Language change Glossary Accent the distinctive way a speaker from a particular region pronounces words Acronym a new

word made from the initial letters of all the words in a name or phrase e.g. NASA Amelioration when a word develops a more positive meaning over time Archaism an old fashioned word or phrase that isn t used in present day English Bidialectism the ability of speakers to switch between two dialect forms, usuallystandard English and speaker s own regional variety Blending when parts of two words are combined the make a new one e.g. netizen,nylon Borrowing when words from one language fall into common usage in another as a result of contact e.g. globalisation Broadening when a word that has a specific meaning becomes more general over time Clipping when a shortened version of a word becomes a word in its own right e.g. demo, phone Coining creating new words Compound a new word created by combining two or more existing words e.g. skyscraper Connotation the associations that are made with a particular word Convergence when one accent or dialect begins to use features that are common in another because of language contact Declarative sentence a sentence that makes a statement to give information Denotation the literal meaning of a word Descriptivism the attitude that no use of language is incorrect and that the variation should be described rather than corrected Dominance model Zimmerman and West gender differences in conversations reflect male dominance in society Elision when sounds or syllables are slurred together (letters are missed out of words) Ellipsis when part of a grammatical structure is left out of a sentence without affecting the meaning (words are missed out of sentences) Euphemism a word or phrase used as a substitute for harsher or more unpleasant sounding words

Hedging word choices that show uncertainty in conversations Hyperbole when exaggeration is used for effect Idiom a saying that doesn t make sense if interpreted literally e.g. I could eat a horse Imperative a sentence that gives orders, advice or directions Initialism where the first letters of a word stand for the word itself e.g. FBI Interrogative a sentence that asks a question Jargon specialist words used by a particular social/occupational group that non-members may not understand Lexical field a group of words that relate to the same topic e.g. hotel, destination, map are in the lexical field of travel Load words words that are taken from other languages Marked term a word that reveals a persons gender e.g. mistress, postman Middle English the language spoken in England from 1150 AD until late 15th century Mode a way of classifying texts e.g. written, spoken or both Monologue the utterances of one speaker or performer to an audience Narrowing when a word that has a general meaning becomes more specific overtime Neologisms new words that enter a language (coinage is making new words and neologisms are the words themselves) Non-fluency features features that interrupt the flow of talk e.g. hesitation, repetition, fillers interruption and overlap Omission when sounds are left out from words Oxymoron a phrase that contradicts itself e.g. bittersweet Pejoration when a word develops a more negative meaning over time Phatic language expressions that have social functions rather than serious meaning e.g. hello Political correctness avoid using language or ideas that might be offensive about members of a particular group Prescriptivism the attitude that language should have a strict set of rules that must be obeyed in speech and writing

Received Pronunciation (RP) - an accent traditionally associated with educated people and the upper class Register a type of language that s appropriate for a particular audience or situation e.g. formal language is appropriate for a political speech Serif typeface - a typeface where fine strokes are attached to the tops and bottoms of letters Slang informal, non-standard vocabulary used in casual speech Sociolect a variety of language used by a particular social group Standardisation - when grammarians and prescriptivists attempt to structure and influence English usage according to what is seen as correct or incorrect usage of the language Subtext the implied meaning behind what s actually being said or described Turn taking a feature of orderly conversations when the chance to speak switches back and forth between participants Vernacular the commonly-spoken language of a country or region