ALL TERMINOLOGY Flashcards
(258 cards)
1
Q
abstract noun
A
A noun that denotes a concept or thing with no physical qualities e.g. courage, welcome, doom.
2
Q
accelerando
A
A term used to describe speech that is getting faster (marked accel on transcripts).
3
Q
accent
A
The distinctive manner of pronouncing language associated with a particular region, social group etc.
4
Q
acceptable
A
A term used to describe any language use that native speakers feel is allowed.
5
Q
accommodation
A
A term used to describe the changes people make to their speech, prosodic features and gestures in order to emphasise or minimise the differences between them.
6
Q
acronym
A
An abbreviation formed by taking letters from a series of words, which is pronounced as a word e.g. radar, NATO, LOL.
7
Q
active voice
A
A grammatical structure in which the subject is the actor in a sentence e.g. The dog chewed the bone.
8
Q
adjacency pair
A
A sequence of two connected utterances by different speakers one after the other e.g question/answer, greetings, complaint/explanation, statement/affirmation, command/action etc. e.g. Shut the window. → Sure.
9
Q
adjective
A
A word that defines attributes of a noun and that can occur before the noun (e.g. the red tulip) or after a stative verb (e.g. the tulip was red), and can often express contrasts (e.g. the smaller flower was reddest).
10
Q
adjective phrase
A
A group of words with an adjective as the head e.g. really quick, amazingly scary to do.
11
Q
adjunct
A
An adverb that provides more information about a verb, answering the questions when? how? where? e.g. The baby often (time) sleeps fretfully (manner) upstairs (place).
12
Q
adverbial
A
A clause element which provides additional information about time, manner, place and reason in a sentence e.g. He will come today. (noun); He will come up the mountain. (prepositional phrase); He will come because he is desperate. (subordinate clause).
13
Q
adverb phrase
A
A group of words with an adverb as the head e.g. very quickly, too quickly for comfort, more quickly than I cared for.
14
Q
adverb
A
A word that defines the action of a verb (e.g. the rain fell heavily), that can act as an intensifier (e.g. really loud), that can express contrasts (e.g. more crucially, most crucially), and that can function as a sentence connector (e.g. Nevertheless, I would not be voting for the candidate after that).
15
Q
affix
A
A bound morpheme which is used to form a new word e.g. declutter, beautiful.
16
Q
agreement
A
A term used to describe the relationship between words (also called concord).
17
Q
alliteration
A
A term to describe the repetition of consonants or consonant clusters at the beginning of words in close proximity e.g. Conservatives on course to conquer after commentators got it wrong.
18
Q
ambiguity
A
A term used to describe language with multiple meanings e.g. Police looking into Sinkhole i.e. investigating (‘looking into’ = multi-word verb) OR looking (‘into Sinkhole’ = prepositional phrase of place).
19
Q
anaphoric reference
A
A term to describe referencing in which a pronoun points backwards to an earlier noun phrase e.g. The storm caused devastation. It felled trees, ripped tiles from roofs and demolished garden fences.
20
Q
antithesis
A
A rhetorical device which sets two contrasting ideas in opposition—there will often be grammatical patterning to draw attention to the linked ideas e.g. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …
21
Q
antonyms
A
Words that are opposite in meaning or associations e.g. foreign/local, winter/summer.
22
Q
apposition
A
A noun phrase, separated from the rest of the sentence with commas, dashes, or brackets, which elaborates on the noun phrase preceding it e.g. The Daily Mail, a tabloid with a strong Conservative ideology, described Cameron’s election results as a “stunning
outright victory”.
23
Q
appropriate
A
A term used to describe any language use that is seen as suitable for the context in which it is used.
24
Q
archaic
A
A term describing lexis, syntax or orthography that is no longer used.
25
aspect
The timescale of the action expressed by the verb phrase, which may be complete (perfective) or ongoing (progressive).
26
assimilation
In phonology, the way in which the sounds of one word can change the sounds of neighbouring words in connected speech.
