Language Terms

LANGUAGE TERMS

ACCENT - intonation and pronunciation of words (utterances) characteristic of a group of people who live in an area, e.g. From Coronation Street we hear: "I'll "ave a pint o' best bitter, then." From Australians: "I came over from 'Seedney'."

ADJECTIVE - a word whose function is to describe (a noun), e.g. 'The new school' or 'The school is old.'

ADVERB - a word whose function is to modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, e.g. 'He ran well,' 'quite amazing', 'very carefully'.

ALLITERATION - repetition of initial consonant sounds, used especially in verse, e.g. ' After life's fitful fever'.

ALLUSION - an indirect reference in speech or writing to a person, character, legend etc. e.g. 'I am tied to the stake, and I must stand the course' = An allusion to bear-baiting from Shakespeare's 'King Lear'. 'Four score and ten years ago' = A Biblical allusion.

AMBIGUITY - the use of a word or phrase in such a way as to give two or more meanings e.g. "Nowadays we're all so hard up that the only pleasant things to pay are compliments. They're the only things we can pay." (Oscar Wilde)

ANACOLUTHON - a sentence which changes construction part-way through, e.g.' Is he still waiting .... of course, you told me yesterday'. (Changes from question to statement. 'After you left - but didn't you notice?' (Changes from statement to question).

ARCHAISM - a word or expression which is out of date, e.g. 'I would thee were more obedient.' instead of 'I wish you were more obedient.'

ASSONANCE - the repetition of vowel sounds for a particular effect, e.g. clean, dream, sleep; cockled, cobbles.

CAESURA - a pause in a line of verse, usually towards the middle of the line, e.g. "But this is how things are: I am your mother."

CIRCUMLOCUTION - an indirect or roundabout way of using words, e.g. If the weather stays like this we'll have some more of the same.

CLICHE - a stereotyped phrase that has become 'worn out' through excessive use, e.g. 'In this day and age' or 'Throw off the cares of this world.'

CLIMAX (CRISIS POINT) - when the dramatic tension of the action and/or language is at a peak. The central conflict would be revealed here. After this point the action falls to the conclusion.

CONTRACTIONS - two words shortened:e.g. 'he is' = he's; could not = couldn't.

COINAGE - the making of new words for a special purpose; much favoured in advertising, e.g. donut (doughnut); Schweppervescence.

COLLOQUIAL - relaxed, informal and familiar style of language we use in everyday conversation, e.g. "How've you been?"

COLLOQUIALISM - a word or phrase we might use in everyday conversation. e.g."Gidday."

CONNOTATIONS - word associations on a personal and emotive level that contribute to word meaning, e.g. the word 'blue' can be used to refer to a mood, a colour or an error.

DIALECT - a local variant of the main language, e.g. In the North of England they have a Northern dialect, but they speak English. We talk about the Scottish dialect and the Australian dialect of English.

DIALOGUE - what is said in a play or novel. Conversation between two or more people. ("Monologue" means one speaker is speaking. "Duologue" means 'restricted to two persons.' "Polylogue" means multi-participant conversation). .

DIRECT SPEECH - the words of a speaker presented as they are actually spoken, e.g. "I am going to town," said Tom. (In INDIRECT/REPORTED speech this would become, 'Tom said that he was going to town.')

ELLIPSIS - the omission from a sentence of words needed to complete the sense or the grammatical construction, e.g. In the headline "Tournament Ends' - 'The' is omitted. (See MINOR SENTENCE).

ENJAMBMENT - the carry over from one line to the next in poetry, without a stop, e.g.

"Tree let your arms fall

raise them not sharply in supplication

to the bright enhaloed cloud."

EULOGY - a speech or writing in praise of someone; sometimes of someone who has recently died, e.g. Earl Spencer's eulogy at Diana's funeral.

EUPHEMISM - a figure of speech by which a harsh or unpleasant or embarrassing fact is given a milder or more gentle expression, or is expressed in a more roundabout way, e.g. a 'rubbish-man' may be called 'a refuse disposal officer.' "passed away" is used instead of "died."

FEEDBACK - audience response to a speaker's communication in terms of words, tone and body language.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE - the non-literal or imaginative symbolic meaning of a word which draws on personal and memory associations, e.g. "Don't be a vandal." (Refers to a Germanic tribe from the fifth century whose attitudes and behaviours were very destructive.)

