Proverbial dog names of the Baatombu: A strategic alternative to silence

1993 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Schottman
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Verbal Communication ◽  
Communicative Acts ◽  
Animal Names

ABSTRACTA theoretical framework is presented to account for various means of indirect verbal communication used by the Baatombu of northern Benin to accomplish face-threatening acts, and a particular technique involving dog names is discussed. By carefully choosing a proverbial name for a puppy, the owner can then, simply by calling the dog, convey a message meant either for a particular neighbor or for anyone who hears it and feels concerned by its content. This diplomatic way of expressing oneself when a difference arises is doubly indirect: (a) The dog's owner makes use of a pseudo-addressee (the dog), and (b) the message is formulated with a proverb, therefore with words of which the owner is not the author. (Animal names, Africa, communicative acts, ethnography of speaking, indirectness, politeness, speech acts)

scholarly journals Conceptualising organisational cultural lag: Marriage equality and Australian sport

2021 ◽  
pp. 144078332199165
Author(s):  
Keith D Parry ◽  
Ryan Storr ◽  
Emma J Kavanagh ◽  
Eric Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Sexual Minority ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Marriage Equality ◽  
Institutional Diversity ◽  
Movement Theory ◽  
Cultural Lag

This article develops a theoretical framework to understand how sexuality can be institutionalised through debates about marriage equality. We first examine 13 Australian sporting organisations concerning their support for marriage equality and sexual minority inclusion before showing they drew cultural capital from supporting episodes of equality exogenous to their organisation, while failing to promote internal inclusion. We use online content analysis alongside the identification of institutional speech acts within policy to analyse results through three conceptual lenses: Ahmed’s institutional diversity work, Ogburn’s cultural lag, and Evan’s organisational lag, from which we propose a hybrid – organisational cultural lag – as a theoretical tool within social movement theory.

scholarly journals An Analysis of Speech Acts in the Inaugural Address of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the President of the Republic of Ghana on January 7, 2021

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
John Demuyakor
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Speech Act Theory ◽  
Inaugural Address ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
The Republic

Speech acts as an important element during communication, because it explains the thoughts of the speaker(s). A speech act is more about what is performed when uttering words and not about individual words or sentences that are known to form the basic elements of human communication. An attempt to do something through speaking is what is known as a speech act and a lot of things can be done through speaking. A speech act is studied under speech act theory and is found in the domain of pragmatics. Using a qualitative research design, the key objective of this study is to analyze the types of speech acts adopted in the inaugural address of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo as the President of the Republic of Ghana for his second term on the 7th January 2021. This study analyzed the Inaugural Address using Searle’s theory of speech act as a theoretical framework with emphasis on Searle’s five categories of speech act. The study showed that out of a total of 74 locutionary / Statements in the inaugural address,assertive acts are 40.5% of the utterances, commissive acts are 25.6%, while directive, expressive and declarative have small portions, of 13.5%, 12.2%, and 8.2% respectively.

Maternal Speech to 4-month-old Infants in Two Cultures: Wolof and French

1997 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Rabain-Jamin ◽  
Emilie Sabeau-Jouannet
Keyword(s):  
Physical Environment ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Communicative Acts ◽  
Two Cultures ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
French Group ◽  
The Two Cultures ◽  
Maternal Speech

The infant-directed speech of Wolof-speaking Senegalese mothers and French-speaking mothers living in Paris were compared to relate infant-directed communicative acts to the value system of the society to which the speaker belongs, and to describe the child’s place in those societies. Mother-infant linguistic interactions with 4-month-old infants were recorded (five dyads in the French group and four in the Wolof group). The discourse variables of the pragmatic and semantic categories in the mothers’ speech were analysed. The cross-cultural analysis included a comparison of the conventional versus shifted use of person markers by the mothers in the two cultures. The results demonstrated some features common to both groups, namely, a high percentage of expressive speech acts and the importance of affect-related statements. Some culture-specific emphases and tendencies were also noted. Whereas the French mothers’ conversational exchanges with their infants were dyadic in organisation and centred on the immediate physical environment, the Wolof mothers frequently expanded the dyadic framework to introduce third parties as conversational partners but talked very little about the immediate physical environment. Thus, it appears that cultural conceptions influence not only the content of mother-infant exchanges but also their participant structure.

scholarly journals Speech level shift in Japanese and Slovene

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-51
Author(s):  
Jasmina BAJRAMI
Keyword(s):  
Formal Language ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Verbal Communication ◽  
Level Shift ◽  
Colloquial Language ◽  
The Way ◽  
Formal Style

In verbal communication, we always aim to establish and maintain harmonious relations with others. Proper use of expressions and the choice of the way we speak are closely connected with politeness. In Japanese speech level is a level of formality or politeness in conversation, which is expressed by the use of linguistic forms (formal vs. informal) within and at the end of an utterance and the use of honorific expressions. In Slovene the level of formality or politeness in conversation is mainly expressed by the use of formal language and general colloquial language. Speech level shift is a shift from one speech level to another – e.g. from a formal style to an informal, etc. According to previous research, these shifts express speaker's psychological distance and a change of attitude towards a hearer. In this paper I will first briefly present the theoretical framework of politeness and an outline of speech levels in Japanese and Slovene. I will then present the data and the method used in this study. Finally, I will present and discuss the results of the analysis of both Japanese and Slovene conversation.

scholarly journals Speech Acts across Cultures: A Comparative Study of Chinese and Pakistani Students’ Request and Politeness Strategies

sjesr ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Amina Shahzadi ◽  
Abdul Ghaffar Bhatti ◽  
Munir Khan
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Politeness Strategies ◽  
Request Strategies ◽  
Esl Learners

