Matching Items (35)
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- All Subjects: Linguistics
- Creators: School of International Letters and Cultures
- Creators: Adams, Karen L
- Creators: Renaud, Claire
- Resource Type: Text
- Status: Published
Description
The use of discourse markers (DMs) is present in speech to both structure and organize the discourse (Fung & Carter, 2007). However, despite the different studies about the use of DMs, less attention has been paid to specific Spanish DMs such as pues, ‘so, well’ luego, ‘then, therefore’ and entonces ‘so, then’ about their reduction. The focus of this study is on the phonetic variation of these DMs from a corpus of speakers of Mexican Spanish from Salinas, California (Brown & Alba, 2017). This paper analyzed dependent and independent variables to show their influence on the reduction of DMs. Also, chunking phenomena and special reduction were part of the study as they can reflect patterns of change in the language.
ContributorsQuimbaya, Yazmin (Author) / Gradoville, Michael (Thesis director) / Fernández, SofÃa (Committee member) / Brown, Earl Kjar (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Lakoff and Levinson claim they have discredited the theory of universal grammar. This dissertation discusses the possibility of a universal humor, suggesting that if universals exist in language's most playful and least rule-governed aspect then they must exist in grammar, language's least playful and most rule-governed aspect. Lakoff's and Levinson's texts are closely analyzed to demonstrate that their claims against Chomsky are not firmly supported; that their groundbreaking new theories of language, perception and cognition do not constitute data that undermines Chomskyan theory; that Levinson's theory of a universal mechanism for human interaction is no stronger than the the grammar universals that Levinson strongly rejects. It is suggested that the litmus test of culture-specific versus universal language may be its level of rhetorical density, as illustrated with humor and naming samples. It is argued that Fillmore's deep case theory, as explained by Nilsen using semantic features and pragmatic intent, has never lost its status as a linguistic universal; Chomsky's theoretical debt to Charles Fillmore may indicate that he unconsciously used Fillmore's deep case, which for Chomsky became thematic relations, without realizing that Fillmore had been the impetus for his research. It is argued that none of the theories of universality, typology or conceptual metaphor may be considered mutually exclusive.
ContributorsNathan, Sheri (Author) / Nilsen, Don L. F. (Thesis advisor) / Adams, Karen L (Committee member) / Nilsen, Alleen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This study is based on 31 interviews conducted in 2012 with male, female, and transgender sex workers at the St. James Infirmary, a full-spectrum health clinic run by sex workers for sex workers, located in San Francisco, California. My primary goals were, first, to document the lived realities of a diverse range of sex workers who live and work in the San Francisco Bay Area, and, second, to understand the impact of sex work discourse on the facilitation of stigma toward the sex work community and, finally, how that stigma influences the sex worker group identity and individual identity constructions. My primary findings indicate that although sex work discourse has traditionally been constructed within the dominant public sphere and not by sex workers themselves, this discourse has a profound effect on creating and perpetuating the stigma associated with sex work. In turn, this stigma affects both how the group and how individuals construct their identities, often negatively. Alternatively, a benefit of stigma is that it can induce the production of counterpublics which facilitate the emergence of new discourse. However, for this new discourse to gain acceptance into the public sphere, activist organizations must utilize traditional (and sometimes unintentionally marginalizing) strategies that can impact both the identity construction of the group and of individuals within the group. Understanding these complex relationships is therefore essential to understanding how activist organizations, such as the St. James Infirmary, situate themselves within the larger dominant public sphere, their impact on sex work discourse, and their impact on individual sex worker identity construction.
