AICE English Language (A) - Paper 4, Question 2 vocab

idiolect

specific language to YOU

dialect

language specific to a geographical area.

Ex. Welsh English

• leads to Conversation Accommodation theory (divergence or convergence).

Sociolect

Form of language specific to a group of people.

Ex. Young people saying “ she clocked that tea..”

Genderlect

Language for a specific gender.

Ex. Feminine connotations of curse words such as b***h, p***y.

Communication Accommodation Theory

Theorized by Howard Giles, states that speakers adjust their speaking to fit in with their context and audience. Can be done via convergence or divergence. Speakers converge to speak more similarly to their audience, and speakers diverge to accentuate the differences in speech among the audience.

Sapir Whorf hypothesis

Theorized by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf, states that language determines what we can think.

• Linguistic determinism: a stronger version of the hypothesis, stating that the language we consume determines our thoughts and feelings.

• Linguistic relativism: a weaker version of the hypothesis, stating that the language we consume has an influence on our thoughts and feelings.

Ex: language determinism: hate speech + acts of hate. Language relativism: hate speech having influence, but without action.

Language of Thought hypothesis (LOTH)

Theorized by Jerry Fodor, states that thoughts use language. Also known as “mentalese”.

• Links back to linguistic determinism and relativity.

Prestige

• covert prestige: Switching speech to assimilate into the audience. One example is intentionally switching from to vernacular forms of English, but not to be noted.

• overt prestige: Switching speech patterns to distinguish themselves from the audience. An example is saying “whom” vs “who”. Often used to gain status.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Theorized by Abraham Maslow, states that people are motivated to fulfill their needs in a hierarchical order. Base: physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs.

Social Identity Theory

Theorized by John Turner and Henri Tajfel, individuals derive part of their identity from group participation, influencing self-esteem and behavior in other groups.

Communication Accomodation Theory

Theorized by Howard Giles, when individuals change their style of communication during social interactions to converge (connect) or diverge (go apart) from each other.

• convergence: when individuals change their speech patterns to match their audience.

• divergence: when individuals change their style of speech to accentuate social and non-verbal differences between the speaker and their audience.

Muted Group Theory

Theorized by Edwin Ardener, states that language, power, and gender highlight biased societal structures (especially the patriarchy) that impact communication dynamics. There are dominant groups and subordinate groups. Subordinate groups have limited access and can be “muted” or silenced.

There are four stages:

• Dominant group gains control

• The subordinate group accommodates

• Muteness and marginalization (misinterpretation) of the subordinate group

• Resistance and change of the subordinate group (social movements)

Synthetic personalization

Theorized by Norman Fairclough, a linguistic strategy that makes a large audience feel as though they are being addressed individually, despite being a large group.

Euphemism treadmill

A linguistic phnomenon where new euphemisms eventually become offensive, losing it’s neuter or positive connotation.

Ex. Theorized over the use of r****d, which previously was a medical term for mentally disabled people but is now considered an offensive term.

Semiotic systems theory

How we interpret signs and symbols.

Ex. a “thumbs up” meaning all good, a middle finger not really meaning that..

Cartesian linguistics

Theorized by Rene Descartes, states that language is a tool of self- expression and reflection, rather than simple communication.

Prescriptiveness

Focused on prescribing rules and norms to a language based on the perceived correctness of usage. Prescriptive linguistics advocate for certain language forms and discourages others. Critics state that due to pressure to conform (for non-standard speakers), marginalization often occurs.

Ex.

• Received pronunciation praised by prescriptive linguistics, NEVs (New varieties of english) are discouraged.

Descriptiveness

Descriptive linguistics seeks to objectively describe and analyze how language is used by speakers in different speech communities. Its focus is on recording different language patterns and structures without concern for whether the usage is “correct” or “incorrect.” Descriptive linguistics studies a language's sounds, grammar, vocabulary, and discourse to discover its underlying rules and principles.

Zero translation

words and phrases from one language being incorporated into another language without translation.

Ex. English terms such as “iPhone”, “E-mail”, “IT” are not translatable.

Patios

NOT JAMAICAN PATOIS!!! A particular variety of speech used by a group which may be regarded as having a low status.

Cooperative principle

Theorized by Paul Grice, states that people mean what they say and hearers accept this this in trying to work out the meaning