27
assonance
A term used to describe the repetition of vowel sounds e.g. Old age should burn and rave at close of day/Rage, rage, against the dying of the light.
28
asyndetic
A term used to describe a list of words, phrases or clauses that are not connected by a conjunction e.g. I believe in government of the people, by the people, for the people.
29
attributive
A term used to describe modifiers that precede the noun they are describing e.g. an unsatisfactory result.
30
auxiliary verb
A verb that precedes the lexical verb in a verb phrase e.g. I do believe in fairies. He may visit. Do you want to come? Peter has finished the book. The rain was falling all day. She did not run yesterday.
31
back channelling
Interactive features such as minimal responses (e.g. mm, yeah, ahh) that demonstrate a participant is listening and paralinguistic features (e.g. laughter) that show affirmation, but which do not disrupt the speaker’s turn.
32
back-formation
A process for forming words in which an affix is removed from an existing word creating a new word in a different word class e.g. babysit (verb) from babysitter (noun).
33
base
The minimal form of a word to which affixes can be added.
34
bi-nomial pair
An expression containing two words joined by a conjunction (usually and/or), often with a fixed order (collocation) e.g. scream and shout, make or break, hustle and bustle.
35
blend
A word formed by combining two or more words to create a new word combining the meaning of the originals (also called portmanteau words) e.g. webinar → web + seminar.
36
borrowing
Introducing a loan word from one language into another.
37
bound morpheme
A prefix or suffix that can only occur attached to a free morpheme e.g. unhappy, driver, cars, exchange.
38
cardinal number
The basic form of a number e.g. one, ten, three thousand.
39
caretaker speech
The distinctive speech adults use when they talk to young children.
40
cataphoric reference
A term to describe referencing in which a pronoun points forwards to a later noun phrase e.g. **He’s** ahead of the pack. And it’s **Many Clouds** still at the front and over the last fence now.
41
clause
A group of phrases which usually has a tensed verb phrase
42
cliché
An image that has lost its original meaning or novelty through overuse e.g. only time will tell, frightened to death, the quiet before the storm.
43
clipping
The creation of a new word with the same word class and denotation by dropping a syllable (also called truncation) e.g. Thurs, spec, flu, phone.
44
closed class
A group of words with a grammatical function (e.g. determiners, pronouns, prepositions and conjunctions) to which new words are rarely added.
45
cleft sentence
A sentence which has been rearranged with a dummy subject it + to be followed by the focus of the sentence and a relative clause e.g. It is school traffic that slows everything down on a weekday.
46
cohesion
Linguistic connections which link elements of a discourse.
47
coinage
The construction and addition of new words to the word stock.
48
collective noun
A noun that refers to a group, which may take a singular or plural verb form depending on whether the group is seen as a single cooperative body or a collection of individuals.
49
collocation
A recognisable group of words that frequently occur together e.g. there you go.
50
colloquialism
An informal word, phrase or pronunciation, often associated with informal speech.
51
comment clause
A commonly occurring clause in speech which adds a remark to another clause e.g. I mean …, I think ...
52
comparative
A form used for comparisons of adjectives or adverbs e.g. colder, more ludicrous (adjectives); more calmly (adverb).
53
complement
A clause element that adds extra information about the subject after a copula verb (e.g. The skylark’s song was memorable.) or the object (e.g. I painted the wall purple.)
54
complex sentence
A sentence made up of one main clause and at least one subordinate clause e.g. Choosing stone for the garden wall (subordinate clause) was (main clause verb phrase) very complicated because there were so many options in the garden
centre (subordinate clause).
55
compound
A word or phrase made up of at least two free morphemes e.g. wallpaper, small-talk.
56
compound-complex
A sentence made up of at least two coordinated main clauses and at least one subordinate clause e.g. The car park was full (main clause) because there was building work (subordinate clause), but it made no difference to the shoppers (main clause) who were determined to get what they had come for (subordinate clause).
