Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
Harmful speech has evolved into more strategic mechanisms enabling speakers to implicitly spread controversial ideas without facing backlash. One such mechanism is through so-called dogwhistles....Show moreHarmful speech has evolved into more strategic mechanisms enabling speakers to implicitly spread controversial ideas without facing backlash. One such mechanism is through so-called dogwhistles. While there has been growing awareness of the potentially harmful consequences of dogwhistles, it is still unclear what dogwhistles exactly are and how they work. In order to combat the pernicious power of dogwhistles, we need to have a proper understanding of what we are dealing with first. Whereas previous work has mainly focused on the expressions used by speakers as dogwhistles, I propose a new speech-act theoretic account of dogwhistles, shifting the focus to the actions performed by speakers when using such expressions. This thesis sets out to formulate a theoretically sound conceptualization of dogwhistles, as well as account for the processes through which dogwhistles convey meaning. As will become clear, however, dogwhistles are a tricky phenomenon that cannot be adequately accounted for from a speaker-centric perspective on meaning. In this thesis, I will therefore introduce a new class of appellative speech acts, whose meanings are co-contributed by the hearer. Using this theoretical framework, I define dogwhistles as an appellative speech act with the illocutionary force of simultaneously appealing to multiple ideologically diverse audiences in their own right.Show less
This thesis presents a contrastive analysis between the observational stand-up comedies of the Greek Lambros Fisfis and the American Jim Gaffigan. The analysis criterion was the different...Show moreThis thesis presents a contrastive analysis between the observational stand-up comedies of the Greek Lambros Fisfis and the American Jim Gaffigan. The analysis criterion was the different linguistic devices used on the grounds of the first Knowledge Resource, the Language, offered by the General Theory of Verbal Humor (Attardo & Raskin 1991), the four Humor Identification Forms (Shade 1996), and the five levels of linguistic analysis (morphology, syntax, phonetics-phonology, semantics, and pragmatics). To what extent does each comedian rely on the different linguistic devices corresponding to the five levels of linguistic analysis to elicit laughter from the audience? Subsequently, how different or similar is each comedian’s approach regarding the different levels of analysis from which they draw their devices and the different types of the devices themselves? To answer these questions, I present a comparative analysis of the linguistic devices used in 15 clips from Fisfis’ playlist on YouTube, “Να ένας Σοφός” (Here is a Wise Man) and Gaffigan’s playlist on YouTube, “Laugh Society” respectively. The results suggest that both comedians relied mainly on the Verbal Humor Identification Form, and Fisfis used more devices than Gaffigan on the morphological, phonetic-phonological, and pragmatic levels. Gaffigan, on the other hand, used more devices than Fisfis on the syntactic and semantic levels.Show less
This study aimed to gain understanding of the directive behavior of 4- and 5- year-old English-speaking children in child-to-child and child-caretaker interactions. The research analyzed 660...Show moreThis study aimed to gain understanding of the directive behavior of 4- and 5- year-old English-speaking children in child-to-child and child-caretaker interactions. The research analyzed 660 directives extracted from 10 hours of video recordings. The findings showed that the compliance with the directive was influenced by the speaker's familiarity with their surroundings and the degree of directness of the directive. Additionally, children who were more familiar with each other used more indirect directives, while 4-year-olds used more indirect directives than 5-year-olds. A pattern was observed where children phrased their directives differently when speaking to a teacher or to a peer, with directives to teachers being less direct and relying more on the teacher's inference skills.Show less
In a ‘post-truth’ society, many journalists have become afraid to communicate uncertainty about their information as they believe it to decrease public trust. Earlier research showed this was not...Show moreIn a ‘post-truth’ society, many journalists have become afraid to communicate uncertainty about their information as they believe it to decrease public trust. Earlier research showed this was not the case, but not enough attention was paid to the linguistic stimuli with which the uncertainty was communicated. Through a survey with five texts covering two contested topics, climate change and rising prices due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the effect of expression length and frequency of verbal phrases of uncertainty were tested for their perceived uncertainty, reliability, trust in the information and trust in the authors. Results showed that the verbal expression of uncertainty, no matter the length or frequency, did not influence any of the four tested components. These results should reassure journalists that transparency does not negatively affect trust, and that they can safely communicate uncertainty about their information.Show less
