Linguistic Norms Research Articles

Language and Gender: Exploring Structures and Bias in Linguistic Norms

This study investigates the intricate relationship between language and gender norms, exploring how linguistic structures reflect and reinforce societal gender expectations. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the research combines quantitative analysis of linguistic corpora with qualitative insights from interviews and discourse analysis. Key findings reveal a growing acceptance of gender-neutral pronouns in English, particularly among younger generations, while entrenched gender biases persist in languages with grammatical gender systems, such as French and Spanish. The study also highlights how lexical choices often associate leadership and strength with male subjects, reinforcing traditional gender roles. Practical recommendations for promoting gender equality through language include advocating for gender-neutral language policies, increasing public awareness, and encouraging media to challenge gender stereotypes. The research concludes by suggesting further avenues for investigation, including cross-linguistic studies, historical analyses, and exploring the impact of language reforms on societal attitudes.

Research on the Impact of Internet Language on Communication

In the modern period social media has tremendously affected linguistic norms with the prevalent usage of Internet language, which has become an integral part of our digital interactions. From its modest beginnings in early chat rooms to its current ubiquitous presence across social media platforms, comprehending a new Internet term and delighting in its usage can open up an entirely new world of connections and expressions. This article explores the impact of internet language on daily communication. It analyses the main types of internet slang, highlighting the emergence of new linguistics strategies, including symbol graphics, emojis, numerical codes and abbreviated words. It also discusses the characteristics of internet slang and its impact on communication, emphasizing the numerous merits of internet languages, while acknowledging the challenges posed by their informal nature, such as the barriers to information dissemination. Additionally, the article underscores the need to adopt measures to improve the effectiveness of internet terminology in communication and manage its impact consciously and positively.

Beyond Legislative Intent

Abstract There is a widely held view that legislative intention determines the meaning of a statute. The focus of this article is meaning in the sense of full linguistic content, which may not be the same as legal content. Linguistic intentionalism appears to have its greatest appeal when a statute has a partly implied linguistic meaning. It seems natural to suppose that the part of the meaning that is implied by the explicit wording in the statute is determined by an intention of the legislature—roughly, what the legislature intended to imply. The purpose of this article is to present some new reasons to doubt linguistic intentionalism and to offer an alternative for a particular kind of implied statutory meaning that some philosophers of language call implicitures. Rather than legislative intention, the meaning of implicitures is metaphysically determined by intention-free pragmatic linguistic norms, the grasp of which is part of the language competence of ordinary law subjects. The use of these norms, in combination with certain facts about background social practices and other conventions, generates implicitures that may be inconsistent with actual communicative intentions. These intention-free pragmatic norms, and the implicitures they generate, are explanatorily prior to the fact—if there is such a fact—of what impliciture it is reasonable to infer that the enacting legislature (or the legislators collectively) intended. Reference to legislative linguistic intention (actual or reasonably imputed) is thus explanatorily inert.

Movie Titles’ Translation Strategies from English into Thai in Monomax Application

The objective of this study is to analyze the strategies employed in translating English movie titles into Thai within the Monomax Application. A total of 501 English movie titles spanning the decade of 2011 and 2020 were examined because a decade provides clear guidelines for data collection, analysis, and interpretation. The strategies for translating film titles into Thai conducted by Thongwan (2012) served as a framework for this study. The findings revealed that all 10 translation strategies were employed as follows respectively: 1) naming a new name regardless of the old name, 2) naming a new name based on the original name, 3) partial translation and adding Thai language, 4) partial transliteration and adding Thai language, 5) all translation and adding Thai language, 6) all transliteration and adding Thai language, 7) all transliteration without adding Thai, and 8) all translation without adding Thai language. Meanwhile, the last two which are 9) partial transliteration without adding the Thai language and partial translation without adding the Thai language were found used only once per each. Notably, the translated movie titles in Thai often featured distinctive and attractive elements, such as rhyme and alliteration. These findings corresponded to Nida & Taber (1974) translation theory that translation process is related to purpose and cultural linguistic norms. Future studies could explore the reception and perception of these translated titles among Thai audiences, shedding light on which strategies resonate most effectively and why.