57
compound sentence
A sentence made up of at least two main clauses linked by a coordinating conjunction e.g. The sky was dark (main clause) and the wind whipped our hair (main clause).
58
concrete noun
A noun that refers to physical things like people, places, objects and substances.
59
conjunct
An adverb that has a linking function e.g. nevertheless, however, instead.
60
conjunction
A closed class word used to join other words or phrases together e.g. bread and butter pudding (coordinating); I liked her since she was always ready to help (subordinating).
61
connotations
The associations linked to a word that go beyond its denotation.
62
consonant cluster
A group of consonants occurring at the beginning of a word e.g. stream, thread, plot.
63
context
The circumstances (social, historical, geographical, cultural, physical) in which speech and writing take place.
64
contraction
A shortened word e.g. can’t, won’t, we’re.
65
convergence
A process in which two speakers adapt their language and pronunciation to reduce the difference between them.
66
coordinating conjunction
A word that joins words, phrases, clauses or sentences of equal grammatical status e.g. and, or, but.
67
copula verb
A verb that is followed by a complement e.g. be, seem, appear, grow, become.
68
count noun
A noun that refers to things that can be counted, and which has a plural form e.g. computer/computers.
69
declarative
A grammatical mood where the subject is followed by the verb in a sentence which expresses a statement e.g. The balloon flew over the mountain.
70
degree adverb
An adverb which indicates the extent of a quality e.g. very, really, quite, nearly, so.
71
deixis
A term describing expressions that rely on the context for interpretation e.g. there, over here, that high.
72
demonstrative
A term used to describe pronouns and determiners that distinguish between similar items e.g. this/that, these/those.
73
denotation
The dictionary meaning of a word.
74
deontic modality
A modal verb expressing ability, necessity or obligation e.g. can, could, may, must, shall, should.
75
dependent clause
A clause which cannot stand alone (also called subordinate clause).
76
derivation
A term to describe words that are formed by adding affixes to create new words e.g. slow + ness, arriv(e) + al, simpl(e) + ify.
77
descriptive
An approach to language based on observation of language in use, focusing on appropriateness and acceptability rather than on making judgements.
78
determiner
A closed class word which only occurs at the beginning of a noun phrase and which defines the number and definiteness of the noun e.g. the dog, some flowers, a mistake, that list.
79
dialect
A language variety with distinctive lexis and grammar used by speakers with common regional, social or cultural backgrounds.
80
dialect levelling
The reduction in differences between dialects caused by language contact and mass media.
81
direct object
A clause element that is directly affected by the action or process of the verb e.g. The racing-driver crashed the car.
82
direct speech
A form of speech in which the actual words spoken are recorded, usually between speech marks e.g. He looked down at the floor and muttered, ‘Well, it wasn’t my fault.’
83
discourse
Any spoken or written language longer than a sentence.
84
discourse markers
Words or phrases that stand outside the clause and act as fillers, topic changers, hedges etc. e.g. well, right, y’know, I mean, basically.
85
disjunct
A sentence adverb allowing the speaker or writer to comment on the content or style of a sentence e.g. honestly, fortunately for you, clearly.
86
divergence
A process in which two speakers adapt their language and pronunciation to increase the difference between them.
87
double negative
A structure in which more than one negative particle is used in a single verb phrase e.g. He didn’t never tell lies.
88
dummy word
A word which fills a grammatical function in a clause, but which has no meaning e.g. It is Jack who should be apologising. Do you want a cup of tea?
89
dynamic verb
A verb which expresses an action rather than a state and which has a progressive form e.g. I was picking apples.
90
-ed participle
A nonfinite verb formed by adding an –ed inflection to the base of regular verbs (or which has an irregular form), which occurs with an auxiliary in a tensed verb phrase, or by itself as a nonfinite clause (also called a past participle) e.g. The girl (had swum) for miles. The window broken by the stone (had been repaired).
91
elision
The omission of sounds in connected speech.
