Transcript Abbreviations letter(s) or shortened word used

Abbreviations
letter(s) or shortened word used
instead of a full word or phrase
For example: ‘Isn’t’ instead of ‘Is not’
Accent
the features of pronunciation
which indicate the regional or the
social identity of a speaker
Adjectives
a word which modifies a noun or a
pronoun
For example: ‘The huge giant’
Adverbs
a word which modifies a verb, an
adverb, or an adjective
For example: ‘The boy walked slowly’
Alliteration
the repetition of consonant sounds
- usually at the beginning of words
For example, ‘a tapestry of talents’
Antitheses
the placing of opposite meanings
together,
For example: ‘My only love
sprung from my only hate!’
Apostrophes
a raised comma used to denote either
possession or contraction
For example: ‘Brian’s ipod’ or ‘That’s’
instead of ‘That is’.
Articles
a word that specifies whether a noun is
definite or indefinite
For example: ‘The woman’ (definite
article) or ‘A woman’ (Indefinite article)
Assonance
the repetition of vowel sounds
For example, ‘Rocks writhe back
to sight’
Audience
the person or persons receiving a speech or
piece of writing
For example: students in a classroom; M.Ps
in the House of Commons; a teenage
television audience etc.
Back-channelling
is a way of showing a speaker that you are
following what they are saying and
understand, often through interjections
For example, ‘I see’, yes’, ‘OK’ and ‘uhu’.
Balanced phrases
Phrases in which the end seems to
finish or complete the beginning.
For example, ‘To have and to
hold’
Brackets
curved or square punctuation marks
enclosing words inserted into a text
For example: ‘I hobbled to the shops (I had
twisted me ankle that morning) so that I could
buy some milk.’
Capitals
upper-case letters used to indicate
names, titles, and important words
Clauses
a structural unit of language which is
smaller than the sentence but larger
than phrases or words, and which
contains a finite verb
Cliché
an over-used phrase or expression
For example: ‘Wish you were here.’
Closed question
invites a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer
For example: ‘Have you seen
it?’
Colons
a punctuation mark introducing more
information
For example: ‘Things so look for: sharp claws,
thick fur, flaring nostrils and long tail.’
Commas
a punctuation mark indicating the break between and
main and subordinate clause or separating short items
in a list
For example: ‘The man walked down the street, as if
he was in a great hurry.’ Or ‘I need to buy apples,
bananas, pasta, tomato sauce and biscuits.’
Conjunction
a word which connects words or
other constructions
For example: ‘and’ ‘or’ ‘because’
Consonant
an alphabetic element other than
a vowel
For example: c, b, n, r, t etc.
Context
the setting in which speech or writing
takes place
For example: on the web; in the
classroom; on television etc.
Dialect
a form of speech peculiar to a district,
class, or person. It refers to the
distinctive use of vocabulary and
grammatical structures.
Ellipsis
the omission of words from a sentence
For example: ‘I really don’t know what
to say... I guess...’
Emotive words
words which are used deliberately to create
an emotional response in the reader/listener.
For example: ‘our brave lads’ rather than ‘the
soldiers’
Figure of speech
expressive use language in non-literal form to
produce striking effect
For example: ‘As sharp as a razor’ (Simile);
‘The cat’s pyjamas’ (Metaphor)
Formal address
addressing another person in a
polite way to show respect
For example: ‘Sir Alan Sugar’
Full stop
a punctuation mark indicating the end
of a sentence
For example: ‘The man walked down
the street.’
Function
the role language plays to express
ideas or attitudes
For example: to persuade; to inform; to
explain etc.
Grammar
the study of sentence structure,
especially with reference to syntax
and morphology
Homonyms
words with the same spelling or sound
but with different meanings
For example: ‘There’/ ‘Their’/ ‘They’re’
Hyphen
a short horizontal mark used to
connect words or syllables, or to divide
words into parts
For example: ‘jet-lagged’
Idiolect
a person’s own personal language, the words they
choose and any other features that characterise their
speech and writing. Some people have distinctive
features in their language; these would be part of their
idiolect, their individual linguistic choices and
idiosyncrasies.
Informal address
addressing someone in a more casual
way to show a family or equal
relationship
For example: ‘Mum’ or ‘mate’
Irony
saying [or writing] one thing, whilst meaning the
opposite
For example: ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged
that a single man in possession of a good fortune must
be in want of a wife.’
Intonation
the use of pitch in speech to
create contrast and variation
Jargon
the technical language of an
occupation or group
For example: ‘plenary’ (Education);
‘ISAs’ (banking)
Language change
the development and changes in a
language
Leading question
A question which already implies
something
For example: ‘Have you stopped
taking bribes?’
