This study aimed to provide a clearer understanding of the phonetic influence a native speaker of Arabic can experience during the acquisition of English as a second language (ESL), specifically...Show moreThis study aimed to provide a clearer understanding of the phonetic influence a native speaker of Arabic can experience during the acquisition of English as a second language (ESL), specifically for the consonants /p/ and /v/ in spelling and pronunciation. In a small-scale experiment, Arabic speakers of English were asked to translate an Arabic story to English by hand to create an authentic product of their spelling abilities. Afterwards, the same participants read a short story in English, which was recorded with audio equipment to later evaluate their pronunciation through the program PRAAT. Contrary to existing literature, the small-scale experiment conducted for this study found no significant effect for the influence of Arabic on English spelling despite this being hypothesised and proven in previous research. Along with this, no effect was found for the experiment based on the pronunciation of /p/ and /v/. Whereas the results did show that Arabic speakers of English had a Voice Onset Time (VOT) of /p/ that was considerably lower, they did not realise a [b] instead of the target [ph] as hypothesised. Speakers did not significantly devoice their /v/ to an [f], which does not directly coincide with the literature that has hypothesised the influence of native language phonology on the pronunciation of English as a second language. When evaluating the results as a whole, two things are implied: (1) there is a possible focus in ESL learning on spelling and therefore no issues were found, and (2) pronunciation is a difficult aspect of ESL learning due to the unfamiliar articulatory processes involved and Arabic learners experience difficulties when faced with the unfamiliar /p/ and to a lesser degree also /v/. However, they are able to make the distinction between the phoneme pairs. These implications may help ESL learners in the future to focus on problem areas, further improve their skills, while simultaneously providing the research niche of phonology with new material to investigate.Show less
This dissertation aims to analyse the discourse strategies and functions of humour and swearing used among a group of Dutch-speaking young adults who are playing videogames. It focusses mainly on...Show moreThis dissertation aims to analyse the discourse strategies and functions of humour and swearing used among a group of Dutch-speaking young adults who are playing videogames. It focusses mainly on identifying which strategies and functions humour and swearing serve, and the frequency of these in both winning and losing discourse (discourse during moments of winning and losing in-game). It also looks at the overall relationship between humour and swearing. The dissertation presents data in the form of audio and video recordings of seven male and six female young adults who play five different video games in the same physical space. After establishing several strategies and functions of humour and swearing based on those presented by Hay (2010), a qualitative analysis of the data revealed not only additional functions and strategies that had not yet been proposed, but also patterns regarding the frequency of certain strategies and functions. The results suggest that humour and swearing have a special function during winning and losing discourse. Additionally, swearing and humour are applied for different goals; whereas swearing mainly serves a psychological function and is used as a way of dealing with losing face, humour is mainly applied to create or maintain solidarity among the players of the game. Regarding the relationship between humour and swearing, it was found that swearing was applied to enhance humour in several cases. Hay, J. (2010). Functions of humour in the conversations of men and women. Journal of Pragmatics, 32(6), 709-742. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00069-7Show less
Pitch accent is an important but undertaught part of the Japanese language. Differing much from the stress accent found in most Indo-European languages, even learners well into the advanced stage...Show morePitch accent is an important but undertaught part of the Japanese language. Differing much from the stress accent found in most Indo-European languages, even learners well into the advanced stage struggle to utter sentences in a fully native-like manner. Therefore, in this thesis, I tackle the issue of What teaching methods are best suited for pitch accent acquisition (PAA) in the long-term for adult foreign learners of Japanese? I discuss several methods for acquiring pitch accent, and directly compare two of them: Practising with audio-visual stimuli and explaining the rules governing pitch accent. I examined 3 groups of foreign Japanese language learners (n=9) and gave each of them a different set of instructions (or no instruction, in case of thecontrolgroup).Inapretest, posttest, anddelayedposttest, theyweremadeto judge the pitch accent pattern of, and reproduce semi-randomly chosen, common Japanese words. The results suggest that explaining the rules is just as viable an option as compared to traditional training, and that textbook producers and teachers should not be afraid to expose students to the details pitch accent, even in the early stages of their learning. Further study is needed to support these conclusions, and explain what causes some students to respond better to one method over the other.Show less