92
ellipsis
The omission of part of a sentence that can be understood by the context. e.g. The sprinter had broken the world record, Ø reached a new PB and Ø charmed the crowds.
93
embedded clause
A subordinate clause which functions as a part of a clause element e.g. The fireworks which lit up the sky had cost a fortune (post-modifying subject noun phrase). They had done enough to achieve victory (post-modifying object noun phrase).
94
emphatic stress
Emphasis placed upon syllables or words in spoken discourse
95
enclitic
An unstressed morpheme which joins phonetically to the preceding word e.g. don’t, I’d.
96
end focus
The positioning of information at the end of a clause for emphasis
97
enjambement
The overlapping of meaning from one line to another in verse without punctuation.
98
enumerators
Cardinal and ordinal numbers.
99
epistemic modality
A modal verb expressing a speaker’s assessment of the reality or likelihood of an event taking place e.g. can, may, might, must, should, will, would.
100
etymology
A study of the origins and history of words.
101
euphemism
A word that replaces another which is seen as taboo or social unacceptable.
102
exclamation
The tone communicated by the use of an exclamation mark e.g. We were only joking!
103
exclamative
A sentence beginning with how or what in the initial position to communicate strong feelings e.g. what an insult!; how unbelievable is that!
104
existential ‘there’
A sentence in which There is used as a dummy subject with a delayed subject occurring after the verb to be for emphasis e.g. There was litter everywhere.
105
exophoric reference
A term to describe referencing in which a lexical item points to the wider linguistic context e.g. That man there is my brother.
106
false start
An utterance that is started, left incomplete, and then restarted with a different grammatical structure e.g. and Si.. Glen Johnson; they are (.) it’s impossible; I felt that it (.) people were everywhere.
107
field
An area of meaning linked to the subject matter of a discourse (e.g. physics) which will contain linked lexical items e.g. gravity, relativity, spacetime, Einstein, Newton, density gradient.
108
figurative language
A term used to describe any language use that is non-literal, using devices such as metaphors, similes etc. to create poetic and descriptive effects.
109
filled pause
A voiced hesitation in spoken language.
110
filler
Words, usually with no semantic value, which are inserted into speech either from habit or to give a participant thinking time as they search for a word e.g. er, um, ah.
111
finite
A term used to describe verb phrases marked for tense, person and number.
112
foregrounding
A change in the order of clause elements to draw attention to a particular linguistic item (also called fronting) e.g. In winter, I’m really moody.
113
form
The class of a word or the type of phrase.
114
free morpheme
The smallest meaningful unit of language that can occur by itself.
115
function
The role of words, phrases or clauses within a sentence e.g. modifiers in a noun phrase.
116
function word
Closed words like prepositions, conjunctions, determiners etc. that express grammatical functions within a sentence.
117
future time
A verb phrase that indicates actions/processes that have not yet taken place using the modal will, the multi-word verb to be + going to, or the simple present in subordinate clauses.
118
gradable
A term to describe adjectives and adverbs that can be compared (e.g. colder, coldest) or intensified (e.g. so cold).
119
grammatical mood
A term describing the relationship between the verb phrase and the intention of a sentence e.g. making a statement (declarative); asking a questions (interrogative); telling someone to do something (imperative); communicating something hypothetical
(subjunctive).
120
head word
The main linguistic item in a phrase.
121
hedging
The use of mitigating words or sounds to lessen the impact of an utterance e.g. I think, I’m not an expert but …, somewhat, it’s possible that …
122
hesitation
The repetition of the initial sound of a letter e.g. s. straight; th. um (.) the very obvious.
123
homonym
Words with the same sound and form but different meanings e.g. rock (noun, aggregate of solid mineral matter) and rock (verb, move gently back and forwards).
124
homophone
Words with the same sound but different spelling and meaning e.g. flower/flour.
125
hyperbole
Exaggeration or overstatement used as a rhetorical device to heighten feelings.
126
hypercorrection
A process of overcompensation where speakers use non-standard forms in the belief that they are more formal or correct e.g. She gave it to John and I.
