reduced speech form n
another term for weak form
reduced vowel n
an unstressed vowel that is pronounced with a noncontrasting, centralized,
lax quality. In many varieties of English, all unstressed nonfinal vowels are
reduced to [v] schwa, for example, the middle vowels in the words appetite,
avarice,telegraph. In addition, a word that has a full vowel in its citation
formmay have a reduced vowel in connected speech. For example, the
vowel /ä/ in the word couldis often reduced to schwa in a phrase like we
could go.
redundancy n redundant adj
the degree to which a message contains more information than is needed for
it to be understood. Languages have built-in redundancy, which means that
utterances contain more information than is necessary for comprehension.
For example, in English, pluralmay be shown on the demonstrative, the
noun, and the verb, as in:
These books are expensive.
However, if the son books is omitted, the message would still be under-
stood. Therefore, the s is redundant in this context. 50% of normal language
is said to be redundant.
reduplication n
repetition of a syllable, a morpheme, or a word. For example:
a in Tagalog (a Philippine language) tatlo“three”, tatatlo“only three”
b in Malay anak“child”, anak anak“children”.
reference n referent n refer v referential adj
(in semantics) the relationship between words and the things, actions,
events, and qualities they stand for.
Reference in its wider sense would be the relationship between a word or
phrase and an entity in the external world (see denotation). For example,
the word tree refers to the object ‘tree’ (the referent). Reference in its narrower
sense is the relationship between a word or phrase and a specific object, e.g.
a particular tree or a particular animal. For example, Peter’s horse would
refer to a horse which is owned, ridden by, or in some way associated with
Peter.
referential question n
a question which asks for information which is not known to the teacher,
such as What do you think about animal rights?
see also display question, questioning techniques
reduced speech form