Analyzing Multimodality in Specialized Discourse Settings

Innovative Research Methods and Applications

Edited by Veronica Bonsignori, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, Rome, Italy et al.

Contemporary society has witnessed radical changes in the field of communications in terms of how messages and meanings are disseminated. Digitalization and the Internet have signalled an exponential rise in the circulation of multimodal texts in which different semiotic resources are orchestrated together to construct meaning in all areas of social life, across languages and cultures, and in diverse specialized discourse domains. This has foregrounded the need to examine the semiotic functions, affordances, and issues at stake in a range of multimodal discourse forms, while simultaneously highlighting the importance of critical multimodal literacy in audiences and learners. This volume develops and extends pioneering research on the intersection between multimodality and specialized discourse. Seven newly commissioned studies offer innovative perspectives on multimodal research methodologies and applications in a variety of ESP (English for Specific Purposes) contexts for practitioners and scholars alike. The volume offers a glimpse at future directions in this dynamic and ever-evolving area of investigation focusing on the synergy between verbal and non-verbal modes of communication in the digital age. Each chapter explores an original area of application: academic, economic, scientific, marketing, legal, medical, and political. The contributors approach multimodality from a range of theoretical and methodological viewpoints including synchronic and diachronic corpus-based and corpus-aided studies, critical discourse analysis, and systemic functional linguistics. Analytical tools such as multimodal (critical) discourse analysis, multimodal transcription, and multimodal annotation software capable of representing the interplay of different semiotic modes - speech, intonation, direction of gaze, facial expressions, gesturing, and spatial positioning of interlocutors - are employed. The diversity of research strands contained in the volume illustrates just some of the vast areas of multimodal knowledge dissemination that are still unmapped. As a cornerstone of communication, multimodality needs exploring in all its facets. These contributions aim to further that cause.

A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Indian Christian Names: The Case of Telugu Catholics and Syrian Christians

Smita Joseph, The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India

This book gives a sociolinguistic account of Syrian Christian and Telugu Catholic personal names. Unlike previous works on the linguistic or sociolinguistic analysis of the personal names of Indian Christians, which have mainly used a reflexive approach to analyse names, this book takes a constitutive approach by analysing the personal names of two Indian Christian communities (Telugu Catholics and Syrian Christians) from the perspective of community members. This novel approach provides greater insights into individuals’ motivations for naming and how names are used to create social identities. 'A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Indian Christian Names: The Case of Telugu Catholics and Syrian Christians' also provides a historical background of how names have evolved in these communities and explores the adaptation strategies used by Indian Christians through the act of naming (e.g., appending caste titles to Christian names, the use of Sanskrit personal names and Christian surnames) as well as the role of culture in naming (e.g., the use of other names, the role of caste titles in indicating one’s identity). This book paves the way for more qualitative studies to arise in the analysis of first names and will be valuable to graduate students and academics in the fields of onomastics, linguistics, religious studies, and history. It will also appeal to those interested in Indian Christianity in general.

New worlds for old words / Mundos nuevos para viejas palabras

The impact of cultured borrowing on the languages of Western Europe / El impacto de los cultismos en los idiomas de Europa occidental

Edited by Christopher Pountain, Queen Mary University of London and Bozena Wislocka Breit, Queen Mary University of London

"New worlds for old words / Mundos nuevos para viejas palabras" is a collection of chapters on the theme of lexical borrowing in the languages of Western Europe with particular focus on borrowing from Latin, or from Greek via Latin, into Spanish. Such cultured, or “learnèd” borrowing—as it has sometimes been designated—, is an especially intriguing feature of the Romance languages, since they also derive from Latin. It is also of particular interest to historical linguists since it is an example of what has been called “change from above”: innovation first evidenced in the written usage of the culturally élite which then diffuses into more general acceptance, with the result that some cultured borrowings (e.g. problem/problema, social, program(me)/programa) are now amongst the most common words in the modern languages. Despite their enormous influence on such major languages as English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian, the mechanisms by which these borrowings become established in their host languages have to date been relatively little studied. This book seeks to make a contribution to this question and revive interest in what has become a neglected area of historical linguistics and contains contributions both by internationally respected scholars and new researchers in the field. This bilingual collection will appeal to academics, scholars, and postgraduate students of Hispanic Studies, Cultural History, and particularly Historical Linguistics and Romance Linguistics. "New worlds for old words / Mundos nuevos para viejas palabras" es una colección sobre los préstamos léxicos en los idiomas de Europa occidental, centrándose sobre todo en los préstamos del latín, o del griego a través del latín, al español. Los cultismos son un rasgo especialmente interesante de las lenguas romances, ya que ellos mismos proceden del latín. También es de gran interés para la lingüística histórica dado que es un ejemplo de lo que se conoce como “cambio desde arriba”: cambios atestiguados primero en la lengua escrita de la élite cultural que luego comienza a tener un uso más generalizado, y cuyo resultado es que algunos de estos cultismos (por ejemplo “problema”, “social”, “programa”) se encuentran entre las palabras más comunes en los idiomas modernos. A pesar de su enorme influencia en lenguas tan importantes como el inglés, el español, el portugués, el francés o el italiano, los mecanismos por los que estos préstamos se establecen en los idiomas de acogida se han estudiado relativamente poco hasta ahora. Este volumen es una contribución a esta cuestión y su objetivo es reavivar el interés en lo que se ha convertido en un área olvidada de la lingüística diacrónica. Se incluyen capítulos de académicos conocidos internacionalmente y de investigadores noveles. Esta colección bilingüe será de gran utilidad para académicos, investigadores y alumnos de posgrado en estudios hispánicos, estudios culturales, y particularmente lingüística histórica y lingüística de las lenguas romances.