CONNECTION BETWEEN ARTISTIC EDITING AND ARTISTIC TRANSLATION

This scientific article investigates the necessity of adhering to linguistic norms and existing editorial principles when editing literary translations from foreign languages, taking into account the shared aspects of translation and editorial criteria. The study focuses on the quality of editing the Uzbek translation of the novel The Alchemist, compared to its English and Russian versions. It examines issues such as preserving the semantic features of the text during the editing process and provides suggestions and recommendations for addressing shortcomings that arise in the editorial process.

Deaf migrants in Sweden: exploring linguistic and bureaucratic challenges through the lens of Crip Theory and Crip Linguistics

Abstract Disabled people encounter numerous barriers to accessibility and face discrimination and inequalities in their daily lives. The situation is even more complex for migrants with a disability, who have to learn how to navigate a new bureaucratic system. This study focuses on deaf adult migrants and the linguistic and bureaucratic challenges they face in Swedish society. The data consists of interviews with 43 deaf migrants participating in language learning courses in four folk high schools catering to deaf people in Sweden. Crip Theory and Crip Linguistics are used as lenses to explore the impact of able-bodiedness and linguistic norms on this particular group. The findings show that deaf migrants experience infantilisation, that sign language interpreters are often seen as a one-size-fits-all solution without much consideration for other factors influencing communication, and that normative able-bodiedness underlies many of the bureaucratic issues deaf migrants face.

Engagement of Alija Isakovic on Reaffirmation of Bosnian Language Through „Variants on Correctional Exam“ and Dictionary of Characteristic Lexicography in Bosnian Language

This paper discusses Alija Isakovic's commitment and contributions to the processes of reaffirmation Bosnian language within Serbo-Croatian linguistic unitarism in the second half of the 20th century. We have shown the historical context of the language policy and Isakovic's significant work for the selected theme. The focus of this paper is on the sociolinguistic text "Varijante na popravnom ispitu" and the lexicographic work Rječnik karakteristične leksike u bosanskome jeziku, which represents a kind of struggle for the specificity of the Bosnian variant and characteristic lexicon of Bosnian language in that linguistic norm. The results of Isakovic's work are noticeable in the Yugoslav period (partial change in the field of official language policy), but it's also noticeable in period of state independence when language policy was created based on Isaković's concepts.

THE USING OF NON COMMON EXPRESSIONS IN ENGLISH MASS MEDIA

This thesis explores the utilization of non-common expressions in English mass media, investigating the implications of this linguistic phenomenon on public discourse and perception. Drawing upon a range of contemporary media sources, from printed newspapers to digital platforms, the study analyzes how unconventional expressions, including idiomatic phrases, industry jargon, and neologisms, shape narratives and potentially influence readers’ understanding of events and issues. The research engages with theories of communication and linguistics to examine the functions and effects of these expressions, looking at their frequency, contexts, and the dynamics between traditional linguistic norms and the evolving language within the public sphere. Clear evidence is provided that the use of non-common expressions not only captures attention and conveys complex ideas succinctly but also serves to frame issues in specific ways, carrying subtle connotations and cultural references. This study thereby sheds light on the role of language innovation in journalism and its broader social implications, offering insights into the strategic use of language in mass media.

Children’s agency as a relational concept in bilingual family language practices

ABSTRACT This paper reports the study of the agency of children aged 10–14 in their language practices as they interacted with their family members. The study was located in a Vietnamese migrant community in Victoria, Australia. In using a thematic, interactional analysis combined with a relational approach to agency, it was found that children’s agency emerged on a continuum which ranged from a more negative end of the continuum – manifested through the children’s explicit resistance to parental requests for home language use – to a more positive end of the continuum – manifested through their flexible linguistic repertoire in accommodating their interlocutors’ needs. Findings also suggest that the linguistic practices in the family domain surfaced as dynamic co-constructions to reflect the adults’ and children’s constant (re)negotiation in their everyday language practices in the home, which was also influenced by other factors such as children’s linguistic competence and the families’ linguistic norms. The study builds on previous findings on the relational nature of children’s agency by bringing attention to the different manifestations of children’s agency that arise in situ as they interact.

