AS Language Glossary

General Terms
Mode: Medium of communication e.g. speech or writing
Prototype: A best fit example of a particular category
Sub-mode: A sub-division of mode e.g. poetry, prose, monologue, conversation,
drama
Genre: The type or category of text e.g. comedy, horror, tragedy
Type: A form of text e.g. recipe, short story, play
Multimodal text: Texts that combine word, image and sound to produce a meaning
Context of reception: The situations in which a text is read and factors that might
influence a readers interpretation
Context of production: The situation in which a text is produced and factors that
might influence its writing
Demographic: Another word for target audience
Purpose: The reason a text is produced
Hybrid text: A text with more than one purpose
Idiolect: An individuals style of speaking
Sociolect: A use of language as a result of membership to a particular social group
Discourse community: A group with shared values and approaches to reading e.g.
teachers, friendship group
Dialect: The language variety of a geographical region or social background
Accent: The way words are pronounced due to geographical region
Standard English: Universally accepted dialect of English carrying a degree of
prestige
Register: Level of formality appropriate to the texts purpose and context
Field: General purpose of communication
Tenor: The relationship between participants in a conversation or between the
text producer and receiver
Jargon: Specialist terminology that may exclude others
Colloquialism: Established set of terms used in everyday language
Slang: Colloquial language particular to individuals or groups

Intertextuality: References to other texts within another e.g. in Naughty But Nice
and Titus
Amelioration: To improve the meaning of a word e.g. nice (used to mean silly)
Pejoration: To reduce a word to a lower/ less respectable meaning e.g. bitch
Narrowing: To restrict the meaning of a word e.g. accident
Broadening: To widen the meaning of a word e.g. call
Borrowing: The process by which a word is absorbed into another language e.g.
cuisine
Blending: A word made by putting together parts of other words e.g. brunch
Compounding: Joining together two words e.g. loudspeaker
Diachronic variation: The changes in language over time
Synchronic variation: The variation in language at any given point in time e.g. sick,
dank
Etymology: The origins of a word
Personification: Giving human qualities to a non-human object
Hyperbole: Exaggeration
Rhetorical question: A question that does not require an answer
Anthropomorphism: Giving an animal human-like characteristics
Litotes: An example of where something has been reduced to less than its value
Meiosis: The process of reducing something to appear lesser than it is
Bathos (bathetic): Taking something very extreme and making it everyday

Lexis and Semantics

Lexis: Deals with the vocabulary system in English language
Semantics: Deals with meaning and how that is generated within texts
Textual cohesion: Describes how a text is logically structured to create a coherent
sense of meaning
Word
Class
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb

Description/Function

Example

Names of objects, feelings, attitudes,

people and places
Shows actions, events or states of being,
feeling or thinking
Adds detail to nouns
Adds detail to verbs

Cottage, love
Seems, run
Bleak
Extraordinarily

Determine
r
Conjunctio
n
Prepositio
n
Pronoun

Positioned in front of nouns to add detail or

to clarify
Links words, phrases and clauses together

Types of
Noun
Proper
Abstract

Function

Examples

Refers to names of people or places

Refers to states, feelings and concepts
without a physical existence
Refers to objects that have a physical
existence

Paris, London
Pain, happiness

Types of
Verb
Material

Function

Examples

Describe actions or events

Relational
Mental
Dynamic

Describe states of being or used to identify

Describe perception, thought or speech
Processes where there is a change in state
over time
Processes where the state remains
constant

Hit, run, eat, push, read,

hold
Be, appear, seem, become
Think, speak, believe, love
Paint, eat, remove

Shows relation in terms of time or place

The, a, an
And, but, or, although,
because
In, at, by, on

Replaces nouns and can also refer

I, me, you, his, her, our
forwards and backwards to them in longer
stretches of text
Types of Pronoun
Examples
Person
I, you, she, they
Possessive
My, his, our, their
Reflexive
Myself, himself, themselves
Demonstrative
Those, this, these, that
Relative
Who, whom, which

