English Language Metalanguage 34

Free Morpheme

Stand on its own as a word

Bound Morpheme

Unable to stand independently, must be attached to a free morpheme

Inflectional Morpheme

Denotes plurality, tense, possession

All are suffixes

Derivational Morpheme

Changes word class/meaning

Can be anywhere (affix, infix, suffix)

Nominalisation

When derivational morphology converts a word into a noun

Diminutives

Words obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter meaning of its root meaning to indicate smallness or affection.

Hypocoristics

Diminutives serving as endearing nicknames

Reduplication

When a word’s root, stem, or part of the word is repeated, either exactly or with a slight change

Lexical Verbs

Verbs that describe actions, states or occurrences

Can be dynamic or stative

Auxiliary Verbs

Express timescales, questions and negatives, emphasis, or indicate the mood or attitude of a speaker or writer

Three types: Modal, Copula, Primary Auxiliary

Modal Verbs

Indicate moods (certainty, permission…)

Modal Verbs: Deontic Modality

Expresses an ability, necessity or obligation associated with an agent subject
Must, Should, Shall, Have to

Modal Verbs: Epistemic Modality

Expresses a speaker’s assessment of reality or likelihood or reality, contingency

Could, May, Must

Copula Verbs

Connect the subject to the subject complement

To be is the main copula in English

To be, Am, Is, Are, Was

Primary Auxiliary Verbs

The most basic helping verbs in English

Help form different tenses, aspects, and voices of main verbs

Can be inverted to form interrogative sentences

Transitive Verbs

A verb that takes a direct object

Intransitive Verbs

A verb that does not take a direct object

Aspects

The timescale of the action of a verb that indicates whether the action is completed, ongoing, or habitual.

Perfect Present

Action that began in the past and is still relevant to the present, or has recently been completed

Has/have + past participle

Has gone, has written, has done

Perfect Past

Action that happened before another past action

Had + past participle

Had eaten, had gone

Progressive

Action that is ongoing or not yet completed

Am eating, is going, am doing

Frequently used to imply the continuity of a particular action, which will extend to the future.

Adverbs

Words that describe adjectives, verbs or other adverbs

They often indicate manner, place, time, frequency, or degree.

Circumstance Adverbs

Convey information about Time, Frequency, Location and Manner

Spatial Deixis

Convey information about space

Here, there

Temporal Deixis

Convey information about time

Now, then

Conjunct Adverbs

Sentence adverb, links two independent clauses in two separate sentences

However = I went shopping in a rainy day. However, I didn’t get wet.

Disjunct Adverbs

Any adverb that modifies modal verbs

Perhaps - I could perhaps buy it for you.

Surely - You must surely be able to afford it.

Initialism

Pronounced as individual letters

RSPCA

Acronyms

Pronounced as a whole word

QANTAS

Compound

Two free morphemes joined in a single word

Carpark

Blend

Word that joins the start and end of 2 words.

Web + Seminar = Webinar

Portmanteau

Word that joins the start(s) of 2 words.

Cybernetic + Organism = Cyborg

Connotations

Subjective associations with a word

Connotations may be associated with values shared by in-group members.

Denotations

The objective definition of a word

Euphemism

The substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or be unpleasant

Positive connotations give rise to Euphemisms

Dypsphemism

The substitution of a disagreeable or offensive expression for an agreeable or inoffensive one

Negative connotations give rise to Dysphemisms

Sense Relations

Semantic relationship between words

Sense Relations: Antonymy

Words of opposite meanings

good, sad

Sense Relations: Synonymy

Words of similar meaning

beautiful, attractive

Sense Relations: Metonymy

Words of interchangeable meaning

throne, monarchy

Sense Relations: Hyponymy

When a word’s meaning is included in another word

horse in animal

Sense Relations: Hypernym

Superordinate term

Words with a broad meaning under which words with more specific meanings fall

Colour is a hypernym of red

Sense Relations: Hyponym

Subordinate term

Spoon is a hyponym of cutlery

Sense Relations: Synecdoche

Part of something is made to represent the whole or vice versa

keel for ship

Figurative Language

Stylistic features which enable writers and speakers to vivify their discourse with language that are not meant to be construed in the literal sense.

