Terminology Flashcards
proper noun
refer to names of people, places or important days and begin with a capital letter
e.g. Easter, Abbie, London
abstract noun
refers to states, feelings and concepts that do not have a physical existence
concrete noun
refers to objects that have a physical existence
what are the two types of concrete noun
countable - can be pluralised e.g. cup turns to cups
non-countable - do not take a plural form e.g. furniture does not become furnitures
what are the six types of verb
- dynamic/material
- stative/relational
- mental
- verbal
- auxiliary
- modal auxiliary
dynamic/material verb
shows actions, events or realisations
e.g. hit, jump, wash, build
stative/relational verb
identify properties or show states of being, there is no change just a state that is eternal
e.g. be, seem, appear, become, like (I like cats)
mental verb
show internal thought processes such as thinking and can also fall under the same label as dynamic/material verbs
e.g. I think or believe
verbal verb
show external processes of communicating through speech
e.g. say, scream, shout or whisper
primary (auxiliary verbs)
an extra ‘helping’ verb which is used in addition to a main verb usually to show a tense
e.g. we were trying, I had gone
modal auxiliary verbs
an auxiliary verb which shows degrees of possibility, probability or obligation or certainty of an action. Cannot function as a verb independently.
e.g. could, can, would, will, should, shall, may, might, must
base adjectives
the basic form of an adjective, modifying a noun
what are the two types of base adjective
premodifiers: before the noun e.g. ‘the red car’
post modifiers: after the noun with a verb e.g. ‘ the car is red’ or ‘the squirrel seems sad’
comparative adjectives
a form used to compare two instances, either adding ‘er’ or using ‘more’
modifies a noun in comparison to something else like bigger or happier
e.g. ‘the parcel was bigger’ or ‘he was more careful’
superlative adjective
a form used to compare more than two instances, identifying a most extreme example, modifies a noun in comparison to others
e.g. ‘biggest, best, worst’
what are the six types of adverb
- manner
- time
- place
- frequency
- degree
- sentence
adverbs of manner
tells us how something happened, generally ‘ly’ adverbs
e.g. ‘the dog barked loudly or the cat hissed disdainfully’
adverbs of time
tells us when something happened
e.g. ‘I want to/will go to the shops, today, later, yesterday, after, tonight’
adverbs of place
tells us where something happened
e.g. ‘he ran upstairs or I will wait here, downstairs, inside, away’
adverbs of frequency
tells us how often something happened
e.g. ‘frequently, seldom, rarely, often he bought carrots sometimes he bought peppers’
adverbs of degree
tells us how strongly a description applies, to what extent is something true
e. g. ‘I am…. hungry’ - ‘really, slightly, so, quite’
e. g. ‘she was very nervous’
adverbs of sentence
provides an attitude to a whole sentence, what is the general attitude to what happened
e. g. ‘sadly, he was unsuccessful’
e. g. ‘fortunately he liked peas’
e. g. ‘…… it is forecast to rain today’ - ‘however, inevitably, honestly, sadly’
personal pronouns
refer to people, and are differentiate in terms of person (1st, 2nd, 3rd), number (singular or plural) and gender (male or female).
1st person singular - me and I 1st person plural - we and us 2nd person - you 3rd person singular - he and she and it 3rd person plural - they and them
demonstrative pronouns
orientate the reader or listener towards a person, object or idea, either nearby or far away and completely replace the noun
e. g. this, that, these, those
e. g. this is mine’
indefinite pronouns
refer to a person, object or idea that is non-specific
e.g. ‘someone, anybody, everything’
possessive pronouns
show the ownership of the noun they replace, it can still have a noun as long as it replaces one
e.g. ‘the cat is mine’ instead of ‘the cat is my cat’
what do pronouns do
replace nouns
what do determiners do
go before a noun but the noun is still there
article determiners
show that something is definite or indefinite
a/an = indefinite
the = definite
possessive determiners
show ownership
e. g. my, your, hers, ours, theirs, his
e. g. ‘their mugs’
demonstrative determiners
attached to a noun
e. g. this, that, these and those
e. g. ‘this cat is lovely’ and ‘this is mine’
quantifiers determiners
show either specific or non-specific quantities of a noun
one/two = specific
some, any, a few = non-specific
prepositions
show the relationship of two things in terms of time or space
premodifier
an adverb or adjective which is placed before the thing it is modifying
e.g. the happy mouse
postmodifier
an adverb or adjective which is placed after the thing it is modifying, sometimes linked with a verb
e. g. the cat is ginger
e. g the mouse seemed happy
e. g. we waled slowly
noun phrase
made up of a head (main) noun plus determiners, adjectives and possibly adverbs
e. g. Clifford the big red dog
e. g. Ivor the very naughty dragon
verb phrases
contain a head verb plus extra information in terms of tense and likelihood
e. g. would like to know…
e. g. will be wondering….
