ENGLANG METALANGUAGE (PHONOLOGY)

Insertion (Connected speech processes)

insertion of sounds

e.g. ‘especially’ as ‘ex-specially’ or ‘ask’ as ‘aksk’

Elision (Connected speech processes)

the omission/deletion of a sound 

e.g. "‘Febuary’ instead of ‘February’

Assimilation (Connected speech processes)

when one sound becomes more like a neighbouring sound

e.g. ‘handbag’ as ‘hambag’ or ‘eight-year-old’ as ‘eight-chear-old’

Vowel reduction (Connected speech processes)

turning a vowel sound into a shwa sound ( special ‘a’ sound)

e.g. ‘ypu’ as ‘ya’ or ‘paper’ as ‘paypa’

Intonation/pitch (Prosodic)

Intonation refers to the rise and fall in pitch of the voice in speech which can affect the meaning of what we say.

• rising pitch can be used to hold the floor, signal uncertainty or ask a question

• falling pitch can be used to pass the floor, signal the end of a point or signal a sense of certainty/conviction

Stress (Prosodic)

Stress is the emphasis placed on a particular part of the text.

> Ask yourself, why does the speaker/writer want our attention here? What is the point they’re trying to make? What are they trying to signal?

Tempo (Prosodic)

Tempo means speed, fast or slow

• fast speech can signal a degree of excitement or nervousness

• slow speech can signal certainty, calmness, confidence or composure

Volume (Prosodic)

• soft volume can be used to create dramatic effect and add suspense, as well as sometimes show sincerity and care

• loud volume can be used to express emotion or to interrupt and take the floor from another speaker

Laughter (Prosodic)

• laughter is a great reflection that rapport is being built and it often tomes decreases formality of a text. - Consider linking back to the register and the relationships between participants.

Pauses (Prosodic)

• pauses can be used to signal topic changes, build suspense, or to express sadness/difficulty/frustration

Alliteration (Phonological patterning)

Repetitions of an initial consonant/vowel sound at the beginning of consecutive words or words that are close to one another.

• alliteration makes phrases more memorable, can draw audience’s attention to a particular part of a text, makes text more engaging/interesting, gives rhythm to a text

Consonance (Phonological patterning)

Repetition of consonant sounds, not necessarily at the beginning of a word.

Assonance (Phonological patterning)

Repetition of vowel sounds.

Onomatopoeia (Phonological patterning)

Words that sound like the sound being described.

• this stylistic feature is often used when telling a story or attempting to paint a vivid picture of what was going on in the audience’s/listener’s/reader’s mind

Rhyme (Phonological patterning)

Repetition of words with similar/same ending sounds/phonemes.

Elongated sounds (Prosodic)

This refers to when we lengthen a particular sound in a word.

• we tend to use these as a planning tool, allowing us to continue holding the floor while we construct the rest of our sentence. Can also emphasise.