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Lexis

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Semantics

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Grammar

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The vocabulary of a language
There will be words within a text which share a similar topic or focus which is called a
lexical field
The study of how meaning is created through words and phrases
A word will have literal meaning as well as an associated one e
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red the colour also
connotes danger or love
System of rules that governs how words and sentences are constructed
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A system of rules about how these types of words function in relation to each other
(syntax)
The individual units that make up whole words (morphology)
Study of sounds – how they’re pronounced and how they’re combined to make words
This includes non-verbal aspects of speech or prosody – features of spoken language
such as pace, stress, rhythm and intonation

Phonology

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Pragmatics

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Also known as language in use
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Can also relate to the
formality of the discourse

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Audience – the listener or reader, how they are addressed (indirect, direct, formally, informally)

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Subject Matter – what the discourse is about, this will influence the lexical choices and semantic field of the
language

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Purpose – what the speaker/writer is trying to achieve (inform, persuade, instruct or entertain)

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Mode
Context
Genre
Audience
Purpose

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LANGUAGE LEVELS- SEMANTICS AND LEXIS
Semantics: How the meanings of words are constructed and interpreted
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Structural semantics looks at the different ways that words relate to each other through meaning

Semantic Fields
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Also called lexical fields are groups of words connected in meaning
The words that make up the semantic field are known as field-specific lexis

Synonyms
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Words that have similar meanings
They have different connotations, so their meaning isn’t identical
Using a particular synonym over another can be due to regional variation or because of the context

Some synonyms are more formal than others and therefore are used to appeal to a different audience e
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school or educational
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g
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Hypernyms and Hyponyms
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A hypernym is a general word but a hyponym is a specific word linked with the hypernym
For example – school is a hypernym but more specific types of school such as primary, secondary,
comprehensive etc
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g
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Because the comparison is implicit, it is more powerful than a simile
An extended metaphor is when the same metaphor is continued throughout a text to
create a chain of images e
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rain is referred to as tears, then its also referred to using
other words related to crying e
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weeping, miserable
A type of metaphor where an object or situation is given human qualities
Using part of something to describe the whole thing e
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crown in relation to the
monarchy – its an attribute of monarchs
Brings two conflicting ideas together e
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bittersweet
The separate meanings of both ideas are combined to create a new one

Rhetorical Devices
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Rule of three – this is where three elements are used in a list to give emphasis and build to a climax
Repetition – when a word or phrase is repeated for emphasis
Hyperbole – the use of exaggeration for effect e
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I’ve told you a hundred times
o The media use it to make stories seem more important, interesting or entertaining
Rhetorical questions – an question that doesn’t require an answer because its phrased in a way that
assumes the answer is obvious

LANGUAGE LEVELS- PHONOLOGY
The use of polysyllabic and monosyllabic words create different registers and therefore appeal to different
audiences
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It occurs during rapid speech when words have clusters of consonants or
syllables e
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library -> libry

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Assimilation – when sounds that are next to each other become more alike
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g
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o When a word ending with r is followed by a word that begins with a vowel, the r is pronounced e
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mother rate
o This avoids having a gap between the words known as a hiatus

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Phonology

Phonetics

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The study of sound systems in particular
• How speech and sounds are made and received
patterns of sounds
• It covers all possible sounds that the human
• Focuses on units of sound called phonemes
vocal apparatus can make
• You don’t look at the differences in articulation
• It looks at the differences in articulation e
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unlike phonetics
different accents
o Sometimes its easier to link words with /r/ even if there’s no r in the spelling e
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media(r) interest

LANGUAGE LEVELS- PRAGMATICS
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The study of how language is used in social situations
The meaning of what people say isn’t always clear
There are lots of unwritten social rules that govern the way we speak and the type of language we use
depending on the situation
Pragmatics looks at how people convey their meaning within social contexts and how they imply meanings
rather than saying them directly

Suprasegmental features
Stress
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Forceful pronunciation of one particular vowel
Every word has a natural stress in English
Stress usually falls on the first syllable unless the syllable is a prefix
Contrastive stress – when correcting of giving a different opinion, the syllable containing corrected
information is stressed

Pitch and Intonation
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Pitch – how high or low a voice is
Intonation – rise and fall of voice due to varied pitch

There are 4 types of intonation
Falling
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Most common pattern in in English, used in declarative utterances
Signifies the speaker has finished their turn

Rising
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Coveys uncertainty
Speaker hasn’t finished
Used when asking declarative questions e
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you’re upset?

