Lunfardo, a popular way of expression used by Rioplatense Spanish speakers of all ages, genders, and socioeconomic classes across Argentina, was historically classified as a criminal jargon used...Show moreLunfardo, a popular way of expression used by Rioplatense Spanish speakers of all ages, genders, and socioeconomic classes across Argentina, was historically classified as a criminal jargon used solely by criminals and the working class in the region of Rio de la Plata. Little sociolinguistic research has been carried out to ascertain the current status of Lunfardo and even less has been undertaken on regions beyond the capital of Argentina. The present study evaluated the extent to which young adults, aged 18-29 from San Luis, Argentina, could recognise Lunfardo and analysed their linguistic attitudes towards its use and those who use it. This was achieved by gathering quantitative and qualitative data using Lunfardo comprehension tests, rating tasks and interviews with 21 participants. The quantitative findings revealed that young people from San Luis understand a significant amount of Lunfardo terms, with age and gender influencing levels of comprehension. The qualitative findings demonstrated that Lunfardo is no longer considered a criminal jargon, nor is it only characteristic of the working class. Instead, Argentine Spanish speakers across the country, regardless of age, gender, socioeconomic class, and education level, employ Lunfardo daily to converse and form genuine connections with others. This study concludes that there has been a drastic change in how Lunfardo is perceived. It is now overwhelmingly regarded as an essential component of Argentine culture and identity. Overall, the young people of San Luis show little bias towards the use of Lunfardo and those who use it.Show less
The research question of this study is: “How is standard language ideology represented in a global or national perspective in the different dubbings of the Simpsons?” In the research we investigate...Show moreThe research question of this study is: “How is standard language ideology represented in a global or national perspective in the different dubbings of the Simpsons?” In the research we investigate SLI representation in the English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish dubbings of four characters of the Simpsons. We have asked 10 English, French, German, and Spanish speakers and 20 Italian speakers to answer a questionnaire to identify the accent of the characters. We generate the hypothesis that following the principle that the connotative meaning of a cultural object is contingent upon the culture of the time and place of creation, we expect to verify in the data that the meaning of the characters that we analyse differs from country to country. We look for evidence in the fact that in different countries the characters should be dubbed with different accents. The accent with which the characters are dubbed contributes to their connotative signification. Since the need of creating new connotative meaning, authors recur to schemes that are pre-existent in the culture of the time and place of creation, it is possible that some stereotypes might be represented in some cultures, while absent from others. Based on the theory we discuss in chapter 1, we generate the hypothesis that in more multicultural countries (e.g., USA) there is representation of more foreign accents, and that in less multicultural countries (e.g., Italy), the foreign accent is translated with a regional accent. In chapter 3 we present the data and we discuss the hypothesis.Show less
This thesis explores vowel mergers in the South Asian community of East Lancashire and the social factors affecting these realisations. Possible (non-)mergers north/force and face/goat are examined...Show moreThis thesis explores vowel mergers in the South Asian community of East Lancashire and the social factors affecting these realisations. Possible (non-)mergers north/force and face/goat are examined for a total of seven speakers by means of a word list reading, and sociolinguistic interviews with all speakers provided data on social factors such as socioeconomic background, social mobility, and identity. Like Standard British English, there is a merge of the lexical sets north and force, following what has been described as the first force merger. However, face and goat present a non-merger that behaves differently compared to the known northern English standard. Unlike a northern, monophthongised realisation of both vowels, all speakers gravitate towards a more southern, diphthongised realisation of face. Goat, however, remains a monophthong for all within this small dataset. The deviation found in the face lexical set might be explained through the social factor of social mobility, as all speakers express a desire to rise above the lower to working-class environment they have grown up in. At the same time, if the maintenance of monophthongised goat is an indication of loyalty to their identity, an argument can be made for the lacking desire of the younger second-generation British South Asians to give up their distinguishing dialectal features.Show less
This thesis focuses on the ways in which the linguistic choices of drag queens can play a role in their identity performance. Transcripts from season nine of the television show RuPaul’s Drag Race...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the ways in which the linguistic choices of drag queens can play a role in their identity performance. Transcripts from season nine of the television show RuPaul’s Drag Race were analysed in order to determine what lexical and grammatical features were more common among drag queens on this show than in general English conversation. The pervasive features of their language were then considered in their context to see how these features could possibly relate to the construction and performance of identity. The results show that the language of drag queens can be seen as drawing attention to one’s own personality and identity as a drag performer and as imitating stereotypically female ways of using language. In addition, the language of drag queens contains a strong emphasis on collective identity as a subgroup within the broader LGBTQ+ community.Show less
