Spoken Language Features Definitions Flashcards
Adjacency pairs
Parallel expressions used across the boundaries of individual speaking turns. They are usually ritualistic and formulaic socially. For example: ‘how are you?’/’Fine thanks’
Accent
The ways in which words are pronounced. Accent can vary according to the region or social class of a speaker.
Back-channel features
Words, phrases and non verbal utterances (e.g. ‘I see’, ‘oh’, ‘uh huh’, ‘really’) used by a listener to give feedback to a speaker that the message is being followed and understood.
Contraction
A reduced form often marked by an apostrophe in writing - e.g. Can’t = cannot; she’ll = she will. See also ELISION
Deixis/deictics
Words such as ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘here’, ‘there’ which refer backwards or forwards or outside a text - a sort of verbal pointing. Very much a context dependent feature or talk.
Dialect
The distinctive grammar and vocabulary which is associated with a regionally or social use of a language
Discourse markers
words and phrases which are used to signal the relationship and connections between utterances and to signpost that what is said can be followed by the listener or reader. E.g. ‘first’, ‘on the other hand’, ‘now’, ‘what’s more’, ‘so anyway’, etc
Elision
the omission or slurring [eliding] of one or more sounds or syllables - e.g. gonna = going to; wannabe = want to be; wasp = what is up
Ellipsis
the omission of part of a grammatical structure. For example, in the dialogue: “you going to the party?” / “Might be.” - the verb ‘are’ and the pronoun ‘I’ are missed out. The resulting ellipsis conveys a more casual and informal tone
Face
see positive face and negative face
False start
this is when the speaker begins an utterance, then stops and either repeats or reformulates it. Sometimes called self correction. See also repairs
Fillers
items which do not carry conventional meaning but which are inserted in speech to allow time to think, to create a pause or to hold a turn in conversation. Examples are ‘er’, ‘um’, ‘ah’. Also called voiced pause.
Grice’s Maxims
Grice proposed 4 basic conversational ‘rules’ [maxims] as criteria for successful conversation: quantity [don’t say too much or too little]; relevance [keep to the point]; manner [speak in clear, coherent and orderly way]; quality [be truthful
Header
when an element in speech is placed at the front of a statement for added effect, e.g. ‘England, what a team.’
Hedge
words and phrases which soften or weaken the force with which something is said - e.g. ‘perhaps’ ‘maybe’ ‘sort of’ ‘possibly’ ‘I think’
Idiolect
an individually distinctive style of speaking
Insertion sequences
conversational acts which interrupt or forestall adjacency pairs. for example, a question-answer routine can be interrupted by further questions, requests for clarification, objections etc
Interactional talk
language in conversation used for interpersonal reasons and/or socialising
Negative face
utterances which are designed to make hearers disapprove / feel negatively. Speakers try to avoid negative face by not allowing themselves to be imposed upon. ‘I’d rather not but just for you’, or ‘Well , I am a bit busy this weekend but…’ are typical phrases which which to avoid too much negative face
Non-fluency features
typical and normal characteristics of spoken language that interrupt the ‘flow’ of talk. Some examples: hesitations, false starts, fillers, repetitions [though can be used for emphasis], overlaps and interruptions
Paralinguistic features
related to body language - it is the use of gestures, facial expressions + other on verbal elements [such as laughter] to add meaning to the speakers message beyond the words being spoken
Phatic talk
conversational utterances that have no concrete purpose other than to establish or maintain personal relationships. It’s related to small talk - and follows traditional patterns, with stock responses and formulaic expressions: ‘How are you?’ / ‘Fine’; ‘cold isn’t it?’ / ‘Freezing’
Positive face
utterances which are designed to make hearers approve/feel positively. Speakers try to preserve the positive face of the people they are talking with by not, for example, seeming to impose upon them. Phrases, ‘Do you mind if…’ or ‘I know this is inconvenient but…’ help to preserve positive face.
Pragmatics
an approach to discourse analysis which focuses less on structures and more on contexts and purposes of people talking to each other. Crystal: ‘pragmatics studies the factors that govern our choice of language in social interaction and the effects of our choice on other.’
