English Language: Key Terms and Definitions

Register

a variety of language associated with a particular situation of use

Idiolect

individual variation of language use

Hyponym

Specific words for something

Hypernym

General word for something

Collocate

words that typically appear together

fixed expressions

a combination of two words which are often seen together which have taken on its own meaning e.g all of a sudden

synonym

two words with equivalent meanings

antonyms

two words with opposite meanings

jargon

semantic fields associated with a certain profession or group

idiom

a subset of fixed expressions where the meaning derived is very different from the meanings of the individual words

euphemisms

softer more socially acceptable words

Orthophemism

direct, formal or detached words

dysphemisms

blunt, direct or taboo words

context

the external factors that shape how texts are produced and received

discourse event

an act of communication occurring in a specific time and location involving writers/ speakers and readers/ listeners

multi-purpose text

a text with more than one purpose

primary purpose

the main purpose of a text

secondary purpose

the subsidiary purpose(s) which might be more subtle

implied reader

a constructed image of a reader

actual reader

any person or groups of people who engage with a text

implied writer

a constructed image of an idealised writer

actual writer

the ‘real’ person or people responsible for text production

discourse community

a group of people with shared interests and belief systems who are likely to respond to texts in similar ways

oppositional view

a means of defining different modes by arguing that they have completely different features

continuum

a sequence in which the difference between elements is represented by their distance from each other

prototype model

a way of thinking about how we categorise and understand things by comparing new things to our most typical examples

representation

the portrayal of events, people and circumstances through language and other meaning-making resources to create a way of seeing the world

genre

a way of grouping texts based on expected shared conventions

intertextuality

a process by which texts borrow from or refer to conventions of other texts for a specific purpose and effect

blended-mode

a text which contains conventional elements of both speech and writing

orthography

reflects the conventions and rules of written language. It encompasses spelling, punctuation and capitalisation

graphology

the visual appearance of language

semiotics

the study of visual language and signs

denotative meaning

the literal meaning

typography

the art of arranging text to make it legible clear and appealing to the reader

iconic sign

a sign or image that is a direct picture of the thing that it represents

symbolic signs

a sign or image where an associated meaning is drawn from some shared degree of knowledge

phonology

the area of study that refers to the more abstract sound system

phonetics

the area of study that is concerned with investigating how sounds are actually produced by language users

prosodics

the study of how speakers can shape meanings through emphasising certain aspects of intonation, speed and volume

heterophones

words that have the same spelling but very different pronunciations and meanings

homophones

words that are pronounced the same but have a different meaning and may have different spellings

plosive consonants

produced by the articulators coming together to stop the airflow and then being released

fricative consonants

produced by the articulators positioned together but a small gap remaining through which the sound comes

affricate consonants

produced by the articulators coming together, then released but in a way that is similar to the friction sound of a fricative

nasal consonants

produced by articulators stopping the airflow with a release through the nose

lateral consonants

produced by articulators coming together and air being released over the sides of the tongue

approximant consonants

produced in a similar way to other consonant sounds but without the articulators fully coming together

dipthong

a vowel sound that is the combination of two separate sounds, where a speaker moves from one to another

sound iconicity

the matching of sound to an aspect of meaning

phonological manipulation

making creative changes in sound patterns to give certain effects

minimal pair

two words that differ in only one single sound

consonance

a pattern of repeated consonant sound for effect

assonance

a pattern of repeated vowel sounds for effect

sibilance

a pattern of repeated fricative sounds especially s for effect

lexical onomatopoeia

words that have some associated meaning between their sound and what they represent

non-lexical onomatopoeia

‘non-words’ that nonetheless are intended to signify some meaning through their sound