Slur reclamation is a linguistic process wherein a community reclaims words intended to hurt them. This paper focuses on the sociolinguistic factors behind LGBTQ+ slur reclamation in French. Hence...Show moreSlur reclamation is a linguistic process wherein a community reclaims words intended to hurt them. This paper focuses on the sociolinguistic factors behind LGBTQ+ slur reclamation in French. Hence the research question: What are the sociolinguistics factors behind the reclamation process of anti-LGBTQ+ slurs in French? The research was conducted under the hypothesis that French reclamation would only differ from English in people’s objections which would be based on a prestige-appealing ideology. An online questionnaire was used, which participants completed on a voluntary basis. From the results, it appears that LGBTQ+ slur reclamation in French operates in a similar manner as in English. Prestige, however, was less often a factor in French than the hypothesis assumed. Instead, those against reclamation cited the following reasons: derogation too deeply encoded in the slur (always has the potential to hurt anyone, could contribute to internalised oppression), refusal to be defined by your label, pointlessness of the reclamation process. Those in favour of slur reclamation stated the following reasons in the questionnaire: reinforcement of an ingroup feeling, erosion the derogation, humour, unintentionally (part of their lexicon), provocation, secret queer language, ignorance of the insulting nature.Show less
This thesis identifies the social and phonetic variables that affect the learning process of Dutch L2 learners (second language acquisition). The native and non-native speakers who were asked to...Show moreThis thesis identifies the social and phonetic variables that affect the learning process of Dutch L2 learners (second language acquisition). The native and non-native speakers who were asked to participate in this research provided authentic audio recordings, which were added to the two online surveys that were used. The survey respondents that participated in this empirical study were asked to share their thoughts, via an online survey, on the individual speakers, with its primarily focus on the phonetic and social variables. By analysing the results of this research and examining the correlation between these results and the literature discussed, it was possible to draw a conclusion on which social and phonetic variables obstruct the learning process of Dutch L2 learners. This thesis concludes that the social variables (the division between a younger and older group of participants) and the phonetic variables (sounds that were identified as unintelligible and/or intolerable) that were recognized in this empirical research are collectively responsible for disrupting the comprehension and production of sounds for second language learners. Keywords: phonetic variables, sociolinguistic choices, sound systems, IPA, L1, L2Show less
The objects of analysis in this thesis are the ideas and opinions from different European Parliament employees, from Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to language professionals ...Show moreThe objects of analysis in this thesis are the ideas and opinions from different European Parliament employees, from Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to language professionals (interpreters and translators), towards the use of English in this institution. More specifically, this study focuses on the attitudes towards the de facto and de jure role of English as an official and working language, and the future use of Euro-English within the Parliament. This study is primarily based on a literature review together with qualitatively analyzed interviews held with fourteen MEPs, MEPs’ assistants, and language professionals. The analysis of the attitudes held by the EP’s employees is deemed of academic value because it unravels the current underlying sociolinguistic dynamics and language ideologies acting in the EP’s functioning.Show less
This dissertation focusses on the gay identity construction in an online environment. The performativity of identity and the existence of a separate gay culture are discussed. Gay identity can be...Show moreThis dissertation focusses on the gay identity construction in an online environment. The performativity of identity and the existence of a separate gay culture are discussed. Gay identity can be constructed regardless of sexuality. 1.Can gay slang construct gay identity on a social media platform such as twitter and what context or demographics might be relevant to do so? 2.How gay are the terms coded according to the respondents of the NRE compared to the other 4 sources? 3.Can anyone participate in gay culture? This will be examined by looking at how and who use 10 slang terms on Twitter selected from Rupaul's Drag Race. Next to this a Natural Response Elicitation is also conducted, a questionnaire posted on Reddit with three questions per term regarding users, meaning and context. There were several results concerning the meaning of the terms, the users and the context of the usage. All these led to see which terms could, and in which context, construct gay-identity. And in turn, whether outsiders can participate in gay culture. The main conclusion is that the meaning given to the terms, the users of the terms and the context in which they are used are relevant in order to perform gay-identity through gay linguistic expressions.Show less
This bachelor’s thesis has investigated the use of accents in the portrayal of characters in Disney movies. The thesis is of sociolinguistic nature and will contribute to the field of language...Show moreThis bachelor’s thesis has investigated the use of accents in the portrayal of characters in Disney movies. The thesis is of sociolinguistic nature and will contribute to the field of language ideology and language attitudes. Previous studies on accent use in children’s television and Disney movies tended to only focus on animated Disney movies and did not usually take live-action versions into account (Dobrow & Gidney, 1998; Fouts, Callan & Lawson, 2006; Sønnesyn, 2011; Lippi-Green, 2012; Reinacher, 2016; Soares, 2017). To fill the niche between the animation-focused studies and the recent release of live-action remakes of older Disney movies, this thesis compared two sets of Disney movies in order to detect a change in the accent use between the first and latest release. It is important to understand language use in combination with character portrayal to see whether conveyed stereotypical messages have changed or have remained the same.Show less
