Talk About Talking: Rare Terms in Pragmatics and Discourse That You Never Knew Had Names
Did You Know These Had Names?
Pragmatics & Discourse Analysis Edition
1. Apophasis
Mentioning something by stating you won't mention it.
"I’m not going to talk about his lateness, but…"
2. Perlocutionary Act
The actual effect a speech act has on a listener (e.g., persuading, frightening).
Different from illocutionary intent.
3. Echolalia
Automatic repetition of someone else's speech—common in some neurodivergent contexts, but also interesting in conversational turn-taking.
4. Conversational Implicature
The meaning inferred from what is not said, based on Grice’s Maxims.
"Some of the guests arrived" (implying not all).
5. Dispreferred Response
A socially awkward or unexpected reply that violates conversational norms.
E.g., rejecting an invitation: "Uhh, I guess I can’t…"
6. Prosodic Entrainment
When conversational partners unconsciously align pitch, rhythm, or intonation.
A form of social synchrony in discourse.
7. Metapragmatics
Language used to comment on or signal the appropriate use of language.
“Just kidding,” “No offense, but…”
8. Topic Fronting
Moving an element to the start of a sentence for emphasis or coherence.
"That book, I haven’t finished yet."
9. Deixis
Words whose meaning relies on context (e.g., this, here, now, you).
Deictic shifts reveal much about speaker perspective.
10. Facework
Strategies used to maintain one’s social identity in interaction.
Rooted in Goffman’s theory of "face."
11. Repair Mechanisms
Strategies for fixing conversational breakdowns.
“I mean—sorry—what I meant was…”
12. Adjacency Pairs
Expected pairs in conversation like question-answer, greeting-greeting.
Deviation from them can feel disruptive.
13. Epistemic Stance
A speaker’s positioning regarding knowledge or certainty.
“I suppose…,” “Obviously…”
14. Discourse Marker
Words or phrases that manage flow and coherence:
“Well,” “So,” “Anyway,” “Like…”
15. Backchanneling
Supportive listener responses during talk.
“Uh-huh,” “Right,” “I see…”
16. Framing
The way speech positions an idea or sets interpretive boundaries.
“Let me put it this way…”
17. Illocutionary Force
What the speaker intends to do with a speech act—assert, command, question, etc.
18. Stancetaking
Expressing an attitude, judgment, or alignment through discourse.
19. Entailment vs. Presupposition
Rarely distinguished outside formal semantics, but key in pragmatics.
“She stopped smoking” presupposes she used to.
20. Indexicality
Language pointing to aspects of the social world—like status, region, or group.
Dialect features can index identity.