FIGURES OF SPEECH - rhetorical devices used to give emphasis, variety or vividness to writing or speech e.g. metaphor, simile, personification. (Do not confuse with 'Parts of Speech').

FILLERS (TEMPORIZERS) - a spoken pause to allow thinking time in a conversation, e.g. "He said - er - he couldn't - you know - go in a second time."

GENERALISATION a statement in which ALL is implied but only SOME is true, e.g. ‘students are lazy’.

GRAMMAR - a system of organising and describing language; rules about the appropriate use of words in a standard version of the language, e.g. it is incorrect grammar to say 'He done that.'

HYPERBOLE - an overstatement or exaggeration (for emphatic purposes), e.g. 'I know millions of sixth formers.' 'There were mountains of dead.'

IDIOM - characteristic metaphorical expression that is to be taken figuratively, (i.e. suggesting another idea) not literally, e.g. 'Ladies bring a plate' actually means to bring some food.

IDIOLECT - the individual's use of language, with his own speech habits and choice of words. (This helps us to recognise voices on the telephone).

IMPERATIVE - the command form of the verb, e.g. Shut the door!

INNUENDO - an indirect or subtle reference, sometimes malicious, critical or disapproving, e.g. ' I think you need the next size up now.' implying/hinting that the person has put on weight.

INTENSIFIER - another word for an adverb, describing a verb; or an adjective describing a noun. e.g. He was really amazing. She balanced very carefully.

INTERIOR MONOLOGUE - A character 'speaking to himself as presented in written form in literature; it is usually a selection of thoughts as imagined by the author. It may be spoken or unspoken in the work of literature. e.g. Hamlet's "To be or not to be .. ." speech. (See also SOLILOQUY)

INTONATION - the rise and fall in pitch of the speaking voice.

INVERSION - change in the normal word order. One of the characteristics of 'poetic licence': 'Mournful and low sang he.' Yoda, a character from ‘Star Wars”, uses inversion.

IRONY - a sort of sarcasm whereby a meaning is transmitted by using the opposite, e.g. Talking about one's enemies as 'my dearest friends.'

JARGON - a collective term for words, expressions, or technical terms, intelligible to members of a specific group (but not to the general public). When used in an unfavourable sense, it means inappropriate use. e.g. Byte, programming, and disk are all computer jargon. (See also SLANG).

MEDIUM - The singular of media (e.g. 'mass media') - a means of communication - radio, television, newspapers, magazines. Usually the medium governs the type of language used to communicate, e.g. The medium of radio uses sound.

MINOR SENTENCE - a meaningful sentence which does not contain a finite verb. It may also lack a subject. Minor sentences occur in everyday conversation, e.g. ''Tired?'' "Yes." "Coffee?"

METAPHOR - a term used to describe the situation where a quality from one thing is attributed to another thing or person when it is not literally true. A very strong comparison, e.g. He is a pillar of the church. She had fists of steel.

MODE - a manner of communication. A good synonym is 'means of communication.' e.g. Written language and spoken language are the main modes of communication.

MODIFIER/QUALIFIER - a word such as an adjective, adverb, etc. that modifies (qualifies/ changes) the meaning of the word it relates to, e.g. A new car ('new' is a modifier and an adjective). He drove carefully. ("carefully" is an adverb and modifies the verb).

NEOLOGISM - a newly coined/created word or phrase: e.g. Funk Disco.

NOUN - A word used as the name of a person, an object or a quality. Nouns may be divided into:

abstract nouns - things which cannot be seen or touched e.g. pity, love, hate.

concrete nouns - things which have a physical existence e.g. car, tiki, school.

proper nouns - names for people and places e.g. Rachel Hunter, Hamilton.

collective nouns - names for groups where there are more than one of something e.g. a team of netball players; a choir of singers.

ONOMATOPOEIA - a word which suggests its meaning by the sound it makes: e.g. splash, rattle

PARALINGUISTIC FEATURE - (sometimes called extra-linguistic). This is a non-language feature which contributes to a language situation. For example, in advertising, features such as visuals, diagrams, borders, fonts, colours and bullets can all add to what the advertiser is trying to achieve/ persuade us to do. In a conversation, film or drama scene, facial reaction can be an important part of the language situation.