adverbial phrases
contain information about where or how. These are different from adverbial clauses because they do not contain a verb.
e. g. on the stairs
e. g. before tea
clause
a group of words centred around a verb phrase. Phrases are put together to form clauses. In order to make a clause, you have to have certain key elements.
can stand on their own to form simple sentences where there is only one verb process, but can be joined together to create more complicated sentences
phrase
a group of words that work together to express a single idea
subject
the person or thing causing the verb process
e.g. the dustman
verb element
the action or change taking place or the process being described
direct object
not all verb elements need an object
an object directly affected by the verb process
e.g. the bucket, an ice cream
main clause
can function independently as simple sentence or as part of a compound, complex or compound-complex sentence
e. g. I like cats
e. .g ice cream is great
subordinate clause
cannot function independently, must be joined to a main clause, often with a subordinating conjunction
e. g. because I like cats
e. g. although ice cream is great…
relative subordinate clause
starts with who, which or that and gives more information about a noun phrase
e.g the noun phrase is the very big sink
then the relative subordinate clause is, which is being fitted
the pretty old woman who likes ice cream
adverbial subordinate clause
provides more information about telling us circumstances of the verb process in terms of place, time, frequency, degree or manner
e. g. after I walked downstairs
e. g. almost every day
e. g. as quickly as possible
co-ordination
is the joining of two clauses with a co-ordinating conjunction that gives them equal weighting
subordination
is the joining of two clauses that gives one clause (the main clause) more weighting than another clause, or clauses (the subordinate clause[s])
subordinate clauses can be:
- fronted: while the new kitchen is being fitted, we are eating out
- embedded: the new kitchen, which is being fitted, will be lovely
- backloaded: the new kitchen will be lovely, when it is finished
minor sentences
a sentence which is missing either (or both) of the key elements of a main verb or a subject
e. g. eyes the colour of rotting squash
e. g. mashed-in nose
e. g. half of one ear missing
simple sentence
a sentence with a single verb process
e.g. the is the day of reaping
compound sentence
a sentence where two-clauses are joined, often with a co-ordinating conjunction
e.g. the Dursleys knew that the Potters has a small son, too, but they had never even seen him
complex sentences
a sentence which features one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses often joined with a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun
e.g. Mr Dursley was the director of a firm called grunnings, which made drills
compound-complex sentence
a sentence which features two independent main clauses and at least one subordinate clause
e.g. Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and has nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours
syndetic lists
items are divided by a mixture of commas and conjunctions
e.g. we were warm, sheltered and protected
asyndetic lists
items are divided by commas with no conjunctions
e.g. one his return he received, medals, honors, treasures, titles, fame
polysyndetic lists
all items are divided by conjunctions
e.g. men and girls came and went like moths among the whispering and the champagne and the stars
Declaration
An utterance where the speakers use of language makes a legal or social change in a situation
e.g I now pronounce you man and wife
Imperative
Grammatical structure that gives an order to another person - there is no subject and the verb action is fronted
E.g shut the door
Directive
Any utterance which attempts to get the listener to perform a particular action - not limited to a specifically grammatical structure so e.g shut the door and where you born in a barn
Interrogative
Grammatical structure that asks a question of another person. Has a question mark at the end, and is structured with the verb or part of a verb phrase before the subject.
