Abstract
Although expressivity is indisputably a crucial function of lan-guage, expressive features have often been neglected in linguistic descriptions. After discussing how this lack can reflect a gender bias in language documen-tation, this article recruits first-hand data from two Australian Aboriginal languages to explore whether the grammatical properties of individual languages can influence the semantics of their expressive resources. The study compares diminutives found in Dalabon and Rembarrnga, two Gunwinyguan languages spoken in the same cultural environment. The comparison shows that in spite of many mismatching linguistic properties, the emotions that these diminutives can express remain remarkably stable, suggesting strong socio-cultural constraints in this semantic domain.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 157-190 |
| Number of pages | 34 |
| Journal | Anthropological Linguistics |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2019 |
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Do linguistic properties influence expressive potential? The case of two Australian diminutives (Gunwinyguan family). / Ponsonnet, Maïa.
In: Anthropological Linguistics, Vol. 60, No. 2, 01.01.2019, p. 157-190.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Do linguistic properties influence expressive potential? The case of two Australian diminutives (Gunwinyguan family)
AU - Ponsonnet, Maïa
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - Although expressivity is indisputably a crucial function of lan-guage, expressive features have often been neglected in linguistic descriptions. After discussing how this lack can reflect a gender bias in language documen-tation, this article recruits first-hand data from two Australian Aboriginal languages to explore whether the grammatical properties of individual languages can influence the semantics of their expressive resources. The study compares diminutives found in Dalabon and Rembarrnga, two Gunwinyguan languages spoken in the same cultural environment. The comparison shows that in spite of many mismatching linguistic properties, the emotions that these diminutives can express remain remarkably stable, suggesting strong socio-cultural constraints in this semantic domain.
AB - Although expressivity is indisputably a crucial function of lan-guage, expressive features have often been neglected in linguistic descriptions. After discussing how this lack can reflect a gender bias in language documen-tation, this article recruits first-hand data from two Australian Aboriginal languages to explore whether the grammatical properties of individual languages can influence the semantics of their expressive resources. The study compares diminutives found in Dalabon and Rembarrnga, two Gunwinyguan languages spoken in the same cultural environment. The comparison shows that in spite of many mismatching linguistic properties, the emotions that these diminutives can express remain remarkably stable, suggesting strong socio-cultural constraints in this semantic domain.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85068612196&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1353/anl.2019.0002
DO - 10.1353/anl.2019.0002
M3 - Article
VL - 60
SP - 157
EP - 190
JO - Anthropological Linguistics
JF - Anthropological Linguistics
SN - 0003-5483
IS - 2
ER -