NSSCAS Rumanyo First Language 8195 flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Tonal language

A language in which pitch distinguishes word meaning; Rumanyo listeners must track tone as well as consonants and vowels to identify words correctly.

Gist listening

Listening for the main idea, speaker purpose, and overall message before details; used in oral comprehension tasks to orient yourself quickly.

Turn-taking signal

A word or phrase such as a question, hedge, or acknowledgement that shows a speaker is yielding or holding the floor in conversation.

Reported speech shift

Changing pronouns, tense, and time or place words when retelling what someone said; required when converting dialogue into indirect speech.

Oral narrative formula

A conventional opening or closing phrase in Rumanyo storytelling that signals the start or end of a tale and often frames a moral.

Skimming

Reading quickly for main ideas and text organization; used before detailed reading to predict content and locate relevant sections.

Scanning

Reading quickly to locate specific information such as names, dates, or numbers without reading every word of the passage.

Noun class concord

Agreement system in Bantu languages where pronouns, adjectives, and verbs take prefixes matching the noun class of the noun they refer to.

Inference

A conclusion drawn from textual clues plus logical reasoning, not stated directly; it must be supported by the passage.

Fact versus opinion

A fact can be verified; an opinion expresses belief or judgement. Identifying both helps evaluate bias in non-fiction texts.

Summary relevance

The principle of including only points that answer the task, omitting examples, repetition, and minor details to stay within the word limit.

Paraphrase

Restating a source idea in your own words while keeping the meaning; essential in summaries to avoid copying the original wording.

Information transfer

Moving data from a passage into a table, form, or notes; exact spelling and numbers must be copied accurately.

Redundancy removal

Cutting repeated ideas and unnecessary words from a summary while preserving all required information and logical order.

Noun class prefix

A bound morpheme attached to a noun stem in Rumanyo that assigns the noun to a class and controls agreement on related words.

Subject concord

A prefix on the verb that agrees with the subject noun's class and person, essential for grammatical Rumanyo sentences.

Vowel length

The distinction between short and long vowels; in Rumanyo it can change word meaning, so it must be marked and respected in writing.

Negative concord

The pattern where a negative marker appears on the verb and often on other words, producing multiple negative elements in one clause.

Locative class

A noun class used for positions such as in, on, or at; locative nouns take their own concords in Bantu languages.

Proverb

A fixed, metaphorical saying used to comment on a situation; its wording is traditional and should not be changed in analysis.

Folk tale formula

A conventional opening or closing phrase in oral narratives that frames the story and signals entry into or exit from the tale.

Praise poem

An oral genre that praises a person or animal using epithets, hyperbole, and rhythm, often performed aloud with dramatic emphasis.

Theme

The central idea or message explored throughout a literary text, distinct from the plot and from an explicit moral.

Dramatic irony

A situation where the audience knows something a character does not, creating tension or humour in drama.

Formal letter layout

Sender address, date, recipient address, salutation, subject line, body, closing, and signature; no slang or casual abbreviations.

Memorandum headings

A memo uses To, From, Date, and Subject headings, then a concise body; it has no addresses or formal salutation.

Register

The level of formality in language chosen to suit audience and purpose, such as formal for applications and informal for friends.

Notice

A short public announcement giving purpose, date, time, venue, and contact details; it must be clear and immediately readable.

Thesis statement

A sentence in the introduction that states the essay's main claim or position and guides the structure of the argument.

Topic sentence

The first sentence of a body paragraph that states its main idea and links it to the essay's overall argument.

Discursive essay

An essay that examines a topic from multiple viewpoints, weighs evidence, and reaches a reasoned conclusion rather than only narrating.

Show, don't tell

A narrative technique using concrete actions, dialogue, and sensory detail to reveal character and emotion instead of stating them directly.