LVOT

• Key Frameworks


  • Grammar (LV and LVOT)
  • Lexis & Semantics (LV and LVOT)
  • Discourse (LV and LVOT)
  • Graphology (LV and LVOT)
  • Orthography (LVOT)
  • Phonology (LV and LVOT – but probably more LVOT focusing on changes to spelling etc.)
• Covert prestige


  The status speakers get from a social group when they choose not to adopt a standard dialect
• Overt prestige


  The status speakers get from using the most official and standardized form of language. E.g. using RP and standard English.
• Mixed mode


  Features of printed text mixed with features of spoken language
• Political correctness


  Words or phrases used to replace those that are deemed offensive
• Obsolete


  No longer having any use
• Emoticons


  The online means of showing facial expressions and gestures
• Omission


  The leaving out of a phoneme in a group of phonemes clustered together. This might mean the clipping of the final consonant in hangin'.
• Eye-dialect


  A way of spelling words that suggests a regional or social way of talking
• Borrowing/loan words


  Introduction of words from one language to another (can be Anglicised or remain similar to original spelling + pronunciation)
• Clipping


  A new word made from shortening an existing one
• Initialism


  A word made from initial letters each being pronounced
• Acronym


  A lexicalised word made up from the initial letters of a phrase sounded as a word
• Eponym


  Name of a person after whom something is named
• Archaism


  An old word or phrase no longer in general spoken or written language
• Latinate lexis


  Often polysyllabic and complex-sounding. Often begin with prefixes like 'in-', 'im-', 'ex-', 'de-', 'ad-', 'ab-', 'ob-' and often end with suffixes like '-ate', '-ous', '-or', '-us', '-um', '-ude', '-ia', '-ic', '-ile'
• Amelioration


  Changing the word's definition from negative to positive
• Pejoration


  Changing the word's meaning from positive to negative
• Weakening


  When words lose some of their original force or strength (e.g. 'soon' now means in the near future but used to mean immediately)
• Narrowing


  The word becomes more specific in its meaning (e.g. 'meat' originally meant food in general, but now applies to animal flesh)
• Broadening


  When the meaning of a word broadens, so that it retains its old meaning but takes on added meaning as well (e.g. 'holiday' meant 'holy day' a day of religious importance, but now means a day where one does not have to work)
• Metaphor


  Words often acquire new meanings because they begin to be used metaphorically (e.g. 'onion bag' refers to the net of a goal in football as well as a bag of onions)
• Euphemism


  A mild or inoffensive way of describing something distasteful or unpleasant (e.g. 'civilian casualties' are 'collateral damage')
• Idiom


  Sayings that don't make sense if you literally interpret them (e.g. 'it's raining cats and dogs')
• Suffixes


  Addition of bound morphemes to the end of the root word
• Prefixes


  The addition of a bound morpheme to the beginning of a root word
• Affixation


  The addition of bound morphemes to an existing word
• Estuary English


  • Mixing ordinary London and south-eastern accents with RP seen as RP possible successor as the Standard English pronunciation
  • Conforms to Standard English grammatically and lexically but has distinct phonology
  • Includes glottal stops, l-vocalisation, and yod coalescence
  • Unlike Cockney, does not include h-dropping or th-fronting
• Reasons for phonological change (Jean Aitchison)


  • Ease of Articulation: Saying words easier via abbreviation and Omission
  • Social Prestige + changes in Society: People move around more + mass communication= less regional variation
  • Infectious Disease
• Convergence (Howard Giles Accommodation Theory)

  • Centres on pragmatics and how speakers adjust their speech behaviours to accommodate others showing need of approval
  • Divergence= opposite! When people diverge from others= make their accent stronger or to adopt exaggerated speech behaviours in order to distance themselves from other speaker= REINFORCE THEIR IDENTITY
• Conversationalisation (Norman Fairclough)


  • Believes that there have been 'shifting boundaries' between written and spoken discourse practices
  • Rising prestige and status for spoken language
  • Many linguists see this informalisation and personalisation of language in today's language use and credit spoken language with driving changes in written mode
• Varieties of English (Dennis Freeborn)


  • Incorrectness view: all accents are incorrect compared to Standard English and accent of RP
  • Ugliness view: some accents don't sound nice linked to stereotypes and negative social connotations
  • Impreciseness view: some accents are lazy and sloppy such as Estuary English where sounds are omitted and changed
• Prescriptivism


  The judgement based view that there is a right and wrong way to use the English language and anyone not conforming to the correct usage is 'wrong'
• Descriptivism


  An acceptance that language is always changing and evolving. Descriptivists seek to describe those changes, rather than applying value judgements to them.
• Grice's Maxims


  • Quantity: Use an appropriate amount of detail
  • Quality: Speak the truth and do not knowingly mislead
  • Relevance: Keep what is being discussed relevant to the topic
  • Manner: Avoid vagueness and ambiguity
• Power in Advertising


  • Synthetic personalisation: the creation of an artificial relationship between the producer and consumer
  • Members' resources: creating understanding through shared knowledge or the background of the reader
• Language and Gender (Robin Lakoff)


  • Hedge: using phrases like "sort of", "kind of", "it seems like", and so on
• Face Theory (Brown and Levinson)


  • Face: the public self-image that adults try to project to others
  • Positive Face: the need to feel liked and appreciated
  • Negative Face: the need not to feel imposed upon
  • Face Threatening Act (FTA): an act which challenges the face needs of a participant
  • Bald On-Record: "Your essay was rubbish"
  • Off-record: "It's a shame your essay wasn't better..."
  • Positive Politeness: "I really appreciate that you've put a lot of effort into this essay..."
  • Negative Politeness: "I'm sorry to have to ask you to do this essay again."
• Types of Power


  • Instrumental Power: power used to maintain and enforce authority
  • Influential Power: the power used to influence people
  • Political Power: the power held by a politician or government
  • Personal Power: the power held by an individual due to their position
  • Social Group Power: the power held by people due to social variables, such as class, race etc.
• Ideology


  A set of belief systems, attitudes