As the game industry grows larger, game localization becomes more important. This thesis focuses on the way game localizers deal with the translation of Japanese role language in two entries of the...Show moreAs the game industry grows larger, game localization becomes more important. This thesis focuses on the way game localizers deal with the translation of Japanese role language in two entries of the popular Final Fantasy franchise.Show less
Previous studies (Jensen, 1989) (Börestam Uhlmann, 1994) (Zeevaert, 2004) (Gooskens et al., 2018) have attempted to establish intelligibility between cognate or sister languages - languages...Show morePrevious studies (Jensen, 1989) (Börestam Uhlmann, 1994) (Zeevaert, 2004) (Gooskens et al., 2018) have attempted to establish intelligibility between cognate or sister languages - languages descending from a common ancestral language. But what happens to intelligibility when those languages are not only related but are a direct continuation such as descendant languages or a creoles? This thesis attempts to establish the intelligibility of Papiamentu as an Iberian-based creole language among native speakers of Spanish and Portuguese. By means of a cloze test (Aitken, 1977) performed online and distributed through social media, participants were asked to look at three written texts and listen to three audio fragments, each with certain words missing for which the participants had to select replacements through multiple choice. Participants were sorted into different categories in order to establish whether the order of performed tasks had any impact on the end results. Additionally, participants were asked to self-assess their performance at the end of each task. Results showed that Spanish speakers generally performed better at the reading task, while Portuguese speaking participants scored better during the listening task. Overall, the Portuguese speakers had the highest scores. The order in which tasks were performed also impacted the scores, with those who performed the listening task first scoring higher than those who performed the tasks in the reversed order.Show less
There is currently a very wide range of different approaches on the study of emotional meaning in language. This paper discusses how these different approaches might be combined within the same...Show moreThere is currently a very wide range of different approaches on the study of emotional meaning in language. This paper discusses how these different approaches might be combined within the same model. I hypothese a framework, which incorporates both pragmatic and sociolinguistic theory, and illustrates how this framework could be used to compare the emotional meaning of US politicians in relation to their American culture.Show less
Michelle Obama faces public scrutiny over her race and use of African American Language. Research has demonstrated that African American Language (AAL) shoulders much prejudice and that Michelle...Show moreMichelle Obama faces public scrutiny over her race and use of African American Language. Research has demonstrated that African American Language (AAL) shoulders much prejudice and that Michelle Obama, as a black woman, has faced negative stereotypes due to her complexion. This study aims to establish a direct connection between Michelle Obama’s use of African American Language and her public image, based on a sentiment analysis of tweets. Building on existing work, this study asks how Michelle Obama’s African American Language use affects her public image and whether public perception is based on her use of AAL. In this context, the archaic use of African American Vernacular English is substituted with the use of African American Language. Based on a corpus of gathered tweets, a sentiment analysis was performed to determine online engagement based on mood. An analysis of the results demonstrated that positive online engagement could be connected to a decreased use of African American Language by Michelle Obama. The results indicate that Americans think more highly of Michelle when she speaks less “black.”Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
2023-08-31T00:00:00Z