PARODY - a conscious imitation or exaggeration of another literary work (often humorous), e.g. ‘Twinkle, twinkle little star, How I wonder what you are, You're nothing but a cloud of gases, Distributed in glowing masses.’ or "Red Dwarf" is a parody of the science fiction genre as is 'Spaceballs.'

PARTICIPANTS - people involved in a language situation. Their use of language is determined by who are involved (participants), what they're doing (purpose) and where it's happening (context).

PARTS OF SPEECH - different kinds of words in terms of their functions in a sentence, e.g. nouns - naming words, adjectives - describing nouns.

PERSONIFICATION - a type of metaphor where living characteristics are given to an inanimate object: e.g. The morning dressed in scarlet robes.

PHATIC COMMUNION - conversational exchange with little information. Used to establish friendly relations, e.g. "Hello, how are you?"

PHONETICS - the study of sounds in language or speech. Sometimes used to aid pronunciation as in a dictionary.

PHRASAL VERB - a colloquial verb which includes a preposition. e.g. I'm going to nip off early today.

PITCH - the variation in the use of tone in the voice.

PUN - a play on words which emphasises ambiguity or humour, e.g. Q: What is black and white and read(red) all over? A: A newspaper.

RAPPORT SIGNALS - indications that a speaker's audience in a dialogue (or duologue) is attending to what is being said, e.g. sounds like 'Mm', 'Uhuh', 'Yes', 'Of course' and body language like nodding heads or smiling.

REDUNDANCY - the use of superfluous words/unnecessarily expressing the same idea in two different ways. "She was the unique and one and only…"

REGISTER - levels of language which include written and spoken media. Ranges from

formal - the language of literature and public speaking to

standard - a widely accepted (' correct' ) and slightly formal level of language free of colloquialisms

informal - the friendly, relaxed language of everyday usage.

REPORTED SPEECH/INDIRECT SPEECH - is reporting what another person has said, e.g. He says (that) he is going to enter the race. (See also 'DIRECT SPEECH').

RHYME - The use of identical sounds at the end of words placed at definite intervals, as in lines of poetry.

Exact/full rhyme - the vowel and the final consonant sound is the same, e.g. song/long

Internal rhyme - occurs within the line. e.g. "Splendour falls on the castle walls."

Half/Siant/Para/Approximate rhyme - the framework of consonants remain e.g. hall/hell

Eye rhyme - words which look alike but are pronounced differently e.g. go/do; love/move.

RHYME SCHEME - the pattern of end rhymes within a given stanza of poetry - signified by letters denoting the different sounds e.g. abab cdcd

RHYTHM - the arrangement of words into a sequence of stressed-and unstressed syllables; or short and long syllables. In the example below the underlined syllables are stressed syllables. Was this the face that launched a thousand ships?

SATIRE - a literary composition (originally in verse) which is essentially a criticism of a folly or vice. ‘A Modest Proposal’ by Jonathan Swift (advocated that babies be eaten as a means of reducing the population in Ireland and feeding the starving population - the underlying purpose was a severe criticism of the treatment of the Irish population by a minority ruling elite.)

SEMANTICS - the study of meaning in language, including the relations between language, thought and behaviour.

SENTENCES (other than a MINOR sentence) - a word, or group of words, containing a finite verb, arranged in such a way as to express a complete thought. Types of sentences:

1. Simple sentence - has one clause - a subject and finite verb e.g "I hurried."

2. Compound sentence - has 2 or more clauses of equal importance linked by coordinating conjunction, e.g. "l hit him and made his nose bleed."

3. Complex sentence - has at least one main clause and at least one subordinate clause e.g. "When he hit me, I cried."

4. Compound complex sentence - has more than one main clause, at least one subordinate clause, e.g. "When I hit him, he cried and ran home."

SIMILE - A comparison where two things or actions are likened to one another using the word like or as or than. Used figuratively, not literally. e.g. As wise as an owl. With tentacles like an octopus.

SLANG - a form of jargon used among people belonging to a social group, e.g. teenage slang, army slang, navy slang. (In a bar) To shout someone a drink. (See also JARGON).