Speech Register Research Articles

Ce que parler veut dire dans ce monde et dans l'autre. De l'usage de la métaphore en Santal

Carrin-Bouez Marine - "What is meant by speaking here below and in the other world. On the use of metaphor among Santals". Analysing metaphoric processes among Santals gives some insight into their own view of what speaking is about. This analysis reveals two registers opposing : the register of "earthly speech", unfurled within ordinary speech as well as in the oratory of spokesmen and priests ; the register of Bongas, threatening and deceitful divinities's speech. Whether in an ordinary or solemn context, the register of enunciation of twisted speech (bentha katha) needs to be recognized : as earthly speech, they rely upon substitution in a natural series ; as Bonga's (or witche's) speech, they act as a "translation" - reported speech into the other world, where a substitution of speaker induces a semantic shift.

Towards a linguistic analysis of North Sotho speech registers

In hierdie artikel word 'n inleidende studie van verskillende taalregisters in Noord-Sotho gedoen. Vir dié doel word verskillende taalgebruiksfere geanaliseer, naamlik voorvaderverheerliking-, kerklike-, roubeklaging-, huwelik- en beroepsfeer. Eerstens word die konseptuele betekenis van die begrip ‘taalregister’ van nader beskou en daarna word gepoog om dié begrip te omskryf. Daar word tot die slotsom gekom dat 'n analise van verskillende taalregisters veral op stylwisseling betrekking het.

Didactic adjustments in fathers' and mothers' speech to their 3-month-old infants

Vocal dialogues of 3-month-old infants with their mothers and fathers were recorded during dyadic interactions in the laboratory. Six-minute speech samples were analyzed for syntacticlexical and temporal-melodic features. Both parents adopted strikingly similar speech registers. Segmentation, reduction in syntactic complexity, repetitiveness, and slow tempo were more marked than reported for parental speech to children above 1 year. However, rather than providing proper linguistic models, parents utilized simplified patterns of expressive melodic contours as the most salient units of speech. This tendency is interpretable as age-specific adjustment to infants' integrative capacities. Structural similarities between maternal and paternal baby talk by far outweighed a few quantitative differences. The intuitive nature of recourse to basic nonverbal properties of vocal communication, together with universality across sex, favors the assumption that baby talk is a part of species-specific didactic support to infant communicative development.

Estudio de los adjetivos en -al/-ar en el «Tratado de las apostemas» de Diego El Covo

In this article Spanish adjectives formed by the suffix -al, -ar are analysed in a medical treatise of the 15th Century. During this period this type of adjective was widely used due to its cultural character. The origin of this suffix is of Latin extraction (-ALIS, -ARIS) belonging to a high speech register. Thus it could appear even in epic language. This derivative morpheme has two allomorphs, -al, -ar, in complementary distribution, regulated by the présence of the lateral phonemes in final position in the lexeme. Moreover there are three diachronic variants extant (-ial, -iar and -ual). Its primary function is to form adjectives from nouns, although the présence of adjectives formed from adjectives has been recorded.

Learning to play doctor: Effects of sex, age, and experience in hospital

Twenty‐one children aged 4 to 9 years enacted four social roles—doctor, nurse, mother of sick child, and father of sick child—on two occasions, once shortly before and once shortly after the children themselves were hospitalized for minor elective surgerv. Measures were taken of the children's skill at talking appropriately in each of the four roles, and at using specific features of the sick‐room register, that is, a nurturant style and the medical lexicon. The children improved significantly on number and length of in‐role utterances, and on their ability to make plot‐furthering contributions to the play sessions. The boys were generally less skillful at using in‐role language, especially the nurturant speech style. The girls’ better performance for the ‘female roles’ (nurse and mother) was particularly striking, whereas boys performed relatively better in the roles of doctor and father. If a major component of children's failure to maintain the appropriate in‐role speech register is their lack of real‐world knowledge about how the social role models typically talk, then improvement in skill at using role‐specific registers could occur simply as a result of exposure to those roles in real‐world settings, at least for children old enough to have mastered the cognitive prerequisites to role play. The results of this study indicate a greater effect of hospitalization experience on children's general conception of hospital roles and plots than on specific linguistic markers of the sick‐room register.