127
hypophora
A rhetorical device in which a speaker or writer poses a question and then provides the answer.
128
idiolect
A term used to describe the characteristic speech of an individual, including distinctive features of pronunciation, lexis, and grammar.
129
idiom
A distinctive expression in which the meaning is not a literal interpretation of the individual words e.g. She jumped the gun when she sent in that complaint yesterday. i.e. ‘acted too fast’.
130
imperative
A grammatical mood expressing a directive using a verb in the base form with no subject e.g. Sit. Don’t eat it. Stop.
131
implicature
A term used to describe what a hearer infers from an utterance.
132
inclusive
A term used to describe a first person plural reference (e.g. we, us) that includes the speaker as well as the addressee(s).
133
independent clause
A clause that can stand alone, has a tensed verb phrase, and makes sense by itself (also called a main clause).
134
indirect object
The animate being that receives the action of the verb, which comes before the direct object, or after it in the form of a prepositional phrase e.g. The cat brought Sandra a mouse OR The cat brought a mouse to Sandra.
135
indirect speech
A form of speech which reports what someone else has said, where the subordinator that introduces words spoken e.g. The teacher said that I could pass.
136
infinitive
A non-finite base form verb which usually occurs with the preposition to e.g. to sit.
137
inflection
The marking of a grammatical relationship with a suffix e.g. plural and possessive nouns, verbs participles (-ing, -ed).
138
-ing participle
A non-finite verb formed by adding an -ing inflection to the base form of a verb, which occurs with an auxiliary in a tensed verb phrase, or by itself as a non-finite clause (also called a present participle) e.g. The girl was crying for ages. The leaves falling from
the trees carpeted the ground.
139
initialism
A word formed from the first letters of a sequence of words pronounced letter by letter e.g. NHS, BBC, OMG.
140
initial position
A term used to describe the first site in a sentence, clause, phrase or word. intensifier An adverb that adds emphasis e.g. so, very, really.
141
interactive feature
Distinctive non-verbal utterances that affirm (e.g. mm, yes), show agreement (e.g. feature laughter), add reinforcement (e.g. echo utterances).
142
interjection
A closed class group of words and phrases that communicate emotions or spontaneous responses which are not part of the grammatical structure of a clause e.g. hey!, oh dear!
143
interrogative
A grammatical mood expressing a question, in which the subject and the verb are inverted e.g. Has she got a cat? Would they buy a book? Does he want to come?
144
interruption
The ending of one speaker’s turn by the intervention of another speaker, which may be a non-cooperative challenge, or may be the result of multiple participants with equal status in a conversation.
145
intonation
The quality or tone of voice in speech, which can stay level, rise or fall.
146
intransitive
A verb which requires no object to complete its meaning (e.g. The baby smiled.)—some verbs can be both intransitive (e.g. The family ate.) and transitive (e.g. The family ate the meal.)
147
irony
A way of writing or speaking in which the intended meaning appears to be the opposite of what is actually said e.g. Thanks so much for taking the bins out! (i.e. bins have not actually been taken out = implicit criticism).
148
latch-on
A smooth link between different speakers in a spoken exchange.
149
lexical cohesion
Links created between words as a result of their related meanings.
150
lexical diffusion
The gradual spread of linguistic change.
151
lexical set
A group of words linked by a common word class, which may also have related meanings.
152
lexical verb
The verb in a verb phrase that carries the main meaning (also called a main verb) e.g. The man fell. The children had finished. The car should have arrived by now.
153
lexis
The term used to describe the vocabulary of a language.
154
liaison
A process that changes the pronunciation of words at boundaries, usually inserting /r/.
155
loan word
A word borrowed from another language e.g. tortilla.
156
main clause
A clause that can stand alone, has a tensed verb phrase, and makes sense (also called an independent clause)
157
malapropism
A misuse of words that sound similar e.g. fire distinguisher for fire extinguisher.