Pre-closings
words and phrases which are used to indicate that a conversation is about to be brought to a close.
Prosodic features
includes features such as stress, rhythm, pitch, tempo and intonation - which are used by speakers to mark out key meanings in a message. Essentially, how something is said.
Repairs
an alteration that is suggested or made by a speaker, the addressee, or audience in order to correct or clarify a previous conversational contribution.
Response token
comments from participants in a conversation which respond to what is being said.
Side sequence
where an adjacency pair is interrupted by a sequence which has little strict relevance to the pair itself.
Speech act
what is done when something is said (for example, warning, threatening, promising, requesting)
Speech event
a use of language in a social context in which the speakers normally follow a set of agreed rules and conventions. For example, telling a joke, recounting a story or purchasing stamps in the post office.
Sociolect
a social dialect or variety of speech used by a particular group, such as working class or 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 around here, isn’t it?”
Tail
placing an item at the end of a statement, but still for added effect, e.g. ‘They’re a great team, England’
Transactional talk
language to get things done or to transmit content or information [used when the participants are exchanging goods and/or services]
Turn taking
a turn is a time during which a single participant talks, within a typical, orderly arrangement in which participants speak with minimal overlap and gap between them
Utterances
an utterance is a complete unit or talk, bounded by the speakers silence. The principle unit of description in conversational structure.
Vague language
statements that sound imprecise and unassertive. E.g. - ‘And so on’, ‘or whatever’, ‘thingymajiggy’, ‘Whatsit’
accelerando
a term used to describe speech that is getting faster (access on transcripts)
accommodation
A term used to describe the changes people make to their speech, prosodic features and gestures in order to emphasise or minimise the difference between them.
assimilation
In phonology, the way in which the sounds of one word can change the sounds of neighbouring words in connected speech.
comment clause
A commonly occurring clause in speech which adds a remark to another clause e.g. I mean…, I think…
convergence
A process in which two speakers adapt their language and pronunciation to reduce the difference between them.
divergence
A process in which two speakers adapt their language and pronunciation to increase the difference between them
emphatic stress
Stress placed upon syllables or words in spoken discourse
hesitation
the repetition of the initial sound of a letter e.g. h (.) hesitation
implicature
a term used to describe what a hearer infers from an utterance
interactive
Distinctive non-verbal utterances that affirm (e.g. mm, yes), show agreement (e.g. laughter) and reinforcement (e.g. echoes utterance)
interruption
The ending of one speakers turn by the intervention of another speaker, which may be a non-cooperative challenge, or may be the result multiple participants of equal status being involved in the same conversation.
intonation
the quality or tone of voice in speech, which can stay level, rise or fall
latch-on
A smooth link between different speakers in a spoken exchange
liaison
A process that changes the pronunciation of words at boundaries, usually inserting /r/.
monitoring features
Expressions which allow a speaker to check that the hearer is still listening, has understood etc. e.g. if you remember…., would you believe…., you know.
normal non-fluency
Commonly occurring features of spoken language such as hesitations and false starts which break up the few of speech.
overlap
Participants speak at the same time, but the dominant speakers turn is not ended - this can mark positive feedback where one speaker provide backchannel affirmation or support; the misjudgement of the end of a turn; or an additional point or comment on what is being said.
pauses
breaks in spoken language which can be minimal (micro pause), often marking the end of utterances, or timed (in seconds) e.g. we’ll stop there (.) lets try to (2) meet up later.
phoneme
the smallest unit of sound
phonetics
The study of spoken sounds and the i which they are produced
phonology
The study of sounds in a particular language and the ways in which they are combined to create meaning
pitch
The level of sound, which can be lowered or raised.
rallentando
A term used to describe speech that is getting slower (marked rall on transcripts).
self-correction
A speakers repair to an utterance e.g. Steve (.) Sir Stephen
spontaneity markers
Distinctive features of spoken language that mark speech as spontaneous and unscripted, including comment clauses, fillers and hesitations etc
unintentional repetition
The accidental repetition of a monosyllabic word in spoken language e.g. they they’ve; we we we