Metalinguistic Discourse in an Emerging Sign Language

In this paper, I explore metalinguistic discourse in Zinacantec Family Homesign (‘Z sign’), an emergent sign language developed by three deaf siblings and their hearing family members. In particular, I examine how metalinguistic discourse unfolds between a hearing Z signer and various members of her family—including her deaf siblings, her elderly hearing father, and her young hearing son. I do so via a close examination of several snippets of conversation in which the Z signers talk about the “right” way to sign, paying close attention to how they mobilize various semiotic devices, including manual signs, eye gaze, facial expressions, and speech. I aim to understand not only the formal components of metalinguistic discourse in Z sign but also how it functions as a form of social action in this small linguistic community. How do members of this family position themselves and others as (in)competent, (non-)authoritative signers in light of existing social divisions among them? How do they reinforce or challenge those social divisions through metalinguistic discourse? How might metalinguistic discourse contribute to the propagation of emergent linguistic norms throughout the family? I find that a recurrent device for enacting metalinguistic critique among the Z signers is the partial re-production and transformation of others’ utterances and other visible actions, manifested in a way that exploits the availability of multiple, semi-independent manual and non-manual articulators in the visual modality.

La Comisión del Idioma Oficial (1993-1994): una iniciativa de política lingüística en la postdictadura chilena

This paper analyzes the initiative to create a Committee for the Official Language (CIO) in Chile between 1993 and 1994. The analysis is based on documents that remain unpublished and almost completely unknown, despite their relevance for the historiography of language policy in post-dictatorial Chile. Taking a glottopolitical approach, we understand the creation of the CIO as an intervention in the public space of language that aims to influence the constitution of the regime of linguistic normativity of the period. In this sense, we will analyze the way in which the CIO proposes a series of options loaded with glottopolitical meanings, such as the selection of Spanish as the official language, and the preference for a certain way of calling the language, among others. These respond to the ideological matrix of Hispanism, from which the ideologemes mobilised in the CIO’s actions and decisions originate, and in relation to which they make sense from a long-term historical perspective.

The morpho-sociolinguistic aspect of the morpheme /-ng∼-eng/ in Sesotho

This is a morpho-sociolinguistic article that adopts a qualitative approach to investigate the attachment of the morpheme /-ng∼-eng/ to Sesotho parts of speech and to determine the validity of the justifications provided for this type of suffixation. The study employs the integrated frameworks of item-and-process and variationist sociolinguistics. It is a known fact that human language is inherently a culturally evolving system. That is, it is not monolithic, but instead, is dynamic or variable. Among the social dynamics stimulating language variability is age. In our everyday experience, we witness a generational gap between youngsters and adults in terms of communication. Adults tend to be conservative, while the youth are innovative in their language use. Through their peer groups, the youth are able to establish new linguistic norms which may diffuse into the wider community. In Sesotho, one such linguistic norm is the current suffixation of /-ng∼-eng/ to some parts of speech to which traditionally it was not suffixed. The article further discusses the semantic implications of the attachment of this suffix and the reaction of the elderly towards it.

Linguistic Politeness: A Pragmatic Analysis of the Request Letters

The objectives of this study are: discover the linguistic features in the opening strategy, closing strategy, and directness of the head-acts in the request letters; identify and analyze positive and negative politeness strategies used in request letters sent by students, organizations, and companies to the office of the Dean of Student Affairs; investigate the use of politeness strategies that indicates about linguistic conventions. This study employed a mixed-methods research design, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The primary data for this study consists of request letters from students at St. Vincent's College Incorporated and various organizations within and outside the academic institution. The researcher selected 15 request letters submitted to the Dean of Student Affairs Office during the 2021-2022 academic year. This study employed three tiers of corpus analysis. The research reveals that request letters sent to the Dean of Student Affairs Office at the institution employ a diverse range of politeness strategies. The "other complimentary close and other pre-closing" is another element of the closure strategy that the researcher discovered. The head-acts shown that request letters are often direct on a degree of directness. The utilization of politeness strategies within a broader socio-cultural context illuminates established linguistic norms. The diverse inclinations towards employing politeness strategies and their multifaceted applications in request letter communication do not necessarily indicate a transition from impoliteness to politeness or vice versa. It demonstrates that people's communication styles and methods of politeness are evolving.

