Characteristics of Spoken Language

Characteristics of Spoken Language

1. Non-standard grammar and grammar mistakes, including concord errors (he don’t listen -> he does not listen) and pronoun mistakes (me friend is rich -> my friend is rich).

2. Use of dialect and sociolect as opposed to standard English.

3. Use of swear words and slang.

4. Informal and colloquial language rather than formal and literary language.

5. Contractions (I’ve heard about it -> I have heard about it)

6. Use of fillers (uh, ah etc.)

7. Incomplete sentence structure (“It was like, you know…I was taking a walk)

8. Intensifiers (totally cool, awesome, really sweet etc.)

9. Discourse markers (well, oh, like, of course, yeah, right, oh etc.). Discourse markers have different functions, but some of the most common functions are:

A) To check if the listener pays attention (you follow me, right?)

B) To mark the beginning of a new topic (anyway, I was going to tell you this story)

C) To mark information that is new to the conversation (oh, really, I did not know)

D) To appeal for understanding or to show solidarity (It has been a tough time, you know. Yeah, I know what you are going through)

10. General extenders (and stuff, and things, or something, and all that). Phrases that extend the meaning of an utterance, but in an vague manner (I was really tired and stuff)

11. Ellipsis: the omission of a part of a sentence: "you going to do that?" Here, the verb "are" is missing. In writing it would be: "are you going to do that?"

12. Pronouns such as I and you (referring to the speaker and listener) and words like here, now, this and that are often used.