Phrase

Anything playing a role of a particular word class

Head word

Phrases are typically defined based on their head word

The theme of the phrase

Phrasal Verb

Special type of verb phrase

Common in spoken informal discourse

Give rise to a casual tone

Particle

Serves the place of a preposition but does not give actual direction

up = bring … up

to = look forward to

Prepositional Verbs

Verb + Preposition

He glared at the enemy

Particle Verb

Verb + Particle

He always brings that topic up for discussion

Particle-Prepositional Verbs

Verb + Particle + Preposition

I look forward to meeting you tomorrow

Clause

Phrases join together to form clause

Must include Subject and a Verb

Independent Clause

Main clause can stand independently and make sense

Dependent Clause

Subordinate clause cannot stand independently and is dependent on the main clause

Clause Elements

Metalanguage used to describe and analyse parts of clauses

Subject

Main topic of the clause

Object

Receiver of the action from a grammatical perspective

Directly follows the main verb

Complement

Parts of a clause that either describe the subject or the object

Can be adjective phrases, noun phrases, pronoun…

Adverbials

A single word or group of words which describe the main verb of the clause (time/manner/frequency/location)

I went to the shopping centre yesterday

Yesterday = Prepositional adverbial

Predicate

All components that follow the main verb

Sentence Fragment

Missing either Subject or Main verb

Used in informal language, spoken discourse

Casual and more spontaneous and non-standard

Simple Sentence

Main clause by itself

Compound Sentence

Two or more main clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction

Complex Sentence

One main clause with at least one subordinating clause

Subordinate clause is emphasised in some way

Compound-Complex Sentences

Two main clauses and at least one subordinate clause

Supports Referential Function, conveying more information through one sentence

Declarative Sentence

Statement that gives information

Links to Referential Function

Imperative Sentences

Command

Links to Conative Function

Exclamative Sentence

Exclamation

Links to Emotive Function

Interrogative Sentence

Question

Links to Phatic/Conative Functions

Discourse

Text composed of connected utterances if spoken, or sentences if written

Written Discourse

Has 3 Qualities:

1. Cohesion = links?

2. Coherence = understanding/sense

3. Information Flow = ordering?

Cohesion

1. Explicit ⇒ obvious/easily identifiable/literally highlight all of them 

2. Structural links ⇒ connection (words? ideas?) between different parts of the text

3. Within the text ⇒ all features lie within line number boundaries

Whenever similar features are repeated, links are formed rendering the text more cohesive

Lexical Cohesion

Created through:

1. Lexical repetition of content words

2. Lexical patterning (economy, economics, economical) - slight difference in the word

Response:

Lexical repetition of the content word ‘economy’ (3, 18, 34, 55) creates a lexical link which binds successive paragraphs seamlessly, thus enhancing lexical cohesion.

Semantic Cohesion

Created through: 

1. Sense relations (semantic relationship between words) 

2. Connotations: positive and negative 

3. Literary devices: animation, hyperbole, metaphor, personification, imagery, simile, idiom, oxymoron

Sample Response:

Hyponymy is effected through co-hyponyms ‘inflation’, ‘fiscal strategy’, ‘CPI’ which belong to the hypernym/field of economics, which heightens thematic connectedness within the text, achieving semantic cohesion.

Referential Cohesion

Only cohesion that is not dependent on subsystems

Referential Cohesion: Anaphoric Referencing

References (mainly in the form of pronouns or nouns) which point backwards in a text.

Reduces lexical density by avoiding unnecessary repetition

Sample Response:

Anaphoric referencing is achieved through the anaphoric pronoun ‘this’ (16), which refers back to the referent noun phrase ‘Australia Post in the Bowl – FREE EVENT’ (1). By using the pithy/concise demonstrative pronoun ‘this’, the writer avoids unnecessary repetition which reduces lexical density, thus enhancing referential cohesion.

Referential Cohesion: Cataphoric Referencing

References (mainly in the form of pronouns or nouns) which point forwards in a text.