In this thesis, I study loanwords of unknown origin in Proto-Indo-Iranian and early Post-Proto-Indo-Iranian. According to the Central Asian Substrate Hypothesis, Indo-Iranian speakers migrated to...Show moreIn this thesis, I study loanwords of unknown origin in Proto-Indo-Iranian and early Post-Proto-Indo-Iranian. According to the Central Asian Substrate Hypothesis, Indo-Iranian speakers migrated to Central Asia around 2000 BCE and came into contact with the agricultural BMAC civilization, which resulted in a body of loanwords into Proto-Indo-Iranian, borrowed from the language of the BMAC people. Following a methodology for identifying non-Indo-European vocabulary in Indo-European languages, I argue that 74 out of 103 previously suggested loanwords can plausibly be analyzed as loanwords (chapter 3). Only a handful of these may have been borrowed from known languages. After establishing the relative chronology of Proto-Indo-Iranian sound changes (chapter 2), I divide the 74 early Indo-Iranian loanwords into chronological layers based on when they were borrowed (chapter 3-4). I argue that 21 words were borrowed after the disintegration of Proto-Indo-Iranian. Moreover, I argue that many of the remaining 53 loanwords that are reconstructable to Proto-Indo-Iranian were borrowed towards the end of this stage. Finally, I integrate the chronological layers into my analysis of structural characteristics of early Indo-Iranian loanwords and describe two new phonological patterns of loanwords (chapter 5). The fact that many loanwords are shown to have been borrowed in late PII or Post-PII, i.e. after Indo-Iranian speakers migrated to Central Asia, is consistent with the timeline of the Central Asian Substrate Hypothesis. Second, the newly discovered phonological characteristics provide additional support for the Central Asian Substrate Hypothesis, since they increase the likelihood that most loanwords originate in the same language.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Afrikaanse talen en culturen (BA)
closed access
The present study seeks to investigate the body part nomenclature and partonomy of the Bantu language Xhosa and to explore its semantics by looking at the conventionalised ways these body part...Show moreThe present study seeks to investigate the body part nomenclature and partonomy of the Bantu language Xhosa and to explore its semantics by looking at the conventionalised ways these body part terms are used figuratively, in metaphorical and metonymical expressions. This is done in order to discover and document the richness of the way this language uses its body part nomenclature while simultaneously analysing to what extent the patterns that are found in the partonomy and the metaphorical use of body parts agrees with universal patterns found in previous research and to what extent it is culturally specific. First, the literature on the topic of body part nomenclature, partonomy and on metaphorical uses of body parts in African languages will be reviewed. Then, the methodology employed and data collected on Xhosa body nomenclature and partonomy and the metaphorical expressions will be presented. Thirdly, the body parts and their metaphorical uses that were collected will be described and analysed. Fourthly, the data collected will be compared to cross-linguistic data and data from similar studies performed on African languages. These components will finally accumulate to a concluding discussion on Xhosa body part nomenclature, partonomy and its metaphorical uses by exploring the ways in which Xhosa speakers conceive of body parts semantically and conceptualise them linguistically, with a special case study of the terms iminwe (fingers) and iinzwane (toes).Show less
In August 2017, The Guardian announced the display of the Yeats family collection, which took place in London from 22 to 26 September. This thesis will discuss William Butler Yeats’ (1865 – 1939)...Show moreIn August 2017, The Guardian announced the display of the Yeats family collection, which took place in London from 22 to 26 September. This thesis will discuss William Butler Yeats’ (1865 – 1939) relationship with his wife, George Yeats “Georgie” (born Bertha Hyde-Lees, 1892 – 1968), his sister, Susan Mary ('Lilly') Yeats (1866-1949), and his business partner, Lady Gregory (1852 – 1932) from the perspective of his language use. The focus will be on the degree of linguistic involvement between Yeats and the women in his life revealed from the letters written by Yeats, during 1917– 1932. This paper will discuss possible style variation in these letters of W.B. Yeats (1865 – 1939). Also, I shall asses the relationships between Yeats and the three different women in his life by analysing the opening and closing formulas. The hypothesis is that the linguistic variation shows the degree of involvement between the man behind the poet and his correspondent. I shall look at the involvement by taking into consideration the usage of markers such as evidential verbs, degree adverbs, and second-person pronouns, while working with Wordsworth Tools 7.0, drawing on previous research, and linking it back to my findings (see e.g. Milroy 1980, Sairio 2005, Tieken-Boon van Ostade 2014, and Bax 2000).Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
