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Linguistic Style (linguistic + style)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	60%

Selected Abstracts

Martha Stewart behaving Badly: Parody and the symbolic meaning of style1

JOURNAL OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS, Issue 5 2009
Jennifer Sclafani
This study addresses the issue of how to correlate social meaning with linguistic style through an investigation of the parodic speech genre. The analysis examines two parodies of lifestyle entrepreneur Martha Stewart and compares linguistic strategies used in parodies of Stewart to her own linguistic performance on her talk show. Features considered include phonological characteristics, lexical items, politeness strategies, and voice quality. A comparative quantitative analysis of aspirated and released /t/ as employed by Stewart and her parodist reveals that a variable feature of Stewart's style is rendered categorical in the parody. It is demonstrated that both parodies exploit elements associated with Stewart's ,Good Woman' image in order to expose Stewart as a ,Bad Woman', a reputation she earned for her 2003 insider trading conviction. This study suggests that parodic performance may serve to strengthen and even iconize indexical connections between stylistic variants and their social meaning in particular contexts. [source]

Girls and guys, ghetto and bougie: Metapragmatics, ideology and the management of social identities1

JOURNAL OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS, Issue 5 2006
David West Brown
This case study explores the metapragmatic awareness of a young, academically successful, African American, female speaker. It describes some of the identities and orientations that the speaker performs through language and the perceived role of linguistic style in such performances. This study suggests that these linguistic performances are a complex negotiation of ethnicity, gender and class that both draw from and resist the macrosocial indexing of social categories. Further, the understood role of language in the social negotiations of the speaker serves as an illustration of the relationship among metapragmatics, ideology and identity and also highlights the dynamism of identity management as individuals position themselves in allegiance with, or opposition to, various groups that populate their social landscape. [source]

Linguistic Markers of Psychological State through Media Interviews: John Kerry and John Edwards in 2004, Al Gore in 2000

ANALYSES OF SOCIAL ISSUES & PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 1 2005
James W. Pennebaker
What can we learn about presidential candidates by examining their speech in natural conversation? In the present study, the television interviews from the 2004 Democratic presidential primary campaign of John Kerry (N= 29) and John Edwards (N= 34) were examined using linguistic analyses. Results indicate that Kerry and Edwards were similar in their use of positive emotion words, but that Kerry used significantly higher rates of negative emotion words than did Edwards. Comparisons with televised interviews of Al Gore from the 2000 presidential campaign (N= 17) revealed striking similarities in the linguistic styles of Gore and Kerry. Gore's linguistic style overlapped considerably with that of Kerry on pronoun usage and many cognitive domains. This study points to how linguistic analyses can give us a clearer picture of how political candidates think, act, and feel. [source]

"Silent Orality": Toward a Conceptualization of the Digital Oral Features in CMC and SMS Texts

COMMUNICATION THEORY, Issue 4 2010
Oren Soffer
Computer-mediated communication (CMC) and short messages service (SMS) play an increasing role in contemporary interpersonal communication. Studies on the linguistic style of these means often refer to its hybrid discursive nature, which combines the formal written register and the informal oral features. This article conceptualizes the oral features of digital CMC and SMS text against the background of two previous eras of orality: the residual-manuscript orality of the Middle Ages and the "secondary orality" of electronic mass communication. It argues that digital orality is unique in the silence of its manifestations, as texts are not converted into the audial sphere. This new type of orality is also unique in that it is celebrated: Its users intentionally toy with the language. « L'oralité silencieuse » : pour une conceptualisation des caractéristiques orales numériques de la CMC et des messages SMS La communication médiée par ordinateur (CMC) et les services d'envoi de messages courts (SMS) jouent un rôle croissant dans la communication interpersonnelle contemporaine. Les études menées sur le style linguistique de ces moyens de communication font souvent référence à sa nature discursive hybride, qui combine le registre formel de l'écrit et les caractéristiques informelles de l'oral. Cet article conceptualise les caractéristiques orales de la CMC et du SMS avec en toile de fond deux ères de l'oralité précédentes : l'oralité résiduelle-manuscrite du Moyen Âge et l'« oralité secondaire » de la communication électronique de masse. Il soumet que l'oralité numérique est unique dans le silence de ses manifestations, puisque les textes ne sont pas convertis dans la sphère auditive. Ce nouveau type d'oralité est aussi unique en ce qu'il est célébré : ses utilisateurs jouent intentionnellement avec la langue. ,,Stumme Oralität": Zu einem Konzept digitaler oraler Eigenschaften in computervermittelten Texten und SMS-Nachrichten Computervermittelte Kommunikation und SMS-Nachrichten spielen eine zunehmend wichtige Rolle in der heutigen interpersonalen Kommunikation. Studien zum linguistischen Stil dieser Mittel weisen oft auf deren hybride diskursive Natur hin, die das offiziell geschriebene Register und informelle mündliche Eigenschaften kombiniert. Dieser Artikel konzeptualisiert die mündlichen Eigenschaften von digitaler computervermittelter Kommunikation und SMS-Texten vor dem Hintergrund zweier vorangegangener Epochen von Mündlichkeit: die residuelle Oralität des Mittelalters und die ,sekundäre Oralität, der elektronischen Massenkommunikation. Es wird argumentiert, dass die digitale Oralität hinsichtlich ihrer Manifestationen einzigartig ist, da Texte nicht in die audiale Sphäre überführt werden. Dieser neue Typ von Oralität ist auch dahingehend einzigartig, da er gefeiert wird: Als des Nutzers absichtliches Spiel mit der Sprache. La "Oralidad Silenciosa": Hacia una Conceptualización de las Características Orales Digitales de los Textos de la CMC y los SMS Resumen La comunicación mediada por la computadora (CMC) y el servicio de mensajes cortos (SMS) juegan un rol creciente en la comunicación interpersonal contemporánea. Los estudios sobre el estilo lingüístico de estos medios se refieren a menudo a su naturaleza discursiva híbrida, que combina el registro escrito formal y las características informales de lo oral. Este artículo conceptualiza las características orales de los textos digitales de la CMC and los SMS contra los antecedentes de 2 eras previas de la oralidad: el manuscrito residual de la oralidad de la Edad Media y la ,segunda oralidad' de los medios electrónicos de comunicación masiva. Discuto que la oralidad digital es única en el silencio de sus manifestaciones, dado que los textos no son convertidos a la esfera auditiva. Este tipo nuevo de oralidad es único también porque es celebrado: sus usuarios juegan intencionalmente con el lenguaje. [source]