AICE LANGUAGE Test Review 3

Informational Function

Used to convey information, describe things, or give facts.

Expressive Function

Expresses feelings, emotions, or attitudes.

Directive Function

Influences the behavior or actions of others.

Phatic Function

Maintains social relationships or keeps communication open.

Aesthetic Function

Uses language artistically or creatively for aesthetic impact.

Graphology

Emojis(logograms/semiotics)

Orthography

The conventional spelling system of a language.

Phonology

How words sound

Morphology

How words are put together

Cultural Transmission Theory

The process by which information(ideas, customs and social behavior) is passed from individual to individual via socialization and engagement with others.

Linguistic Variable

How different people speak in different ways.

Random Fluctuation Theory(Charles Hockett)

Random errors and events that impact language systems.

Pragmatics

The effect of the words you choose

Semantics

The words you choose

Peter Trudgill Theory

Why accents and dialects don't spread far sometimes due to a geographical barrier like mountains or the Hudson river.

Social Prestige

People come to talk like those they identify with or admire.

Functional Theory(Michael Halliday)

Language is a tool which enables changing economic and social functions in a society to be carried out.

Lexical Diffusion

Change gradually works its way through language speaker until adopted.

Computer Mediated Discourse

Has to do with cell phones or online communication

Substratum Theory(William Labov)

Focuses on the changes to English that results from the influence of different Englishes/languages.(Historically through colonization, immigration, rade, and changing communities)

Lexical Gap Theory(Offshoot of Halliday’s theory)

Focuses on words that do not exist yet/deals with nonsense words(neologisms)

Communication Accommodation Theory(Howard Giles)

When you accommodate the speech patterns with the group you are with— basically you speak like the people you are around with.