Concrete

Stative

Countable: table
Non-countable: furniture

Love, hold, believe

Base form: The simple form of an adjective e.g. small, beautiful

Comparative: The form used to compare two items, adjectives using er or combined
with more e.g. smaller, more beautiful
Superlative: Adjectives using est or combined with most e.g. smallest, most
beautiful

Cohesion: A measure of how well a text fits together as a whole, its internal logic and
construction

Referencing: When lexical items replace those already mentioned or about to be

mentioned e.g. I believe him. Tony would never lie.
Anaphoric referencing: Referencing back to an already stated lexical item
Cataphoric referencing: Referencing forward to an as yet undisclosed lexical item
Substitution: The replacing of one set of lexical items for another e.g. my mobile
phone is so out of date, I must look into getting a newer model
Ellipsis: The missing out of a word or words in a sentence
Denotation: A strict dictionary meaning of a lexical item
Connotation: An associated, symbolic meaning relying on culturally shared
conventions
Semantic/Lexical field: Lexical items that are similar in meaning and properties
Synonym: Words with very similar semantic value e.g. cry, weep, howl, whimper
Euphemism: A socially acceptable word or phrase to avoid talking about
something potentially distasteful
Dysphemism: A harsh, to-the-point and perhaps taboo term, sometimes used
for a dark humorous effect
Antonym: Words with opposite semantic value
Complementary: Truly opposite antonyms e.g. true-false, man-woman
Gradable: Antonyms that are not exactly opposite but can be considered in
terms of degree of quality e.g. beautiful-ugly, narrow-wide
Hyponymy: The term for the hierarchical structure that exists between lexical items.
It is an important cohesive device
Subordinate: A lower word in the hyponymic chain; a more specific lexical
item e.g. Labrador
Superordinate: A higher word in the hyponymic chain; a more general lexical
item e.g. Mammal
Under-specificity: The inappropriately vague, rather general answer to a question
Over-specificity: The giving of an inappropriately too specific answer, sometimes
with absurd effects
Conceptual metaphor: The way in which abstract terms are mapped onto physical
entities through an underlying conceptual structure e.g. Ill take
my chances, Time is money, Im feeling down
Epistemic modality: Express degrees of possibility, probability or certainty e.g. will,
shall
Deontic modality: Express degrees of obligation or necessity e.g. may, must
Coinage: A new/made-up word

Loan word: A word taken from another language e.g. magnifique

Epithet/Nominative Determinalism: Labelling someone or something with a
feature or quality they exhibit e.g. villains
Monosyllabic: Only one syllable in a word
Polysyllabic: More than one syllable in a word
Statutory language: Legal/obligatory language
Phatic language: Small talk
Antithesis: Words or phrases that directly contrast with each other
Emotive language: Language that encourages readers to respond emotionally
rather than rationally. Many words have emotive connotations and
readers may respond to these rather than their denotations
Metaphor: Use of a term to describe something that it does not denote, to suggest
similar qualities between the two
Simile: A comparison of one thing with another, using the words like or as

Grammar and Syntax

Morphology: The study of the formation of words from smaller units called
morphemes
Morpheme: Smallest unit of meaning. They can be words in their own right or
combine with other morphemes to form lexical units
Linguistic rank scale: MorphemeLexical
ItemPhraseClauseSentenceUtteranceText
Prescriptive approach: Concentrates on how language ought to be structured and
sees alternative patterns or versions as deviant and inferior
Descriptive approach: Focuses on actual language use and how it operates in real
examples and contexts
Noun phrase: Group of words centred around a head noun e.g. The Times, The
noisy party
Head
Determin
er

noun,
concrete

The pretty cottage by the sea

Premodifyin
g
adjectiv

Prepositional
phrase, qualifier

Prepositional phrase: A phrase consisting of a preposition and an added noun

phase e.g. in rubber masks
Verb phrase: Group of words centred around a main verb e.g. Prime Minister takes
big lead, Internet scam nets millions
Often put emphasis on the subject. Can be used to help personify/show use of
metaphors
Cement tipped into lake by vandals Passive voice shown. Syntax places
emphasis on the destructive nature of the cement, not the vandals who
committed the crime. into is an further constituent of the main verb, known as
an extension.
GCSE coursework to become history Use of infinitive highlights that there is
an external force at play. Used to represent the actions of exam boardsmetonym
Negative
Banks have
not signed required customer code
particle
Main verb

