General Language Terminology

Pearson Edexcel A-Level English Language Terminology Flashcards (all from pearson website glossary of terms, created by AI but all checked and altered by me)

articulation

Refers to the movement of the speech organs to produce sounds required for speech.

place of articulation

Refers to the position of the speech organs used to make a sound.

manner of articulation

Refers to how a sound is made.

voicing

The distinction between sounds made with vibrating vocal cords (voiced) and those made without (voiceless).

plosive

Consonant sounds made by a complete closure of the airway followed by a quick release of air. /t/ /b/ /p/

fricative

Consonant sounds made by the passing of air, often replicating hissing sounds. /v/ /s/ /z/

accent

Distinctive features of pronunciation marking an individual's regional, personal or social identity.

received pronunciation (RP)

An accent of English associated with prestige and high social status, not tied to a geographic area.

th-fronting

The substitution of the phonemes /ð/ or /θ/ for a labio-dental phoneme of /f/ or /v/, saying “with” as /wiv/

th-stopping

The substitution of the phonemes /ð/ or /θ/ for a plosive phoneme, typically /t/ or /d/. “that” as “dat”

yod-dropping

The elision of the /j/ phoneme from certain words, often a feature of accent. “tyune” to “toon”

minimal pair/set

Words that are identical except for one phoneme occurring in the same place, changing the meaning. “sit” “bit” “fit”

homophones

Words that have the same pronunciation but different spelling and meaning.

homographs

Words that have the same spelling but pronounced differently and have different meanings.

glottal stop

A sound produced by releasing air at the glottis, often used in place of the /t/ phoneme.

schwa

The unstressed vowel sound represented by the symbol /ə/. “hER”

assimilation

The process where sounds change to become closer to neighboring sounds. “handbag” to “hambag” as m and b have similar places of articulation

rhotic

Describes accents that pronounce the /r/ after vowel sounds.

derivation

The process of creating new words by using affixes.

etymology

The study of the origins of words.

neologism

A newly created or coined word or expression.

sociolect

The language used by a specific social group to distinguish them from another.

idiolect

The distinctive language used by a specific individual.

slang

Words and phrases associated with informal speech.

jargon

Language used by specific occupational groups, often excluding outsiders.

register

The way language is defined according to its use (formality, activities, occupation)

hypernym

A word with a broad coverage of meaning. (tree can also refer to oak, spruce, willows)

hyponym

More specific elements under a hypernym. oak being hyponym of tree

homonym

A word that has the same form but two different meanings. (reserved meaning shy or holding space)

synonym

A word with a similar meaning as another.

antonym

A word with the opposite meaning to another.

metonym

The use of an attribute to refer to a thing or concept. (“the word from number 10 is….” meaning the word from the government)

amelioration

Where the meaning of a word becomes more positive over time. (“cool” cold to good)

pejoration

Where the meaning of a word becomes less positive over time. (“villain” villager to evil)

broadening/expansion

When the original meaning of a word expands to encompass more ideas. (“holiday” holy day to any break from work)

narrowing/specialization

When the original meaning of a word becomes more precise. (“deer” any small animal to specific creature)

bleaching or weakening

When the original power or load of a word is reduced over time. (“dead” becoming less intense due to casual use as an intensifier: “dead tired”

connotation

Associated meanings of a word beyond their literal definition.

collocation

Words that typically go together as a set phrase. (“bread and butter”)

morpheme

The smallest unit of meaning.

what are the morphemes of “helped” or “helpful”

“help-“ = a free morpheme, can convey meaning on its own

“-ed” = a bound inflectional morpheme, must attach to another morpheme to make sense, indicates a shift in grammatical tense

“-ful” = bound derivational morpheme, must attach to another morpheme to make sense, changes a words class or meaning

root or stem

The main word from which others are built.

affix

A bound morpheme attached to existing words to create new ones.

prefix

An affix placed at the beginning of a root word.

suffix

An affix placed at the end of a root word.

plurality

When there is more than one of something, indicated by inflectional morphemes such as “-s” or “-es”

regular

Words that follow typical grammatical patterns.

irregular

Words that do not follow typical grammatical patterns.

tense

Changes in a verb's structure that indicate the timescale.

person

The distinction between speaker (first), addressee (second), and others (third).

dialect

Distinctive grammar, syntax, and vocabulary marking a speaker's identity.

subject

The noun phrase or pronoun that is the actor of the verb within a clause.

object, name the three types of object

The noun phrase or pronoun governed by the verb within a clause.

Direct object = object directly affected by the verb “The cat caught the fish”

Indirect object = when the object recieves the action of the verb “She gave me a new book”

Object of preposition = when the noun or noun phrase is governed by or linked with a preposition “They walked to the shop in silence”

predicate

The part of the sentence that contains the verb and offers information about the subject. “I moved quietly”

phrase

A group of words functioning as a single syntactical unit.

