English glossary 2

Speech or writing produced by a single person.

A line of verse containing one foot.

Having one syllable.

Main clauses can have one of four moods:

1. Declarative mood - is used to make statements

2. Imperative mood - is used to give orders and make requests

3. Interrogative mood - is used to ask questions

4. Exclamative mood - used to express suprise or strong emotion

Associated with spontaneous speech - they include fillers and pauses.

Any variety that doesn't to the standard prestige form used as a norm by society.

A word class with a naming function which can be used as a subject or object in a clause.

A phrase which usually has a noun as the head word and that can function as a subject or object in a clause.

A line of verse containing eight feet.

A group of eight lines - either as a stanza, or as the first eight lines of a sonnet. The octave in a sonnet usually rhymes abbaabba.

The term used to denote words that imitate sounds.

The use of apparently contradictory words in a phrase (delicious poison).

A statement which although apparently ridiculous or self-contradictory contains a truth.

A unit of written discourse made up of sentences, which is marked by either identation or by a blank line before and after it.

Non-verbal communication using gesture, posture and facial expressions.

The patterning of pairs of sounds, words or structures to create a sense of balance and logic in spoken and written discourse.

The expession of the same thing in other words.

In written language, the use of brackets dashes or commas to mark out an optional element of a sentence.

A grammatical structure in which the subject and object can change places in order to alter the focus of a sentence. In the passive voice, the object of an active sentence occurs in the subject site followed by to be + past participle (the bone was eaten).

The subject of the active sentence can be included following by (the bone was eaten by the dog).

A phrase (invented by John Ruskin in 1856) denoting the technique whereby writers ascribe human feelings to inanimate objects. Closely related to anthropomorphism, apostrophe and personification.

A line of verse containing five feet (a caesura can occur between the two halves).

Subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) replace a noun phrase in the subject site, and object pronouns (me, you, him, her, it, us, them) replace a noun phrase in the object site of a sentence.

A device in which the non-human is given personality and human qualities.

A term used to denote language used to create social contact.

A group of words that have no finite verb (except for a verb phrase).

Noun phrase - (the green tree)

Adjective phrase - (very blue)

Verb phrase - (has gone)

Adverb phrase - (quite slowly)

The level of a sound - low, medium or high.

The point at which the airstream is stopped in the mouth to produce consonantal sounds (bilabial, labiodental, alveolar, palato-alveolar, palatal, velar and glottal).

The use of unnecessary words or ineffective repetition in an expression (safe haven, cheap bargain, hear with your ears). Also called tautology.

A term used to denote consonants made by a complete closure of the air passage followed by a sudden release of air (p,t).

A grammactical expression of more than one in number (cars,they).

Having more than one syllable.

A word or inflection signalling possession (Julie's, hers).

Lexical items that precede the head in the phrase (the serious incident, very fast).

A closed class word like in, on or by which precedes a noun phrase, pronoun or other lexical item to express a relationship between it and the rest of a clause.

A grammatical structure made up of a preposition and noun phrase (in the car).

A closed class- word that can replace the noun phrase.

The mode of articulating sounds, syllables or words.

The name of a distinctive person, place or other unique reference. It is marked by a capital letter in written language.

The specific aim of a particular form of language.

A word or phrase that post-modifies a head word (the tree in the orchard).

A stanza (or unit within a stanza) of four lines, rhymed or unrhymed (often abab) and commonly used in long narrative poems.

Conforms to grammatical rules.

The correction of a mistake or misunderstanding in conversation.

A device which emphasises an idea through reiteration.

The arrangement of word endings which agree in vowel and consonant sounds.

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in language.

A word changing meaning over time, such as the word gay.

The last six lines of the Petrachan or Italian sonnet, following the octave. Often the sestet resolves the problem or preposition set out in the octave.

Consonantal sounds like affricates and alveolar and palatial fricatives which are articulated with a hissing sound (most commonly s).

A device which makes a direct comparison between two things using as or like (the boy was fierce like a lion).

Distinctive words and phrases associated with informal speech. It tends to be used within clearly defined social or age groups and is often short-lived.

A traditional fourteen line verse from in which rhyme and stanza divisions are usually observed strictly according to two distinct patterns:

1. The Italian or Petrachan sonnet

2. The English or Shakespearean sonnet.

It was originally a medium for expression of love, but its scope has widened considerably.

The form of a language considered to be the norm and used as the medium of education, government and the law. Varieties which differ from this are said to be non-standard.

Verbs that express states of being or processes in which there are no obvious action (know,believe).

The comparative force, length, loudness and pitch with which a syllable is pronounced. Syllables may be stressed or unstressed.

A verb that doesn't follow the regular pattern, but instead changes a vowel to mark the past tense (hang/hung, swim/swam).

A noun phrase or pronoun which is usually the actor or the verb in a clause.

A clause that can't stand as a sentence on its own, but needs another clause to complete its meaning. Also known as a dependant clause.

A word or part of a word that can be uttered by a single effort of the voice.

A device in which a word or phrase represents something else (dove for peace).

Different words with the same or nearly the same meaning (valiant and brave).

The study of the grammatical relationships between words in sentences.

Something society avoids because it is  considered offensive language. Taboos are words generally disapproved of - these can change over time.

An interrogative structure attached to the end of a sentence which expects a reply (It's nice today, isn't it?)

Aline of verse containing four feet.

The distinctive pitch level of a syllable. Tones can be rising,falling, rising-falling and falling-rising.

The thing or person about which something is said in a sentence; the focus of a written or spoken text.

A written record of spoken language, which can use symbols and markings to illustrate the distinctive nature of speech.

A unit of poetic metre containing three feet.

A rhetorical patterning where three elements are juxtaposed to build up emphasis.

The study of features of the printed page.

A stretch of spoken language which is often preceded by silence and followed by silence or a change of speaker.

It is often used as an alternative to "sentence" in conversation analysis since it is difficult to apply the traditional characteristics of a written sentence to spoken language.

A noun derived from a verb (The driving is hard).

A group of verbs consisting of a main verb and up to four auxiliaries (she may go; she may have been intending to go).

Open class words that express states, actions or processes. They can be marked for tense, aspect, voice or mood.

The words used to name or refer to people when talking to them.

Contrasting levels of loudness in speech, which may be described as loud, quiet, getting louder or getting quieter.