Variation Flashcards
What are the 4 different types of meaning?
pragmatic, affective, social and referential
What is pragmatic meaning?
It varies across situations, expressing the speaker’s purpose
“it’s cold in here” temperature? atmosphere? imperative?
What is referential meaning?
the strict and literal meaning, that stays constant across situations
How is referential meaning expressed in different sentence types?
declarative: the part of the total meaning that determines truth
interrogative: what is being asked? what poss answers?
imperative: what would fulfil it?
What is affective meaning?
expressed the speaker’s emotion towards the speech situation
What is social meaning?
information about the identity of the speaker is given
What does the prescriptive approach reflect?
social structures
What are the three main types of variation?
linguistic, speaker, and individual
Give examples of linguistic variations
lexical: pissed=drunk/angry
phonetic: /r/ varies
phonological: (non) rhotic
syntactic: how big (of) a deal is it?
morphological: reflexive himself/hisself
grammatical
Give examples of speakers variations
ages, gender, class, geographic (dialect)
Name three other ways speech can vary
Style, register and genre
What is style?
variation in formality
ceremonial, casual, to an audience
What is register?
variation associated with occupational/social groups
medical professionals/footballers
How can register influence social acceptance?
using the correct register helps a speaker construct an identity
What is genre?
Form of language: poetry/recipes/articles/lyrics/adverts
