Spoken Language Features Flashcards
Accent
Way words are pronounced. Can vary according to social class of a speaker
Adjacency pairs
Parallel expressions used across boundaries of individual speaking turns. Usually ritualistic/ formulaic socially. For example, ‘how are you?’ / ‘fine thanks’
So like a responding utterance between something
Back-channel
Words, phrases and non-verbal utterances like ‘I see’,’oh’,’uh huh’,’really.’ Used by a listener to feedback to the speaker the message i being followed.
Contraction
A reduced form often marked by an apostrophe in writing e.g can’t=cannot she’ll= she will. Also includes Elision.
Deixis/deictics
Words such as ‘this,’ ‘that,’ ‘here,’ ‘there,’ which refer backwards or forwards or outside of a text- a sort of verbal pointing -> context dependant.
Dialect
The distinctive grammar and vocabulary associated with regional/social use of language
Discourse marker
Words and phrases used to signal the relationship and connections between utterances and to signpost that what is said can be followed by listener or reader. E.g ‘first’ ‘on the other hand’ ‘now’ ‘what’s more’ ‘so anyway’
Elision
The omission or slurring of one or more sounds or syllables e.g ‘gonna’ = going to ‘wannabe’= want to be ‘wassup’= what is up
Ellipsis
Part of a grammatical structure. For example, in the dialogue ‘you going to the party?’ / ‘might be.’ The verb ‘are’ and the pronoun ‘I’ is missed out created this informal tone.
False start
This is when the speaker begins an utterance then stops and either repeats or reformulates it. Also called self correction. This includes repairs
Filler
Items which do not carry conventional meaning but are inserted into speech to allow time to think, to create a pause or hold a turn in conversation. E.g: ‘er’ ‘um’ ‘ah’ also called voice pause.
Repairs
An alteration that is suggested by the speaker. The addressee, or audience in order to correct or clarify a previous conversational contribution
Sociolect
A social dialect or variety of speech used by a particular group such as working class speech and upper class speech
Tag question
Strings of words normally added to a declarative sentence to turn the statement into a question e.g ‘it’s a bit expensive round here, isn’t it?’
Transactional talk
Language to get things done or to transmit content or information( used when the participants are exchanging goods or services)
Turn taking
A turn is a time during which a single participant speaks within a typical orderly arrangement in which participants speak with minimal overlap and gap between them.
Utterance
A complete unit in talk bounded by a speakers silence
Vague language
Statements that sound imprecise and unassertive e.g ‘and so on’ ‘thingummy’ ‘whatsit’
Interactional talk
Language in a conversation used for interpersonal reasons and/or socialising
Non fluency features
Typical and normal characteristics of spoken language that interrupt the ‘flow’ of talk. Like hesitations, false starts, fillers, and repetition.
Paralinguistic features
Related to body language- use of gestures, facial expressions, other non-verbal elements
Phatic talk
Conversational utterances that have no concrete purpose other to remain relationships like small talk. E.g: how are you? Fine thanks or cold isn’t it?
Pragmatics
An approach to discourse analysis which focuses less on structures and more on contexts and purpose of people talking to each other.
Prosodic features
Includes features such as stress, rhythm, pitch, temp, and intonation which are used by speakers to mark out key meanings in a message - how something is said
