1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. International Journal of Language and Culture
  4. Volume 4, Issue 2
  5. Article
Volume 4, Issue 2
  • ISSN 2214-3157
  • E-ISSN: 2214-3165
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Our paper readdresses the Kachruvian notion of ‘contextualisation’ from a cultural-linguistic/cognitive-sociolinguistic perspective. We provide an exemplary analysis along these lines, using data from a corpus of Indian-English matrimonial advertisements as our empirical basis. Taking the dimensions of contextualisation distinguished in Kachru’s original framework as a matrix, we show that instances of nativisation detected in the data can be fruitfully spelled out in terms of their underlying cultural conceptualisations and are often interrelated against this background. Furthermore, we suggest that the notion of contextualisation can be profitably applied to entire text types. At a general level, we argue that an analysis that addresses cultural cognition at group level can overcome limitations of descriptive approaches in the study of L2-varieties and provide common ground for a joint endeavour of various research paradigms and disciplines.

© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/ijolc.4.2.03pol
2017-12-14
2023-12-01

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/ijolc.4.2.03pol
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Banerjee, A. V.
    (2009) Marry for what? Caste and mate selection in modern India. Cambridge: National Bureau of Economic Research. doi: 10.3386/w14958
     https://doi.org/10.3386/w14958 [Google Scholar]
  2. Bruthiaux, P.
    (1994) Me Tarzan, you Jane: Linguistic simplification in ‘personal ads’ register. InD. Biber & E. Finegan (Eds.), Sociolinguistic perspectives on register (pp.136–154). New York: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. (1996) The discourse of classified advertising: Exploring the nature of linguistic simplicity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Choudhury, B., Choudhury, R. K., & Mohanty, S.
    (1995) Mate selection through mass media aid. Man in India, 75(4), 339–354.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Cocks, H. G.
    (2009) Classified: The secret history of the personal column. London: Arrow Books.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Coupland, J.
    (1996) Dating advertisements: Discourses of the commodified self. Discourse & Society, 7, 187–207. doi: 10.1177/0957926596007002003
     https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926596007002003 [Google Scholar]
  7. Das, M.
    (1980) Matrimonial advertisements: An examination of its social significance in mate selection in India. Man in India, 60(3), 187–200.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Dunn, C. D.
    (2004) Cultural models and metaphors for marriage: An analysis of discourse at Japanese wedding receptions. Ethos, 32(3), 348–373. doi: 10.1525/eth.2004.32.3.348
     https://doi.org/10.1525/eth.2004.32.3.348 [Google Scholar]
  9. Firth, John R.
    (1957) Ethnographic analysis and language with reference to Malinowski’s view. InR. Firth (Ed.), Man and culture: An evaluation of the work of Bronislaw Malinowski (pp.93–118). London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Frey, S.
    (2015) Cultural Models Affecting Indian-English ‘Matrimonials’ and British-English Contact Advertisements with a View to Marriage: A Corpus-based Analysis. Ph.D. Thesis, Heidelberg 2014. [www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/archiv/18303].
  11. Goody, J.
    (1983) The development of the family and marriage in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511607752
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511607752 [Google Scholar]
  12. (1996) The East in the West. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9781139171052
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139171052 [Google Scholar]
  13. (1998) Food and love. London/New York: Verso.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. (1999) The European family. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Gottburgsen, A.
    (1995) Zur sprachlichen Inszenierung von Geschlecht – Doing Gender in Kontaktanzeigen. Zeitschrift für Germanistische Linguistik, 23, 257–283. doi: 10.1515/zfgl.1995.23.3.257
     https://doi.org/10.1515/zfgl.1995.23.3.257 [Google Scholar]
  16. Görlach, M.
    (1999) Varieties of English and language teaching. InC. Gnutzmann (Ed.), Teaching and learning English as a global language: Native and non-native perspectives (pp.3–21). Tübingen: Stauffenburg.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Grover, S.
    (2011) Marriage, love, caste and kinship support. Lived experience of the urban poor in India. New Delhi: Social Science Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Hankeln, M. D.
    (2008) India’s marriages re-arranged. Changing patterns among the urban middle class. Saarbrücken: VDM.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Holland, D. C., &. Quinn, N.
    (Eds.) (1987) Cultural models in language and thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511607660
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511607660 [Google Scholar]
  20. Jha, S., & Adelman, M.
    (2009) Looking for love in all the white places: A study of skin color preferences on Indian matrimonial and mate-seeking websites. Studies in South Asian Film and Media, 1(1), 65–83. doi: 10.1386/safm.1.1.65_1
     https://doi.org/10.1386/safm.1.1.65_1 [Google Scholar]
  21. Kachru, B. B.
    (1965) The Indianness in Indian English. Word, 21(3), 391–410. doi: 10.1080/00437956.1965.11435436
     https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.1965.11435436 [Google Scholar]
  22. (1981) ‘Socially realistic linguistics’: the Firthian tradition. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 31, 65–89.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. (1983) Introduction: The other side of English. InB. B. Kachru (Ed.), The other tongue: English across cultures (pp.1–12). Oxford: Pergamon Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. (1986) The alchemy of English: The spread, functions and models of non-native Englishes. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Kaupp, P.