Primary
auxiliary
verb never appears on its own and is used to express
Modal auxiliary verb: A verb which

possibility, probability, certainty, necessity or obligation e.g. will,

would, can, could, shall, should, may, might, must
Primary auxiliary verb: Used to denote tense changes e.g. do, be, have
Semi-auxiliary: A combination of a primary auxiliary and another verb part and to
e.g. be supposed to
Catenative verb: A verb that can attach to another to form a chain, often use to
e.g. She appeared to run away, He got to play for the rugby
team, You seemed to like it here
Modifier: A word or phrase that affects the meaning of another e.g. The pink
ribbon, Quite a well-kept garden, She always goes jogging in the morning
Active voice: Includes an actor/subject; verb phrase includes a finite present or past
tense verb e.g. MoD issues gag order on armed forces
Passive voice: Omits an actor or agent or includes the agent as part of a
prepositional phrase after the verb e.g. Gag order is issued on armed
forces
Adjectival phrase: A phrase with an adjective as its head-generally appear after the
verb to be e.g. He is very intelligent, very big
Adverbial phrase: A phrase with an adverb as its head-modify verb phrases or other
adverbial phrases e.g. very quickly, He fought bravely

Clause: Can be taken away from a sentence and still make sense. It is a group of
lexical items centred around a verb phrase
Double-object construction: A clause with a verb that has two objects: one direct
and one indirect e.g. I gave him a pen
Direct object: An object directly affected by a verb process
Indirect object: An object indirectly affected by a verb process
Ditransitive verb: A verb that requires two verbs to form a double-object
construction e.g. give
Intransitive verb: A verb process such a s yawned or slept that has no object
Monotransitive verb: A verb that only requires one object e.g. put
Simple sentence: A sentence consisting of a single main clause e.g. He kicked the
ball
Compound sentence: A sentence consisting of two or more main clauses, connected
by coordinating conjunctions, or sometimes just by punctuation e.g.
He kicked the ball and scored a goal
Complex sentence: A sentence containing one main clause with one or more
subordinate clauses, often connected with a subordinate conjunction
e.g. Although he was tired, he kicked the ball-First clause is
dependent on the second to create a sense of meaning
Main clause: Can stand independently and make sense on its own
Subordinate clause: A clause dependent on another to complete the full meaning of
a sentence e.g. Although he was tired, he kicked the ball
Subordinate conjunctions: Words that link a main clause to a number of
subordinate clauses in complex sentences e.g. because, while,
although
Compound-complex sentence: A sentence containing at least two main clauses
and at least one subordinate clause e.g. He kicked the ball
and celebrated his goal even though he was tired
Utterance: A group of spoken words, roughly equivalent to the sentence in written
terms
Sentence
Mood
Declarative
Interrogative
Imperative

Feature

Example

Telling
Asking
Inviting, demanding

Before Easter, she had driven over to Paris

Is it done yet?
Look at the evidence

Fronting: Moving a word/phrase to the start of a sentence for a specific purpose

Hendiadys: Coupling two ideas together using and e.g. constraind and forcd
Parallelism: The repetition of a pattern or structure in related words, phrases of
clauses

Phonetics and Phonology

Phoneme: Basic unit of sound from with language is created
Consonant Group
Plosives
Fricatives
Africates
Nasals
Approximants

Examples
b, p, t, d, k, g
f, v, s, z, sh
ch (church), dj (judge)
m, n, ng
r, j, w

