This thesis explores the language situation on the Isle of man, and looks into the ongoing language revitalization thereof. The research outlines what steps a language revitalization process...Show moreThis thesis explores the language situation on the Isle of man, and looks into the ongoing language revitalization thereof. The research outlines what steps a language revitalization process consists of, which steps are the most efficient and how they may be applied to the Manx Gaelic language situation, whether Manx Gaelic can be revitalized, and whether the language attitudes of the inhabitants of the Isle of Man have an influence on the ongoing revitalization effort. The results of this thesis were gathered though the means of a survey, and through the participants’ replies, the optimal method of Manx Gaelic language revitalization is found, and this approach is outlined.Show less
The results of this research show that female participants have more positive attitudes towards English loanwords than male participants. Female participants were consistently more positive...Show moreThe results of this research show that female participants have more positive attitudes towards English loanwords than male participants. Female participants were consistently more positive regarding statements 1, 2 and 3 or, respectively, this is an ordinary Dutch sentence, the use of [loanword] is appropriate in this sentence and I would also make use of this sentence as can be found in Figure 1. Furthermore, there is significant correlation at the 0.05 level between both statement 2 and statement 3 and gender, which means that female participants have scored significantly higher than male participants for these statements. The results of this research also suggest that the mean scores of the participants become consistently lower when age increases for each of the statements. Figure 2 shows that the mean scores for the statements mentioned above consistently decrease when ages of the participants increase. These data suggest that older participants have more negative attitudes towards loanwords than younger participants. In furthermore, there is significant negative correlation at the 0.05 level between the statement I would also make use of this sentence and age. This implies that the attitudes towards using these loanwords are significantly more negative when the ages of the participants increase. This research indicated that most participants do not prefer alternative words to the used loanwords. Table 11 (in section 4.3) indicates that crash is the loanword with the most preferred alternatives as it is preferably replaced by ongeluk and neerstorten, according to nine and ten participants, respectively. Table 11 also indicates that seven participants prefer vraaggesprek to interview, six participants prefer behaald or gepresteerd to gescoord and five participants prefer peiling(en) and voorlopige uitslagen to exit polls. Preferred alternatives to the other loanwords were only provided by four participants or less, and are therefore not widely supported among the participants. In addition, the majority of the loanwords (all except crash) are catachrestic. Furthermore, the results of this research suggest that the participants generally consider that the used loanwords are more precise than other Dutch words. The second favoured reason is that participants consider that the used loanwords sound better regarding pronunciation, which can be found in Table 12.Show less
This study focuses on the variation in pronunciation of 18 Dutch loanwords. These loanwords know variation in a vowel or consonant, or in their stress pattern. With the help of a questionnaire and...Show moreThis study focuses on the variation in pronunciation of 18 Dutch loanwords. These loanwords know variation in a vowel or consonant, or in their stress pattern. With the help of a questionnaire and wordlist, the varying pronunciation forms of these Dutch loanwords were analysed. By studying the origin of these loanwords, it became evident whether the donor language influenced the pronunciation. It became clear that French is the most influential donor language with regards to the pronunciation. Correlations with sex, age, region, educational level, and dialect proficiency were also studied to find any patterns. The social variables sex and educational level influenced the choices speakers made for a certain pronunciation form the most.Show less
In deze scriptie is er onderzoek gedaan naar beleefdheid in reclames. Het was een cross-linguistisch onderzoek tussen het Engels en het Nederlands. Hieruit bleek dat, hoewel de verschillen klein...Show moreIn deze scriptie is er onderzoek gedaan naar beleefdheid in reclames. Het was een cross-linguistisch onderzoek tussen het Engels en het Nederlands. Hieruit bleek dat, hoewel de verschillen klein zijn, er merkbaar een duidelijkere keuze was voor beleefdheid in de zin van Brown en Levinson bij de Engelsen dan bij de Nederlanders.Show less
This paper is aimed at offering a theoretical discussion and interdisciplinary investigation into theories and concepts concerning categorization and individual and/or group differences in...Show moreThis paper is aimed at offering a theoretical discussion and interdisciplinary investigation into theories and concepts concerning categorization and individual and/or group differences in cognition. From this it is suggested that there is the possibility of miscommunication, or at least degradation of the communicative value of a message, as the result of perception and/or reception differences concerning the connotations (consisting of of all combined properties and implications) of specific lexical items between individuals and/or groups. These differences are suggested to be present both in practical instances of use as well as in people's prototypes of said terms. Based on these theoretical expectations a schematic model is created, and a possible solution in the form of intralingual intersemantic translation is suggested. The theory, model, and solution are exemplified through an investigative qualitative case study into the use of the term sustainability by several political leaders in environmental speeches.Show less