A comparative Critical Discourse Analysis on the conservative (ChosonIlbo) and progressive (Hankyoreh) South Korean press focused on THAAD related editorials. Following Fairclough's three...Show moreA comparative Critical Discourse Analysis on the conservative (ChosonIlbo) and progressive (Hankyoreh) South Korean press focused on THAAD related editorials. Following Fairclough's three-dimensional framework, an analysis of text, discourse practice and social context has taken place, showing how and what kind of ideology is spread by the press regarding the THAAD debate in South Korea.Show less
This Perceptual Dialectology study of three dialects spoken in the South of Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands (Roosendaals, Oudenbosch, and Ruchpens) explored to what degree people from these towns...Show moreThis Perceptual Dialectology study of three dialects spoken in the South of Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands (Roosendaals, Oudenbosch, and Ruchpens) explored to what degree people from these towns are aware of the dialect features that make up their dialect, what these dialect features are and if these people are aware of the differences and similarities between their own dialect and that of the other two towns. The participants were thirty dialect speakers who are born, raised and still residential in one of the three studied towns. Interviews were held with these participants in which they were asked about their views on and knowledge about their own dialect and that of the two other towns. From these interviews it has become clear that, although Roosendaals, Oudenbosch and Rucphens have similarities, they do differ from each other on a lexical and a phonetic level. Most importantly, the results suggest that one’s level of sociophonetic awareness of their dialect relates to what degree they are capable of speaking Standard Dutch.Show less
This research paper evaluates the phonological properties of South African English (SAE) through the analysis of the major contact languages that have influenced it in order to establish how it...Show moreThis research paper evaluates the phonological properties of South African English (SAE) through the analysis of the major contact languages that have influenced it in order to establish how it differs from Standard British English, also known as Received Pronunciation (RP). The aspects of the language variety that are investigated include the accent and its fragmentation and dialectology across various groups. The paper will analyse several vowels and how these are articulated in SAE as well as their evolution in the main regional settings of the country. The main English dialects of the Western Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal and Gauteng have been assessed to determine how SAE is employed in various contexts. The paper also goes into detail about the origins of the language variety and determines the structure of its vocabulary, which has undergone the most significant changes over time. This section delves into uniquely South African lexical items and words. It also looks at the topic areas where one can clearly see substratum influences or borrowing from the landscape, culinary influences, politically engineered language as well as ethnic and cultural remnants which have made their way into SAE’s idiosyncratic vocabulary. The research would not be complete without touching on the evolving linguistic attitudes towards English during an important transitional phase for the citizens of this country in which language plays a pivotal role. There is much debate at present about the role of English in the modern South Africa and the extent to which it should dictate the course of education in the country.Show less
The twenty-first century has seen an increase in prescriptive attitudes towards language correctness, with usage guides, language blogs and even automated Twitter bots offering advice on what is or...Show moreThe twenty-first century has seen an increase in prescriptive attitudes towards language correctness, with usage guides, language blogs and even automated Twitter bots offering advice on what is or is not permissible within Standard English. Using comments posted below-the-line (BTL) by members of the public, in response to a regular column on language use in The Times titled “The Pedant”, written by Oliver Kamm, this thesis examines grassroots prescriptive attitudes – defined as attitudes held by non-linguists towards language correctness – towards prescriptive ideologies and a specific usage problem: less with countable nouns. This thesis concludes that a small majority of BTL posters hold well-documented grassroots prescriptive attitudes towards language correctness.Show less
The Iranian practice of Taarof has been defined as “the active, ritualized realization of differential perceptions of superiority and inferiority in interaction” (Beeman, 1968:56-57). So far,...Show moreThe Iranian practice of Taarof has been defined as “the active, ritualized realization of differential perceptions of superiority and inferiority in interaction” (Beeman, 1968:56-57). So far, linguistic research on taarof has presented it as a homogenous cultural practice (Koutlaki, 2002; Miller et al., 2014), however, Izadi (2015) shows that the same use of taarof might be evaluated differently by different people. This suggests that the use of taarof may not be so homogenous as it has been presented before. People who over-use taarof are classified as ‘taarofi’ (Izadi, 2016:21), a term that is generally used to indicate that somebody uses taarof, but can now also be used with a negative connotation. Beeman (1986:57) mentioned how young Iranians complain about taarof, although they do not feel they can change this cultural practice, and Izadi (2016) writes that people who use taarof to a lesser extent are evaluated more positively in a professional context. Nanbakhsh (2011:187-188) demonstrated how the use of honorifics by young and middle-aged people has changed. Although he linked the use of honorifics to taarof, it is of course not possible to generalize his findings to other forms of taarof, beyond honorifics. Based on these observations, the aim is to take his research one step further, by researching the attitudes of young people (18-37 years old) towards taarof, first exploratively by means of interviews, followed by questionnaires.Show less