The examines are the different request strategies in English used by Pakistani and Chinese students according to social distance and power of interlocutors. Data comprises students from Pakistan and China enrolled in an undergraduate program at International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan. Blum-Kulka, House, and Kasper's (1989) taxonomy of request strategies is taken as a theoretical framework to compare the request speech act patterns of Pakistani and Chinese students. This study analyzed the request speech act in terms of head act strategies used by participants. Blum-Kulka et al. (1989) categorized the request speech act into three request strategies i.e. direct, conventionally indirect, and non-conventional indirect strategies. The study identifies similarities between Pakistani ESL learners and Chinese EFL learners in making use of mood derivable as the preferred strategies for making requests in situations of different social distance, power, and familiarity between the interlocutors.

scholarly journals Between Statements and Actions: A Speech Act Analysis of President Buhari’s Media Political Discourses

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 948
Author(s):  
Sopuruchi Christian Aboh ◽  
Chris Uchenna Agbedo
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
National Interest ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Political Discourses ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Illocutionary Acts ◽  
Speech Act Analysis

The study of Buhari’s statements on “jailing of more thieves,” “rule of law should be subjected to national interest,” and “being fair in federal appointments” seem not to have been approached from speech act perspective. As such, this paper analyses the locutionary acts, illocutionary acts, and the perlocutionary effects of Buhari’s statements on the above subject matters. The data were obtained from the online version of Nigerian Dailies. Austin’s speech acts theory serves as the theoretical framework for data analysis. The findings of the study reveal that Buhari’s statement on “jailing of more thieves” is based on fact that he has already jailed some high-profile Nigerians since he was elected as the President of Nigeria. The findings of the study reveal the locutionary and illocutionary acts of Buhari’s statements. The study also shows how Buhari’s statements abided by or flouted Austinian felicity conditions. The perlocutionary effects of the statements were also identified.

scholarly journals Argumentation as a Speech Act: A (Provisional) Balance

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (63) ◽  
pp. 357-374
Author(s):  
Paolo Labinaz
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Theoretical Terms ◽  
Normative Model ◽  
Illocutionary Acts ◽  
Illocutionary Act

This paper investigates whether, and if so, in what way, argumentation can be profitably described in speech-act theoretical terms. I suggest that the two theories of argumentation that are supposed to provide the most elaborate analysis of it in speech-act theoretical terms (namely van Eemeren and Rob Grootendorst’s Pragma-Dialectics and Lilian Bermejo-Luque’s linguistic normative model of argumentation) both suffer from the same two flaws: firstly, their “illocutionary act pluralism” assumption and secondly, a lack of interest in where arguing belongs in the classification of illocutionary acts. I argue that these flaws derive from the authors’ reliance on an intention-based speech-theoretical framework. Finally, I adopt a deontic framework for speech acts in order to propose an alternative way of accounting for argumentation which seems to overcome the two limitations outlined above. According to this framework, argumentation may be conceived as a speech act sequence, characterized by the conventional effects brought about by the communicative moves (as illocutionary acts) of which it is composed.

scholarly journals Non-verbal Communication Used by Parents to Their Children in Presence of Visitors in Ovoko

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 533-542
Author(s):  
Bestman Esegbuyiota Odeh ◽  
Linda, Abugu ◽  
Jacinta Ukamaka Eze ◽  
Juliana Ginika Mamah ◽  
Augustina Ngozi Eze
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Verbal Communication ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Primary Methods ◽  
Its Analysis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Enugu State ◽  
The Right ◽  
Body Expression

This study examines the use of non-verbal communication by parents to their children in presence of visitors in Ovoko speech community, Enugu state, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study are: to identify various body communication signs used by parents to their children in presence of visitors and to provide the interpretations in the speech community under study. Primary methods of data collection are adopted which is observation and interview. From the pictures gathered from the field, a total of ten (10) facial and body expressions are selected for analysis in this study. The study adopts the social semiotic theory as a theoretical framework for its analysis. The study identifies various body signs used by parents to their children. It further reveals that all expressions used by the population have meanings attached to them. The study therefore, recommends that a study of the children’s interpretation and opinion of the parents’ body expression is a worthwhile academic undertaking in other to ascertain if the right perlocutionary response to the sign is always achieved.

scholarly journals I Do It, but I Decide With Whom

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina M. Pulido ◽  
Ana Vidu ◽  
Sandra Racionero-Plaza ◽  
Lídia Puigvert
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Nonverbal Communication ◽  
Verbal Communication ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Communicative Acts ◽  
Crucial Element ◽  
Female Survivors ◽  
Male Perpetrators ◽  
Alternative Masculinities

Social interactions and communication shape the desires and preferences of men and women. While it is true that some men have modified their behavior due to feminist women, the same happened with some women, who changed attraction patterns thanks to new alternative masculinities (NAM). This study examines the latter, focusing on social interactions mediated by language, as a crucial element to impact and change the desires of people. For this purpose, six autobiographical interviews were conducted with women aged 19–39 years, from two different countries and continents, paying attention to the narratives of their sexual-affective relationships. Using the communicative methodology, interactions have been analyzed from verbal communication and nonverbal communication, based on the consequences of the actions rather than intentionality. The results of this study show how dialogic communicative acts with NAMs influenced some women who first defended or justified actions of male perpetrators to later prefer to support female survivors against their perpetrators. Analysis reveals that communicative acts grounded in such language that enacted the desire of NAM for women of solidarity have shaped some memories of women of relationships with dominant traditional masculinities (DTM) and, ultimately, contributed to change their attraction and election patterns.

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