Language Levels, Terminology, Analysis Flashcards
What’s the definition of a noun?
Words that name any person, thing, idea, state or quality
What are the types of noun and there definitions?
Common/concrete - something you can touch
Proper - naming word (capital letter)
Abstract - a quality, state of mind, physical condition or idea (can’t touch)
Collective - detonating a collection or group of people/animals/things
What’s the definition of a verb?
Words that indicate an action or process
What are the types of verb and there definition?
Active - detonate physical processes
Stative - detonate emotional processes, state of mind and being
What’s the definition of adjectives?
Words that describe or modify a noun or pronoun
What are the types of adjectives?
Determiners, distributive, interrogative, numerical, indefinite and qualitative
What’s the definition of adverbs?
Words that describes or modifies any word class (apart from nouns and pronouns)
What are the types of adverbs?
Time, place, manner, degree, number, certainty/uncertainty and interrogative
What’s the definition of conjunctions?
Connecting items in a list or clauses to create longer sentences.
What are the types of conjunctions?
Coordinating and subordinating
What’s the definition of pronouns?
Replace nouns
What are the types of pronouns?
Personal, possessive, demonstrative, indefinite, interrogative and reflexive
What’s the definition of prepositions?
Convey a spatial relationship between objects e.g on, above
What’s the definition of phonetics?
Refers to the physical production and reception of sound
What’s the definition of phonology?
An abstract idea about all the sounds of a particular language
What’s the definition of prosody?
The melody that our voices create via prosodic features such as rhythm and intonation
What’s the definition of semantics?
Refers to the meaning of words and expressions (also the overall meaning of something)
What’s the definition of grammar?
The structural aspects of language that tie items together. Includes syntax or word order and morphology or the elements added to words to show their grammatical role.
What’s the definition of graphology?
All the visual aspects of textual design, including colour, layout, images, typeface etc
What’s the phonemic alphabet?
An alphabet for transcribing general sounds, suitable for a specific language.
What’s the definition of pragmatics?
Assumptions made about what is meant or the inferences drawn from what is said or written.
What’s the definition of lexis?
The vocabulary of a language
What’s the definition of phoneme?
An individual sound. Can identify people’s speech patterns and variations.
What’s the definition of non-verbal behaviour?
Communication that takes place via the body e.g gesture/facial expression
What’s the definition of paralanguage?
Aspects of an individuals vocal expression e.g whispering
What’s the phonological system?
The system of sounds within any language variety
What’s the definition of RP (Received Pronunciation)?
An accent traditionally associated with high social status. Received refers to the idea of social acceptance in official circles.
What’s the definition of repertoire?
The range of language forms or styles used by a speaker
What’s the definition of Worlds Englishes?
Varieties of English that are used in different countries around the world (mainly formally colonised areas). These countries have their own version of standard English
What’s the definition of Shibboleth?
A term that dates back to the Bible as a way to discover people’s allegiances during battles. People will try and use the language of the groups they wish to be a part of. They could tell what group they were a part of based on how they said ‘shibboleth’
What’s the definition of ethnic identity/ethnicity?
A persons sense of belonging to an ethnicity.
What’s the definition of formality?
A less polite/friendly tone
What’s the definition of representation?
One that represents somethings use
What’s the definition of social variation?
Social characteristics/factors/groups
What’s the definition of connotation?
Meaning of a word. What’s inferred and associated.
What’s the definition of detonation?
The literal meaning or a word.
What’s figurative language?
Non literal way of communicating e.g simile, metaphor
What’s the definition of etymology?
The study of the origin of words and how they have changed throughout history.
What’s the definition of style?
Describes the way the author uses words.
What’s the definition of synonym?
Words that have equivalent meanings
What’s the definition of antonyms?
Words that have opposite meanings.
What’s the definition of morpheme?
The smallest grammatical units that have some intrinsic meaning/value
What’s the definition of register?
Level of formality in a piece of writing
What’s the definition of semantic field?
Grouping of words connected by a shared field or reference.
What’s the definition of dysphemism?
The substitution of a pleasant word for an unpleasant term
What’s the definition of euphemism?
The substitution of a harsh/blunt term for a mild/indirect word
What’s the definition of Lingua Franca?
Common language between speakers
What’s the definition of taboo?
Prohibited or restricted by social custom.
What’s the definition of idiom?
Phrases that can’t be understood by just looking at them.
What’s the definition of a metaphor?
Figure of speech applied to an object/action which it isn’t literally applicable
What’s the definition of a phrase?
More than one word that acts as a single word classification (less than a clause)
What’s the definition of a noun phrase?
A word or group of words containing a noun and functioning in a sentence as subject, object, or prepositional object.
What’s the definition of a prepositional phrase?
A group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase
What’s the definition of a clause?
Subject + verb + (optional) object
What’s the definition of the declarative sentence mood?
Sentences that make statements
What’s the definition of interrogative sentence moods?
Sentences that form questions
What’s the definition of the imperative sentence mood?
Sentences that form commands
What’s the definition of the exclamatory sentence mood?
Sentences that are strongly emotive
What’s the definition of minor sentences/fragment?
Something presented as a sentence, but not a complete clause. Usually presented as some kind of emphasis.
What’s the definition of simple sentences?
Only has one main clause
What’s the definition of a compound sentence?
Has two or more clauses joined by coordinating conjunctions.
What’s the definition of complex sentences?
Has two or more clauses joined by subordinating conjunctions
What’s the definition of the active voice?
Where the subject of the sentence carries out the verb
What’s the definition of passive voice?
Where the subject of the sentence has the verb carried out on it
What’s anaphora?
Where the beginnings of sentences borrow phrasing from the beginnings of previous sentences (start in the same way)
What’s triadic structures?
Groupings of three elements in a sentence. The structure is usually used to generate a sense of rhythm and power, and creates balance and boosts the sentences real impact
What’s syndetic lists?
Lists of nouns or noun phrases where at some point there’s a coordinating conjunction
What’s asyndetic lists?
Lists of nouns or noun phrases, where there is no coordinating conjunction at all. Usually this affects the rhythm of the sentence, producing a more pronounced and staccato effect.
What’s cohesion?
The way texts connect across sentences or utterances. It’s important in spoken language and grammar.
What’s pragmatics?
All about assumptions in language