    (1968) Das Heiratsinserat im sozialen Wandel: Ein Beitrag zur Soziologie der Partnerwahl. Stuttgart: Ferdinand Enke Verlag.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Kaur, G.
    (2002) Marriages are now a mega market. Times of India, 26/05/2002. [Retrieved fromtimesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/11007826.cms].
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Koestner, R., & Wheeler, L.
    (1988) Self-presentation in personal advertisements: The influence of implicit notions of attraction and role expectations. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 5(2), 149–160. doi: 10.1177/026540758800500202
     https://doi.org/10.1177/026540758800500202 [Google Scholar]
  28. Kövecses, Z.
    (1991) A linguist’s quest for love. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 8, 77–97. doi: 10.1177/0265407591081004
     https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407591081004 [Google Scholar]
  29. (2005) Metaphor in culture. Universality and variation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511614408
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511614408 [Google Scholar]
  30. Lambert, J.
    (2012) Beyond Hobson Jobson. Towards a new lexicography for Indian English. English World-Wide, 33(3), 292–320. doi: 10.1075/eww.33.3.03lam
     https://doi.org/10.1075/eww.33.3.03lam [Google Scholar]
  31. Ljung, M.
    (2000) Newspaper genres and newspaper English. InF. Ungerer (Ed.), English media texts past and present: Language and textual structure (pp.131–150). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/pbns.80.10lju
     https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.80.10lju [Google Scholar]
  32. Lucko, P., Peter, L., & Polzenhagen, F.
    (Eds.) (2017)  A dictionary of Indian English. With a supplement on word-formation patterns. Compiled byUwe Carls. Leipzig: Universitätsverlag.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Majumdar, R.
    (2004) Looking for brides and grooms: Ghataks, matrimonials, and the marriage market in colonial Calcutta, circa 1875–1940. The Journal of Asian Studies, 63(4) (Nov. 2004), 911–935. doi: 10.1017/S0021911804002360
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021911804002360 [Google Scholar]
  34. (2009) Marriage and modernity: Family values in colonial Bengal. Durham/London: Duke University Press. doi: 10.1215/9780822390800
     https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822390800 [Google Scholar]
  35. Medora, N.
    (2003) Mate selection in contemporary India: Love marriages versus arranged marriages. InR. R. Hamon & B. B. Ingoldsby (Eds.), Mate selection across cultures (pp.209–230). New York: Sage. doi: 10.4135/9781452204628.n12
     https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452204628.n12 [Google Scholar]
  36. Mody, P.
    (2002) Love and the law: Love-marriage in Delhi. Modern Asian Studies, 36(1), 223–256. doi: 10.1017/S0026749X02001075
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X02001075 [Google Scholar]
  37. Murty, K. R., & Rao, A. R.
    (1984) A sociological analysis of the content in matrimonial advertisements in South India. Madison, WI: Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Nair, R. B.
    (1992) Gender, genre and generative grammar: Deconstructing the matrimonial column. InM. J. Toolan (Ed.), Language, text and context: Essays in stylistics (pp.227–254). London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Nanda, S.
    (2000) Arranging a marriage in India. (Reprint from: Devita, P. R. (Ed.), Stumbling toward truth: Anthropologists at work (pp.196–204). Illinois: Waveland Press.) [wserver.scc.losrios.edu/~anthro/garr/culturalanthro/CAChapter08MarriageFamilyKinship/india20.pdfaccessed03/03/2016].
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Nihalani, P., Tongue, R. K., & Hosali, P. (& Crowther, J.
    ) (1979/20042). Indian and British English: A handbook of usage and pronunciation. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. OED = Oxford English dictionary online
    OED = Oxford English dictionary online (2013) Oxford: Oxford University Press. [www.oed.com].
  42. Pache Huber, V.
    (2004) Le mariage de l’amour et de la raison: Stratégies matrimoniales de la classe moyenne en Inde. Münster: LIT Verlag.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Palmer, G.
    (1996) Toward a theory of cultural linguistics. Austin: University of Texas Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Pandey, A.
    (2004) Culture, gender and identity in cross-cultural personals and matrimonials. World Englishes, 23(3), 403–427. doi: 10.1111/j.0883‑2919.2004.00366.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0883-2919.2004.00366.x [Google Scholar]
  45. Pennycook, A.
    (2003) Global English, rip slyme, and performativity. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 7(4), 513–533. doi: 10.1111/j.1467‑9841.2003.00240.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2003.00240.x [Google Scholar]
  46. Polzenhagen, F., & Frey, S.
    (2017) Are marriages made in heaven? A cultural-linguistic case study on Indian-English matrimonials. InF. Sharifian (Ed.), Advances in cultural linguistics (pp.573–605). Berlin: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978‑981‑10‑4056‑6_26
     https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4056-6_26 [Google Scholar]
  47. Polzenhagen, F., & Wolf, H.-G.
    (2017) World Englishes and cognitive linguistics. InM. Filppula, J. Klemola & D. Sharma (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of world Englishes (pp.147–172). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  48. Quinn, N.