ContributorsRead, Kathleen (Author) / Adams, Karen L (Thesis advisor) / Katsulis, Yasmina (Thesis advisor) / Adelman, Madelaine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Extensive cross-linguistic data document a wide gamut of semantic and pragmatic uses of the diminutive that revolve around the fundamental concepts of `small' and `child'. As typical inventory of informal registers, diminutives are utilized as pragmatic markers of politeness in a wide range of contextual meanings. This dissertation is intended to fill some major gaps in the systematic and empirical research on the formation and pragmatic uses of the diminutives in Macedonian and to explore the role of diminutivization in a broader linguistic framework, by examining the consistency of the field of diminutives, the core and peripheral meanings of the diminutive, their typology, as well as their pragmatic potential. The morphology and pragmatics of the diminutive is examined by combining data from electronic and printed sources, video recordings of natural conversations, as well as from material collected from participant and non-participant observations. At the level of morphology, it is argued that three fundamental semantic constraints underlie the formation of diminutives: [-big], [+ emotional], and [+ informal]. Furthermore, it is shown how diminutive combinability is rule governed in Macedonian by proposing sets of formal constraints for all grades of diminutives. At the level of pragmatics, the pragmatic functions of the diminutives proper and the related periphrastic diminutive malku are investigated in a variety of contexts involving child-directed speech (CDS) and adult communication. By analyzing the pragmatic functions of the diminutive in a series of speech acts, and drawing upon cross-cultural interpretations suggested by Wierzbicka (1991), it is argued that, in Macedonian, social bonding, cordiality, intimacy or affection are pragmatically more salient than personal autonomy in the Anglo-Saxon societies, realized through non-imposition, tentativeness, or similar pragmatic strategies for saving face. Additionally, it is contended that there exist cultural differences in the assessment of the concept of imposition between these societies. The analyses of the pragmatic potential of the diminutive proper and the periphrastic diminutive 'malku' give rise to the claim that Macedonian culture is predominantly founded on the pragmatic principle of positive politeness.
ContributorsSpasovski, Lupco (Author) / Adams, Karen L (Thesis advisor) / Gelderen, Elly van (Committee member) / Sipka, Danko (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This dissertation examines the organizational discourse of business meetings in a Kuwaiti financial organization (Innovative Kuwait Co., pseudonym) and an American non-profit trade organization (Global Phoenix, pseudonym). Specifically, I explore the discourse and social identities, agency, and power used in staff members' task-oriented business meetings (Bargiela-Chiappini & Harris, 1997). The study is based on ethnographic business meetings data collected during eight months of fieldwork in 2010, 2011 and 2012. I used three major qualitative methodologies: observation, audio recording, and feedback focus group. In this study, I propose three research questions: 1) How does agency of staff members reflect membership in the corporate culture of an organization as a whole? 2) How is power used in relation to agency in business meetings? And 3) How are discourse and social identities of staff members enacted in business meetings? The analyses of ethnographic and fieldwork data demonstrate similar and different business linguistic behaviors in the two companies. In Innovative Kuwait Co., male managers are responsible for opening and closing the meetings. They also perform power by using language directives and suggestions directed to staff members. In contrast, female staff members in the Kuwaiti company participated insignificantly in meetings and produce more nonverbal cues. However, in one meeting, a female manager organized the discussion by controlling topics and giving directions. In Global Phoenix, female managers outnumber their male counterparts; therefore, agency, power, discourse, and social identities are performed differently. Female managers are responsible for opening and closing the meetings and for organizing the overall discussions. Additionally, female and male staff members participate equally and they interrupted their colleagues less frequently compared to staff members in Kuwait. Interestingly, American staff members laugh and joke more together than staff members in Kuwait. The findings of this dissertation will contribute to existing linguistic literature on business discourse and the examination of social meanings and structures in organizations, explaining how language shapes the actions and relationships of business staff members. This dissertation will also encourage business people to become mindful of the role of language and language training in developing and maintaining the corporate culture of their organizations.
ContributorsAlHaidari, Fatma M. (Author) / Adams, Karen L (Thesis advisor) / Prior, Matthew (Committee member) / Broome, Benjamin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
With an increasing global interest in Chinese economics and society, more and more native English speakers have started to learn Chinese as a second language (L2). While English and Chinese share a similar word order at the syntactic level, they differ significantly in ways to keep track of reference at the discourse level. There are generally three ways to keep track of reference: repeating the full noun phrase (NP), replacing the full NP with a lexical pronoun, or omitting the NP using zero anaphora. Chinese, a topic-prominent language, allows a wide use of zero anaphora to maintain reference; whereas English, a subject-prominent language, allows only a limited use of zero anaphora. Due to this difference, Chinese as a second language learners whose native language is English (CSL learners), must learn to implement the use of zero anaphora more frequently in their Chinese discourse. The purpose of this study is to investigate how CSL learners keep track of reference using zero anaphora. It is hypothesized that CSL learners at intermediate proficiency level would display a transfer effect from English to Chinese in their Chinese discourse. Specifically, they would produce fewer zero anaphora than native Chinese speakers, and they would also tend to consider discourse with many uses of zero anaphora for reference tracking as less appropriate. To test the hypothesis, a story-retelling task and multiple-choice questions task were adopted. The results of both tasks supported the hypothesis. Meanwhile, it is also evident that the CSL learners have acquired some usage of zero anaphora in their Chinese discourse as the usage of zero anaphora was more frequent when speaking Chinese than English.
