.

154
Q

Sociolect

A

A variety that is used by a particular social group with the community, for example teenspeak is a sociolect.
Eg. that’s lit… amazeballs

155
Q

Standard

A

The form or variety of a language considered to be the norm.
Eg, toilet, fantastic, dinghy, teeth.

156
Q

Stress

A

The degree of emphasis given to sounds or a syllable in speech.
Eg. I ^did speak to him.

157
Q

Subject

A

A noun phrase or pronoun that is the actor of a verb in a clause.
Eg. They are considering the options.

158
Q

Subordinate Clause

A

A clause that cannot stand as a sentence on its own. Also known as a dependent clause.
Eg. The man, who spoke, left the room. I’m not sure, if I can visit.

159
Q

Subordination

A

The joining of clauses through the use of subordinating conjunctions to create dependent clauses.
Eg. If I told you, it wouldn’t work, although I’m not sure.

160
Q

Substitution

A

A cohesive device where a noun, phrase or clause is substituted with another in a related clause.
Eg. Do you prefer this colour or that one?

161
Q

Suffix

A

A bound morpheme that occurs at the end of a stem.
Eg. happiness, nearly.

162
Q

Synecdoche

A

A language device in which a part is used to represent the whole.
Eg. ‘faces’ to mean ‘people’, ‘wheels’ to mean ‘car’.

163
Q

Synonymy

A

Different words with the same or similar (and therefore connected) meanings.
Eg. They were happy with the choice and content that is was finalised.

164
Q

Syntax

A

The study of the grammatical relationship between words in a sentence.

165
Q

Taboo

A

Language that reflects socially sensitive topics.
Eg. coon, blonde bimbo.

166
Q

Tempo

A

The rate or pace of spoken discourse.
e.g. <F I’m not sure which it is F>

167
Q

Tenor

A

The nature of the relationship between participants in a discourse. Closely related to style and register.

168
Q

Transitive

A

A type of verb that is followed by a direct object.
Eg. We brushed the dog.

168
Q

Topic Management

A

This involves devices used by speakers to maintain or alter the subject of (part of) a discourse.
Eg. Did you see what Sarah did? (interrogative), Right… Go on… (minimal responses and back-channelling).

168
Q

Turn-taking

A

Holding, taking and passing the floor in spoken discourse. Can be achieved through many strategies: pauses, voiced hesitations, vocatives, interrogatives, intonation, etc.

169
Q

Verbs

A

Open class words that express states, actions or processes.
Eg. am, to paint, singing.

170
Q

Vocal effects

A

‘noises’ that often accompany speech production.
Eg sighing, laughter, coughing.

171
Q

Vocatives

A

Words used to address people (and animals).
Eg. buddy, mate, Shaz, Smithy, Mr Ronaldson, Your Honor.

172
Q

Voiced hesitations

A

Filled pauses or fillers uttered in spoken discourse to briefly provide thinking time and hold the floor.
Eg. I would like um vanilla.

173
Q

Volume

A

The degree of loudness in spoken discourse. Louder or softer speech is often noted. <S>.</S>

174
Q

Vowel reduction

A

Unstressed vowel sounds are weakened or less distinctive (often made towards the middle of the mouth).
Eg. Where did ya go? I had tə. That’s fə me.

175
Q

Word Class

A

Words that share similar grammatical characteristics.
Eg. nouns, prepositions.

176
Q

Word Order

A

The arrangements of words in a sentence.
Eg. SVO (I like lemonade.), SVC (I want to be an engineer.), SVA (The couch was shredded by the cat.), SVAdv (The dog lives in the backyard.)

English (5 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions