spoken language features

Question 1

Abbreviations

Answer 1

cause instead of because

Question 2

Accent

Answer 2

the ways in which words are pronounced, can vary due to social class or geographical region

Question 3

adjacency pairs

Answer 3

parallel expressions used across the boundaries of individual speaking turns. normally ritualistic and formulaic socially- how are you - fine thanks you ?

Question 4

back channel features

Answer 4

words, phrases and non verbal utterances used by a listener to show engagement - yeah, uh huh, mmm

Question 5

cliches

Answer 5

an indication of lack of engagement the lister going through the social motions- shuch as saying that’s life

Question 6

contraction

Answer 6

reduced form often marked with an apostrophe

Question 7

conversational speech

Answer 7

a characteristic of informal spoken language

Question 8

courtesy terms

Answer 8

please and thanknyou

Question 9

covert prestige

Answer 9

the status of a speaker who does not yet ‘own’ the dialect of the group they desire to belong to

Question 10

diexis

Answer 10

words such as this or that which refer back or forwards. a verbal pointing

Question 11

deletion

Answer 11

deletions refer to words which are left out

Question 12

dialect

Answer 12

the distinctive grammar and vocab associated with a specific region or social group

Question 13

digressions

Answer 13

steering away from the topic of conversation

Question 14

discourse

Answer 14

routines of language use eg a doctor’s appointment

Question 15

discourse markers

Answer 15

words and phrases which are used to signal the relationship between utterances
first then last

Question 16

elision

Answer 16

the omission or slurring of one or more sounds or syllables- gonna wassup

Question 17

ellipsis

Answer 17

the omission of a part of a grammatical structure leading to a more informal register- you going to the party ? might be
missing “are” and “i”

Question 18

emphatic stress

Answer 18

used to highlight key lexical items when visual cues may be lacking - phone calls

Question 19

false start

Answer 19

when the speaker starts an utterance before restarting or reformulating

Question 20

fluency

Answer 20

how well a discourse flows

Question 21

fillers

Answer 21

items which do not carry conventional meaning but inserted to allow time to think

Question 22

Grice’s maximes

Answer 22

4 basic conversational rules:
-quantity
-relevance
-manner
-quality

Question 23

hedge terms

Answer 23

softens the force with which something is said- maybe

Question 24

hesitations

Answer 24

silences or fillers

Question 25

idiolect

Answer 25

an individually distinctive style of speech which includes accent and dialect

Question 26

idiom

Answer 26

a group of words whose meaning differs from their individual meanings- it’s raining cats and dogs

Question 27

in-slang

Answer 27

only makes sense among insiders

Question 28

incompleteness

Answer 28

an utterance finished by another speaker

Question 29

interruptions

Answer 29

the speaker has not finished an utterance before another speaker starts

Question 30

intonation

Answer 30

the sound pattern of phrases and sentences produced by pitch variation

Question 31

jargon

Answer 31

field specific lexis

Question 32

lexicon

Answer 32

full vocabulary of a group or individual

Question 33

non-fluency features

Answer 33

hesitations, fillers, pauses and interruptions

Question 34

neutral topics

Answer 34

weather

Question 35

overlaps

Answer 35

more than one speaker at one time

Question 36

pace/timing

Answer 36

the process of regulating actions and responses to elicit the best reaction

Question 37

paralinguistic features

Answer 37

non-linguistic features like body language, facial expressions and gestures

Question 38

phatic talk

Answer 38

meaningless social talk

Question 39

pitch

Answer 39

the height or depth of one’s voice

Question 40

pragmatics

Answer 40

the context based study of implied meanings

Question 41

prosodic features

Answer 41

stress, rhythm, pitch, tempo used to mark out key meanings

Question 42

prestige

Answer 42

the level of respect assigned to a language or dialect

Question 43

rapport

Answer 43

relationship established between a speaker and their audience

Question 44

register

Answer 44

the degree of formality

Question 45

repertoire

Answer 45

idea that we are all performers and so our repertoire is the different “voices” we use in a day, context dependent

Question 46

repetitions

Answer 46

repeating words, fillers or phrases for emphatic stress or buying time

Question 47

rhetorical device

Answer 47

a technique used to evoke a response from a reader or listener

Question 48

simultaneous speech

Answer 48

not the same as interruption as they can work well together

Question 49

slang

Answer 49

very informal language

Question 50

sociolect

Answer 50

a social dialect or variant of language that is used by certain social groups

Question 51

sound representation

Answer 51

eek oooh

Question 52

spontaneous speech

Answer 52

unprepared speech

Question 53

standard english

Answer 53

the recognised standard for writing and educated speakers

Question 54

supportive minimal vocalisation

Answer 54

mmm yeah, used to support the speaker

Question 55

taboo language

Answer 55

swearing

Question 56

tag question

Answer 56

a question added to an utterance- weather us lovely, isn’t it ?

Question 57

transactional talk

Answer 57

language serving a purpose

Question 58

transcript

Answer 58

a written copy of spoken language

Question 59

turn taking

Answer 59

typical conversation structure

Question 60

utterance

Answer 60

complete unit of talk bound by speakers silence

Question 61

vague language

Answer 61

unassertive statements which seem imprecise and general

Question 62

vocative terms

Answer 62

names, nicknames, titles, terms of address- establishing relationship between speakers