    (1987) Convergent evidence for a cultural model of American marriage. InD. Holland & N. Quinn (Eds.), Cultural models in language and thought (pp.173–192). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511607660.008
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511607660.008 [Google Scholar]
  49. Raevskij, M. V.
    (1997) Die Zeitungsannonce: eine Textsorte oder ein Textsortenkonglomerat? Zum Stellenwert des lexikologischen Kriteriums bei der Lösung texttaxonomischer Probleme. InF. Simmler (Ed.), Textsorten und Textsortentraditionen (pp.23–39). Bern: Peter Lang.
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Ramakrishnan, S.
    (2012) ‘Wheatish’ grooms and ‘innocent’ divorcées: Commodifying attributes in the discourse of Indian matrimonials. Discourse & Society, 23(4), 432–449. doi: 10.1177/0957926512441115
     https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926512441115 [Google Scholar]
  51. Riemann, V.
    (1999) Kontaktanzeigen im Wandel der Zeit. Opladen/Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag. doi: 10.1007/978‑3‑322‑89588‑2
     https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-322-89588-2 [Google Scholar]
  52. Seth, N., & Patnayakuni, R.
    (2009) Online matrimonial sites and the transformation of arranged marriage in India. InC. Romm-Livermore & K. Setzekorn (Eds.), Social networking communities and e-dating services: Concepts and implications (pp.329–352). Hershey: Information Science Reference. doi: 10.4018/978‑1‑60566‑104‑9.ch019
     https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60566-104-9.ch019 [Google Scholar]
  53. Seymour, S. C.
    (1999) Women, family, and child care in India: A world in transition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Sharifian, F.
    (2011) Cultural conceptualisations and language: Theoretical framework and applications. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/clscc.1
     https://doi.org/10.1075/clscc.1 [Google Scholar]
  55. (Ed.) (2015) The Routledge handbook of language and culture. London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  56. (Ed.) (2017) Advances in cultural linguistics. Berlin: Springer. doi: 10.1075/clscc.8
     https://doi.org/10.1075/clscc.8 [Google Scholar]
  57. Sharma, U.
    (Ed.) (2005) Marriage in Indian society: From tradition to modernity. Vol.I. New Delhi: Mittal Publications.
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Stolt, B.
    (1976) “Hier bin ich – wo bist Du?”, Heiratsanzeigen und ihr Echo. Analysiert aus sprachlicher und stilistischer Sicht. Mit einer soziologischen Untersuchung von Jan Trost. Kronberg/Ts.: Scriptor.
     [Google Scholar]
  59. Strauss, C., & Quinn, N.
    (1997) A cognitive theory of cultural meaning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  60. Suter, H.
    (1993) The wedding report: A prototypical approach to the study of traditional text types. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/pbns.27
     https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.27 [Google Scholar]
  61. Titzmann, F.-M.
    (2014) Der indische Online-Heiratsmarkt. Medienpraktiken und Frauenbilder im Wandel. Berlin: Frank & Timme.
     [Google Scholar]
  62. Televisionpoint
    Televisionpoint (2006) The Times of India Turns the Times of Colour. 26/04/2006 [www.televisionpoint.com/news2006/newsfullstory.php?id=1146042260accessed03/08/2010].
  63. Uberoi, P.
    (Ed.) (1993) Family, kinship, and marriage in India. New York: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  64. (2006) Freedom and destiny: Gender, family, and popular culture in India. New York: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  65. Vestergaard, T., & Schrøder, K.
    (1995) The language of advertising. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
     [Google Scholar]
  66. Wolf, H.-G., & Polzenhagen, F.
    (2009) World Englishes: A cognitive sociolinguistic approach. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9783110199222
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110199222 [Google Scholar]
  67. Yule, H., & Burnell, A. C.
    (1886/1903) Hobson Jobson: A glossary of Anglo-Indian colloquial words and phrases, and of kindred terms; etymological, historical, geographical and discursive. London: John Murray.
     [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1075/ijolc.4.2.03pol
Loading
Matrimonial adverts in Indian English
International Journal of Language and Culture 4, 170 (2017); https://doi.org/10.1075/ijolc.4.2.03pol
/content/journals/10.1075/ijolc.4.2.03pol
/content/journals/10.1075/ijolc.4.2.03pol
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): contextualisation/nativisation; cultural conceptualisations of marriage; Indian English; L2-varities of English; matrimonial advertisements

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error