“Hyper-grammaticality” of Norwid’s syntax (though not only)

The article discusses major characteristics of Norwid’s language and style in light of the concept of “hyper-grammaticality” [po-nad-gramatyczność] developed by the poet himself. Considered as a descriptive category, it organizes and foregrounds certain properties of his syntax as well as other elements. The adjective “hyper-grammatical” can be understood in three ways: 1. failing to comply with rules; 2. departing from linguistic convention; hence unconventional; 3. derived from a different level of language than grammar.Norwid’s works can be shown to display hyper-grammaticality in all of the above senses. Discussion of constructions that violate linguistic norms accounts for the following: anacoluthon,homonymic structures, obscurities related to functions of anaphoric elements, and disruptions of coherence. Unconventional elements departing from the epoch’s standards include, among other things, innovations in collocability, complications of syntax, numerous parenthetical remarks, and the usage of archaic constructions. In Norwid’s texts an important place is held not only by mechanisms proper to syntactical or grammatical level of enunciation, but also by phenomena present on other levels:meta-textualityandthematic-rhematic structure.

Номинации профессиональной деятельности в русском и немецком дискурсах трудоустройства

The article examines the employment discourse features on the example of vacancies on Internet sites, namely professional activity nominations, in a comparative aspect of Russian and German linguistic cultures. The relevance of the research is due to the significance and popularity of vacancy texts within the employment discourse, as well as its development and modification in connection with the transition to an online format. The comparative approach allows us to consider the specifics of vacancy texts, both in sociolinguistic and linguacultural aspects. The aim of the study is to identify sociolinguistic and linguacultural features of professional activity nominations in vacancy announcements in the Russian and German employment discourse. The research material is presented by Russian and German job advertisements, namely, professional activity nominations, collected by a continuous sampling method in the amount of 500 texts. The methodological basis of the study is also cognitive-discursive and comparative analyses. The authors find that even at the level of professional activity titles, the German employment discourse is closer to the institutional discourse, where the gender component is represented as a sociolinguistic and linguacultural feature. The Russian discourse of employment is closer to everyday discourse, which is manifested in the designation of professional activity directly by the compilers of advertisements. By sociolinguistic features, the authors of the article understand the statistics of the most popular professions and activities, taking into account such aspects as the applicant’s education, gender, and other socially significant characteristics and skills. Linguistically, the authors systematize the communicative features of the nominations in terms of linguistic means at different levels, implementing the employment discourse tactics, obeying the social and linguistic norms of national culture. The most expressive and popular language tools in Russian linguaculture, especially in the field of naming the types of proposed activities, include occasional job nominations and borrowings. The reasons for this type of nominations are discussed in detail by the authors in the article.

AN ANALYSIS OF SYNCTATIC ERRORS IN RUSSIAN TRANSLATIONS OF PUBLIC SIGNS IN CHINA

The article analyzed translations of the public signs installed on the territory of China and are aimed at native speakers of the Russian language. It is important to note that when translating from Chinese into Russian, while taking into consideration to the differences in the system of languages, the norms of the contemporary Russian literary language, including syntactic norms, are violated. In this paper, the authors propose a classification of the types of violations of the linguistic norms of the present-day Russian literary language based on the texts of public signs in Russian. The reasons for the occurrence of these violations are presented and a recommended translation option is proposed. Errors in the translation of public signs are described from the point of view of syntactic structures, e. g. various types of phrases and sentences. At the same time, along with the violation of syntactic norms in the translation of public signs into Russian, violations of lexical norms are considered. More precise equivalents for both languages are proposed, taking into account cross-cultural communication aspects. The set public signs translated into Russian can serve as a starting point for further research into graphic, spelling, lexical, grammatical and even pragmatic errors.