Commissive
An utterance which commits the speaker to a particular action
Assertive
An utterance where the speaker assets facts or gives information
Expressive
An utterance which conveys the speakers feelings about something
Deixis
Elements of spoken language which rely on the shared context of the conversation to be understood
e.g. here, there, we, now
Dispreferred responses
Responses which are not what the speaker is hoping will happen in response to their speech
Positive face
The image of themselves which an individual projects; how they want to be seen
Negative face
An individuals ability to act as they wish to
Face threatening act
Any act which threatens someone else’s face for example questioning their truthfulness, insulting them, ordering them to do something they don’t want to, or refusing an invitation
felicity conditions
conditions which must be met in order for the preferred perlocutionary act to occur
Grice’s Maxims
“rules” we tend to follow to keep conversation flowing
Grice’s Maxims quantity
taking the appropriate amount - not saying too much or too little
Grice’s Maxims quality
being truthful and sincere or as sincere as the rest of the conversation
Grice’s Maxims manner
being clear and comprehensible
Grice’s Maxims relevance
keeping your contributions relevant to the discussion at hand
negative politeness
disguising a face threatening act by appealing to an individual’s negative face - making the threat seem smaller by minimising inconvenience, adding the appearance of choice e.g. I’m so sorry to bother you but is there any chance you could…
positive politeness
disguising a face-threatening act by appealing to an individual’s positive face making them feel good about themselves e.g. you’re good at this
preferred response
the way in which a speaker wants the listener to respond to their speech
adjacency pairs
pairs of utterances which follow a predictable pattern e.g. thanks/you’re welcome what time is it? Ten past three
back-channelling
minimal responses made by a listener to show that they are listening for example ‘mmmm’ or ‘yeah’
colloquialism
an everyday informal word
contraction
shortening of words or phrases expressed with an apostrophe such as can’t or won’t
dialogue
text with multiple speakers
elision
shortening or blending of words in speech e.g. going to becomes gonna and kind of becomes kinda
ellipsis
when words are missed out of a sentence to save time or effort but the meaning is still generally understood e.g. going to the shops?
false starts
when a speaker begins an utterance, stops and then begins again
filled pauses
noises that are not technically words like ‘er’ or ‘um’ generally used to give the speaker time to think
filler
a word or phrase such as like or you know generally used to give the speaker time to think
hedge
word or phrases used to soften an utterance or show uncertainty e.g. sort of, like or a little bit
micro pauses
pauses of less than a second represented by (.) in a transcript
monologue
text with a single speaker
overlaps
where one speaker begins talking before another has finished but the original speaker is still able to finish their turn
phatic expression
an expression which is designed primarily to create a positive atmosphere or relationship and does not convey much actual information.
speaker agenda
what a speaker is trying to achieve within an interaction
tag question
a question formed from a declarative and a tagged-on question. “This is nice, isn’t it?” or “you like cake, don’t you?”
timed pause
pause of longer than a second indicated by number of seconds in brackets (2)
turn-taking
speakers take turn to speak avoiding overlaps and interruptions
utterance
an individual’s turn in conversation
locutionary acts
the actual utterance
illocutionary act
what is actually meant by the utterance
perlocutionary act
the effect of the utterance
anaphora
the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines or clauses
caesura
the use of punctuation to create a noticeable break or pause in the middle of a line of poetry
dramatic monologue
a poem in the form of a speech or narrative by an imagined person, in which the speaker reveals aspects of their character while describing a particular situation or series of events
end-stopping
the use of punctuation at the end of metrical lines to create pauses
enjambment
a lack of punctuation at the end of a line of poetry so that it continues to the next line without a pause
meter
the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse
poetic voice
the way in which a poet creates a distinct identity and voice for the “speaker” of a poem
stanza
a grouped set of lines within a poem, usually set off from the other stanzas by a blank line or indentation
alliteration
the repetition of a sound at the beginning of words in close proximity to each other
assonance
the repetition of a vowel sound within words in close proximity to each other
e.g. eyes as bright as sunlight on a stream
consonance
the repetition of a consonant sound anywhere within words in close proximity to each other
e.g. the sullen wind was soon awake (w sound)
onomatopoeia
a word which imitates the sound of a thing or action
