Words and Sentences
A noun that refers to ideas and concepts that only exist in the mind.
Abstract noun.
A verb used primarily to indicate an action, process, or sensation as opposed to a state of being.
Dynamic verb
A term used to describe the strategy used to avoid directness or to prevent somebody getting offended, for example, like, kind of, maybe, perhaps.
Hedging
The theory for where a speaker adapts to another speaker's accent, dialect or sociolect.
Accommodation theory
The distinct pronunciation patterns of a group of people.
Accent
The name for the word that assists a main verb and can include do, have, be.
Auxiliary verb
A clause element that tells you more about the subject or object.
Complement
The study of the sound system in the language and the effects of its particular features.
Phonology
Name for the person whose theory includes ideas about conversational maxims.
Paul Grice
The type or variety of language that the writer or speaker has chosen to use. For example, formal, informal, medical, academic.
Register
Use this to directly address someone via their name or title.
Vocative
Has the subordinate clause or clauses before the main clause.
Left-branching sentence
A pair of utterances in a conversation that go together.
Adjacency pairs
An attitude to language that describes what is there, explaining it, without judgement.
Descriptivism
Describes high social status through use of non-standard forms.
Covert prestige
Modal verb relating to belief and knowledge. For example, I think it will rain later.
Epistemic modality
Modal verb use relating to obligation and permission. For example 'he should have left sooner'.
Deontic modality
Dialect used by a culturally powerful group.
Overt prestige
A term used (and attributed to Norman Fairclough) to describe the way that texts relate to an imagined reader. As if the text is aimed at one specific person, when in actuality it isn't.
Synthetic personalisation
Term for a text that uses more than one mode.
Multimodal
Words that appear often in everyday speech.
CLUE: H-F L
High-frequency lexis
A sentence that has three or more clauses, one of which will be a subordinate clause and one of which will be a coordinate clause.
Compound-complex sentence
The theorist who said: face is the positive social value of a person.
Erving Goffman
Persuasive rhetoric (and influential power) is achieved by ensuring these three things are appealed to.
CLUE: Latin words
Ethos - using character and credibility
Pathos - using emotions and passion
Logos - using logical reasoning and evidence
What we say, how we say it, our non-verbal communication (eye contact, facial expressions, body language etc.) and how appropriate our interactions are in a given situation.
Pragmatics