29.2949, Diss: English; Polish; Discourse Analysis; Pragmatics; Text/Corpus Linguistics: Dorota Lockyer: ''Affixed interjections in English and Polish: A corpus-based study of emotional talk in digital communication and literary dialogue''

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-29-2949. Thu Jul 19 2018. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 29.2949, Diss: English; Polish; Discourse Analysis; Pragmatics; Text/Corpus Linguistics: Dorota Lockyer: ''Affixed interjections in English and Polish: A corpus-based study of emotional talk in digital communication and literary dialogue''

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Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2018 11:25:17
From: Dorota Lockyer [dlockyer at alumni.ubc.ca]
Subject: Affixed interjections in English and Polish: A corpus-based study of emotional talk in digital communication and literary dialogue

 
Institution: University of British Columbia 
Program: English 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2018 

Author: Dorota Lockyer

Dissertation Title: Affixed interjections in English and Polish: A corpus-based 
study of emotional talk in digital communication and
literary dialogue 

Linguistic Field(s): Discourse Analysis
                     Pragmatics
                     Text/Corpus Linguistics

Subject Language(s): English (eng)
                     Polish (pol)


Dissertation Director(s):
Laurel Brinton
Jessica de Villiers

Dissertation Abstract:

Extensive cross-linguistic research documents a wide range of functions and
semantic-pragmatic meanings of interjections in English and Polish that
typically correspond with a primary function of conveying emotion. With many
forms that have changed over time and appear in a variety of written and
spoken mediums, interjections have been mainly considered ‘morphologically
simple’; that is, they typically do not take on affixes. However, recent
research has shown that interjections do, indeed, acquire various slang,
diminutive and augmentative suffixes to change the register, to intensify or
diminish the base interjections’ meaning, and/or to convey jocularity and
non-serious meanings associated with play. This dissertation addresses some
major gaps in the descriptive and empirical research of the semantic and
pragmatic functions and meanings of affixed interjections in Polish, a
synthetic Slavic language, and English, an analytic Germanic language. These
two languages are compared and analyzed by examining the core and peripheral
meanings of affixed interjections, their typology, and their pragmatic
potential as attitudinals. The morphology and pragmatics of these affixed
interjections are examined qualitatively and quantitatively by examining
definitions from online dictionaries and standard corpora. It is argued that
three fundamental semantic constraints underlie the formation of affixed
interjections: [+INFORMAL], [+EMOTION], and [+ATTITUDE]. These three features
can be subdivided into secondary semantic and pragmatic features that may or
may not always apply, including [+PLAYFUL], [+CUTE], [+SILLY], [+GOOD HUMOUR],
[+INTIMATE] and [+WARM]. Given the volume and variety of forms considered,
affixed interjections would be methodologically challenging to gather in
naturally occurring spontaneous speech; therefore, the study combines data
from corpora of online sources that provide novel, current and slang words,
including the micro-blogging site Twitter, Google Books, fanfiction, blogs,
and blog comments. The dissertation also examines the Appraisal resources
(Martin and White 2005) used for diminutive interjections. It is argued that
English uses diminutive interjections mainly for positive APPRECIATION
(positive meanings), negative JUDGEMENT (sarcasm), and negative AFFECT
(negative meanings). These interjections are relatively rare compared to
Polish. In comparison, Polish diminutives are much more frequent and
conventional, and are used to facilitate social bonding, and show warmth and
affection.




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