Key terms 1

lexis

word classes

discourse

structure

pragmatics

the meanings of words

grammar

how a sentence is arranged

graphology

how something is made to create interpretations

linguistic rank scale (smallest to largest)

1\. morpheme \n 2. words \n 3. phrases \n 4. clauses \n 5. sentences \n 6. texts

morpheme

smallest unit within a word that can carry a meaning \n \n eg. recalled \n "re" - repeat \n "call" - to contact (root morpheme)

root morpheme

a morpheme that can stand on its own and can usually form a word in its own right

suffix

a morpheme added at the end of a word

prefix

Morpheme added to the beginning of the word

affix

any morpheme attached to the stem

context

the external factors that shape how texts are produced and recieved

discourse event

An act of communication occurring in a specific time and location involving writers/speakers and readers/listeners

Text producer

The person or people responsible (through writing or speaking) for creating a text

Text receiver

The person or people interpreting (through reading or listening to) a text

Multi-purpose text

A text that clearly has more than one purpose

primary purpose

The main and most easily recognisable purpose

Secondary purpose

An additional and perhaps more subtle purpose

implied reader

A constructed image of an idealised reader

Actual reader

Any person or groups of people who engage with and interpret a text

Implied writer

A constructed image of an idealised writer

Actual writer

The 'real' person or people responsible for text production

discourse community

A group of people with shared interests and belief systems who are likely to respond to texts in similar ways

Mode

the physical channel of communication: either through speech or writing

Blended mode

A text which contains conventional elements of both speech and writing

Genre

a way of grouping texts based on shared conventions

Intertextuality

A process by which texts borrow from or refer to conventions of other texts for a specific purpose and effect

Variation

the differences associated with particular instances of language use and between groups of language users

register

A variety of language that is associated with a particular situation of use

Situation of use

A specific place, time and context in which communication takes place

Situational Characteristics

A key characteristic of the time, place and contexts in which communication takes place

representation

the portrayal of events, people and circumstances through language and other meaning-making resources (eg. images and sound) to create a way of seeing the world

Narrative

writing or speech that tells a story

Narrator

a person responsible for writing or speaking a language

Narratee

The person to whom a narrative is told

story

the building blocks of a narrative in terms of events, characters, time and place

narrative discourse

The shaping of the story through choices in language and structure

Central events

Main events that are crucial to the overall story

Additional events

Secondary events that are not necessarily crucial to the overall story but through being included may have been highlighted as important

Knowledge frame

A mental store of knowledge about the world gained through experience

gap filling

The act of adding a rich sense of meaning to individual words and phrases based on our own knowledge and the context in which they appear

Tellability

The features of a story that make it worth telling to an audience

High tellability

The characteristic of a narrative that presents interesting material in an engaging way

Low tellability

The characteristic of a narrative that presents uninteresting material in an uninspiring way

Foregrounding

Drawing attention to a key aspect in a text

Parallelism

foregrounding through repetition at any one of the language levels

External deviation

A break from the normal conventions of language use that exist beyond the text itself

Internal deviation

A break from some kind of pattern that has been set up within the text

Literariness

the degree to which a text displays “literary” qualities along a continuum rather than being absolutely “literary” or “non literary”

Semantic density

Different levels of language working together to produce certain effects across the text as a whole

word class

A group full of words that fulfil the same kind of role and function in speech and writing.

Noun

A person, place, thing, or idea

verb

Action word.

adjective

word that describes a noun

adverb

A word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb

Pronoun

A word that takes place of a noun.

determiner

A word that adds detail or clarity to a noun

Preposition

a word that shows the relationship of a noun or pronoun to some other word in the sentence

Conjugation

a word that connects larger structures such as phrases, clauses and sentences

Semantic field

A group of words related to the same subject

collocates

Words that typically appear together

fixed expression

A well-used group of words that becomes accepted and used as one long structure

synonym

a word that has the same meaning as another word

Euphemism

An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant

Dysphemism

A derogatory or unpleasant term used instead of a pleasant or neutral one

Antoyms

words that have opposite meanings

Hyponymy

The way of viewing the relationship between more general and specific words

Metaphor

a structure that presents one thing in terms of another

Morphology

the study of word formation.

Syntax

the study of how words form larger structures such as phrases, clauses and sentences

descriptive

Taking an approach to language study that focuses on how language is actually used

prescriptive

Taking an approach to language study that focuses on rules and notions of correctness

Inflectional function

The way that an affix shows a grammatical category such as a verb tense or a plural noun

Derivational function

The way that an affix helps form a new word by attaching itself to a root

noun phrase

A group of words built around a noun

verb phrase

A group of words built around a head (main) verb

Head word

The main noun in the phrase

Pre-modifier

A word that goes before the head noun to add detail or clarify some aspect of it

qualifier

An additional word or phrase that adds some further detail to the noun

Post-modifier

A word that comes after the head noun to add detail or clarify some aspect of it

Primary auxiliary verb

An auxiliary verb that joins with a main verb to show tense

Modal auxiliary verb

An auxiliary verb that joins with a main verb to show the degree of commitment towards an event or person that a speaker holds

clause

groups of words centrered around a verb phrase.

Coordination

the joining of two clauses that gives them equal weighting

Subordination

the joining of two clauses that gives one clause (the main clause)more weighting than another clause - or clauses (the subordinate clause(s)).

adverbial clause

A subordinate clause that functions as an adverbial

noun clause

A subordinate clause that functions as a subject, object or complement

active voice

Agent in subject position for prominence; verb phrase in present or past tense

passive voice

agent omitted or placed later on in the clause using a prepositional phrase; verb phrase changes to form of "to be" + participle form (verb root + en/ed)

Orthographic sentence

A 'sentence' marked by a capital letter and full stop but containing no verb.

Phonetics

the area of study concerned with how sounds are actually produced by language users

Phonology

the area of study that refers to the more abstract sound system

Prosodics

The study of how speakers can shape meanings through emphasising certain aspects of intonation, speed and volume

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

A system for showing the different sounds possible

Heterophones

Words that have the same spelling but very different pronunciations and meanings

homophones

These are words that are pronounced the same, but have different meanings.

articulators

The vocal organs above the larynx, including the lips, teeth, tongue and hard palate that help to form consonant sounds

diphthong

A vowel sound that is the combination of two separate sounds, where a speaker glides from one to another

Sound iconicity

The matching of sound to an aspect of meaning

Consonance

a pattern of repeated consonant sounds for effect