This thesis sets out to explore relationships between attitudes to language learning and context as influential factors on the production, and perceived offensiveness and acceptability of L2...Show moreThis thesis sets out to explore relationships between attitudes to language learning and context as influential factors on the production, and perceived offensiveness and acceptability of L2 English swearwords. Using a sample of 111 L1 Dutch, L2 secondary school learners of English, this study uses a three-part approach to further understand L2 English swearing behaviour. The participants first completed a production task. In this task they replied to six hypothetical text- messages following a DCT approach that were manipulated on speaker (authoritative/non- authoritative). Following this, they completed an attitudes task consisting of 24 stimuli to be able to shed further light on attitudes to L2 English learning and swearing as possible influential variable on L2 swearing behaviour. Lastly, based on previous studies by Dewaele (2004, 2016, 2017) and Jay & Janschewitz (2008), the participants completed a perception task in which they rated the perceived offensiveness and acceptability of four swearwords in 4 different contexts. These contexts were manipulated on speaker (authoritative/non-authoritative) and location (formal/informal). For the production task, the findings suggest that participants are more likely to use swearwords in a closed-DCT design. Further, an effect of speaker is found as significantly more swearwords were used when the participants were in conversation with a friend rather than a parent. Swearing, however, occurred rather infrequently, which is partly explained by the negative attitudes of the participants to the use of swearwords. Continuing, the results of the perception task revealed significant effects of speaker (p = 0.001) and location (p = 0.005) on offensiveness ratings, and a significant effect of speaker on acceptability ratings (p = 0.001). Further, a strong negative correlation was revealed between offensiveness and acceptability. Lastly, a comparison between the ratings of offensiveness by the participants and native speaker scales of offence (Millwood-Hargrave, 2000; McEnery, 2006; OFCOM, 2016) show that the non-native participants significantly rate offensiveness lower than native speakers. These results re-affirm findings by other researchers such as Dewaele (2004, 2016, 2017) and Jay & Janschewitz (2008), and indicate that ratings of acceptability are largely dependent on ratings of offensiveness.Show less
This thesis explores the readability of Roald Dahl's books. Specifically, it tests two adult books against two children's books to see if there is a difference between the language use of the two...Show moreThis thesis explores the readability of Roald Dahl's books. Specifically, it tests two adult books against two children's books to see if there is a difference between the language use of the two genres for Dahl. Did he change his language when switching from adult stories to children's books? The readability is tested through the use of the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and the Automated Readability Index tests. These tests showed that there is indeed a slight difference between the readability of the children's books and the adult books of Dahl. This was in line with the prediction based on the literature discussed on language development, children's books as a genre, and readability. However, the adult texts of Dahl turned out to be easier to read than expected and easier to read than the average of adult books. This raises the question whether Dahl really did change his language to fit his new audience, children, or if his adult books show that he actually has always written in a way that is readable for children.Show less
This study aims to clarify the general attitudes of Dutch people towards the usage of anglicisms in Dutch. To this end the function and presence of anglicisms in Dutch are analysed, followed by the...Show moreThis study aims to clarify the general attitudes of Dutch people towards the usage of anglicisms in Dutch. To this end the function and presence of anglicisms in Dutch are analysed, followed by the creation and distribution of a survey that presents ten frequently used anglicisms in Dutch. The results of the survey display an overall neutral stance towards the presence and usage of anglicisms in Dutch, with some interesting outcomes considering the age, education level, and province of origin of the participants.Show less
Dental fricatives are amongst the rarest speech sounds in the natural languages found in the world (Jekiel, 2012) and have disappeared from most Germanic languages (Laker, 2014). However, the...Show moreDental fricatives are amongst the rarest speech sounds in the natural languages found in the world (Jekiel, 2012) and have disappeared from most Germanic languages (Laker, 2014). However, the standard varieties of English still contain both the voiced and voiceless dental fricatives as phonemes. Although these phonemes are still common in e.g. Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA) (Ladefoged & Maddieson, 1996), the dental fricatives are often replaced in other, non-standard varieties through processes such as th-fronting. The phenomenon of these contemporary changes in articulation has been studied, though a large portion of the research has been based mostly on sociolinguistic descriptions and discussing the phenomenon from this field’s paradigm (see e.g. Kerswill, 2003; Stuart-Smith et al., 2013) without thoroughly discussing other potential underlying phenomena that could cause the variation and change of dental fricatives in dialects: phonetic and phonological reasons, as an addition to sociolinguistic explanations, could provide a greater understanding of the factors of speech sound variation. This thesis explores some of the various ways the subfields of linguistics, historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, and phonetics, can work together to provide insights into the underlying factors influencing sound changes. By analysing the scientific literature concerning dental fricatives, the tentative conclusion was reached that, as dental fricatives do not have much phonemic function and are difficult to acquire and most Germanic languages have lost the dental fricatives, Britain could soon follow, especially if th-fronting loses its social stigma.Show less
This thesis examines two approaches to ellipsis in order to gain further insight into the behaviour of clausal ellipsis when targeting constituents. In their recent article, Ott and Struckmeier ...Show moreThis thesis examines two approaches to ellipsis in order to gain further insight into the behaviour of clausal ellipsis when targeting constituents. In their recent article, Ott and Struckmeier (2018) advocate the usefulness of German modal particles (MPs) as a test to show selective targeting in swiping, in contrast to the generally accepted unselective move-and-delete approach of ellipsis argued by Merchant (2001). This thesis adopts Ott and Struckmeier’s argument in order to determine whether the interaction between R-pronouns and MPs in clausal ellipsis in Dutch, also known as sweeping, results in evidence supporting selective targeting of constituents in the clause. This investigation was done via an acceptability judgment task, completed by 162 native speakers of Dutch and Flemish. Comparing acceptability scores of differing syntactic configurations shows that ellipsis does seem to target selectively, as MPs are demonstrated to be resistant to movement and are allowed as remnants in the ellipsis site. Further research into Dutch sweeping constructions thus seems to be advisable.Show less
This study will focus on translation between English and the Germanic language Dutch as well as English and the Romance language French by comparing the Dutch (1960) and French (1969) translation...Show moreThis study will focus on translation between English and the Germanic language Dutch as well as English and the Romance language French by comparing the Dutch (1960) and French (1969) translation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s fictional work The Hobbit (1937). Earlier works within the field of translation were mainly concerned with linguistic approaches, attempting to construct taxonomies of the observed changes (e.g., Vinay and Darbelnet, 1958; Catford, 1965). Later scholars took a broader approach by increasingly taking culture and context into more consideration (e.g., Snell-Hornby, 1990; Nord 2005), but linguistic taxonomies have remained a useful framework for discussing translations. Tolkien’s work is presented as an interesting case within the field of translation, as the language he uses appears to be more challenging for translating into Romance Languages (Turner, 2006). Although genetically further away from French, the English language displays features belonging to both the Germanic and Romance languages. The aim of this study is thus to establish any potential structural differences between the Dutch and French translation of the English original text The Hobbit (1937). Tolkien’s use of language and avoidance of specific cultural references create the expectation that the Dutch translation will be closer to the English original compared to the French translation. This expectation was tested within the linguistic framework by applying Vinay and Darbelnet’s (1958) taxonomy of translation procedures and examining word order in Chapter XVI of Tolkien’s work of fiction. The results show that the Dutch and French translation are both quite literal and more similar than the literature would suggest. The French translation, however, is more inclined to use modulations when not translating literally. An analysis of word order illustrated that most changes were made out of necessity. This research shows that linguistic approaches can still be useful for looking at translations.Show less
