SPANGLY TERMINOLOGY Flashcards
Stative verb
Verbs that describe an internal action e.g. think, believe etc.
Superlative
The extreme of a condition e.g. sunniest, most upset.
Lexis
A fancy word for ‘word’!
Lexical set
If you pick out a group of words (three or more) to analyse together (don’t have to be in sequence) this is a lexical set.
Exclamatory sentence mode
Expressions dominated by strong emotion / emphasis.
Register
Formality.
Parenthesis
An ‘aside’ from the main narrative. Sometimes the narrator’s reflections.
Litotes
When something is downplayed or understated.
Hyperbole
Exaggeration for effect.
Post modification
When description (adjectives) comes after the noun e.g. the chair, old and battered, was abandoned.
Semantics
Meaning.
Semantic field
Words with a shared meaning (e.g. Rossetti dwells in a semantic field of death).
Semantic shift
When the meaning of a word has changed over time.
Syntax
The structure and organisation of a sentence.
Anachronistic
When something id out of place, time or context (can include language).
Ambiguity
When something can be interpreted in more than one way.
Euphemism
Softened language or description e.g. “passed away”.
Synechdoche
When something is described as a component part of itself (e.g. a bike is a “set of wheels”).
Dysphemism
When dialogue or description is brash and goes beyond social appropriateness / restraint.
Code switching
When a speaker adjusts their register according to who they are talking to.
