Swearing

The ideology of swearwords in Slovenia

by Jona Fras

In press: Language & Communication, 2012, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2012.04.004

Slovene speakers believe that swearwords are not indigenous to their language, but borrowed from other South Slavic... more Slovene speakers believe that swearwords are not indigenous to their language, but borrowed from other South Slavic languages. Interviews with educated Slovene speakers demonstrate that this ‘swearword ideology’ is not a purist or linguistic-nationalist phenomenon, but rather reflects Slovenes’ desire to differentiate Slovene from other South Slavic languages. This is due to mutual intelligibility and a lack of formal and legal distinctions, especially since other Slavic languages are not recognized as minority languages by the Slovene state. The role of swearwords in this ideology is analyzed as a product of both Lacanian symbolic anxieties and specific sociohistorical conditions, rather than an essentializing ‘Balkanist’ belief. This demonstrates the importance of an approach that does not presuppose essentialism on part of speakers.

BA Dissertation: 'What the Fuck?'

by Elizabeth Marsden

Unpublished dissertation submitted for completion of a Bachelors Degree with Honours in English Language. Supervised by Dr. Liz Holt and Dr. Jim O'Driscoll.

This paper provides an analysis of swearing in casual conversation using both a pragmatic and a conversation analytic... more This paper provides an analysis of swearing in casual conversation using both a pragmatic and a conversation analytic methodology using Gail Jefferson's 'Laughter in Interaction' study as a template. This dissertation helps to add to the growing body of research stating that swearing is not simply due to outbursts of emotion, but is a controlled phenomena, governed by observable rules.

Patterns of Age-Based Linguistic Variation In American English.

by Federica Barbieri

Published in Journal of Sociolinguistics, 12(1), pp. 58-88.

In prior sociolinguistic research, speaker age has been considered the principal correlate of language change, but it... more In prior sociolinguistic research, speaker age has been considered the principal correlate of language change, but it ‘has not yet been explicitly studied as a sociolinguistic variable’ (Eckert 1997: 167). Consequently, little is knows about how language varies across the life span. The present study employs key word analysis on a large corpus of casual conversation in American English to explore age-based linguistic variation in spontaneous conversation. Analyses of the key words point to two major patterns of age-based lexico-grammatical variation: use of slang, and use of stance and involvement markers. Younger speakers’ talk is characterized by an unusually frequent use of slang and swear words, and by a marked use of features indexing speaker’s stance and emotional involvement, including intensifiers, stance adverbs, discourse markers, personal pronouns, and attitudinal adjectives; older speakers favor modals. These patterns are suggestive of functional differences in the discourse of youth and adults. It is argued that the expression of personal stance is more explicit and plays a key role in younger speakers’ discourse.

A sociolinguistic analysis of swearword offensiveness

by Kristy Beers Fägersten

Beers Fägersten, K. 2007. A sociolinguistic analysis of swearword offensiveness. Saarland Working Papers in Linguistics 1: 14-37. http://scidok.sulb.uni-saarland.de/sulb/portal/swpl/

The methodology of the present study, designed for the purpose of collecting quantitative and qualitative data,... more The methodology of the present study, designed for the purpose of collecting quantitative and qualitative data, reflects a sociolinguistic approach to swearing, allowing for an investigation of the relationship between swear word usage and social context. Previous research had established swearing as both a frequently occurring speech behavior within the university speech community and a highly offensive one. The resulting ‘swearing paradox’ represents the question of how frequency and offensiveness can be directly related. The results of the present study explicate the swearing paradox by providing evidence of a discrepancy between the type of swearing that is most characteristic of social interaction within the university speech community and the type of swearing which is typically presented in offensiveness ratings tasks.

A.v.d.

by David Bos

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