a glossary of spoken language features

Accent

the ways in which words are pronounced. accent can vary according to the region or social class of a speaker.

adjacency pairs

parallel expressions used across the boundaries of individual speaking turns. they are usually ritualistic and formulaic socially, e.g “How are you?”/ “Fine thanks”

back-channel

words, phrases and nonverbal utterances. e.g “i see”, “oh”, “uh huh”, “really?” used by a listener to give feedback to a speaker that the message is being followed and understood. 

Contraction 

a reduced form often marked by an apostrophe. e.g can’t =cannot

deixis/deictics

words such as “this”, “that”, “here”, “there” which refer to a previous or forwards context outside the text. needs context

dialect

the distinctive grammar and vocabulary which is associated with the regional or social use of a language

discourse marker

words and phrases which are used to signal  the relationship and connections between words to signal what is being said is being followed by the listener or reader. e.g “first”, “on the other hand”, “now”, “anyway”

elision

the slurring/omission of one or more sounds. e.g gonna= going to

ellipsis

the omission of part of a grammatical structure. e.g “You going to a party?” / “might be,” the verb ‘are’ and the pronoun ‘i’ are not there. thus conveying a casual and informal tone.

false start/self-correction

when the speaker begins an utterance, then stop or either repeats or reformulates it.