pararhyme
rhyme in which (some of) the consonants match, however the preceding vowel sounds do not match
e.g. heap/harp, better/bitter, hall/hell
rhyme
correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words
e.g. path/bath, meet/eat, tree/plea
what are the 5 types of consonant alliteration
- plosive
- lateral
- approximant
- friacative
- affricate
what is plosive alliteration
c/k, d, g, p, t, b
what is lateral alliteration
l
what is approximant alliteration
r, y
what is friacative alliteration
f, s, sh, z
what is affricate alliteration
j, ch
deus ex Machina
Literally, ‘God from the machine’, an implausible plot twist which saves the day at the end of a story. A staple feature of melodrama
dramatic irony
where the audience is aware of something that the characters in a text are not
expressionism
a style of drama that represents the world non-literally using fantastical or heavily symbolic elements
in media res
‘in the middle of things’ - a scene or story which starts in the middle of the action rather than at the beginning
melodrama
a style of drama or novel which contains overblown emotion and improbable events
mise-en-scene
the arrangement of the scenery, props etc… on the stage of a theatrical production
pathos
sadness or sympathy created by the character of events of a text
realism
a style of drama that aims to represent the world in a realistic and believable way
stage directions
directions provided to actors and directors to tell them how to produce or perform a play
verisimilitude
when the setting and style of drama is designed to mimic real life
antonyms
words that have opposite meanings e.g. love and hate
collocates
words that typically appear together, so often that to replace once with a synonym would sound unnatural e.g. horse and carriage, sense of pride or key issue
dysphemism
using a blunt or direct word instead of a more polite or indirect alternative, close to taboo
e.g. knocked up or dropped off the perch.
euphemism
a more socially acceptable word or phrase, usually for a potentially taboo subject
e.g. passed away or expecting
idiom
a well-used group of words that becomes accepted and used as one long structure rather than retaining its literal meaning (can also be cliché)
a phrase that doesn’t literally mean what is said
e.g. over the moon, saw the light, having cold feet
metaphor
a structure that presents one thing in terms of another
e.g. he is a pig or she is a bit of a butterfly
semantic field
a group of words related to the same subject
hyponym or hypernym
a hypernym (such as vehicle) can be broken down into several hyponyms (such as car, lorry, tractor, van)
e.g. pet into rabbit, fish, cat
simile
a structure that presents one thing in terms of another through comparison of a specific aspect often using like, as or than
personification
when a non-human object or creature is given human characteristics
e.g. the house groaned
allusion (exophoric reference)
a reference to something which is outside the text, usually another literary text, or a song etc…
e.g., she looks like Marilyn Monroe or it’s like in CSI
hyperbole
exaggeration
e.g. I’m starving or it’s the biggest dog in the world
synonym
a word that has equivalent meaning to another word e.g. large or big, lexeme or word
oxymoron
a phrase which contains an inherent contradiction in terms of meaning
e.g. act naturally or bittersweet , deafening silence
cliché
an idiom that has been used to much that is has ceased to have meaning
e.g. read between the lines, all that glitters isn’t gold
neologism
a made up or new word created specifically for a text
e.g. Quidditch, Compucheck, Newspeak
affordance
a feature of a text which allows it to reach a certain audience or audiences
asynchronous communication
communication where production and reception happen non-simultaneously e.g. in a letter
blended-mode
a text which contains conventional elements of both speech and writing
constraint
a feature of a text which limits the ways in which audiences can consume it
context
the external factors that shape how texts are produced and received
discourse community
a group of people with shared interests and belief systems who are likely to respond to texts in similar ways
discourse events
an act of communication occurring in a specific time and location involving writer/speakers, readers/listeners
downgrading
when a speaker responds to disagreement by becoming less intense about their opinion
endophoric storytelling
when a story is produced in the same location as where it took place
exophoric storytelling
when a story is produced outside the location where it took place
gap-filling
the act of adding a rich sense of meaning to individual words and phrases based on our knowledge and the context in which they appear
genre
a way of grouping texts based on expected shared conventions
implied reader
a constructed image of an idealised reader
intertextuality
a process by which texts borrow from or refer to conventions of other texts for a specific purpose and effect
knowledge frame/pragmatic knowledge
a mental store of knowledge about the world gained through experience
mode
