Sentences
Minor
fragment of a complete sentence
Standard
Simple- one verb in it
Compound- clauses linked simply by and but or
Complex- subordinate clauses bound together by conjunctions such as that which or verbs ending in ing or ed
Text
Idiolect- an individual distinctive style
Register- appropriate style for situation
Social Dialect- features common to a social group
Geographical Dialect- evidence of regional origin
Temporal Dialect- features distinctive of time history
Grammar and Syntax
This is about the rules in which we govern English and the different aspects of putting words together to form sentences.
Phrases
group of words grouped together in order to make their meaning clear.
This usually contains a head word with modifiers. The head word is a verb with a pre-modifier and post-modifier. If the head word is a adjective, the phrase is a adjective phrase. This is the case for the other word classes.
Phrases can be combined to form clauses, these contain a verb phrase and one or more other types of phrase.
Clauses
there are 5 elements that can be combined in different ways to form these clauses.
1) The subject performs the action that is described. It comes before the verb and is usually a noun phrase.
2) The verb is the second element.
3) The object normally follows the verb, which answers the question to the reader. When or where something happened? etc.
4) The complement gives more information to the reader about the subject or object.
5) The adverbial is the extra in a sentence, which does not need to be included. It is usually time, place etc.
The subject is always first with the verb straight after. The order of the other elements depends on the sentence.
Ellipsis
this occurs when one of more of the elements are missing. It is common in conversations.
A: Off out tonight?
B: Not sure.
It's missing "are you" on A and "I'm" on B.
More on sentences
Declarative sentences
make statements to give information
ex. It's going to rain today.
Interrogative sentences
ask questions
ex. Where were you yesterday?
Imperative sentences
issue commands, advice, instructions etc.
ex. Write you homework in your diary.
Exclamatory sentences
put a certain emphasis onto sentences, which in written texts are indicated by exclamation marks.
ex. Stop it!
Linguistics concepts of a transcript
- situational factors
- status and relationships
- discourse conventions
- purpose
Context dialogues
*purpose, audience and genre
Who is speaking? relationship?
Interactional features
-turn taking
- pauses
-talk as action (hand actions)
- agenda setting in conversation
-modes of address
Discourse
stretches of language longer than a sentence, Structure of sentence. Turn taking.
Lexico- grammatical features
- type of utterance (loud, whisper)
- figurative language (metaphorical)
- rhetorical strategies (questions)
Speakers' utterances
Interrogatives
Imperatives
Declaratives
Exclamations
Choice of vocab
Slang
Jargon (field specific)
Taboo words
Figurative language
-intonation (tone of voice)
-word stress
- tone of voice (register)
-accent
-pace
-volume
-typography (way it looks)
Written representation of speech
Capitals
Bold
Italics
Parenthesis (brackets)
We hear the speakers idolect
Clues to personality and mood
Utterance function ( fuction of what is said)---------------> Adjacency pairs<------------------Expected response (what is expected to be said)
Statement- "It's going to rain today"
comment- "Oh no, I don't like rain"
response-"Same"
Request-"Pass the salt"
response-"Here you go"
acknowledgement-"Thank you"
Question- "How old are you?"
answer-"18"
comment-"You look younger than that"
Transcript features
- Intonation: shown through capitals or bold to convey the mood of a person
- Word stress: italics or underlined, used to emphasise a certain word in a sentence that conveys a mood
-Accent: shown through words spelt phonetically, displays identity
-Pace: can be shown via parenthesis, expressing mood or state of mind
-Volume: exclamative sentences or capital letters to show anger
-Overlapping speech: ellipses to show relationship between speakers
-Different speakers: names at the side or top of speech, for context