Lexis
the vocabulary of a language,
especially in dictionary form
Metaphor
a figure of speech in which one thing is
described in terms of another
For example: ‘The cat’s pyjamas’
Morphology
a branch of grammar which
studies the structure of words
Narrator
the person (named or unknown)
who is telling a story
Noun
a word which names an object
For example: ‘cat’, ‘boy’, ‘London’
etc.
Onomatopoeia
a word that sounds like the thing it
describes
For example, ‘the sound of feet
drumming the earth’
Open question
invites an unpredictable response
‘What do you think of it?’
Oxymoron
a figure of speech which yokes
two contradictory terms
For example: ‘fuzzy logic’
Paradox
a figure of speech in which an
apparent contradiction contains a truth
For example: ‘I know that I know
nothing.’
Paragraph
a distinct passage of writing which
is unified by an idea or a topic
Parenthesis
a word, clause or even sentence which is inserted into a
sentence to which it does not grammatically belong. It is
usually separated by either commas, brackets or dashes.
Parenthesis usually shows an aside or interruption to the
text/speech.
For example: I enjoy visiting Cornwall (even when it is
raining) in September.
Phatic speech or phatic
communication
consists of words or phrases that have a social
function and are not meant literally. When people are
thanked
For example: ‘You're welcome’ in reply is meant to
show politeness and not to be interpreted as literally
welcoming the person you say it to.
Phonetics
the study of the production,
transmission, and reception of
speech sounds
Phonology
a study of the sounds in any
language
Phrase
a group of words, smaller than a
clause, which forms a
grammatical unit
Point of view
a term from literary studies which
describes the perspective or
source of a piece of writing
Preposition
links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a
sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces
is called the object of the preposition. A preposition usually
indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its
object to the rest of the sentence.
For example: ‘The book is on the table.’ ‘The book is
beneath the table.’ ‘She held the book over the table.’
Pronoun
a word that can substitute for a
noun or a noun phrase
Punctuation
a system of marks used to
introduce pauses and interruption
into writing
Received pronunciation
the regionally neutral, prestige accent
of British English. It was historically
used in the media, especially the BBC.
Repetition
a word or phrase is repeated for
deliberate effect
For example: ‘We will stand up,
we will fight, we will win.’
Rhetorical questions
questions which are asked for stylistic or
persuasive effect and do not require an
answer
For example: ‘Did this in Caesar seem
ambitious?’
Sarcasm
a form of irony that is widely used in English especially
when people are being humorous. Generally the
sarcastic speaker or writer means the exact opposite of
the word they use, often intending to be rude or to
laugh at the person the words are addressed to.
Semantics
the study of the meaning of words.
Semicolon
a punctuation mark which can link two or
more main clauses or separate longer items
in a list
For example: ‘the car swerved across the
road; the driver was drunk.’
Sentence
a set of words which form a
grammatically complete statement,
usually containing a subject, verb, and
object
Simile
a figure of speech in which one thing is
directly likened to another , using the
words ‘like’ or ‘as’
For example: ‘as sharp as a razor’
Slang
informal, non-standard vocabulary
For example: ‘innit’
Speech
the oral medium of transmission
for language
Spelling
the convention governing the
representation of words by letters
in writing systems
Standard English
a dialect representing English
speech and writing
comprehensible to most users. It
conforms to an agreed standard in
grammar and vocabulary. It does
not refer to the accent used to
pronounce it.
Structure
the arrangement of parts or ideas
in a piece of writing
Style
aspects of writing (or speech) which
have an identifiable character generally
used in a positive sense to indicate
'pleasing effects'
Superlative
the form of an adjective or adverb that shows which thing has
that quality above or below the level of the others. It takes the
definite article and short adjectives add -est and longer ones
take 'most'
For example: ‘Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the
world.’ Or ‘It is the most expensive restaurant I've ever been
to.’
Symbol
an object which represents
something other than its self
Synonym
a word which means (almost) the
same as another
For example: ‘small’ and ‘little’
Syntax
the arrangement of words to show
relationships of meaning within a
sentence
Tag question
A question which seeks
confirmation
‘That’s right, isn’t it?’
Tense
the form taken by a verb to
indicate time (as in past-presentfuture)
Text
any piece of writing or object
being studied
Tone
an author's or speaker's attitude,
as revealed in 'quality of voice' or
'selection of language'
Tripling
groups of three, used for persuasive
effect
For example: ‘Friends, Romans,
countrymen’
Verb
a term expressing an action or a
state of being
For example: ‘walk’, ‘run’, ‘jump’
Vocabulary
the particular selection or types of
words chosen in speech or writing
Vowel
the open sounds made in speech - as
(mainly) distinct from consonants
For example: ‘a’, ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘o’, ‘u’
Writing
the use of visual symbols to
represent words which act as a
code for communication