158
marked theme
A linguistic unit that occurs at the front of a sentence replacing the subject (the theme of a sentence) e.g. In the middle of winter, you don’t expect crocuses to flower.
159
metaphor
A figurative use of language in which one thing is seen in terms of something else e.g. He was at a crossroads and didn’t know which road to take (= making choices in life).
160
metonymy
The use of an attribute to represent the whole e.g. the stage = theatre.
161
minimal pair/set
Two or more words that are identical except for one phoneme occurring in the same place which changes the meaning e.g. pin/pan, shot/pot, in/dip/did/dig.
162
minor sentence
A sentence or utterance that lacks one or more of the clause elements (e.g. three samosas—said to a server on the deli counter), often formulaic in structure (e.g. Sure!—in response to a question).
163
modal verb
An auxiliary that alters the meaning of the lexical verb in terms of likelihood, ability, permission, obligation etc. e.g. we must go (obligation); we might go (possibility); we will go (prediction).
164
mode
A term used to describe whether language use is written, spoken, or multi-modal.
165
modifier
A word used to add descriptive detail to another word e.g. the slow train; the train screeched wildly.
166
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.
167
monosyllabic
Having one syllable.
168
morpheme
The smallest unit of meaning e.g. dog (free); re- (bound).
169
morphology
The study of the structure of words in terms of morphemes.
170
multi-word verb
A verb which has a particle e.g. the police kicked in the door (verb + adverb = phrasal verb); the girl looked at the painting (verb + preposition = prepositional verb).
171
negative
The use of particles or words to deny what is asserted by a verb e.g. The tree has not grown. The child never sat down. I ate nothing.
172
neologism
The creation of a word from existing lexical items e.g. electracy—the skills and facility needed to make full use of the communicative potential of new electronic media (modelled on ‘literacy’).
173
non-count noun
A noun referring to things which cannot be counted and which often do not have a plural form e.g. traffic, applause.
174
non-finite verb
Verb forms that are not marked for tense, person or number e.g. base forms, infinitives, -ing (present) and –ed (past) participles.
175
non-finite clause
A dependent clause introduced by a non-finite verb, which can function as a postmodifier (e.g. The family running for the bus were clearly late.) or as a clause element (Deprived of love, pets don’t thrive.)
176
non-standard
Language that does not conform to the standard prestige form which is used as a linguistic norm.
177
noun
An open class word with a naming function, often with a plural form and which can be marked for possession.
178
noun clause
A dependent clause introduced by the subordinating conjunction that, which can fulfil the subject site (e.g. What I want is time to rest.), the object site (e.g. I believe that the tide is coming in.) or the complement site (e.g. My one hope in life is that I do something
useful.) of a clause.
179
noun phrase
A phrase which usually has a noun as its head, that can function as a subject, object, complement or adverbial in a clause.
180
normal non-fluency
Commonly occurring features of spoken language such as hesitations and false starts which break up the flow of speech.
181
obsolete words
Words that are no longer in use e.g. jargogle: to confuse or jumble; scuppet: a spade used for making ditches.
182
onomatopoeia
The term used to denote words that imitate sounds e.g. splash, murmur, clank, buzz.
183
open class
A large group of words (nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs) to which new words can be added—they carry the main meaning in a sentence (also called lexical words).
184
ordinal number
Numbers that indicate the order of a sequence e.g. first, second, third.
185
orthography
The study of spelling and the ways letters are used in a language e.g. spelling rules, hyphenation, capitalisation, word breaks, punctuation.
186
overlap
Participants speak at the same time, but the dominant speaker’s turn is not ended—this can mark positive feedback where one speaker provides backchannel affirmation or support; the misjudgement of the end of a turn; or an additional point or
comment on what is being said.
187
oxymoron
The use of apparently contradictory words in a phrase e.g. eloquent silence, darkness visible.
188
paralinguistics
The study of non-verbal communication e.g. vocal effects (laughing, sighing), gesture, posture and facial expressions.