ContributorsTang, Tianyu (Co-author) / Abdulla, Farzana (Co-author) / Chien, Jasmine (Co-author) / Zhang, Xia (Thesis director) / Bahtchevanova, Mariana (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
As my year abroad in France was vastly approaching, it became apparent that the accessibility of certain resources would prove beneficial in the pursuit of my honors thesis in French. Thus, even before my departure it was decided that I would focus on the French texting language. While the specifics were not yet fully developed, it was certain that the subject was relevant as the use of communication technologies were becoming more prevalent amongst younger generations. Upon my arrival in Lyon, the objective of my thesis was realized as I began to slowly understand the descriptive nuances of both spoken French and the ever-changing texting language. As a language student, it felt necessary to understand and analyze both the prescriptive and descriptive facets of the French language, including those of the text shorthand. Therefore, it was my intention to learn the vocabulary and linguistic traits that were most frequented in this distinct jargon, not solely for myself, but also for my fellow students of French. This task was accomplished by reading and recording the text messages from ten native speakers. These texts were then compiled into a proper corpus, which was primarily used as the resource for the further applied projects I wished to create. Given this research, a type of dictionary was organized from the words that I found to be most exemplary of the French texting language. In addition, an analysis was also written concerning the common linguistics traits found in the corpus. It was my intent to provide the students of Arizona State University with relevant resources that could assist in the immersion process during or before their study abroad experience. In pursuit of any language, it seems that it is integral to maintain a sense of understanding of all common elements of a language, as they are constantly evolving. Thus, it was important for me in my attempt to master French that I understood all the nuances of the vernacular that were being used by the native speakers.
ContributorsMarquez, Monique Evangeline (Author) / Bahtchevanova, Mariana (Thesis director) / Danton, Naomi (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
The rise of Italian in Sicily contrasts with a fierce regional pride that makes it difficult to determine the possible fate of Sicilian. This project focuses on a sociolinguistic analysis of the dialect of Sicilian spoken in and around Catania, Sicily. While there are programs in place to protect the language, the institutionalization of Italian in Sicily may be encroaching on Sicilian's use, especially with younger generations. The lure of the more industrialized North creates a culture of immigration in Sicily, which increasingly rewards the use of Italian. Using information from background research, a survey analyzing sociolinguistic factors and the individual's fluency in and use of Sicilian was created. The data from the survey showed that while understanding of Sicilian was fairly universal among participants, an individual's use and proficiency in Sicilian were most influenced by age and current place of residence (inside or outside Sicily). Younger people tended to know and use Sicilian less, and older participants tended to be more confident in their abilities and to use Sicilian more often. This is slightly complicated by an additional trend among participants currently living outside of Sicily towards a lower level of use and knowledge of Sicilian. All participants placed a significant emphasis on maintaining the ability to speak Sicilian, and on Sicilian language as an integral part of Sicilian culture.
ContributorsScaduto, Leah Christine (Author) / Dal Martello, Chiara (Thesis director) / Adams, Karen (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Rabaul Creole German is a language that developed in the early twentieth century in Papua New Guinea, as a mixture of German and languages of the environment such as Tok Pisin and Kuanua. Children at a Catholic mission and orphanage were taught in German but it was not their native tongue; they developed a secret language that applied German vocabulary to their own syntax. As they grew up and married amongst themselves, their children learned the new language as native speakers; thus the creole was born. This project involved researching and becoming familiar with the language, familiar enough to apply the knowledge to translate a fairy tale from German into Rabaul Creole German.
ContributorsShear, Erin Julie (Author) / Alexander, John (Thesis director) / Horwath, Peter (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This paper investigates the usage of the Japanese sentence-final construction no(da) in 27 postings collected from online question-and-answer forums. This linguistic feature appears frequently in both spoken and written Japanese discourse; however, it continues to pose difficulties to researchers when attempting to identify its meaning and functions. A major issue is that insufficient information regarding discourse context has resulted in ambiguity in many of the functions described in previous studies. Considering these limitations, the present study attempted to specify discourse contexts towards which three proposed functions of no(da) gravitate: 1) giving and asking explanation, 2) evoking politeness, and 3) organizing discourse. The results of this study indicate that two collocations, ~no desu ga and ~no deshou ka, play important roles in serving these functions in the genre of question-and-answer forums.
ContributorsAlvillar, Satomi Noelle (Author) / Tanno, Koji (Thesis director) / Shimomura, Tomoko (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2014-12