Key Terms Flashcards
Discourse Marker
A word triggering a change in subject.
E.g. Anyway, I was in Tesco
Deixis
The placement of an object.
E.g. Over there
Imperative
A command.
E.g. Change the lightbulb.
Ellipsis
When a word is missing from the sentence but it still makes sense.
E.g. No idea.
Modal Expressions
Used to express ideas such as possibility, intention, obligation and necessity.
E.g. Could you maybe change the lightbulb.
Intensifier
An adverb used to give force or emphasis.
E.g. My feet are really cold.
Nominalisation
When a verb becomes a noun.
E.g. The collection of dinner money will take place on Monday.
Passive Voice
The grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source).
E.g. The ball was thrown by the boy.
Active Voice
The grammatical subject of the verb is performing the action.
E.g. The boy threw the ball.
First-Person Pronoun
Referring to the speaker as yourself.
E.g. I went to Tesco
Second-Person Pronoun
Referring to the speaker as somebody else.
E.g. She went to Tesco.
Pre-Modiefier
Modifies another element in the structure of the sentence before the object.
E.g. It was all going swimmingly well.
Adjective
Naming the attributes of a noun.
E.g. The red shoes.
Phoneme
The sounds of words.
E.g. ^ = pUtt
Filler
Phonemes that are used to fill pauses in conversation.
E.g. Ah, I understand.
Elision
The emission of a sound or syllable when speaking.
E.g. Gonna get going now.
Modal Auxiliary Verb
An auxiliary verb used to express modality.
E.g. You should pay your child’s dinner money before Friday.
Past Tense
A sentence referring to a past event.
E.g. I went to Tesco.
Adverb
Describes the verb.
E.g. Very fast.
Pronoun
A word that can function as a noun phrase used by itself and that refers to either the participants in the discourse or someone mentioned in the discourse.
E.g. She is in Tesco, I am in Tesco
Stress
The amount of emphasis put on a syllable.
E.g. ManCHEster
Schwa
A weak vowel.
E.g. Are you waiting for Camilla?
Re you waiting for Camilla?
Intonation
The tones or tunes over a whole utterance.
E.g. I really enjoyed that film.
Blend
Mixing two words to make a new one.
E.g. To+Work= TWERK
Prestige
Pronunciation considered to be superior.
E.g. One must always use the train line.
Stigmatised
Opposite of prestige.
E.g. Phiw Mitchew
Glottal Stop
Dropping a letter.
E.g. Better becomes be’er.
Covert Prestige
Accent was stigmatised becomes prestigious.
E.g. Geordie
Derivation
Taking a basic unit and adding extra parts.
E.g. Dishearten= dis+heart+en.
Morpheme
The smallest unit of language.
E.g. Pre
Neologism
New words.
E.g. Potterheads
Root
Each word will have at least one morpheme (the root).
E.g. NeoLOGisms
Etymology
The study of word origins.
E.g. ‘Score’ is originally a loan word from Old Norse.
Prefix.
Added to the beginnings of words.
E.g. DIShearten.
Suffixes
Added to the end of words.
E.g. DisheartEN
Agenda
The process of deciding what things need to be discussed
Stress
The amount of emphasis put on a syllable.
E.g. ManCHEster
Schwa
A weak vowel.
E.g. Are you waiting for Camilla?
Re you waiting for Camilla?
Intonation
The tones or tunes over a whole utterance.
E.g. I really enjoyed that film.
Blend
Mixing two words to make a new one.
E.g. To+Work= TWERK
Prestige
Pronunciation considered to be superior.
E.g. One must always use the train line.
Stigmatised
Opposite of prestige.
E.g. Phiw Mitchew
Glottal Stop
Dropping a letter.
E.g. Better becomes be’er.
Covert Prestige
Accent was stigmatised becomes prestigious.
E.g. Geordie
Derivation
Taking a basic unit and adding extra parts.
E.g. Dishearten= dis+heart+en.