189
parallelism
Patterning of pairs of sounds, words, or other structures to create a sense of balance e.g. quickly and decisively, neither a poet nor a philosopher.
190
parenthesis
The use of brackets, dashes or commas in written language, or pauses in spoken language, to mark out an optional element of a sentence or utterance.
191
passive voice
A grammatical structure in which the subject and object change places to alter the focus of a sentence and the verb phrase is made up of to be + -ed participle e.g. The book was written (by a local woman).
192
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 (.) let’s try to (2) meet up later.
193
perfective
An aspect made up of to have + -ed participle e.g. the cat has caught a mouse (past action with present relevance); the cat had caught a mouse (action completed before a specific time).
194
periphrastic
A grammatical structure formed by a combination of words rather than by inflection e.g. the man did go/the man went (past tense); the vote of the people/the people’s vote (possessive).
195
personification
A device in which something non-human is given human attributes e.g. the blushing birds.
196
phatic speech
Words, phrases and clauses that have a social function e.g. good morning; lovely day; thanks.
197
phonemes
The smallest unit of sound.
198
phonetics
The study of spoken sounds and the way in which they are produced.
199
phonology
The study of sounds in a particular language and the ways in which they are combined to create meaning.
200
phrase
A group of words that has no finite verb (except for a verb phrase) e.g. a sleeping dog (noun); very clear blue (adjective); really soon (adverb); is going (verb).
201
polysyllabic
Having more than one syllable.
202
post-modification
Lexical items that follow the head in a phrase e.g. the horse that bites; very happy to see you.
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pragmatics
The study of how contextual factors influence a speaker’s or writer’s language choices.
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predicative
The term used to describe modifiers that follow a copula verb e.g. the grass was long.
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predicator
The verb phrase filling the verb site of a clause e.g. the dog was running up the mountain.
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prefix
A bound morpheme that can be added to the beginning of a free morpheme e.g. redo.
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pre-modification
Lexical items that precede the head in a phrase e.g. quite sad; apple tree.
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preposition
A closed class word which comes in front of a noun phrase to express a relationship e.g. on the mountain; under the table.
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prepositional phrase
A phrase made up of a preposition and a noun phrase which can function as a postmodifier (e.g. the dog with a fluffy tail) or as an adverbial (e.g. the man walked along the river).
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prescriptive
An approach to language that dictates rules of usage, and which focuses on concepts of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.
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proclitic
An unstressed morpheme which joins phonetically to the following word e.g. ’twas, ’tis.
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progressive
An aspect made up of to be + -ing participle e.g. the dog is chasing a rabbit (ongoing action in the present); the dog was chasing a rabbit (ongoing action in the past).
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pronoun
A closed class word that can replace a noun phrase e.g. the boy → he.
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proper noun
A noun that refers to the names of specific people, place and occasions, and which has an initial capital letter in written language e.g. December, Eid, River Bann.
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prosodic features
The use of pitch, volume, pace and rhythm to draw attention to key features of spoken language.
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quoted clause
A clause containing the actual words spoken in direct speech and usually marked with speech marks in written language e.g. ‘He’s behind you,’ chanted the audience.
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quoting clause
A clause accompanying direct speech that tells us who has said something e.g. ‘He’s behind you,’ chanted the audience.
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rallentando
A term used to describe speech that is getting slower (marked rall on transcripts).
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Received pronunciation
An accent which has high social status and is not connected to a specific region (also known as RP).
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relative clause
A dependent clause introduced by a relative pronoun such as that, which, whoever, whom, of which, which post-modifies a noun phrase e.g. the artist whose work was on display entered the room.
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register
A style of language used in a particular context defined in terms of mode, tenor and field.
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repertoire
An individual’s range of spoken and written forms.
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rhetorical question
A question that does not require an answer.
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self-correction
A speaker’s repair to an utterance e.g. bret-ta. (.) breathtaking; Steve (.) Sir Stephen.
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semantic change
Changes in word meaning over time.