Accumulates suspense… for dramatic effect

Referential Cohesion: Deictic Referencing: Personal Deixis

When words refer back to the grammatical person

I’m sad. - sad refers back to the person

Referential Cohesion: Deictic Referencing: Spatial Deixis

When words refer to the spatial orientation of the text

upstairs, on the porch, in the bathroom

Prepositions, adverbs of location

Relevant in maps, driving manual, real estate articles

Referential Cohesion: Deictic Referencing: Temporal Deixis

When words tell you about time

Before, after, during, while = adverbs of time

Relevant in recipes to follow chronological order

Coherence

Two branches:

1. Understandability = does the text make sense?

2. Accessibility = how is the text presented in a way that allows you to make sense of it?

Coherency Features: Inference and implicature

The author implies something that the audience or interlocutors have to infer

Inference only enhances coherence in an audience who can infer the writer’s implicature/references

Serves to… 

⇒ Avoid repetition of ideas that would otherwise distract the audience

⇒ By relying on readers knowledge, they would be more engaged with the text to infer to the text’s actual meaning

⇒ Allows for the construction of logically connected texts, where utterances make sense to the participants involved in the conversational exchange

⇒ Reduce social distance and may elevate informality

⇒ Aids coherence if assumed information enables text to make sense

⇒ Aids cohesion if assumed information links to other words in the text

Sample Response

Inference is required from the audience, likely to be opera enthusiasts, to fathom/understand who Giacomo Puccini refers to – famous Italian opera composer.

Coherency Features: Exophoric Referencing

Whenever the text mentions something that isn’t further explained (doesn’t appear again in the text)

⇒ Requires inferential knowledge from readers or other interlocutors to make sense of the utterance/sentence.

⇒ By doing so, readers/interlocutors are galvanised to recollect, or resort to their prior/personal knowledge to make sense of something. 

⇒ Allows them to better understand the text/discourse (aiding coherence).

Coherency Features: Consistency and Conventions

Aspects of discourse are the same throughout, like tense, register, jargon, etc (similar enumeration, semantic field, using dominant sentence types)

Consistency enhances accessibility ⇒ By keeping aspects of the text consistent, a sense of uniformity is created, which allows readers to anticipate the forthcoming information

Coherency Features: Consistency and Conventions

Complying to the expected conventions of a discourse (text) type

Diary Entry

1. Formulaic opening

2. Formatting

3. First person

4. Past tense

5. Chronological order

Coherency Features: Logical Ordering

Most common form = chronological ordering

⇒ Chronology assumes events order in which they are been presented.

⇒ With general information and contact details first, the text then describes more in-depth topics

⇒ More important information is revealed first, with the more specialised information later for those who choose to continue reading

⇒ Prepares the readers to anticipate a certain way that the content will be organised in the text

⇒ (Given information before new information) Chaining effect aids logical development of ideas through logical ordering, thus aiding coherence

Sample Response:

Logical ordering is effected through presenting the most important details of the event, such as the date, location and descriptions, at the start (1-5), while delaying more specific conditions of entry later (23-32). This enhances coherence by allowing readers to locate/grasp key details without overextending the event brochure unnecessarily.

Coherency Features: Layout and Formatting

Allows readers to navigate through the text

Enhances accessibility

Headings, Subheadings, Paragraphing, Brackets, Asterisks, Bullet Points, Borders, Tables

⇒ All the features enhance accessibility.

Sample Response:

Bullet points enhance the accessibility of the text by delineating each condition of entry to ‘biteable chunks’/manageable lengths.

Information Flow

How ordering of information and its changes could lead to different effects

Two Branches:

1. Principles - contribute to cohesion/coherence

2. Strategies - create emphasis/attention/suspense

Information Flow: Agent

Actual performer of the action

Information Flow: Patient

Who actually receives the action

Information Flow: Active Voice

Mary loved Fred
Emphasises the agent (Mary)

Information Flow: Passive Voice

Fred was loved by Mary

Emphasises the patient (Fred)

Information Flow: Agentless Passive

No mention of agent (doer)

Fred was loved

Purpose - Removing responsibility, avoiding blame = obfuscate (FL)

Principles of Information Flow: Given New

Given information is placed before new information.

Given information = known by the reader or introduced earlier, placed before new information, linking the text and augmenting cohesion

Sample Response:

This passage conforms to the given-new principle by repeating new information which becomes given information in each subsequent sentence, creating a chaining zig-zag effect that unites adjacent sentences altogether, thus enhancing textual cohesion.

Principles of Information Flow: End Weight

Long grammatically complex/heavy structures are delayed to the end, hence increasing accessibility and thus enhancing coherence

Principles of Information Flow: Topic Comment

Subject matter tends to lead the sentence, statement about the topic (aka rheme) follows

Principles of Information Flow: Topic Comment: Rheme

The constituent of a sentence that adds most new information, in addition to what has already been said in the discourse

Strategies of Information Flow: Front Focus

Most important information placed at the start of sentence/utterance

Strategies of Information Flow: End Focus

Most important information left until end of sentence/utterance