Lingüística del castellano chileno / Chilean Spanish Linguistics

Estudios sobre variación, innovación, contacto e identidad / Studies on variation, innovation, contact, and identity

Edited by Brandon M. A. Rogers, Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, USA and Mauricio A. Figueroa Candia, Universidad de Concepción, Chile

Ya desde el siglo XIX, el castellano chileno generó interés en lingüistas como Lenz (1891), quien lo aclamó como un geolecto dinámico y en constante evolución. Más recientemente, un grupo importante de lingüistas contemporáneos ha indicado que existe una gran cantidad de diferencias entre el castellano de Chile y otras variedades en varios frentes lingüísticos; tanto es así que debería considerarse como una zona dialectal independiente en el mundo hispanohablante. Su interés como caso práctico se ve reforzado por la incongruencia del grado particularmente alto de variación social y el menor grado de su variación geográfica. Lingüística del castellano chileno: Estudios sobre variación, innovación, contacto e identidad es el primer volumen de su tipo, y reúne el trabajo de un grupo diverso e internacional de investigadores e investigadoras del castellano de Chile. Mediante el uso de métodos, teorizaciones y análisis lingüísticos actuales, este volumen examina cómo el uso, la variación, las actitudes, la identidad y el cambio lingüístico se manifiestan de manera única en diferentes aspectos del castellano chileno y sus hablantes. Este volumen, que acerca el trabajo más actual sobre la lingüística española de Chile a la vanguardia del campo, constituye un recurso valioso para aquellos involucrados en la investigación y la enseñanza de la lingüística, la variación y el cambio lingüístico del castellano, así como para estudiantes de grado y posgrado. As early as the 19th century, Chilean Spanish attracted the interest of linguists such as Lenz (1891), who hailed it as an evolving and vibrant variety. In more recent times, a number of contemporary linguists have indicated that such a variety of differences exist between Chilean Spanish and other varieties on a number of linguistic fronts, that it should be considered as an independent dialectal zone in the Spanish-speaking world. Its interest as a case study is reinforced further by the incongruence of the particularly high degree of social variation and the small degree of geographical variation. Chilean Spanish Linguistics: Studies on variation, innovation, contact, and identity is the first of its kind, bringing together the work of a diverse and international group of researchers on Chilean Spanish. Through the use of current linguistic methods, theorization, and analyses, this volume examines how language usage, variation, attitudes, identity, and change are uniquely manifested in different aspects of Chilean Spanish and its speakers. Bringing the most current work on Chilean Spanish linguistics to the forefront of the field, this volume will be a valuable resource to all involved in the research and teaching of Spanish language linguistics, language variation, and change, as well as undergraduate and graduate students alike.

Watching in Tongues: Multilingualism on American Television in the 21st Century

James G. Mitchell, Salve Regina University, USA

This book explores ideas and issues related to second language (L2) speakers and L2 use as portrayed on American television. It examines many examples of television depictions of L2 speakers and L2 use collected in the first decades of the 21st century. The book is divided into four three-chapter sections. “Humor and Homicide” looks at two aspects of the inclusion of L2 speakers and L2 use on television: L2 use or speakers depicted to create humor in various ways, especially through miscommunication or misunderstanding, and L2 knowledge used to solve crimes in the detective/police procedural genre. The section describes the reasons behind these phenomena, how they work, and the messages they convey to viewers. “Language Learning” explores how both adult and child language acquisition is represented and misrepresented on American television, with analysis of realistic vs. non-realistic depictions. “Subtitles and Stereotypes” explores the ways in which L2 speakers are often negatively depicted on television, their portrayal based on stereotypes. This work specifically investigates the role that subtitles play in leading viewers to such conclusions, employing the idea of language subordination, a process that devalues non-standard language while validating the norms and beliefs of the dominant group. Also considered are ways in which stereotypes are sometimes used to undermine negative perspectives on L2 speakers. “Language Attitudes and Mediation” evaluates depictions of second languages used as tools of mediation in both historical and satirical terms as well as the feelings these portrayals engender in viewers. In short, this work asks questions that have not previously been posed about L2 use on television, and it provides answers that not only shed light on issues of the representation of language learning and language use, but also constitute a lens through which American society as a whole might be understood.