Glossary Of Terms Flashcards
Standard English
The dialect of English that is considered to have most prestige and is used in the education system and in formal written texts
Slang
Referring to words and phrases which are considered informal
Dialect
Variations in word choices and grammatical choices that are typical of a particular reigon
Idolect
The speech habits peculiar to a particular person
Sociolect
The dialect of a particular social group or social class
Taboo
Lexical choices which are deemed to Be offensive.
-swearing
Technology influenced words and phrases
There is evidence that certain social groups use words and phrases in their speech which are normally associated with written technology (texts or tweets)
Neologisms
New words (which are constantly entering the English language)
Occupational register
Sometimes stemming from personal interests, an occupational register of jargon is largely based on sharing understanding between certain groups or individuals
-the language of gaming
Received Pronunciation
BBC English
Queens English
Oxford english
Conservative rp
Traditional rp used by older speakers and the aristocracy. Very rare
Mainstream rp
Neutral rp accent used by all ages and occupations
Contemporary rp
Refers to speakers using features typical of younger rp speakers
Regional accent
The way you pronounce certain words depending on where you live
Idiomatic phrases
A phrase that has an accepted and known meaning that is different from the dictionary definition of each individual word e.g. “hes part of the furniture” “you’ve hit the nail on the head”
Social mobility (not a linguistic term)
A phrase used to describe a persons move from one social class or level to another- this may occur through changing jobs, getting married or through a change in a persons economic or financial situation
Code switching
Occurs when a bilingual speaker will use and alternate between different languages while talking
Code mixing
The inclusion of words and phrases from one language in another
Multiple negation
When a sentence contains more than one negative “I didn’t do nothing”
Plural marking
The method of making a singular noun into its plural form “e,g one shoe but two shoes”
Unmarked plurality
When a singular form of a noun is used rather than the plural e.g.
“There’s only two mile to go”
Dialect levelling
The process by which language forms of different parts of the country coverage and be o,e more similar over time, with the loss of regional features and reduced diversity of language
