Lexis Flashcards
Define lexis
Vocabulary choices and meaning.
Define idiolect
Our distinctive and individual style of speaking.
Define fillers
Words such as ‘um’ and ‘er’, used in spontaneous speech when we are thinking on what to say, or in nervous situations.
Define taboo
Expletives.
Define dialect
The words and vocabulary choices we make
Define neologism
Creating new words.
Give examples of neologisms
BREXIT, chillax, flabbergasted.
Define colloquialisms
Informal words or phrases typically used in comfortable situations.
Define spoonerisms
A verbal error in which a speaker accidentally transposes the initial sounds or letters of two or more words.
Give an example of a spoonerism
Lack of pies & pack of lies
Define sociolect
How social groups influence our idiolect.
Define jargon
Using specific terms only a social group will understand.
Define initialisms
Abbreviations consisting of initial letters.
Give examples of initialisms
BBC, DNA
Define acronyms
Combining the first letter/syllable of each word in a phrase to create a new word, which is said as the word is spelt.
Give examples of acronyms
FOMO, ASAP
Define vague language/hedging
How a writer creates certainty and uncertainty.
Give examples of hedging
About, kind of, sort of
Define synonyms
Words with a similar or same meaning
Define antonyms
Words with opposite meaning
Paronomasia
Linguistic term for wordplay
Define negative reinforcement
Telling a child not to do something or correcting them
Define positive reinforcement
Praising for doing something using expressives
Define formality
How we appear in certain situations, e.g. polite vs impolite. How we use language, e.g. standard vs non-standard. Whether we use formal or informal vernacular.
Define vulgarism.
Words just short of taboo, e.g. ‘bloody’ or ‘crap’. Not as frowned upon as taboo.
Define slang
A very broad term for many different uses of language which are not considered to be ‘proper’ or standard English.
Define standard English
Informal, neutral, formal and very formal. SE is the term used for grammatical constructions generally accepted as ‘correct’ English, but even here there is a spectrum ranging from informal to highly formal.
Define non-standard English.
Words and grammatical constructions not considered to be correct SE, but which are confined to specific regions of the country.
Define operant conditioning
Children learn via positive and negative reinforcement
Define vague language
Language which is ambiguous in its meaning
Give examples of vague language
12 ish, soonish, sort of