Metalanguage

assimilation

"handbag → hambag", "input → imput", "green park → greem park", "did you → didja", "ten boys → tem boys"

elision

"library → libry", "fish and chips → fish ’n’ chips", "camera → camra", "interesting → intresting", "chocolate → choc’late"

vowel reduction

"and → ən", "to → tuh", "was → wəz", "about → əbout", "today → təday"

insertion

"drawing → drawring", "film → filum", "athlete → ath-e-lete", "idea of → idear of", "humbling → humb(e)ling"

alliteration

"fat cat", "Peter Piper picked", "big bad bear", "silly Sally swiftly", "wonderful world"

assonance

"the rain in Spain stays mainly", "fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese", "I rose and told him of my woes", "hear the mellow wedding bells", "men sell the wedding bells"

consonance

"pitter-patter", "all mammals named Sam are clammy", "blank and think", "strong and string", "odds and ends"

onomatopoeia

"buzz", "bang", "sizzle", "meow", "clang"

rhythm

"Iambic

rhyme

"cat → hat", "love → dove", "night → light", "sing → ring", "moon → spoon"

bound morphemes

"un-", "-ed", "-ing", "pre-", "-s", "-ly"

derivational morphemes

"happy → unhappy", "nation → national", "teach → teacher", "beauty → beautiful", "friend → friendship"

inflectional morphemes

"walk → walks", "cat → cats", "jump → jumped", "run → running", "dog → dog's"

root

"national → nation", "happiness → happy", "teacher → teach",

stem

"national → national", "nationally → national", "happiness → happy", "teacher → teach", "played → play"

hypocoristic use of suffixes

"Bill → Billy", "Tom → Tommy", "Kate → Katie", "dog → doggy", "mum → mummy"

affixation

"fan → fan-bloody-tastic", "happy → unhappy", "teach → teacher", "play → replay", "nation → national"

shortening

"perambulator → pram", "examination → exam", "laboratory → lab”

initialism

"VCE", "USA", "BBC", "ATM", "GPS"

acronym

"ANZAC", "SCUBA", "NASA", "OPEC", "RADAR"

compounding

"toothbrush", "sunflower", "blackboard", "raincoat", "notebook"

blending

"smog → smoke + fog", "brunch → breakfast + lunch", "motel → motor + hotel", "kidult → kid + adult", "spork → spoon + fork"

backformation

"television → televise", "editor → edit", "burglar → burgle", "donation → donate", "enthusiasm → enthuse"

conversion of word class

"to Google → Google", "to run → run (noun)", "email → email (verb)", "text → text (verb)", "bottle → bottle (verb)"

contraction

"do not → don’t", "cannot → can’t", "I am → I’m", "they are → they’re", "it is → it’s"

proper nouns

"Australia", "Melbourne", "John", "VCE", "Eiffel Tower"

common nouns

"dog", "city", "book", "school", "car"

collective nouns

"murder", "pride", "flock", "team", "pack"

gerunds

"running", "painting", "swimming", "reading", "dancing"

abstract nouns

"freedom", "love", "war", "happiness", "justice"

personal pronouns

"I", "you", "he", "she", "they"

possessive pronouns

"my", "your", "his", "her", "their"

demonstrative pronouns

"this", "that", "these", "those"

relative pronouns

"who", "whom", "which", "that", "whose"

1st person singular

"I", "me"

1st person plural

"we", "us"

2nd person singular/plural

"you"

3rd person singular

"he", "she", "him", "her"

3rd person plural

"they", "them", "their"

auxiliary verbs

"be", "have", "do", "will", "shall"

modal verbs

"can", "could", "may", "might", "should"

copular verbs

"is", "are", "was", "were", "be"

coordinating conjunctions

"and", "but", "or", "nor", "for", "so", "yet"

subordinating

"because", "although", "since", "unless", "while"

preposition

"on", "in", "under", "over", "between"

definite article (determiner)

"the"

indefinite article (determiner)

"a", "an"

demonstrative determiners

"this book..", "that person..", "these cars…", "those ducks.."

cardinals

"one", "two", "three"

ordinals

"first", "second", "third"

interjection

"oh!", "wow!", "ouch!", "hey!", "hurray!"

neologisms

"selfie", "googling", "binge-watch", "emoji", "hashtag"

borrowings

"piano", "sushi", "karaoke", "ballet", "café"

commonisations (eponyms)

"sandwich", "machiavellian", "diesel", "braille", "pasteurise"

nominalisation

"decide → decision", "perform → performance", "observe → observation", "strong → strength", "fail → failure"

left dislocation

"Food, it literally fuels our life", "My book, I’ve already read it", "The game, we lost badly", "The decision, it surprised everyone", "His idea, no one agreed"

active voice

"The dog chased the cat", "I wrote a letter", "She baked a cake", "They watched a movie", "He fixed the car"

passive voice

"The cat was chased by the dog", "A letter was written by me", "The cake was baked by her", "A movie was watched by them", "The car was fixed by him"

agentless passive

"Mistakes were made", "The decision was final", "Rules were broken", "Instructions were ignored", "The cake was eaten"

parallelism

"Easy come, easy go", "Like father, like son", "He came, he saw, he conquered"

listing

"I bought apples, oranges, bananas, and grapes", "She packed books, clothes, shoes, and toiletries", "We visited Paris, London, Rome, and Madrid", "Bring pen, paper, ruler, and eraser", "He enjoys swimming, running, cycling, and hiking"

antithesis

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times", "Give me liberty or give me death", "Man proposes, God disposes", "Many are called, few are chosen", "To err is human, to forgive divine"

code switching

"Hola, how are you?", "I’ll meet you en la mañana", "She said, ‘Je suis fatigué’", "He whispered, ‘C’est la vie’", "I love sushi, はい"

anaphoric referencing

"Phillip Lowe predicted… He", "Mary arrived late. She was tired", "The dog barked. It ran away", "John loves ice cream. He eats it daily", "The teacher said the students were smart. They agreed"

cataphoric referencing

"Since her rise to fame, Mary has been busy", "If you want it, there is a cookie in the jar", "Before he spoke, John cleared his throat", "When she arrived, Anna was nervous", "Because he left, the meeting ended early"

demonstratives pronouns

“this was…”, “that is..”

