Individual Variation - Language and Geographical Location

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Idiolect
A person's own individual speaking habits
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Dialect
A variety language spoken by people from a particular geographical location or social group
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Mainstream
The type of dialect most commonly found in a particular geographical location e.g. Tyke in Yorkshire
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Sociolect
The speaking habits that are linked to a particular social group
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Likert Scale
A research method used to assess the attitudes towards something - in linguistics, this is usally an accent or a voice quality
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Accent
The different ways a language is pronounced, depending on the geographical location or social class the speaker belongs to
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Regional Accent
The pronunciation of words associated with a particular area, e.g. Bristolian and Scouse
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Received Pronunciation
The accent that is seen as the mot 'standard' and also mostly associated with people in upper social classes.
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Regional Dialect
The language forms associated with a particular area, e.g. Bristolian and Scouse
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Situation of Use
The description of an instance of communication that could explain why the speaker used particular language forms
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Situational Characteristics
The specific elements of the context of communication that explain language choices, e.g. purpose of communication, relationship between speakers.
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Variation
The way in which language use is understood to differ between different groups of people
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Level of Formality
A term referring to styles of vocabulary which can include colloquialism, sland, taboo and dysphemism
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Slang
Language that is considered to be highly informal, most commonly used in specific groups in spoken communication
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Dysphemism
A harsh, blunt or offensive way of talking about something positive or neutral
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Colloquialism
An element of informal language that is used mostly in spoken communication, e.g. go nuts instead of get angry.
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Taboo
Language that is not appropriate to use in social situations, e.g. profanity, swear words and names that could be considered offensive
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Convergence
Varieties of a language move towards each other in terms of similarity (they become more similar)
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Upward Convergence
Speaking in a more 'standard' way to decrease social distance in particular situations, e.g. around friends who have an RP accent or in an interview
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Downward Convergence
Speaking in a more 'regional' way to decrease social distance in particular situations, e.g. around friends with Bristolian or Scouse accent.
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Overt Prestige
The language use that is most valued by the majority of people in a particular area. In the UK, this would be the RP dialect.
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Covert Prestige
Language use that is less valued by the majority of people in a particular area, but can be favoured in minority groups which speak in this way.
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Divergence
The slight alteration of speaking habits done to socially distance oneself from the person one is speaking with, e.g. if we dislike someone
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Isogloss
A boundary line that distinguishes a geographical area that is known to use a particular linguistic feature
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Bidialectalism
When a speaker is able to use two dialects in the same language e.g. Cockney English and Geordie English
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Estuary English
An accent that is a combination of standard RP pronunciation and the pronunciation found in London.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

A variety language spoken by people from a particular geographical location or social group

Back

Dialect

Card 3

Front

The type of dialect most commonly found in a particular geographical location e.g. Tyke in Yorkshire

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

The speaking habits that are linked to a particular social group

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

A research method used to assess the attitudes towards something - in linguistics, this is usally an accent or a voice quality

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
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