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Modern English Grammar Test 3
Test 3
26
English
Undergraduate 3
04/01/2012

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Term
appropriateness/felicity conditions
Definition
the context or conditions for a speech act must be appropriate for the speech act to be valid. For example, it would be inappropriate for a speaker to thank someone for something that hasn’t occurred yet or which isn’t beneficial to the speaker.
Term
conversational maxims (Grice)
Definition
Under Grice’s cooperative principle, a conversation should be truthful (maxim of quality), relevant (maxim of relation), concise (maxim of quantity) and clear (maxim of manner).
Term
dialects (regional, social, and ethnic)
Definition
language varieties characterized by systematic lexical, phonological, and grammatical differences with standard varieties (e.g., Standard American English). Dialects are typically associated with informal (casual) spoken language.
Term
grammatical variation
Definition
differences in morphology and syntax among varieties (dialects) of English.
Term
implicature
Definition
term used by Grice to describe implied statements in a conversation.
Term
lexical variation
Definition
vocabulary differences between dialects.
Term
literary dialect
Definition
an attempt by a writer to portray or represent a particular regional, social, or ethnic dialect using written language.
Term
modality
Definition
often defined as the degree of certainty or strength of obligation, modality is expressed by means of modal auxiliaries, and includes situations “contrary to fact.” This includes the “future” tense, possibility, ability, permission, and obligation.
Term
nonstandard English
Definition
any language variety (dialect).
Term
performative verb
Definition
class of verbs which express specific speech acts, e.g., promising, warning, pronouncing, thanking, complaining, accusing, referring, admitting, etc.
Term
phonological variation
Definition
pronunciation differences between dialects, including regional “accents.”
Term
speech acts
Definition
Also known as illocutions or illocutionary acts, speech acts are utterances which are used to carry out specific acts (e.g., promising, warning, pronouncing, thanking, complaining, accusing, referring, admitting, etc.) Speech acts may be carried out directly with a performative verb (present tense, active voice, with a first-person subject, e.g., I promise I’ll clean up my room.) Speech acts may also be performed indirectly, without a performative verb and by using a different sentence type (e.g., an interrogative instead of an imperative sentence).
Term
Standard American English
Definition
an artificial and somewhat arbitrary entity associated particularly with formal usage and written English, characterized by lack of any features associated with regional, social, or ethnic dialects.
Term
subject-verb agreement
Definition
in English, subjects and verbs agree in number (singular/plural), although dialects sometimes differ systematically from the standard. Examples of standard agreement include: they were, he likes, people know. Examples of patterns of nonstandard agreement found in various dialects include: they was, he like, people knows.
Term
verb string
Definition
main verb+auxiliaries/modals
Term
tense hopping
Definition
Switching tense within a sentence or piece. Frowned upon in written standard English.
Term
tense
Definition
past, present, future
Term
suppressed agent passive (truncated passive)
Definition
An exception where changing the form of the verb does not affect semantic roles. For example: Active-> Somebody has eaten my porridge. become-> Passive-> My porridge has been eaten.
Term
declarative sentence
Definition
A sentence in the form of a statement
Term
imperative sentence
Definition
A type of sentence that gives advice or instructions or that expresses a request or command.
Term
interrogative sentence
Definition
A type of sentence that asks a question.
Term
exclamatory sentence
Definition
A type of sentence that expresses strong feelings by making an exclamation.
Term
passive voice
Definition
In traditional grammar, a verb form (or voice) in which the grammatical subject receives the verb's action. Example: "A good time was had by all."
Term
passive movement
Definition
Movement of the D.O. or P.N. to the front of the sentence. I.e.: We canned the tomatoes. -> The tomatoes were canned.
Term
modal auxiliaries
Definition
Also called auxiliaries or helping verbs are always the same no matter with which subject they are used.
Term
active voice
Definition
subject does or "acts upon" the verb in such sentences
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