This study examines the voice onset time (VOT) in voiced and voiceless plosives of Dutch late-language learners of English. Dutch contrasts prevoicing with short-lag VOT, while English has a short...Show moreThis study examines the voice onset time (VOT) in voiced and voiceless plosives of Dutch late-language learners of English. Dutch contrasts prevoicing with short-lag VOT, while English has a short-lag and long lag VOT contrast, making them an interesting language pair to look at for bilingual research. In order to find naturalistic VOT values, the data used for this study was found by analysing five speakers as case studies on YouTube. The data was collected in Dutch, English and code-switched sentences. Although there were individual differences, some speakers managed to produce native-like English VOT values for both the voiceless and the voiced plosives. In code-switched utterances, the VOT values for the voiceless plosives were slightly higher than the Dutch values, while the voiced plosives were still produced with prevoicing. Some speakers were thus able to maintain separate categories in both languages, although there was more L1 interference in code-switched contexts. The data also showed that the velar and alveolar plosives followed by a sonorant consonant in English and code-switched contexts contained higher VOT means than those followed by a vowel, suggesting that these are easier to acquire for an L2 learner.Show less
In film and television, actors are sometimes expected to speak in a particular accent in order to convey their character’s identity as accurately as possible. A term in sociolinguistic research...Show moreIn film and television, actors are sometimes expected to speak in a particular accent in order to convey their character’s identity as accurately as possible. A term in sociolinguistic research fields that describes this connection between identity and language is indexicality: it “refers to the way an observable linguistic fact can be indexical of social identities in the same way, for instance, that clothing can. Language features can thus be semiotic signs associated with such identities.” (Smakman 2018: 57). Filmmakers make use of this fact when they include a specific dialect in their films: “film uses language variation and accent to draw character quickly, building on established preconceived notions associated with specific loyalties, ethnic, racial or economic alliances” (Lippi-Green 1997: 81). However, as the actors in film may be required to speak in an accent that is different than their own, inaccuracies can occur in their pronunciation, which may lead to linguistic stereotyping, appropriation or even racism. In this thesis, I examined this phenomenon in relation to the Birmingham (or, ‘Brummie’) accent, which is spoken in the series Peaky Blinders. I first established the most prototypical accent features of the Birmingham accent by comparing several sources, after which I analysed the use of these features in the speech of native speakers and actors. I then juxtaposed the differences in frequency and consistency between the pronunciation of the native speakers and actors, and several patterns emerged. These patterns could all be related to four sociophonetic processes detected by Bell and Gibson in a similar study: selectivity, mis-realisation, overshoot and undershoot (2011: 568). It was then found that these sociophonetic processes can account for the inaccuracies that may occur in actors’ accent use, which ultimately pointed out that there is, in fact, a correlation between dialect use in film and linguistic stereotyping.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
This thesis consists of two interconnected parts: a synchronic section dealing with Lio phonology, and a diachronic section dealing with the internal relations of the Central Flores language group,...Show moreThis thesis consists of two interconnected parts: a synchronic section dealing with Lio phonology, and a diachronic section dealing with the internal relations of the Central Flores language group, of which Lio is a member. The first section is a description of the phonetics and phonology of Lio (Austronesian), a language spoken in Flores, an island in the Lesser Sunda island chain of eastern Indonesia. I describe the phonemic inventory, phonotactics, stress system and adaptation of loanwords into Lio. This is based on fieldwork carried out in Central Flores in July-August 2017 which focused mainly on Lio. This is a contribution to the state of linguistic documentation in Central Flores, which remains relatively poorly documented. This will also set the stage for the second part of the thesis, because Lio is an important language for reconstructing aspects of Proto-Central Flores. The second section is a historical analysis of the relations of the Central Flores languages, and a reconstruction of Proto-Central Flores. I present evidence that the Central Flores languages form a valid innovation-defined subgroup, which underwent a period of splitting and isolation at the level of Proto-Central Flores. Then I address the internal relations of the Central Flores group and the process of differentiation from Proto-Central Flores to the modern Central Flores languages. Lio is one of the more conservative members of the Central Flores group, and is crucial for distinguishing the reflexes of certain Proto-Central Flores phonemes. The Central Flores group forms a linkage, with patterns of intersecting isoglosses which are not easily captured in a tree diagram. Therefore, the findings of this section will be cast in the framework of Historical Glottometry, a wave model-based methodology which is better equipped to represent and model the relations holding between linkages.Show less