Noun Phrase = determiner + noun “The dog”

Modified noun phrase = noun phrase including an adjective “The brown dog”

adjective phrase = adverb + adjective “very loud”

adverbial phrase = usually two or more adverbs “quite smoothly”

verb phrase = usually auxiliary verb + main verb “must leave” or may act as an adjective or adverb “Running as fast as i could, i left the house.”

clause, name the three types of clause

A group of words that is structurally larger than a phrase and contains a finite verb.

main clause = made up of a subject and a predicate, expressing a complete concept “We walked home.

subordinate clause = depends on the main clause to make sense “If i get out early, i will wait in my room”

co-ordinate clause = a main clause preceded by a co-ordinating conjunction connecting it to another main clause “He was angry and he was tired”

sentence

A set of words conveying a statement, question, command, or exclamation.

co-ordination

Linking of lexical items/ideas that are equally important.

subordination

Linking of lexical items/ideas that do not hold equal importance.

modification

Using linguistic elements to specify or qualify nature/features of another.

declarative

A sentence type acting as a statement.

interrogative

A sentence type acting as a question.

imperative

A sentence type acting as a directive.

exclamatory

A sentence type conveying strong emotion.

active voice

Grammatical structure where the subject is the actor of the sentence.

passive voice

Grammatical structure where the subject and object change positions.

modals

Auxiliary verbs denoting possibility, necessity, or obligation.

deixis

Lexical items that rely on context to convey meaning. “He did it again” context is needed to know who he is and what it is

mode

The medium of the language being explored, e.g., spoken or written.

linearity

The linear structure of a text, typically written in chronological order.

narrative

A spoken or written account of connected events.

cohesion

Links and connections used to unite elements of discourse or text.

coherence

Elements of a text or discourse combine to make semantic sense.

exchange structure

Interactions following key patterns to act as a single unit. E.g: Initiation > Response > Feedback is an expected pattern of discourse, the structure acts as a single unit of communication

adjacency pair

A unit of conversation where each participant takes a turn and they are functionally related. E.g: question > response, both speakers say “hello”

overlap

Simultaneous talk of two or more participants in a conversation.

topic shifts

Linguistic techniques used by a speaker to change the subject of conversation. “That reminds me…”

framing moves

Linguistic patterns highlighting key segments of discourse or text. “It’s been lovely to speak to you” as a way of framing the close of a conversation

non-fluency

Features like fillers and false starts that prevent fluent discourse.

pseudo-speech

Language that appears to have meaning but is not in the main lexicon. “my head feels woodey today”

genre convention

Recurring elements within a genre or form.

context

Circumstances in which speech or writing take place impacting language used.

context dependency

Need for participants to understand context to understand the full meaning of text or discourse.

sense

Semantic meaning of a lexical item identified by its links to surrounding words. “fire” has many meanings and identifying the intended meaning requires knowledge of how it is used in a sentence

semantic role

The relationship between verbs and noun phrases of a sentence.

agent = looking at the performer of an action in a sentence “Louise ran home”

force = looking at the performance of an action but where the instigation is involuntary or not consciously performed “it rained”

causative = looking at the natural force which has brought about a change “The drought which has destroyed the crops”

possessor = looking at the ownership of something “The back of Luke’s chair broke in two”

recipient = looking at the who or what receives something “She gave the form to her teacher”

explain Grice's maxims (four)

Unwritten rules for successful conversation that all participants are assumed to follow.

the maxim of quality = the speaker is truthful and honest

the maxim of quantity = the speaker providing sufficient info and detail, no more or less

the maxim of manner = the speaker avoids ambiguity and tries to be clear and orderly in what they are saying

the maxim of relevance = the speaker tries to ensure their contributions are relevant to the rest of the conversation

implicature

The implied meaning of a statement distinct from its literal value.

if A is true, B doesn’t always have to be true.

A : are you coming to the party tonight?

B : i’ve got to be at work early for a meeting.

the maxim of relevance has been flouted, creating an implicature

basically reading into the statement rather than literal meaning of the words

entailment

The need to draw conclusions from a particular word or phrase.

If A is true, B must also be true

“President Trump was assassinated” we must draw the conclusion that the President is also dead

presupposition

The assumed knowledge or truth of a statement.

“are you a vegetarian now?” there is a presupposition that you once ate meat

politeness

Ways language shows consideration for interlocutor’s thoughts and feelings.

irony

A way of speaking whereby what is meant is the opposite of what appears stated.

phatic talk

Language used to establish or develop social contact. e.g: greetings or comments about the weather

convergence/divergence

Adjustments in language (accents and dialects) based on interactions, either moving closer (convergence) or becoming pronounced (divergence). part of accommodation theory

grapheme

The smallest unit of a written language that conveys meaning or function. e.g: letters, numbers, punctuation marks

typeface

The design of type used in writing. e.g: times new roman, calibri

font

The style of a typeface. e.g: bold, italic

white space

The use of space around words and images on a page.

logo

Graphic mark or symbol used to identify and promote recognition.