Language Techniques Flashcards
Personification
Give an object a human feeling or characteristic
E.g. The trees danced happily
Alliteration
the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of closely connected words.
E.g. slippery soap
Onomatopoeia
a word from a sound associated with what is named
e.g thudding
Simile
the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind.
e.g. As fast as lightning
Metaphor
an indirect comparison between two things that aren’t alike but do have something in common, usually made by stating something is something else. E.g. he was a leprechaun
Sibilance
A figure of speech in which a hissing sound is created within a group of words through the repetition of “s” sounds
E.g. sadly, sam sold seven venomous serpents to sally
Rhetorical question
a question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer e.g. Was that the right thing to do ?
Colloquial language
The linguistic style used for casual communication
E.g. I ain’t gonna do that
Hyperbole
Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
E.g. Ive done this a thousand times
Imagery
Visually descriptive or figurative language.
E.g. The grass was so fresh that you could smell it in the air
Noun
A noun is a word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas
E.g. The man walked across the road
Verb
A verb is a word used to describe an action
e.g. he was cooking in the kitchen
Adjective
a word that modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes it
E.g. she wore a beautiful dress
Adverb
An adverb is a word that describes a verb
E.g. Slowly, he crawled to the finish line
Repetition
A word that is used 2 or more times
E.g. The stars were bright, the light was bright
Oxymoron
Two words that do not go together.
E.g. The silent rage of the old man
Pronoun
a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun
E.g.He, she, it, you, few, many…
Abstract noun
A intangible item denoting an idea, quality, or state rather than a concrete object
E.g. truth, danger
Proper noun
a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity e.g. London, Jupiter, Sarah, or Microsoft
Collective noun
a collective noun is a collection of things taken as a whole.
E.g. choir, group, band
Noun
A noun is a word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas
E.g. The man walked across the road
Verb
A verb is a word used to describe an action
e.g. he was cooking in the kitchen
Adjective
a word that modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes it
E.g. she wore a beautiful dress
Adverb
An adverb is a word that describes a verb
E.g. Slowly, he crawled to the finish line
Repetition
A word that is used 2 or more times
E.g. The stars were bright, the light was bright
Oxymoron
Two words that do not go together.
E.g. The silent rage of the old man
Pronoun
a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun
E.g.He, she, it, you, few, many…
Abstract noun
A intangible item denoting an idea, quality, or state rather than a concrete object
E.g. truth, danger
Proper noun
a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity e.g. London, Jupiter, Sarah, or Microsoft
Collective noun
a collective noun is a collection of things taken as a whole.
E.g. choir, group, band
Assonance
Resemblance of sound between syllables of nearby words either between their vowels or between their consonants
“killed, cold, culled” “hot, boat, throat”
Dialect
A particular form of a language which is peculiar to a specific region or social group
E.g. howdy neighbour
Dialogue
A conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play or film
e.g. “Lisa “ said Laura, “I need help with the laundry”
Dissonance
Dissonance is the use of impolite, harsh-sounding, and unusual words in poetry.
E.g. “the beautiful sunset, disrupted with the sounds of crying babies”
Enjambment
Incomplete syntax at the end of a line; the meaning runs over from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation. Lines without enjambment are end-stopped.
Irony
is a situation in which there is a contrast between expectation and reality.
E.g. Good job on missing that meeting
Monologue
A long speech by one actor in a play or film, or as part of a theatrical or broadcast programme
E.g. “i had a dream”
Pathos
Is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response to an impassioned plea or a convincing story
Rhyme
Correspondence of sound between between words or the endings of words, especially when these are used at the ends of lines of poetry.
Rhythm
Rhythm can be described as the beat and pace of a poem.Rhythm is created by the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line or verse.
Caesura
Is a metrical pause or break in a verse where one phrase ends and another phrase begins.
Symbolism
A figure of speech where an object, person, or situation has another meaning other than its literal meaning.
Semantic field
A semantic field is a lexical set of words grouped by meaning that refers to a specific subject.
Preposition
A word that tells you where or when something is in relation to something else.
Article
Words such as “the” and “a” which combine with a noun to form a noun phrase.
Declarative sentence
A sentence in the form of a statement
Exclamatory sentence
An exclamatory sentence expresses strong emotion, and it ends with an exclamation mark.
Interrogative sentence
An interrogative sentence is usually in the form of a question.
Imperative sentence
An imperative sentence usually contains a command.
