Author Archives: Cecelia Cutler

Questions for Syelle Graves

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Syelle Graves’ dissertation work explores the emergence of a discourse marker she calls “backstory so”.  (For a simple description of discourse markers click here).

Using corpus analytic and experimental methods, her work describes the unique pragmatic functions and syntactic constraints of the variant; it occurs at the beginning of a sentence, in response to a question, and often signals that the speaker is about to give a response that is longer (hence “backstory”) than the hearer would prefer.

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Armando: Are your classes on weekends?

Patricia: So, the French class is on Wednesdays, but the literature class is on Saturdays, yes.

Syelle is also interested in how people perceive this variant; thus, a second dimension of her work explores the social meanings of “backstory so” and how it is evaluated in discourse using experimental survey methods. Lastly, her work turns to social media and discourse analysis as another fertile site for examining attitudes towards this new form.

The paper by Teresa Heyd on Folk-Linguistics Landscapes connects to Syelle’s topic in that many people express similar “grassroots prescriptive” attitudes towards  “backstory so”.

Here’s an example of an online comment addressing this feature:

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Why does this happen? Why did people decide to start beginning sentences with “so”? Very irritating [emphasis added]!

Tonight I was watching Shark Tank on TV and the contestant answered every question with “So, …”. Drove me nuts! I went online and searched to see if anyone else has noticed this irritating trend. Glad to learn I’m not the only one to notice…

Please post 1-2 questions for Syelle here.

Student conference announcement

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Hello Linguistics Department!

We are happy to announce the 13th installment of SQUID: Showcasing Quirky, Unusual Ideas In Development!

It will be held:

Friday, April 27, 2018

10am-5pm

Room: 5414

Keep this date in your calendar!

SQUID is an informal conference held by the Linguistics Program at which students and faculty present twenty-minute talks on a variety of unusual linguistic topics.

Everyone is invited to submit an abstract!  Last year we had an amazing all-day event, and we are hoping to have an even bigger turnout this year!  These talks can be funny or serious, but the general theme is informality. Talks for SQUID are so informal, in fact, that they can easily be put together in under a week. Students who give talks at SQUID get a chance to present in front of peers in a congenial, non-threatening atmosphere. Students who choose to attend (and not to present) get a chance to listen to some really interesting talks and to mingle with fellow linguistics students. Plus, everybody gets to eat fried calamari and drink beer at school.

Please email your abstract–or even just a title!–by Friday, April 13th (spoooooky)  to Cass Lowry at:

[email protected]

We are also in great need of volunteers to assist putting SQUID together on the day of the conference. Please write to Cass if you are interested in assisting with the conference.

Conference announcement: New: Media, Meanings, Messages, E-Motions (U. Penn March 8-10, 2018)

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https://www.sla-conference.org/

The theme “New: Media, Messages, Meanings, E-motions” invites thinking through how language and semiosis more broadly are involved in producing new and contingent forms and functions. From thinking about mass media to affective states, from new forms of message to the shifting indexicalities of their meaning, the meetings provide an opportunity to think through how new forms and functions emerge, how participants perceive and describe them, and what kinds of anxieties and possibilities are produced. The terms “media, message, meaning, and e-motion” are meant to suggest possible clusters of analysis to think through how new forms of semiosis emerge, challenge older forms, and show the effects of contingency in social life.