scholarly journals The Communicative Function of English Parenthetical Constructions

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1-2 (18)) ◽  
pp. 19-28
Author(s):  
Marine Yaghubyan
Keyword(s):  
Main Function ◽  
Written Discourse ◽  
Communicative Function ◽  
Communicative Functions

The main function of parenthetical constructions is to characterize the sentence from the position of the speaker to the listener. In English parenthetical constructions are essential, since they not only connect ideas, sentences, paragraphs making them more cohesive, but also introduce contrast or opposition, emphasis or agreement, purpose, result or conclusion, etc. We try to demonstrate how parenthetical constructions provide and convey communicative functions in spoken and written discourse. However, one should also note that parenthetical constructions cannot carry out the communicative shifts independently; hence the certain communicative shift is relatively dependent on the context.

scholarly journals The Communicative Function of Non-Face Emoji "Folded Hands" in WhatsApp Interaction among Indonesians

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Muhammad Muzakky ◽  
Didin Nuruddin Hidayat ◽  
Alek Alek
Keyword(s):  
Online Communication ◽  
Written Discourse ◽  
Communicative Function ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mediated Discourse ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Teacher Students ◽  
Formal Relation

This study aimed to examine the communicative functions of the non-face “folded hands” emoji that Indonesians use in WhatsApp interactions. Using descriptive qualitative, the data were analysed through the social semiotic approach proposed by Lemke (1998),  the interactional sociolinguistic theory (Gumperz, 1982), and speech act theory. The data were taken from the messages that occurred naturally in several WhatsApp groups. It was re-transcribed and translated in English based on the theory by Dresner and Herring (2010). The findings revealed some functions of the non-face “folded hands” emoji in online communication. At the end of an utterance, it emphasizes message tone, politeness, and soft interaction. Furthermore, rather than this emoji expresses an emotion such as face emoji does, it performs illocutionary forces in communication such as thanking, apologizing, and asking.  It is also performed in situational interaction in which the relation of speaker and interlocutor has a formal relation such as teacher-students and leader-staffs. This empirical research added to computer-mediated discourse literature by analyzing the communicative function of folded hands emoji in written discourse. Practically, it might help users interpret the emoji as an abstract concept in the messages.

scholarly journals Fern von Aleppo: Narrative Themenentfaltung im interkulturellen Kontext

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-129
Author(s):  
Eman Mohamed Abdelfattah Said
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Narrative Text ◽  
Narrative Development ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Communicative Function ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
German Reader

Abstract In “Fern von Aleppo”, the Syrian author Faisal Hamdo, who left his home in 2014 and sought refuge in Germany, tells of his very personal integration experiences. The book represents a kind of intercultural communication. In his book, Faisal Hamdo, who sees himself as a “mediator between the worlds”, tries to give the German reader answers to many questions regarding Syrian culture. From a text linguistic point of view, this book identifies the narrative development that seems to be tailored to the intercultural context. Accordingly, the present article raises the following questions: Does the structure of classic narration differ from the structure of narration in an intercultural context? Which intercultural information units are presented in the text? How are they embedded in the narrative text? Which constituents of the narrative structure are suitable for realizing intercultural communication? Which communicative functions do the constituents of the narrative structure fulfill in an intercultural context? The contribution sets itself the goal of analyzing the narrative structure to investigate how intercultural communication comes about through narration, how the intercultural information units are integrated into the constituents of the classic narrative structure so that they fulfill their communicative function, and to developa suitable analysis model.

scholarly journals Personal Deixis ja [I] and ty [you] in the Mother’s Speech Directed to a Child under Three Years

2016 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-142
Author(s):  
Alexandra Brestovičová
Keyword(s):  
Role Play ◽  
Personal Pronoun ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Personal Pronouns ◽  
Communicative Function ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Born Child ◽  
Physical Abilities ◽  
One Year

