Spoken Language Terminology

overlap

when two speakers take turns simultaneously

question

an utterance which requests information

speaker select

signals that choose the next speaker

discourse marker

a word or phrase that changes the flow of dialogue without changing the meaning

tag question

questions added to the end of utterances to form an interrogative

adjacency pair

pairs of utterances where the first demands a response

fillers

utterances used to fill pauses

hedging

a word or phrase that makes an utterance less definite

repetition

repeating anything whilst speaking

pauses

silences in utterances

false start

when someone begins an utterance then stops because it’s not what they want to say

repair

fixing a false start by saying something extra

ellipsis

missing out a grammatically necessary part of a sentence with the assumption that the listener can fill it in themselves

slang

informal/colloquial use of language within a particular sociolect

colloquial terms

informal, conversational register

contraction

shortening two or more words by using an apostrophe to miss out sounds

elision

the omission of a syllable

cliché

an overused, meaningless expression

phatic speech

speech which purely maintains social relations

expletives

swear words

deixis

using words whose meaning is dependent on the context in which they are used

stress

emphasising words or syllables

intonation

the pitch of speech

tempo

the speed of speech

volume

how loud or quiet speech is

accent

ways of pronouncing words, often linked to certain geographical areas

maxim of quality

the expectation that a speaker should say things that are true

maxim of quantity

the expectation that a speaker should say the appropriate amount

maxim of relevance

the expectation that a speaker will say something related to the conversation

maxim of manner

the expectation that a speaker will be clear when speaking

face

the image of themselves a speaker presents

face threatening act

challenging a speaker’s self-image

positive politnesss

showing a speaker that they are liked

negative politeness

not imposing or intruding on a speaker