Occupational Dialects and Jargon Flashcards
What are occupational dialects?
Dialects and specific ways of speaking which a certain groups of people within a particular occupation use
What do occupational dialects allow to happen within conversations of people from the same group?
They allow communication to be clear and used economically and precisely
What do occupational dialects allow to happen within conversations of people from different groups?
They can exclude people and make people of the particular occupation seem more important and sophisticated
What is the most identifiable characteristic of occupational dialects?
Vocabulary
although sometimes there are specific grammatical features
Does everyone from a particular occupational group understand all the dialect used?
No, some of the dialect is split into sub-varieties
e.g. education vocabulary:
class, GCSE, module - all can be understood by teachers and pupils
tracking - only used and understood by teachers (monitoring)
may also be split between schools, sixth forms, universities etc.
What is the occupational dialect which is commonly though of to have very distinctive features?
Legal language
What are the factors which make “legal language” so distinctive?
Needs to be precise and unambiguous
System is rooted in history and tradition
What are the specific examples of vocabulary used within “legal language”?
Archaic words - hereby, thereto
French - lieu
Latin - habeas corpus
Formal words and phrases - without let or hinderance
What are the specific examples of grammar used within “legal language”?
Lengthy and complex sentences with subordinate clauses
Repetition and lists
Certain word classes (modal verbs - may, shall ; hypernyms, hyponyms)
What are hypernyms?
Words which have a broad meaning for a category in which more specific meanings fall into
e.g colour is a hypernym for red
What are hyponyms?
Words which have a more specific meaning than a more general term used to describe them
e.g. spoon is a hyponym for cutlery
What is jargon?
Specialist vocabulary used by a particular occupation or group
How is jargon helpful within occupational groups?
Allows the group to function more efficiently as they can communicate more clearly, quickly and precisely
When can jargon become inappropriate?
When it is used with a wider, non-specialist audience as they probably won’t be able to understand what is meant
How is jargon criticised?
When it is used with a wider audience and the speaker/writer is not being sensitive to their needs