Repetition as a Rhetorical and Conversational Device in Tojolabal (Mayan)

Previous articleNext article No AccessRepetition as a Rhetorical and Conversational Device in Tojolabal (Mayan)Jill BrodyJill Brody Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by International Journal of American Linguistics Volume 52, Number 3Jul., 1986 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/466022 Views: 40Total views on this site Citations: 22Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1986 University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Nicholas A. Lester, Steven Moran, Aylin C. Küntay, Shanley E.M. Allen, Barbara Pfeiler, Sabine Stoll Detecting structured repetition in child-surrounding speech: Evidence from maximally diverse languages, Cognition 221 (Apr 2022): 104986.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104986Sonja Gipper Repeating responses as a conversational affordance for linguistic transmission, Studies in Language 44, no.22 (Jun 2020): 281–326.https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.19041.gipBoping Yuan, Yvonne Lin Directionality and complexity of L1 transfer in L2 acquisition: Evidence from L2 Chinese discourse, International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 57, no.44 (Nov 2019): 377–416.https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2017-0009Mary Jill Brody Heightened Discourse and Dialogical Syntax in Tojol‐ab'al Conversation, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 29, no.22 (Aug 2019): 221–230.https://doi.org/10.1111/jola.12229María Luz García Language, Culture, and Justice: Ixil Mayan Verbal Art in the 2013 Genocide Trial of José Efraín Ríos Montt in Guatemala, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 29, no.22 (Aug 2019): 239–248.https://doi.org/10.1111/jola.12245María Luz García Translated Justice? The Ixil Maya and the 2013 Trial of José Efraín Ríos Montt for Genocide in Guatemala, American Anthropologist 121, no.22 (Mar 2019): 311–324.https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.13230Lydia Rodríguez, Sergio D. López Performing Healing: Repetition, Frequency, and Meaning Response in a Chol Maya Ritual, Anthropology of Consciousness 30, no.11 (Mar 2019): 42–63.https://doi.org/10.1111/anoc.12107Francisco Villarroel Ordenes, Dhruv Grewal, Stephan Ludwig, Ko De Ruyter, Dominik Mahr, Martin Wetzels, Vicki Morwitz, Praveen Kopalle Cutting through Content Clutter: How Speech and Image Acts Drive Consumer Sharing of Social Media Brand Messages, Journal of Consumer Research 45, no.55 (Apr 2018): 988–1012.https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucy032Shelley Stagg Peterson, Alison Altidor-Brooks Using social knowledge while interacting at the classroom sand center: Facework and cohesion strategies, Journal of Early Childhood Research 16, no.44 (Oct 2018): 421–435.https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X18809393Mary Jill Brody Chapter 5. Borrowed Spanish discourse markers in narrative, (Feb 2018): 111–125.https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.340.06broLourdes de León Texting Amor: Emerging Intimacies in Textually Mediated Romance Among Tzotzil Mayan Youth, Ethos 45, no.44 (Dec 2017): 462–488.https://doi.org/10.1111/etho.12183Laura S. DeThorne, Julie A. Hengst, Hillary A. Valentino, Stephanie A. Russell More Than Words: Examining Communicative Competence Through a Preschool-Age Child With Autism, Inclusion 3, no.33 (Sep 2015): 176–196.https://doi.org/10.1352/2326-6988-3.3.176Starling Hunter, Susan Smith Thematic and Lexical Repetition in a Contemporary Screenplay, Open Journal of Modern Linguistics 03, no.0101 (Jan 2013): 9–19.https://doi.org/10.4236/ojml.2013.31002Ghaleb Rabab'ah, Ali Farhan AbuSeileek The Pragmatic Functions of Repetition in TV Discourse, Research in Language 10, no.44 (Dec 2012): 445–460.https://doi.org/10.2478/v10015-012-0004-xMark A. Sicoli Shifting voices with participant roles: Voice qualities and speech registers in Mesoamerica, Language in Society 39, no.44 (Aug 2010): 521–553.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404510000436Lourdes de León Parallelism, Metalinguistic Play, and the Interactive Emergence of Zinacantec Mayan Siblings' Culture, Research on Language & Social Interaction 40, no.44 (Nov 2007): 405–436.https://doi.org/10.1080/08351810701471401Kendall King, Gigliana Melzi Intimacy, Imitation and Language Learning: Spanish Diminutives in Mother-Child Conversation, First Language 24, no.22 (Jun 2004): 241–261.https://doi.org/10.1177/0142723704044139Tae-Sang Jang Aspects of poetic balance and cohesion in Hausa proverbs, Journal of African Cultural Studies 15, no.22 (Dec 2002): 215–236.https://doi.org/10.1080/1369681022000042664Anthony R. Berkley Respecting Maya Language Revitalization, Linguistics and Education 12, no.33 (Sep 2001): 345–366.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0898-5898(01)00054-7Sali Tagliamonte, Helen Lawrence ?I Used to Dance, but I Don?t Dance Now?, Journal of English Linguistics 28, no.44 (Jul 2016): 324–353.https://doi.org/10.1177/007542420002800402Charles Andrew Hofling Marking Space and Time in Itzaj Maya Narrative, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 3, no.22 (Dec 1993): 164–184.https://doi.org/10.1525/jlin.1993.3.2.164Jill Brody Indirection in the Negotiation of Self in Everyday Tojolab'al Women's Conversation, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 1, no.11 (Jun 1991): 78–96.https://doi.org/10.1525/jlin.1991.1.1.78

Talking to children, foreigners, and retarded adults.