personal deixis

"I", "you", "he", "she", "they"

spatial deixis

"here", "there", "this", "that", "these"

temporal deixis

"now", "today", "tomorrow", "yesterday", "soon"

collocation

"strong coffee", "make a decision", "heavy rain", "fast food", "take a break"

synonymy

"big → large", "happy → joyful", "start → begin", "small → tiny", "end → finish"

antonymy

"hot → cold", "good → bad", "happy → sad", "up → down", "light → dark"

hyponymy

"rap → music", "poodle → dog", "rose → flower", "sparrow → bird", "sedan → car"

it-cleft

"It was John who broke the vase", "It is the students who are late", "It was the rain that caused the flood", "It was my idea that won", "It is honesty that matters"

openings/closings

"Hi, how are you?", "Alright, talk to you later", "Good morning", "Bye, see you soon", "Hello, nice to meet you"

adjacency pairs

"Hello → Hi there", "How are you? → I’m good", "Would you like tea? → Yes, please", "Can you help me? → Sure", "Thanks → You’re welcome"

minimal responses/backchannels

"uh huh", "yeah", "right", "mhm", "okay"

overlapping speech

"I was saying… / …and then", "You know what… / …I know!", "It’s fine… / …actually no", "I think… / …yes exactly", "She said… / …wait a sec"

discourse markers/particles

"well", "you know", "so", "anyway", "actually"

pauses

"…", "(pause)", "…", "…", "…"

filled pauses

"um", "uh", "er", "ah", "like"

false starts

"I was… I mean we were going", "He said… no, he told me", "She wanted… actually she didn’t", "We will… well, maybe", "I think… no wait"

repetition

"I, I don’t know", "She, she said it", "It, it’s fine", "We, we will see", "He, he

positive face

"giving compliments → 'You did a great job'", "using inclusive language → 'We can solve this together'", "praising effort → 'Well done on your presentation'", "showing interest → 'Tell me more about your idea'", "smiling and nodding during conversation"

negative face

"being indirect → 'I was wondering if you could…'", "using hedges → 'Perhaps we might…'", "apologising → 'Sorry to bother you, but…'", "giving options → 'You could do this or that'", "formal requests → 'Would you mind…?'"

positive FTA

"Criticism → 'That’s not how you do it'", "Disagreement → 'I don’t think you’re right'", "Contradiction → 'Actually, that’s incorrect'", "Correction → 'You meant…'", "Challenge → 'Are you sure that’s correct?'"

negative FTA

"Orders → 'You have to finish this by tonight'", "Intrusions → 'Can I borrow your car?'", "Requests → 'I need you to help me now'", "Advice imposed → 'You should do this'", "Interruption → 'Let me stop you there…'"

positive politeness strategy

"compliment → 'You look amazing today!'", "showing inclusivity → 'We’re all in this together'", "joking → 'You’re the smartest in the group!'", "agreement → 'Exactly, I think the same'", "offering help → 'I can help you with that'"

negative politeness strategy

"hedging → 'I was wondering if…'", "being formal → 'Would you mind…?'", "apologising → 'Sorry to bother you…'", "indirect request → 'If it’s not too much trouble…'", "minimising imposition → 'Perhaps you could…'"

metaphor

"Australia is a melting pot", "Time is a thief", "The world is a stage", "He has a heart of stone", "Life is a rollercoaster"

simile

"As dry as a bone", "As brave as a lion", "Runs like the wind", "Quiet like a mouse", "Busy as a bee"

irony

"Saying 'Great weather!' during a storm", "Calling a slow tortoise speedy", "Winning a race and tripping at the end", "A fire station burning down", "A pilot afraid of heights"

oxymoron

"Deafening silence", "Bittersweet", "Jumbo shrimp", "Living dead", "Awfully good"

hyperbole

"I’m so hungry I could eat a horse", "I’ve told you a million times", "This bag weighs a ton", "I ran faster than a cheetah", "I’m dying of laughter"

personification

"The wind whispered through the trees", "The sun smiled down", "The city never sleeps", "Time marches on", "The waves danced on the shore"

animation

"The memories flooded my brain", "The clock mocked me", "The stars winked", "The river sang", "The thunder shouted"

lexical ambiguity

"I saw her duck", "Bank can mean river or money", "Bat can mean animal or sports equipment", "He gave her cat food", "Light can mean weight or illumination"

puns

"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana", "I used to be a baker, but I couldn’t make enough dough", "The bicycle couldn’t stand up because it was two-tired", "I’m reading a book about anti-gravity, it’s impossible to put down", "I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger — then it hit me"

idioms

"Break a leg", "Hit the sack", "Piece of cake", "Bite the bullet", "Under the weather"

denotation

"dog → a domesticated canine", "apple → a fruit", "book → a set of written pages", "chair → a seat", "pen → a writing instrument"