Normativity in Languaging and Practical Activity

Abstract The paper explores some of the commonalities between language and practical activity. It focuses on the normativity involved and presents an account on two different kinds of normativity which constrain both languaging and practical doings in general. In this connection, the paper engages with the first-order—second-order distinction central to the Distributed Language Perspective and shows that there is a way for proponents of this perspective to come to terms with linguistic normativity without presupposing a dualism between, on the one hand, first-order articulations and, on the other, the second-order normative constrains that condition them.

Az erdélyi magyar fiatalokmszlenghasználati szokásai

The study aims to investigate the slang usage habits of young people native in Hungarian in Transylvania. The research analyses to which extent high school and university students claim to use slang depending on the speech situation, as well as the primary motivations for slang usage. This question is examined by means of two research methods: analysis of questionnaire surveys and focus group interviews. The questionnaire data collection took place in five different linguistically diverse cities for high school students in Transylvania (Gheorgheni, Harghita country; Alba Iulia, Alba country; Cluj-Napoca, Cluj county; Târgu Mureș; Mureș county; Oradea, Bihor county) and three cities for university students (Cluj-Napoca, Cluj county; Târgu Mureș; Mureș country; Oradea, Bihor county), resulting in 384 completed questionnaires. The focus group interviews were conducted in groups of 3–5 participants, with 32 Hungarian-speaking young people studying in Cluj-Napoca participating in one of the eight groups.The questionnaire survey provided an opportunity to examine whether there are statistically significant correlations when comparing the results with the respondents’sociological variables, language proficiency, evaluation of languages, as well as their use of Hungarian and Romanian. The main benefit of the focus group interviews was gaining insight into the respondents’thought processes and underlying thoughts.Keywords:slang, language usage habits, linguistic norm, questionnaire, focus group interviews. Keywords: slang, language usage habits, linguistic norm, questionnaire, focus group interviews.

The translation of animation titles: A case study on English, Japanese, and Chinese titles

Though the translation of film titles has not been firmly established within translation studies, the existing studies mainly focus on the translation strategies and process analysis from classic theories including Skopos theory and semantic equivalence. Meanwhile, there has been limited research to examine the translation of animation titles. This paper delves into the intricate world of animation titles and their translation dynamics across languages, especially focusing on English, Japanese, and Chinese, employing a methodology that combines data from IMDb.com and chineseanime.org with Weiciyun and Python analysis. The study investigates titles' characteristics and features in each source language and the translation strategies used among them. The findings highlight that English, Japanese, and Chinese animation titles possess distinct structural and semantic attributes. These traits reflect the inherent linguistic norms and cultural preferences of each language. Furthermore, the study uncovers multifaceted translation strategies used to bridge the linguistic gaps among languages, including transliteration, literal translation, and adaptation. As for creative adaptation which has a large percentage of every translation process, it is conspicuous that the characteristics of those translated titles largely remain consistent with the features of the source texts. Also, this study exposes discernible patterns of cultural power dynamics influencing translation strategies, particularly evident in the prevalence of English loanwords and transliterations.

Typology of speech errors by native speakers (on the example of the French language)

Importance. The characteristics of the concepts “linguistic errors” and “linguistic norm” (subjective and objective) in the process of teaching native and foreign languages are given, which determines the significance of work in the modern multicultural space. The definitions of “speech culture” and “usus” are considered, and a typology of speech errors is described, which is divided according to aspects of the language: phonetics, grammar and vocabulary (stylistics).Research Methods. Examples of speech errors by French speakers are presented and analyzed based on the analysis of statistical data conducted by the French publications Le Figaro, Le Conseil Rédaction, Toploc, which clearly demonstrate how the language norm manifests itself and works.Results and Discussion. The conditions for describing the comparative and comparative analysis of contacting languages are substantiated as an important condition for identifying language difficulties and errors in language structures for the further application of this knowledge in the methodology of teaching both the native language and French and other foreign languages.Conclusion. The knowledge gained will allow students to improve their sociolinguistic competencies in the future, and the results of the study can be used in revising existing programs for the French language and organizing training in a more detailed consideration of the methodological support for teaching French: creating teaching aids, developing video materials and control.