plosive n
another term for stop
pluraln
(with English countable nouns, and pronouns,) the form referring to
more than one. For example, books, geese, they are the plurals of book,
goose, and he/she/it.
plurilingualismn
sometimes used to mean the knowledge of several languages by an individual.
Multilingualism is then used to refer to the societal use of several languages.
P-markern
an abbreviation for phrase marker
podcast n
an audio BLOG that users create and upload to a server or website so it can
be downloaded to computers or portable audio devices.
point-biserial correlation (rpbi)n
see correlation
point of viewn
(in composition) the position from which the writer presents an idea or
topic. In English composition, good writing is said to be written from a
consistent point of view, that is, without any unnecessary shifts of point
of view. In the following example, an inconsistent point of view is used
because the writer shifts from referring to teachers impersonally (using
“teachers” and “they”) to referring to them personally (using “you”).
Teachers should always prepare carefully for lessons. They should never
walk into class without knowing what they are going to teach, and you
should never arrive late for class.
politenessn
(in language study) (a) how languages express the social distance between
speakers and their different role relationships; (b) how face-work (see
face), that is, the attempt to establish, maintain, and save face during con-
versation, is carried out in a speech community. Languages differ in how
they express politeness. In English, phrases like I wonder if I could.. .can
be used to make a request more polite. Many other languages (Japanese and
Javanese are examples) devote far more linguistic resources and require
more complex work on the part of a speaker to encode levels of politeness.
plosive