Rise-Fall
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Used to show contrary opinions, contrast and give hints

Fall-Rise

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Shows doubt and gives warning
Commonly used on Adverbs at the beginning of a sentence

Non-fluency features
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Mistakes that make speech less fluent
Usually go un-noticed because everyone says them
Fewer in formal situations

Hesitations
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The listener is more likely to stop concentrating or interrupt the silence
Silence is seen as a breakdown in communication and must be filled

Voiced Hesitations
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“um”, “ah”, “er” in a formal context are used whereas “like” and “you know” in an informal context
Fill thinking time between pauses and show that the speaker isn’t finished; the listener shouldn’t interrupt

Hedges
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Words or phrases that weaken a statement e
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“kind of”, “maybe”
Frequent hedges and fillers indicate nerves or uncertainty

False Starts
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Repeating or reformulating an utterance because the speaker has forgotten what they were going to say,
weren’t heard or made a mistake

Repetition
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Repeated word or phrase
Used when trying to remember what was going to be said
Could be a result of a false start

Overlaps
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2 or more people speaking at the same time
A result of competition to speak or misjudging when a speakers turn is over

Minimal Responses
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Words the listener says which are deliberate to support the main speaker e
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“yeah” “mmm”
Interpreted differently by males and females (Maltz & Borker Repairs)
Try to fix a conversational breakdown
May result in several people filling the silence and thus causing an overlap that needs repairing!

Topic Loops
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Returning to a previous topic to repair conversation or continue discussion so a silence doesn’t occur

LANGUAGE LEVEL- DISCOURSE
Politeness Strategies
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Depending on the situation, a combination of non-fluency and suprasegmental features can be used to
soften a negative answer to a question
Even if the pragmatic implication of the answer is “no”, the social context may call for a different way of
saying it

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People often use more than one politeness strategy in their response
These are very common in the UK e
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when carrying out a transaction in a shop, both the customer and
shop assistant say thank you

Strategy

Explanation

Definite with negative
word e
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no, not, never

This sort of direct response would normally just be used with friends or family as it is
generally seen as rude

Definite without negative
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are you serious?

These can be used for humorous effect or if you really didn’t care about being
offensive

Excuse e
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I’d love to
but…

They are used to justify why the answer is no (even if they aren’t true)

Evasive e
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Now is not a
good time

Evasive responses are used to avoid having to say no

Apologetic e
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Sorry…

People often apologise when they’re saying no to soften their negative response

Inarticulate e
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Erm, ah,
hmm…

This usually shows that the person feels awkward and is trying to think of an excuse
or way to say no politely
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Deciding which register is
appropriate to use depends on several factors
Audience – this is to do with the relationship between the speaker/writer and the listener/reader
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Written modes are the most formal
The meaning behind the words has to be clear as there are no suprasegmental features available to use
Sometimes, these are tried to be conveyed by using underlining, emboldening, italics or capitalisation

Spoken Mode
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This includes interviews, broadcasts and presentations
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Meaning can be conveyed with non-verbal communication e
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gestures and suprasegmental features
The grammar of speech is often disjointed and contains lots of non-fluency features unless it is a formal
speech being given

COHESION
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Refers to the structure of the text

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Cohesion links ideas in different parts of the text together
Sometimes texts don’t need to be particularly cohesive as they rely on prior knowledge and the reader is
expected to fill in the gaps
It is especially important in texts containing complex arguments or development of ideas
Spoken language is also cohesive – ideas are linked in prepared and spontaneous speech
There are 3 main types of cohesion – Grammatical cohesion, Lexical cohesion and Graphological cohesion

Grammatical
Reference
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This involves third person pronouns (he, she, it they) and demonstrative pronouns (this, that)
An anaphoric reference refers back to something that has already been mentioned e
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My grandmother
went to university
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The word ‘she’ is cohesive as it links back to the
‘grandmother’
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It refers to something in the
immediate, present context of the utterance e
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that tree over there

Identification
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This is when determiners such as the, this and that are used to show that a noun has already been
mentioned e
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A large lorry blocked the road
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Ellipsis
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When words are left out of a sentence
Its still cohesive if the earlier part of the text enables the reader to supply the missing information

Conjunctions
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Conjunctions are linking words such as and, but, also and because
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Anything
would be better than rain
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For example – He wandered slowly towards the building then ambled down the corridor before loitering
outside the door
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They are related by association rather than through any grammatically based rule
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If a word is paired with one
that is doesn’t collocate with then the cohesion and fluency is lost

Graphological
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Graphological cohesion is about making a text look cohesive
It’s particularly important in writing that’s designed to be persuasive e
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adverts
The aim is to draw the readers eye to the most important points and make sure the text looks consistent as
a whole
This is usually achieved by using the same typeface for running text, captions and headings, and by using a
cohesive colour scheme



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