- Home
- e-Journals
- Pragmatics
- Previous Issues
- Volume 27, Issue, 2017
Pragmatics - Volume 27, Issue 4, 2017
Volume 27, Issue 4, 2017
-
The use of discourse markers but and so by native English speakers and Chinese speakers of English
Author(s): Binmei Liupp.: 479–506 (28)More LessPrevious studies have found that but and so occur frequently in native and non-native English speakers’ speech and that they are easy to acquire by non-native English speakers. The current study compared ideational and pragmatic functions of but and so by native and non-native speakers of English. Data for the study were gathered using individual sociolinguistic interviews with five native English speakers and ten L1 Chinese speakers. The results suggest that even though the Chinese speakers of English acquired the ideational functions of but and so as well as the native English speakers, they underused the pragmatic functions of them. The findings indicate that there is still a gap between native and non-native English speakers in communicative competence in the use of but and so. The present study also suggests that speakers’ L1 (Mandarin Chinese) and overall oral proficiency in oral discourse affect their use of but and so.
-
Mocking fakeness
Author(s): Mia Halonen and Sari Pietikäinenpp.: 507–528 (22)More LessPhonetic resources, like dialects and accents, are used in ethnic humour to build up a recognisable character that pokes fun at the stereotypes associated with a particular identity, sometimes with critical and political undertones. In this article, we examine the manipulation of one such resource, aspiration, used in performing and mocking one such clichéd character, called the fake Sámi. This character has a contested history in Finnish tourism and marketing practices, and is embedded in a long-standing debate about who can use emblems of Sámi identity for economic purposes. Adopting a sociophonetic language regard and folk linguistics approaches ( Preston 2010 ; Niedzielski & Preston 2003 ) we explore how “fakeness” is constructed phonetically by the actors performing “Fake Sámi” in an indigenous Sámi television comedy show during a period of intense political debate in Finland over the legal definition of the category of indigenous Sámi. By analysing the use of hyperbolic aspiration of a prominent feature of Lappish Finnish dialect, the non-initial syllable /h/-sound, we show how the fakeness is performed by evoking linguistic stereotypes of a Finnish Lappish dialect and a Finnish English accent by a deliberate misuse of aspiration: aspirating when standard phonemes in speech should not be aspirated and not aspirating when phonemes should be aspirated. We argue that this kind of deliberate ambivalence and misuse of phonetic resources is a phonetic resource for reflexive postmodern identity performances.
-
The question of politeness in political interviews
Author(s): Marcia Macaulaypp.: 529–552 (24)More LessThis paper examines the question of politeness in political interviews, looking particularly at the use of loaded questions. Comparison is made between the two principal paradigms of politeness, Locher and Watts (2005) and Brown and Levinson (1987) . The paper focuses on the interviewing style of Steven Sackur (HARDtalk, BBC) who employs loaded questions in his political interviews in keeping with the analysis of Walton (1991) who argues that loaded questions can function as a ‘reasonable’ means to constrain the response of an interviewee and in turn further discourse. Sackur employs loaded questions selectively to convey and reinforce a presupposition to which an interviewee is not committed. In so doing, he is able to constrain the contribution of his interviewee. Loaded questions are a linguistic means of (im)politeness used strategically by Sackur to further the discourse of his interviews.
-
“I want a real apology”
Author(s): Caroline L. Riegerpp.: 553–590 (38)More LessResearch on the apology spans over half a century and has been quite prolific. Yet, a major issue with numerous studies on apologies is a lack of findings from naturally occurring interaction. Instead many studies examine written elicitations. As a result they research how respondents think they apologize, not how they do apologize. This project, in contrast, stresses the importance of studying the apology as a dynamically constructed politeness strategy in situated interaction. Apologies are part of the ever-present relational work, i.e., co-constructed and co-negotiated, emergent relationships in a situated social context. Hence, the focus is not on the illocutionary force indicating device (IFID) alone, nor on the turn in which the IFID is produced, but on the interactional exchange in situ.
Naturally, data eliciting produces a larger sample size of apologies than the taping and transcribing of naturally occurring interaction does. To remedy the issue, this study uses interactions from situation comedies, which provide a large sample of apologies in their interactional context. Sitcom interactions constitute a valid focus of pragmatic research as they share fundamental elements of natural interactions ( B. Mills 2009 ; Quaglio 2009 ). The validity of this approach is tested using findings from published conversation analytic studies on apologies. The analysis is set within the framework of discursive pragmatics and leads to new insights on apologies and responses to apologies.
Volumes & issues
-
Volume 35 (2025)
-
Volume 34 (2024)
-
Volume 33 (2023)
-
Volume 32 (2022)
-
Volume 31 (2021)
-
Volume 30 (2020)
-
Volume 29 (2019)
-
Volume 28 (2018)
-
Volume 27 (2017)
-
Volume 26 (2016)
-
Volume 25 (2015)
-
Volume 24 (2014)
-
Volume 23 (2013)
-
Volume 22 (2012)
-
Volume 21 (2011)
-
Volume 20 (2010)
-
Volume 19 (2009)
-
Volume 18 (2008)
-
Volume 17 (2007)
-
Volume 16 (2006)
-
Volume 15 (2005)
-
Volume 14 (2004)
-
Volume 13 (2003)
-
Volume 12 (2002)
-
Volume 11 (2001)
-
Volume 10 (2000)
-
Volume 9 (1999)
-
Volume 8 (1998)
-
Volume 7 (1997)
-
Volume 6 (1996)
-
Volume 5 (1995)
-
Volume 4 (1994)
-
Volume 3 (1993)
-
Volume 2 (1992)
-
Volume 1 (1991)
Most Read This Month

-
-
Pragmatic markers
Author(s): Bruce Fraser
-
-
-
Learning to think for speaking
Author(s): Dan I. Slobin
-
-
-
Language ideology
Author(s): Kathryn A. Woolard
-
- More Less