Swearing and perceptions of the speaker: A discursive approach

Stapleton, Karyn

doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2020.09.001

Cited by 21 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…verið beint að viðhorfum til blóts og blótsyrða í samfélaginu, að viðbrögðum fólks við blóti annarra og að notkun blótsyrða og hlutverki blóts í tjáskiptum (sjá t.d. Jay og Janschewitz 2008, Menuta og Fjeld 2016, Finkelstein 2018, Stapleton 2010, 2020, Stapleton o.fl. 2022.…”

Section: Inngangurunclassified

Að blóta á íslensku

Svavarsdóttir

2023

Orð Og Tunga

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Swearing in Icelandic is the topic of this article. The main focus is on the grammatical aspects of swear words, i.e. their morphological and syntactic characteristics and behaviour, emphasizing how one swears rather than why. The Tagged Icelandic Corpus (MÍM), containing searchable texts from the early 21st century, is the primary source for the analysis. Even if the vocabulary of swear words is relatively small and swearing is a formulaic use of language, the results show that there can be considerable flexibility in Icelandic swearing and that there are creative means to modify and extend both the vocabulary and the syntactic constructions typical of swearing. The vocabulary extensions are partly based on word-formation (in some cases with unusual methods) and partly by borrowing, especially from English nowadays. In the syntax, certain forms of nouns used in swearing have acquired new functions, e.g. by using them adverbially, and nominal phrases can be extended by adding attributes preceeding the head-noun, adding to their diversity and effect. In such phrases, the genitive forms of swear nouns ‒ usually preceeding the head counter to genitive attributes in other nominal phrases — have been reinterpreted as adjectives allowing them to be freely coordinated in a string of attributes without conjoining them by conjunctions.

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Section: Inngangurunclassified

Að blóta á íslensku

Svavarsdóttir

2023

Orð Og Tunga

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“…Allan (2018: 12) describes swearing as 'the strongly emotive use of taboo terms'; while Jay (2018a) states that the two defining features of swear words are emotional intensity and negative valence. In a study of online responses to celebrity swearing, Stapleton (2020) has shown that emotionality and offensiveness are also common perceptions that hearers form about swearing. In addition, a number of studies have found that the expression and/or release of negative emotions is cited by participants as a primary motivation for swearing (Stapleton, 2003;Rassin and Muris, 2005;Jay, 2009;Jay et al, 2006;Baruch et al, 2017).…”

Section: Emotional Force Catharsis and Arousalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From the perspective of interpersonal pragmatics, Stapleton (2010) identifies four generally positive purposes of everyday swearing: expressing emotion (conveying affective responses, such as joy, anger, excitement, fear); humour and/or verbal emphasis (similar to Allan and Burridge's stylistic category); social bonding and solidarity (building harmonious relations and/or expressing affiliation); and constructing and displaying identity. It should be noted that these interactional functions are highly context-dependent, varying with, for example, the formality and purpose of the situation, demographic features of the interlocutors, individual swearing tolerance, socio-cultural expectations, and perceived intentions of the swearer, as well as the medium/channel of communication and the surrounding linguistic/discursive context (Bayard and Krishnayya, 2001;Beers Fägersten, 2012, 2017a, 2017bBeers Fägersten and Stapleton, 2017;Christie, 2013;Jay and Janschewitz, 2008;Johnson, 2012;Johnson and Lewis, 2010;Stapleton, 2010Stapleton, , 2020Kapoor, 2016).…”

Section: Interpersonal and Rhetorical Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The power of swearing: What we know and what we don’t

Stapleton

Fägersten

Stephens

et al. 2022

Lingua

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“…The interaction-focused literature resonates with this position in describing the micro-social functions of swearing, such as asserting dominance over conversations, performing authenticity, or building camaraderie (Cavazza & Guidetti, 2014; DeFrank & Kahlbaugh, 2019). Yet as diverse studies on the workplace (Bednarek, 2019; Daly et al, 2004), online communities (Dynel, 2012; Stapleton, 2020), and men's fraternities (Kiesling, 2001) suggest, these micro-social functions of swearing acquire social significance with reference to wider macro-social contexts, including prevailing ideologies and moral discourses, intergroup relations and societal hierarchies, and local and national histories.…”

Section: A Critical Discursive Analysis Of Populist Swearingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Presidential Profanity in Duterte's Philippines: How Swearing Discursively Constructs a Populist Regime

Montiel

Uyheng

Leon

2021

Journal of Language and Social Psychology

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Swearing in public discourse represents a contentious rhetorical feature of populist leaders’ transgressive politics. This paper argues that, beyond constituting merely “offensive” speech, swearing generatively accomplishes a host of discursive functions which contribute to the fortification of a populist regime. Taking populist President Duterte of the Philippines as a case in point, we utilize a critical text analytics approach to examine his use of profane language across a corpus of 746 of his public speeches. We find that Duterte discursively harnesses swear words to: (a) affirm vernacular identities with hostile humor, (b) claim outsider virtues against corrupt institutions, and (c) marshal insider force as the nation's sovereign leader. Swearing thus represents a rich discursive resource for populist leaders to navigate their contradictory positions as insiders and outsiders to political power, toward both public endearment and coercion of the nation's people. Our findings suggest the importance of critically examining language in relation to collective-level phenomena like populism and the utility of mixed methods approaches for enriching global psychologies of politics and language.

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Swearing and perceptions of the speaker: A discursive approach

Cited by 21 publications

References 43 publications

Að blóta á íslensku

Að blóta á íslensku

The power of swearing: What we know and what we don’t

Presidential Profanity in Duterte's Philippines: How Swearing Discursively Constructs a Populist Regime

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