English Language 3/4 Metalanguage (study design)

Phonetics/phonology

- connected speech processes

- prosodic features

- phonological patterning

Morphology

- word formation processes

- hypocoristic use of suffixes

Lexicology

- word classes

- word formation processes

Syntax

- phrases

- clauses

- sentences

- word order

- active/passive/agentless passive voice

- syntactic patterning

Discourse and Pragmatics

- paralinguistic features

- code switching to demonstrate in-group membership

- cohesion factors

- coherence factors (umbrella term)

- features of spoken discourse

- discourse strategies

- politeness strategies

Semantics

- semantic domain

- inference

- semantic patterning

- lexical meaning

- euphemism/dysphemism

Connected speech processes

assimilation (sound has changed), vowel reduction, elision (whole sound is gone), insertion

Prosodic features

pitch, stress, volume, tempo, intonation

Phonological patterning

assonance, consonance, alliteration

rhyme and rhythm

Word formation processes/morphological patterning

- affixation

- abbreviation

- shortening

- compounding

- blending

- backformation

- conversion of word class

- initialism

- acronym

- contraction

Hypocoristic suffixation

alternative forms of words/names through use of abbreviation/suffixation like mozzie, sickie, tradie

Basic word classes

noun, verb, adjective, adverb, prepositions, conjunctions, determiners, interjections

auxiliary verbs

be, have, do, are, is

modal verbs

must, shall, will, should, would, can, could, may, and might.

preposition

in, at, on, of, to, by, next to, instead of

conjunctions

coordinators: connect clauses of equal importance (and, or, for)

subordinators: connect dependent to independent clause (before, despite, even if, even though, if)

determiners

possessive: my, their, our

demonstrative: this, that, these, those

article: a, an, the

quantifiers: some, any, many

interjections

grammatically independent: hey, wow, ouch

word formation processes (lexicology)

- neologism

- borrowings

- commonisation

- nominalisation

Neologism

new word/expression

Borrowing

adopting word from another language into English

commonisation

when proper nouns (eg brand name) are converted to common nouns

nominalisation

The process of turning verbs into nouns, often by adding a suffix (-isation)

noun phrase

consists of a noun and all its modifiers and acts like a noun eg 'the car'

verb phrase

a verb plus any words that assist with the meaning of the verb eg 'she is walking'

prepositional phrase

a modifying phrase consisting of a preposition and its object

adverb phrase

group of words acting as an adverb

adjective phrase

group of words acting as an adjective

subject

noun performing the action

object

noun receiving the action of the verb, directly or indirectly

sentence fragment

an incomplete sentence missing a verb or subject

simple sentence

one independent clause that can stand alone

compound sentence

sentence with two or more independent clauses with two or more subjects

complex sentence

one dependent and one independent clause with one subject

declarative sentence

makes a statement and ends with a period

imperative sentence

a command, often uses pronoun 'you' to make a request

interrogative sentence

question, ends with a question mark

exclamative sentence

expresses strong emotion, ends with an exclamation mark

modifier

modifies a noun eg an adjective placed before

antithesis

the direct opposite, a sharp contrast

parallelism

similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses (eg similar starting words)

listing

list of associated ideas/concepts/words

vocal effects

laughter, breathiness, whispers

code switching

switching between different languages to demonstrate in-group membership

coherence

cohesion

inference

logical ordering

formatting

consistency

conventions

cohesion

lexical choice, including synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy,

hypernymy

collocation

information flow, including clefting, front focus and end focus

anaphoric and cataphoric reference

deictics

repetition, substitution, ellipsis

conjunctions and adverbials

openings/closing

Adjacency pairs that begin or end a discourse (usually formal)

minimal responses/backchanneling

signals that the other interlocutor is listening, like 'yeah' or 'mhm'

overlapping speech

when speakers talk at the same time

discourse markers/particles

words that don't carry any meaning but can be used to show shift in topic

non-fluency features

pauses

filled pauses/voiced hesitations

false starts, repetition, repairs

Functions of language

referential, emotive, conative, phatic, metalinguistic, poetic

referential function

text that conveys information

conative function

commands and questions used to engage audience

emotive function

conveys strong emotions and feelings, often used to build rapport with audience and seem more approachable

metalinguistic function

discuss language itself, eg english language analysis

poetic function

embellishes a message and improves the aesthetic of the information

phatic function

establishes social connection and builds rapport

situational context

- field

- mode

- register

- setting

- tenor

tenor

relationships between participants in a conversation, depending on formality and social distance