Abstract The longitudinal case study of the usage of personal deixis I and you in the mother’s speech directed to her first born child from the age of 6 months to 3 years is based on the analysis of 30 one-hour recordings of their interaction transcribed via CHAT in Childes. The focus is on one aspect of the child directed speech register, which is its variability in time. In the longitude of 30 months the number of occurrences of personal pronoun you is constantly decreasing while the number of personal pronoun I is constantly increasing in mother’s speech directed to the child. The communicative functions which are being fulfilled by usage of personal pronouns I and you are also changing in time due to the development of the child’s cognitive and speaking abilities. New communicative function while using personal pronoun I such as explanation to the child occurs in her 33rd month. New communicative function while using personal pronoun you such as role play starts at her age of 20th month and mother’s repetitions of the child’s statements as the display of mother’s understanding occur from the 31st month. Other functions are fading in time such as commenting on the child’s physical abilities, which is dominant to her 17th month and commenting on the child’s state, which occurs up to one year of her age.

The communicative functions of five signing chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 224-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Austin Leeds ◽  
Mary Lee A. Jensvold
Keyword(s):  
Pan Troglodytes ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Speech Act Theory ◽  
Human Studies ◽  
Communicative Function ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Internal States

Speech act theory describes units of language as acts which function to change the behavior or beliefs of the partner. Therefore, with every utterance an individual seeks a communicative goal that is the underlying motive for the utterance’s production; this is the utterance’s function. Studies of deaf and hearing human children classify utterances into categories of communicative function. This study classified signing chimpanzees’ utterances into the categories used in human studies. The chimpanzees utilized all seven categories of communicative functions and used them in ways that resembled human children. The chimpanzees’ utterances functioned to answer questions, request objects and actions, describe objects and events, make statements about internal states, accomplish tasks such as initiating games, protest interlocutor behavior, and as conversational devices to maintain and initiate conversation.

A minor issue?

2009 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dulcie M. Engel
Keyword(s):  
Essential Elements ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Sentence Structure ◽  
Written Discourse ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Subject Noun ◽  
French Grammar ◽  
The Many ◽  
A Minor

‘Minor sentences’ is one of the many terms used in the literature to refer to a phenomenon usually relegated to an obscure paragraph of the grammar book, or treated principally as a spoken discourse feature. These forms are also referred to as sentence fragments, incomplete sentences, verbless sentences, and nominal sentences, to name but a few of the terms found. Despite the marginal status attributed to the forms, more detailed study is warranted. Minor sentences occur frequently in the written language, and perform important communicative functions in a range of contexts. The term is used to refer to apparently complete phrases which do not conform to canonical sentence structure. Typically, they lack a subject noun phrase, or a finite verb, i.e. one of the two ‘essential’ elements of the sentence. In this paper, we begin with an overview of English and French grammar book and discourse analysis approaches. We then discuss previous studies of minor sentence contexts, French recipes and newspaper headlines, before turning to a corpus consisting of public signs and notices, headlines, advertising slogans, and crossword clues, in an effort to determine whether certain minor sentence types can be associated with particular (written) discourse functions.

scholarly journals The Communicative Function of Sad Facial Expressions

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 147470491770041 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence Ian Reed ◽  
Peter DeScioli
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Economic Games ◽  
Communicative Function ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Alternative Theories

What are the communicative functions of sad facial expressions? Research shows that people feel sadness in response to losses but it’s unclear whether sad expressions function to communicate losses to others and if so, what makes these signals credible. Here we use economic games to test the hypothesis that sad expressions lend credibility to claims of loss. Participants play the role of either a proposer or recipient in a game with a fictional backstory and real monetary payoffs. The proposers view a (fictional) video of the recipient’s character displaying either a neutral or sad expression paired with a claim of loss. The proposer then decided how much money to give to the recipient. In three experiments, we test alternative theories by using situations in which the recipient’s losses were uncertain (Experiment 1), the recipient’s losses were certain (Experiment 2), or the recipient claims failed gains rather than losses (Experiment 3). Overall, we find that participants gave more money to recipients who displayed sad expressions compared to neutral expressions, but only under conditions of uncertain loss. This finding supports the hypothesis that sad expressions function to increase the credibility of claims of loss.