Speech addressed to different categories of listeners was examined in a study in which undergraduate women taught a block design task to either a 6-year-old child, a retarded adult, a peer who spoke English as a second language (foreigner), or a peer who was an unimpaired native speaker of English. The speech addressed to children differed from the speech addressed to native adults along every major dimension that emerged in this study: It was clearer, simpler, and more attention maintaining, and it included longer pauses. Speech addressed to retarded adults was similar in numerous ways to the speech addressed to 6-year-olds; in some ways (e.g., repetitiveness), it was even more babyish. However, speech to the retarded adults did differ in timing from the other styles of speaking in that it included fewer and somewhat shorter pauses. Speech addressed to foreigners was more repetitive than speech addressed to native speakers, but in all other ways it was very similar. There was some evidence that speakers fine-tuned their communications to the level of cognitive and linguistic sophistication of their particular listener; for example, speakers addressing the more sophisticated foreigners (relative to those addressing the less sophisticated foreigners) used speech that included fewer devices for clarifying, simplifying, and maintaining the listeners' attention. We discuss the hypothesis that baby talk (the speech addressed to children) is a prototypical special speech register from which other special registers are derived.

Four-month-old infants prefer to listen to motherese

The speech register used by adults with infants and young children, known as motherese, is linguistically simplified and characterized by high pitch and exaggerated intonation. This study investigated infant selective listening to motherese speech. The hypothesis tested was that infants would choose to listen more often to motherese when given the choice between a variety of natural infant-directed and adult-directed speech samples spoken by four women unfamiliar to the subjects. Forty-eight 4-month-old infants were tested in an operant auditory preference procedure. Infants showed a significant listening preference for the motherese speech register.

Yurok speech registers and ontology

ABSTRACTAspects of the precontact ontology of the Yurok Indians of northwestern California may be explored through analysis of lexical and semantic shifts that occur between two speech registers in Yurok: “ordinary” speech and an auxiliary. “high,” or esoteric, speech style. In the “high” register, use of which was the prerogative of a social and spiritual elite, a variety of mechanisms are implemented in altering “ordinary” lexation and in attributing different meanings to parts of the “ordinary” lexicon. These include circumlocution, antonymy, attribution, and, most significantly, the shifting of referential focus. Semantic shifts are systematic within specifiable lexical sets and implicitly comprise subtle ontological exegeses. (Ritual languages, speech registers, translation, world view, Native North America)

Mothers' speech to prelingual infants: a pragmatic analysis.

ABSTRACTFunctional and referential changes in maternal speech were investigated in a developmental study of nineteen mother–infant dyads, using video recordings of their free play at three and six months. The role of the infant in influencing speech adjustments was investigated by analysing the relationships between different types of maternal speech and different infant behavioural modes. Three general modes were differentiated – Communicative, Praxic and Other – and, regardless of infant age, mothers were found to make some modifications to their speech style as a function of infant mode. Speech style also was found to change, at a pragmatic level, from three to six months. Both findings support the conclusion that maternal speech is influenced by non-linguistic behavioural ‘feedback’ from infants. However, a finding that affect-oriented speech is more sensitive to infant behaviour than informative speech supports Brown's (1977) contention that the maternal speech register is shaped by two relatively independent interpersonal functions – the affective and communicative components. It is argued that a fuller account of maternal conversational adjustments to prelingual infants requires both a dialogic and a monologic explanation.

Children's Use of a Social Speech Register: Age and Sex Differences

The purpose of this study was to trace the changes in a social speech register, talking to an animal, as used by children between the ages of five and 12 years. Each child's speech was recorded while she/he played alone with a rabbit. There were no changes in the nature of such speech between the age groups. However, boys and girls spoke differently to the rabbit. Boys used simpler speech, more imperatives and more annoyed utterances. Girls were more affectionate and asked more questions. Girls were less self conscious during the task. Girls' intonations were more expressive as measured by ratings and by the variability of the fundamental frequencies of their voices. A comparison of results on baby-talk with the characteristics of animal-talk indicated that the two registers are similar.

TOWARDS A LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF A SHONA SPEECH REGISTER

This paper in a way falls into two parts, namely a general account of what speech registers are and a linguistic characterisation of one Shona speech register. Briefly a register is a variety of language which correlates with context, including situation. Given a linguistic situation, it is observed that the choice of the language to be used is determined not so much by the topic of discussion as by the convention that a certain type of language is more appropriate to one situation than to another. The main factor which distinguishes one register from the other is the relationship that exists between the participants, chiefly from the point of view of the formality and informality of the language used. In Shona, as in other languages, there are numerous speech registers some of which are more clearly defined than others. Among these is the Kupira Midzimu register whose linguistic features are the concern of the second part of this paper. These features include, among others, the type of key lexical items,...