This study focuses on the various attitudes towards Southern U.S. English; Georgian and Floridian English in particular. The research was executed through a questionnaire where the participants...Show moreThis study focuses on the various attitudes towards Southern U.S. English; Georgian and Floridian English in particular. The research was executed through a questionnaire where the participants judged Georgian and Floridian speakers on their likability and their perceived intelligence on a 9-point Likert scale. These participants were 14 L2 speakers of English, who were first-year students of English Language and Culture at Leiden University. The questionnaire was divided into a section with audio fragments of the speakers asking questions and a section with audio fragments of the speakers speaking words. This separation was included to create a distinction between the global (larger phrases, such as sentences and the aforementioned questions) and the local accent (smaller phrases, such as words). The results indicated that on both likability and perceived intelligence, the Floridians were judged more positively. Moreover, the results indicated a positive correlation between the judgment based on likability and the judgment based on perceived intelligence.Show less
While swearing is a type of linguistic behavior we exhibit ourselves and experience with others in daily life on regular basis, it has received fairly little attention in relation to Dutch so far....Show moreWhile swearing is a type of linguistic behavior we exhibit ourselves and experience with others in daily life on regular basis, it has received fairly little attention in relation to Dutch so far. Though it is noted by various researchers that the influx of English-borrowed swearwords is continuously growing and gaining popularity (Rassin & Muris, 2005; Zenner, Speelman & Geeraerts, 2014; van Sterkenburg, 2008a, 2008b; Hindriks & van Hofwegen, 2014), little to no research has been conducted on its current role and proportion within the current Dutch swearing lexicon. This thesis seeks to provide an insight on the current swearing lexicon in Dutch with special regards to the role of native Dutch swearwords and Englishborrowed swearwords within this lexicon. The data for this research have been obtained through a survey that was filled in by 153 native speakers of Dutch who were born and raised in the Netherlands and raised monolingually. The main findings of this thesis showed that native Dutch swearwords are still preferred to Englishborrowed ones but also that their use is context-bound and situation-bound; in more serious situations, speakers preferred the use of Dutch swearwords, while in less serious situations they were more inclined to use an English-borrowed swearword. Furthermore, sociolinguistic factors such as age and gender influence a speaker’s swearing while regional background, educational background, religiosity and level of English do not. Though this study provides a small-scale insight on the current swearing lexicon and swearing behavior in Dutch, a larger-scaled study on swearing in Dutch with a broad variety of participants would definitely prove useful and interesting.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
The current paper set out to investigate new dialect formation in progress in the Dutch new town of Dronten. Designated in the early 1960s, this city provided to be an excellent place to study new...Show moreThe current paper set out to investigate new dialect formation in progress in the Dutch new town of Dronten. Designated in the early 1960s, this city provided to be an excellent place to study new dialect formation in progress. This study looked into the phonetic characteristics of this variety of Dutch and it was examined how this variety could be defined. Further, the time scale of koineization was addressed. Lastly, the perceived degree of standardness was studied, based on a claim made by Scholtmeijer (1992). Interviews and an online survey provided data that shed more light on these issues. The current study has identified a number of remarkable phonetic features, such as lowering of the first element of (ei) and devoicing of (v) and (z). However, these features seem to be part of a more general tendency found in Standard Dutch and are therefore not exclusive to the Dronten variety of Dutch. In addition, Dronten Dutch was associated with a high degree of perceived standardness, as expert analysis as well as the online survey confirmed. Note, however, that this applies particularly to second-generation speakers, revealing evidence of focusing towards a more homogeneous linguistic variety in this generation.Show less
Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)
closed access
The present thesis centres on languages and linguistic features encountered in the documentary texts from the Dead Sea region, focussing on the documentary texts from Wadi Murabba’at and Nahal...Show moreThe present thesis centres on languages and linguistic features encountered in the documentary texts from the Dead Sea region, focussing on the documentary texts from Wadi Murabba’at and Nahal Hever. Especially those features that might tell something about the identity of the people responsible for the production of these documents will be examined in detail. The overall aim is to detect these features and to explain them in light of their cultural background: to what extent do the formal and linguistic features visible in the documentary texts convey elements of conscious choices and unconscious linguistic patterns relating to the identity of the people who wrote these texts and how can these features be explained? It will be attempted to answer this general question through two key-objectives: 1. Through determining linguistic features and patterns of language choice in selected case studies. 2. Through explaining these features in light of their cultural-historical background.Show less
