Glossary - Spoken Language and CMC

Question 1

Idiolect

Answer 1

Linguistic fingerprint, your own individual way of using language. E.G “you know” or “Like”.

Question 2

Lexis

Answer 2

Words; to do with words.

Question 3

Accent

Answer 3

How you pronounce words, how they sound. E.G “bath” or “Grass”. Often regional.

Question 4

Dialect

Answer 4

Regional Lexis/grammar, such as ‘mon’, ‘lad’ or ‘spice’.

Question 5

CMC

Answer 5

Computer Mediated Communication

Question 6

Fillers

Answer 6

Words added to a sentence acting to fill gaps in conversation, or to allow thinking time. E.G ‘I don’t know’, ‘literally’ or ‘umm/erhh’

Question 7

Semantic shifts

Answer 7

Changes in the meaning of a word over time.

Question 8

Voiced pauses

Answer 8

Pauses in conversation filled with lexis or a phoneme. E.G ‘um’ or ‘erhh’

Question 9

Unvoiced pauses

Answer 9

Pauses in conversation filled by silence.

Question 10

Non-fluency features

Answer 10

ANYTHING stopping fluency.

Question 11

Clippings

Answer 11

Shortened versions of words, such as Fab, brill, zoo and bus

Question 12

Register

Answer 12

How you address people, and the formality of it. Can be either formal, informal or mixed register.

Question 13

Nonstandard features

Answer 13

Slang or features of language which do not conform to standard English, often fleeting and generational.

Question 14

Sociolect

Answer 14

Language of a social group.

Question 15

Prosodic features

Answer 15

‘HOW you say it’, how something is said; the pitch and tempo (etc) of a word or phrase.

Question 16

Paralinguistic features

Answer 16

Non-verbal communication. For example: eye contact, nodding, head shaking and sighs etc.

Question 17

Borrowings

Answer 17

Words taken from another language that become part of the English language, such as culdesac, bungalow or cafe.

Question 18

Mode

Answer 18

Types of communication: ‘spoken, written and mixed’

Question 19

False start

Answer 19

Starting to say something, and then correcting yourself. For example - “tomorr.. I mean Tuesday”.

Question 20

Interactive communication

Answer 20

Talking in order to maintain social relationships.

Question 21

Phatic communication

Answer 21

Futile small talk, polite and no purpose.

Question 22

Transactional communication

Answer 22

Communication with a purpose or set point, e.g booking appointments or planning an event.

Question 23

Context

Answer 23

All background features/factors which affect the language choices of an individual in text or spoken language. GAP

Question 24

Phoneme

Answer 24

A sound; e.g “T- tee, A- Ai, P- Pee” or “TAP”.

Question 25

Grapheme

Answer 25

A letter, not always corresponding with phoneme. E.G A B C

Question 26

Utterance

Answer 26

A spoken version of a sentence

Question 27

Ellipsis

Answer 27

Missing out whole words.

Question 28

Standard English

Answer 28

The approved/‘respected’ dialect of English used in formal circumstances.

Question 29

Received Pronunciation

Answer 29

The standard ACCENT of England. (Often associated with prestige or power).

Question 30

Lexical symmetry

Answer 30

Words that are(n’t) the same but favour men. Eg ‘Bachelor vs Spinster’.

Question 31

Semantic derogation

Answer 31

Words that are used in a derogatory way, such as Madam or dame.

Question 32

Trivialising suffixes

Answer 32

Deborah Cameron - a form of noun morphology that encourages nouns to reveal unequal attitudes towards men and women. For example - ‘actor vs actress’.

Question 33

Default assumptions

Answer 33

Our language makes assumptions of what usual is, for example ‘surgeon’ having male connotations, but being literal when used for women too.

Question 34

Feminist neologisms

Answer 34

Mary Daly - terms coined by feminists to turn language on males negatively or females positively. Eg, “wimmin” to take away any male function.

Question 35

Lexical overrepresentation

Answer 35

Areas where there may be too many words or perceived as too many words for one or more areas/groups/things.