the physical channel of communication: either speech or writing
multi-purpose text
a text that clearly has more than one purpose
othering
presenting a culture or community as different or strange in some way
primary purpose
the main and most easily recognisable purpose of a text
register
a variety of language that is associated with a particular situation of use. In particular refers to how formal or informal a text or producer’s language is
representation
the portrayal of events, people and circumstances through language and other meaning-making resources (e.g. images and sound) to create a way of seeing the world
secondary purpose
an additional and perhaps more subtle purpose of a text
situation of use
a specific place, time and context in which communication takes place
subjectivity
being seen from a particular perspective
synchronous communication
communication where production and reception happen simultaneously
text producer
the person or people responsible (through writing or speaking) for creating a text
text receiver
the person or people interpreting (through reading or listening to) a text
upgrading
when a speaker responds to a disagreement by becoming more intense about their opinion
additional events
secondary events that are not necessarily crucial to the overall story but, through being included, may have been highlighted as important
analepsis
a literary device in narrative, in which a past event is narrated at a point later than its chronological place in a story (similar to a flashback)
antagonist
anything - person, creature or force of nature - that advances the story through conflict with the protagonist, presenting barriers or obstruction to the protagonists desires.
audience surrogate
a character who functions as a surrogate for the audience in terms of asking questions or reacting to another character’s narrative
central events
main events that are crucial to the overall story
defamiliarization
presenting common things in an unfamiliar or strange way in order to enhance our perception of them or make us question our assumptions
external deviation
breaking a pattern which is understood to be a key part of language use in general e.g. using made up words or using a feature not expected in a particular genre
external evaluation
expressing an attitude to events outside the time frame of the narrative e.g. it makes me angry when people do that
first person/ homodiegetic narrator
the narrator of a story who is also the protagonist or another character in the story
foregrounding
drawing particular attention to an aspect of a story
internal deviation
breaking a pattern which the text has set up e.g. meter, form or viewpoint
internal evaluation
expressing an attitude to events in the same time frame as the narrative e.g. I was angry
irony
a state of affairs or an event that is contrary to what we expect, which is often wryly amusing or emotionally shocking as a result
what are Labov’s five narrative elements of anecdotes
- abstract
- orientation
- complicating action
- resolution
- coda
Labov’s element of anecdotes (abstract)
indication that the speaker wants attention and is beginning the story e.g. you’ll never believe who I met or oh, I’ll tell you something funny
Labov’s element of anecdotes (orientation)
the who/what/when/where/why of the story e.g. I was in town at the weekend
Labov’s element of anecdotes (complicating action)
the actual meat of the story, what happened
Labov’s element of anecdotes (resolution)
the ending of the narrative, explaining what happened
Labov’s element of anecdotes (coda)
signals that the story has ended
narratee
the person to whom a narrative is told
narrative
writing or speech that presents a series of events, characters and places in a coherent form
narrative discourse
the shaping of the story through choices in language and structure
narrator
a person responsible for writing or speaking a narrative
poetic justice
a literary device in which virtue is ultimately rewarded or vice punished, often in a way which provides emotional satisfaction for the audience.
prolepsis
a literary device in narrative in which a future event is narrated at a point earlier than its chronological place in the story (flashforward)
protagonist
character at the centre of the story, makes the key decisions, and experiences the consequences of those decisions
retrospective
a viewpoint where the narrator looks back on past events often providing commentary on the significance of those events
story
the building blocks of a narrative in terms of events, characters, time and place
high tellability
the features of a story which make it worth telling to an audience
low tellability
the characteristic of a narrative that presents uninteresting material in an uninspiring way
third person/ heterodiegetic narrator
describes the experiences of the characters that appear in the story which they do not participate
time frame
the positioning of a narrative in the past, present or future
unreliable narrator
a narrating character or storyteller who provides inaccurate, misleading, conflicting, or otherwise questionable information to the reader or audience