Lexical onomatopoeia: Actual lexical items where they sound like the noise they
make e.g. crash
Non-lexical onomatopoeia: non-words that work in that same way as lexical
onomatopoeia e.g. vroom, grr
Alliteration: A sequence of words beginning with the same sound e.g. The silence
surged softly backward-Use of the fricative, s in an alliterative line
creates an eerie atmosphere
Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds for effect
Consonance: Repetition of consonant sounds for effect
Sibilance: Repetition of s sound
Phonological manipulation: The way text producers play with sounds and their
effects-used in jokes for humorous effects
Homophone: A word that sounds the same as another word e.g. win/whine
Phonemic substitution: The replacing of one phoneme by another for a desired
effect e.g. When do astronauts eat? A: At launch time
Prosodics: Tone, volume, pace etc.

Pragmatics
Pragmatics: The study of how context affects meaning in speech and writing
Implied meaning/Subtext: Where a meaning beyond the literal one is being
conveyed by the writer
Inferred meaning: The meaning the reader/listener takes from the text based on
background knowledge and context

Cooperative principle: The principle that suggests all communication is essentially

a cooperative act
Grices maxims:
Quantity: Be only as informative as necessary/use an appropriate amount of
detail
Quality: Dont lie and do not knowingly mislead
Relevance: Keep what is being discussed relevant to the topic
Manner: Avoid ambiguity and vagueness and be brief and orderly
Implicature: When the maxims are flouted, giving rise to an implied meaning e.g. A:
Have you finished your homework? B: Yes, I have finished my
homework B flouts the maxim of quantity because a simple yes would
have sufficed which may imply that she is not happy on being checked up
on
Deixis: Lexical items that point towards something and place words in context e.g.
I am here now-relies on the centre from which the lexical items have come. I,
here and now are deictic because they point towards a person, a place and a
time relative to the immediate context
Person deixis: I, me, you
Spatial deixis: here, there, left, right
Temporal deixis: now, then, today, tomorrow
Proximal deictic terms: Close to the deictic centre of speaker, this, these,
here, now
Distal deictic terms: Further from the deictic centre of speaker, that, those,
there, then

Locution: Literal significance of an utterance; its denotation

Illocution: The intention of the speaker
Perlocution: How it is received by the reader (effect)

Graphology
Typography: Font size, type, colour, emboldening, italicising, underlining and any
other modifications to font types
Iconic sign: A direct picture of the thing it represents, often simplified to provide a
basic reference for the reader
Symbolic signs: Draw on association or connotation and are usually defined by
cultural convention-provide meaning because society has placed certain
values or qualities on them e.g. the rose=love/passion
Semiotics: The study of signs and symbols e.g. on crisp packets
Cultural model: Organisational structure based on shared and agreed criteria by
groups of people within a society

Convention: An agreed or shared feature

Parenthesis: Adding in additional information through the use of brackets

Discourse
Discourse structure: The method that explains how texts are put together
Discourse
Structure
List/instructio
ns
Problemsolution
Analysis

Narrative

Key Features

Examples

Logical progression through stages,

use of imperatives to instruct, guide
Identifies a problem

Recipes, instructions,
guides
Product advertisements

Breaks down key ideas into

constituent parts, evaluates and
explores
Details a series of events, can be
chronological or non-chronological

Academic articles,
newspaper editorials
Novels, witness accounts

Didactic: To-the-point tone of voice, often used when giving advice or instruction
Transactional speech: There is a purpose to the conversation e.g. giving order at a
restaurant
Interactional speech: Just people talking; small talk/everyday language use
Discourse analysis: How texts present information in order to create identities for
particular individuals or institutions, and the ideologies that are often
inherent in these
Narrating: When a speaker talks for an extended period
Labovs narrative categories: Analyse oral accounts of narrative event
Abstract: The indication that a narrative is about to start and the speaker
wants the listeners attention
Orientation: The who, where, what, why of the narrative. Set the scene and
provides further contextual information for the listener
Complicating action: Main body providing a range of narrative detail
Resolution: The final events to give the narrative closure
Evaluation: Reactions
Coda: Sign that the narrative is complete
External evaluation: Evaluative comment outside the narrative sequence e.g. Now
Im getting to the good part
Internal evaluation: Evaluative comment occurring at the same time as events in
the narrative sequence
Intensifying evaluation: Adding detail and vividness e.g. Fred ran into a wall,
ouch!