The paralanguage of caregiving: baby talk to the institutionalized aged.

A field study was conducted at a nursing home to (a) obtain descriptive information on the speech environment of the institutionalized elderly and (b) provide speech samples with which to conduct judgment studies on the paralinguistic features of caregiver communication. Three kinds of speech were differentiated: baby talk, speech to the elderly that was not in baby talk, and speech between caregivers, which was assumed to be normal adult speech. Over 22% of the sentences were reliably categorized as baby talk speech. Caregivers' ratings of the characteristics of the care receivers did not predict the amount of baby talk that was directed toward individual care receivers. In Judgment Study 1, content-filtered baby talk was identified as speech to children regardless of the actual status, adult or child, of the target. In Judgment Study 2, content-filtered speech samples were rated on four dimensions: comfort, pleasantness, irritation, and arousal. Baby talk was rated positive, adult speech received intermediate ratings, and non-baby-talk was rated negative. The findings suggest that baby talk is a speech register conveying affection, and it is proposed that non-baby-talk to the elderly is an "institutional" register denoting and promoting dependency.

Consistency in the pattern of change in mothers' speech: some discriminant analyses.

ABSTRACTThis study demonstrates a striking absence of variability in the speech which mothers address to children of the same age within the 1- to 5-year range. Speech to children of 1; 0, 1; 8, 2; 3 and 5; 0 years was analysed for aspects of syntactic, semantic, pragmatic and discourse structure. Discriminant function analyses showed that the age of the child to whom a mother was speaking could be predicted very accurately from her speech. The rate at which mothers' speech changed was greatest when the children were 1; 8–2; 3, and least when they were 2; 3–5; 0. These trends in the evolution of the maternal speech register are interpreted as responses to concurrent changes in children's language behaviour.

Luandino Vieira's Short Fiction: Decolonization in the Third Register

The central theme of Luandino Vieira's short fiction is the «anthropological» daily existence in the musseques, slums, which surround the city of Luanda. The socio-political question of the epoch—the liberations movements and the repression by the colonial rulers—do not escape the author's view. Prior to the publication of Luandino's works, the language of Angolan fiction was indistinguishable from that of standard Portuguese fiction. The relationship of Quimbundo, the Bantu dialect of Luanda, and Portuguese is the key to the originality of Luandino's works. This becomes quite evident in the collections Velhas estorias and No amigamente na vida. Language register is Luandino's prime consideration. The «establishment» figures of the stories speak in Portuguese, while the people of the musseques function in Quimbundo. When the two social groups come into contact so do their languages. The result is a third register of speech, one which reflects the PortugueseQuimbundo heritage and results in a new literary language. The basic contribution of Quimbundo is within the lexico-semantic area. In addition to a large number of Bantu words, new shades of meaning are given to common Portuguese terms through innovations in their traditional meaning and usage, as well as through their recreation along African language principles. Portuguese contributes its wealth of morphemes—principally suffixes—which enhance the Quimbundo vocabulary. Syntax is similarly recreated. Although Luandino's short fiction has been called hermetic, it does present an epoch of Angolan society. Its existence is an affirmation of national independence. This article is available in Studies in 20th Century Literature: http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol4/iss2/10 LUANDINO VIEIRA'S SHORT FICTION: DECOLONIZATION IN THE THIRD REGISTER* IRWIN STERN Columbia University Contemporary linguistic theory views language as a human artifact, that is, an utensil of man's existence which can be shaped according to his changing conditions and needs.' The languages-incontact phenomenon readily attests to this attitude. We can speak of the influence of ancient Greek on Latin, of Arabic on Spanish, or of French on old English with the resultant linguistic modification or enrichment of Latin, Spanish, and English as some outstanding examples of this phenomenon at work. It has been only within the last quarter century that any serious critical consideration and attention has been given to the literary product of modern examples of languages-in-contact, or to what has been called «bilingual literature.» 2 African literatures in the twentieth century offer an ample area for the study of the literary aspect of the languages-in-contact phenomenon. Indeed, some investigation has been carried out into the significance of this literature in Africa.' Such has not been the case for Angolan literature. Because of the 1974 Portuguese revolution, Angolan independence, and the publication of the works of a major contemporary Angolan writer, such an evaluation can now be effected. That writer is Jose Luandino Vieira, pseudonym of Jose Vieira Mateus da Graca.

Speech Registers in Young Children

Speech Registers in Young Children