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semantic field
A theme or topic created by the use of words with associated meanings e.g. doctor, medicine, vaccinating, surgery, prescription.
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sentence
A grammatical structure made up of one or more clauses, marked by a capital letter and a full stop in written language (called an utterance in spoken language).
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simile
A device which makes a direct comparison between two things using the prepositions like or as e.g. her heart was beating like the wings of bird against its cage.
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slang
Distinctive, and often short-lived, words and phrases used by clearly defined social or age groups associated with informal speech e.g. cork it (stop talking).
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simple sentence
A sentence made up of one main clause e.g. The astronaut fastened his belt.
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spontaneity markers
Distinctive features of spoken language that mark speech as spontaneous and unscripted, including comment clauses, fillers, hesitations etc.
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standard
The form of a language considered to be the norm and used as the medium of education, government, and the legal system.
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stative verbs
Verbs that express states of being or processes, which rarely take a progressive form e.g. understand, wish, doubt.
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subject
A noun phrase or a clause which is the actor of a sentence e.g. Winning medals is the goal of all athletes. The builder plastered the wall quickly.
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subjunctive
A grammatical mood used to express something hypothetical or tentative—most common now in formulaic expressions (e.g. God save the Queen.) and in If structures (e.g. If I were Prime Minister….)
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subordinate clause
A clause that cannot stand alone, but needs another clause to complete its meaning e.g. Because I was tired, I went to bed early. subordinating conjunction A conjunction used to introduce a subordinate clause e.g. while, as soon as, although e.g. I couldn’t finish cutting the grass until the rain stopped.
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suffix
A bound morpheme that can be added at the end of a free morpheme e.g. goodness.
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symbol
A device in which a word or phrase represents something more than itself e.g. fog can be symbolic of confusion
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syndetic
A term used to describe a list of words, phrases or clauses that are connected by a conjunction e.g. A dove, a red rose, a rainbow and a kitten are all positive symbols.
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synonyms
Different words that have the same or similar meanings e.g. repulsive, nauseating, disgusting.
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syntax
The study of the grammatical relationships between words in sentences.
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tag question
An interrogative structure that is attached at the end of a statement to encourage a reply e.g. It’s good, isn’t it? I don’t like it, do you?
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tenor
The relationship between participants in a language interaction.
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tense
A change in the form of a verb to indicate timescale e.g. he walks (present); he walked (past).
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transitive
A verb which requires an object to complete its meaning e.g. The baby ate a banana.— some verbs can be ditransitive (e.g. Uncle Andrew told the children a story.)
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turn-taking
The organisation of participants in a spoken interaction, where the turns may be equal or where one speaker may be dominant.
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tripling
Patterning of words, phrases, clauses or sentences in recognisable groups of three e.g. No birdsong. No wind in the trees. No sign of life.
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utterance
A grammatical structure made up of one or more clauses, often preceded by a micro pause and followed by another pause or a change of speaker in spoken language (called a sentence in written language).
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unintentional repetition
The accidental repetition of a monosyllabic word in spoken language e.g. they they’ve; we we we.
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verbal noun
A noun derived from a verb e.g. Sewing is a useful skill.
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verbless clause
A clause that contains no verb although the structure implies there should be one e.g. When in doubt, ask.
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verb
An open class word expressing states, process and actions, which can be marked for tense, aspect, voice and modality.
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verb phrase
A phrase made up of a single lexical verb, or up to four auxiliaries and a lexical verb e.g. follows, was following, should have been following, may have been being followed.
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vocative
The term of address used to refer directly to a person in speech e.g. Come over here, John. Prime Minister, I’m very pleased to meet you.
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wh- question
Questions introduced by wh- question words, which expect new information in the answer e.g. Why are you late? → requires reason.
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word formation
The process of creating words from free and bound morphemes e.g. un + gracious + ly
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word order
The arrangement of words, phrases and clauses in a sentence.
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yes/no question
Questions marked by the inversion of subject and, which require an affirmative or negative response e.g. Is this dress alright? → requires yes/no.