 Explicative evaluation: Explaining reasons for narrative events e.g. Fred

annoyed his mum, because he was always noisy
Adjacency pair: Two utterances by different speakers which have a natural and
logical link, and complete an idea together e.g. A: Hello, how are you?
B: Fine thank you!
Turn-taking: The sharing or speaking roles, usually cooperatively
Initiation-response-feedback: Triadic structure in speech that allows the first
speaker to feedback on the response of a second speaker
Insertion sequence: Additional sequence in the body of an exchange structure
Powerful participants: Those who hold some degree of status in a conversation and
can to some extent control its direction and the potential for
speakers to contribute
Prolix: When a speaker holds the floor in a conversation
Taciturn: When a speaker is quieter in a conversation/doesnt contribute as much
Influential power: Power used to influence or persuade others
Instrumental power: Power used to maintain and enforce authority; get people to
do something
Speech act: Something that happens as a direct outcome of an exchange (only
applicable to spoken language) e.g. whisk these together
Juxtaposition: Placing two or more things together, especially in order to suggest a
link between them or emphasize the contrast between them e.g. This
goodly summer with your winter mixd
Rapport: A friendly relationship between people; building rapport
Anecdote: A short, personal reference to a story/memory
First person: Discourse that uses I or We etc.
Second person: Discourse that uses you etc.
Third person: Discourse that uses she or they etc.
Discourse feature
Back-channelling

Discourse marker

Fillers

Description
A feature of speaker
support; non-verbal
utterances to show
attention or agreements
Signal a shift in
conversation and topic
areas
Non-verbal sounds which
act as pauses in speech.

Examples
Mmm, yeah, OK

OK, right then, so, but

Er, um

Hedging

False starts/repairs

Skip connectors
Fixed expression

Vague expression

Ellipsis

Tag Questions

Deixis

May signal speaker

uncertainty
A strategy used to avoid
directness or to minimise a
potentially facethreatening act. Commonly
features epistemic
modality
When a speaker begins to
speak, pauses then
recommences. A repair
return to correct a previous
utterance
A return to a previous topic
of conversation
Conventional and routine
expression in colloquial
communication, sometimes
metaphorical
Similar to hedging,
deliberately non-committal
expression in informal
contexts
Omissions of words for
economical purposes or to
avoid awkward repetition
Consist of an auxiliary
verb, a negative particle
and a pronoun
Pointing words in a
perceptual, temporal or
spatial dimension
Non-verbal occurrences

Non-fluency features

Non-sequitur

A statement that appears

unrelated to a statement
that it follows

Kind of, sort of, maybe,

perhaps, possibly
Modal verbs such as: will,
could, might

It began er Arsenal kicked

off the second half (false
start It began)
He sorry she broke the
vase (repair she from he)
Anyway coming back to
our original discussion
As a matter of fact,
basically, at the end of the
day
Anything, something, thing

Just seen Jack (ellipsis Ive)

Tonight, 8pm (ellipsis Ill
meet youat)
You did really well didnt
you?
It was tomorrow wasnt
it?
I, you, me, they
Now, yesterday, today
Here, there, this, that,
these, those
Pauses, hesitations and
repetitions which occur in
spontaneous speech
Yes I got you a big bag I
think it will be a help to
you, Heres moms (Text
18)

Poetry Terminology
Caesurae: Mid-line pauses used to break up the flow of the poem
Metre: The pattern of rhythm; can be even/uneven to achieve different effects

Half-rhyme: An imperfect rhyme where there is some similarity in the sound but not
a full repetition of the stressed vowels as found in a full rhyme
Enjambment/Elision: The continuation of one line of poetry onto the next without a
pause or break
Iambic pentameter: The most common rhythm in English; sounds like flowing
spoken English
End-stopped stanzas: When a stanza ends in a full stop