Use of a Visual Graphic Language System to Support Communication for Persons on the Autism Spectrum

2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 130-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard C. Shane ◽  
Meghan O'Brien ◽  
James Sorce
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Visual Supports ◽  
Communicative Function ◽  
Language System ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Instructional Mode ◽  
Graphic Language ◽  
Visual Graphic ◽  
Comprehensive Framework ◽  
Organizational Mode

This paper addresses use of visual graphic language to promote learning and communication for individuals on the autism spectrum via a comprehensive framework. Specifically, visuals are used expressively (Visual Expressive Mode), receptively (Visual Instructional Mode), and to provide organization and structure (Visual Organizational Mode). Seven key communicative functions are defined and discussed, including protesting and refusal, organization and transitions, requests, directives, comments, questions, and social pragmatics. The nature of visual supports for each communicative function is described in detail.

Strategically Communicating Minds

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 411-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo Mercier ◽  
Guillaume Dezecache ◽  
Thom Scott-Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Effective Communication ◽  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Communicative Function ◽  
The Third ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Evolution Of Communication ◽  
Strategic Incentives

Several recent theories postulate communicative functions for cognitive mechanisms previously thought to have individualistic functions—in particular, reasoning and metacognition. These theories join older theories suggesting that many of our behaviors have communicative functions, for instance to communicate emotions or to influence how people perceive us. Using the framework of the evolution of communication, we offer a series of questions to test these hypotheses. The first question is whether the mechanism enables effective communication. The second question takes into account the different strategic incentives between agents who send signals and those who receive them, asking whether receivers can discriminate beneficial from harmful signals. However, serving a function well is not sufficient evidence that a mechanism evolved to this end in particular. Accordingly, the third question bears on whether the mechanism serves other purported functions well and the fourth on whether some of its features can be explained as specifically serving a communicative function. An overview of the literature suggests that these questions have been experimentally addressed for some cognitive mechanisms (reasoning in particular) but not others. This framework thus opens up avenues for further research that will enable researchers to better test hypotheses regarding the communicative functions of cognitive mechanisms.

scholarly journals Communicative functions and characterization in the Chinese graphic novel adaptations of "Little Women"

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tzu-yi Lee
Keyword(s):  
Graphic Novels ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Graphic Novel ◽  
Communicative Function ◽  
Integrated Framework ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Little Women ◽  
Semiotic Resources

This article attempts to use an integrated theoretical framework to examine the three graphic novels published in Taiwan based on Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. After the concept of intertextuality (Kristeva, 1980), Kress and van Leeuwen’s (1996) visual grammar helps us to explore how the visual semiotic resources in three Taiwanese graphic novel editions of Little Women ascribe meanings, achieve functions and communicate ideologies to enhance the characterization of Jo March. Progressing from the images, image–text relationships are discussed in terms of how these signifiers shape signs and meaning. Finally, by exploring speech or thought representation, the researcher investigates the translators’ awareness of the readers and situates their use of signs socially and culturally. In this study, the integrated framework reveals how these semiotic resources characterize Jo March, and the double meanings (Kristeva, 1980, pp. 65–66) they present, differently. These characterisations may, in turn, may have affected the communicative function of each version. The study concludes with a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of these applications.

Communicative Functions of Directional Verbal Probabilities: Speaker's Choice, Listener's Inference, and Reference Points

2017 ◽  
Vol 70 (10) ◽  
pp. 2141-2158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hidehito Honda ◽  
Kimihiko Yamagishi
Keyword(s):  
Reference Point ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Communicative Function ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Verbal Probability

Verbal probabilities have directional communicative functions, and most can be categorized as positive (e.g., “it is likely”) or negative (e.g., “it is doubtful”). We examined the communicative functions of verbal probabilities based on the reference point hypothesis According to this hypothesis, listeners are sensitive to and can infer a speaker's reference points based on the speaker's selected directionality. In four experiments (two of which examined speakers’ choice of directionality and two of which examined listeners’ inferences about a speaker's reference point), we found that listeners could make inferences about speakers’ reference points based on the stated directionality of verbal probability. Thus, the directionality of verbal probabilities serves the communicative function of conveying information about a speaker's reference point.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document