Definitions

Question 0

Mise-en-scene

Answer 0

…

Question 1

Binary opposition

Answer 1

…

Question 2

Adjacency pairs

Answer 2

Regular sequence of utterances by two speakers - often using questions and answers. They are parallel expressions used across the boundaries of individual speaking turns, usually ritualistic and formulaic socially: ‘how are you?’ ‘Fine thanks’

Question 3

Alignment

Answer 3

The notion of turn taking in an exchange, allowing speakers to align with one another

Question 4

Antithesis

Answer 4

Contrasting or opposite ideas, often placed in subsequent sentences or lines to create stark contrast

Question 5

Assonance

Answer 5

Repetition of the same vowel sound in words

Question 6

Asyndetic listing

Answer 6

Listing items, separated only by commas

Question 7

Audience

Answer 7

Can be grouped by age, interest, gender, social characteristics…

Question 8

Authorial voice

Answer 8

An author who speaks directly to the reader, communicating a clear message

Question 9

Back channel features

Answer 9

Words, phrases, and non verbal utterances used by a listener to give feedback to a speaker that the message is being followed and understood

Question 10

Bathos

Answer 10

Discovery of humour in a phrase, whether done unintentionally or deliberately through the use of a random or ironic combination of ideas, providing fun for the reader, creating a ridiculous anticlimax

Question 11

Intensifier

Answer 11

A strengthening pre-modifier

Question 12

Caesura

Answer 12

A pause used for emphasis, often marked by punctuation

Question 13

Cataphoric reference

Answer 13

A pronoun that refers forward to a later detail, needing to read the whole sentence for it to make sense
‘When she arrived, Amy noticed her chocolate was gone’

Question 14

Clipping

Answer 14

Shortening an existing word, an example of an informal situation
‘Telephone’ and ‘phone’

Question 15

Code switching

Answer 15

Changing language between different groups - people do this naturally when speaking with different levels of formality

Question 16

Collocation

Answer 16

Groups of words that are commonly found alongside each other

Question 17

Colloquialisms

Answer 17

Informal words and grammar used in everyday settings and situations

Question 18

Context

Answer 18

Can be social, locational, or cultural - impacts on the speech that take place

Question 19

Comparative

Answer 19

An adjective that compares one thing to another: ‘better’, ‘smaller’

Question 20

Convergence

Answer 20

A type of contact change where languages borrow morphological and syntactic features, making their typology more similar

Question 21

Conversational maxims

Answer 21

Four rules for successful conversation: relevance, quality, quantity, and manner

Question 22

Corrections

Answer 22

Similar to repairs, but can occur in the middle of an utterance

Question 23

Declarative

Answer 23

A sentence making a statement: ‘the sun has disappeared’

Question 24

Determiner

Answer 24

A word used before a noun to indicate the quantity, identity, or significance: a, the, some

Question 25

Deixis

Answer 25

Words that refer backwards or forwards or outside a text, used as a verbal pointing, a context-dependent feature of talk: this, that, here, there

Question 26

Denouement

Answer 26

The final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or a novel

Question 27

Directive

Answer 27

A given order or command, being direct or mitigated directive, which is softened but still communicates an instruction

Question 28

Discourse marker

Answer 28

Words that signpost a text, marking what is attempting to communicate. Some are used to signals change in topic (well, so, as I was saying), when others mark references to earlier sequences of conversation

Question 29

Dominance

Answer 29

Gender theories suggest that society reflects the roles men and women now take in conversation, leading to imbalanced exchanges as one speaker assumes the dominant role in a conversation

Question 30

Dynamic verbs

Answer 30

Verbs that describe action/movement: playing, rushing, lying

Question 31

Elision

Answer 31

Missing out sounds in words

Question 32

Ellipsis

Answer 32

Omission of entire words as meaning can be understood without them

Question 33

Euphemism

Answer 33

Words that soften meanings: 'passed away'

Question 34

Evaluative lexis

Answer 34

Expressing clear opinion about the topic of conversation: 'great', lovely

Question 35

Exclamatory

Answer 35

An utterance suggesting a warning or surprise: 'I really can't believe'