Say what? (xiao): the representation of laughter as a contextualization cue in online Japanese discourse
In this paper, I compare two variants for representing laughter in synchronous Japanese Twitter discourse: (xiao), the kanji symbol meaning "laughter "situated between two parentheses, and w, the first letter of the romaji transliteration of that same word wara. I argue that they are digit...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | deu |
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University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)
2012-12-01
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| Series: | Linguistica |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.uni-lj.si/linguistica/article/view/144 |
| _version_ | 1828060465078468608 |
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| author | Gregory A. Bennett |
| author_facet | Gregory A. Bennett |
| author_sort | Gregory A. Bennett |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this paper, I compare two variants for representing laughter in synchronous Japanese Twitter discourse: (xiao), the kanji symbol meaning "laughter "situated between two parentheses, and w, the first letter of the romaji transliteration of that same word wara. I argue that they are digital equivalents of what Gumperz (1982) calls contextualization cues and that users employ each variant to convey a pragmatic tone, or what Goffman (1981) refers to as linguistic keys. To demonstrate, I analyze the public Tweets of saywhat327, a male Japanese university student. I find that saywhat327 (1) uses (xiao) to key his utterances as warm/friendly in the formal register of Japanese, (2) uses w to key his utterances as playful in the informal register of Japanese, and (3) uses both variants with informal Japanese to key two separate utterances within the same Tweet as warm/friendly and playful, respectively, based on the semantic content of each utterance. In each of these cases, I argue that @saywhat327 builds rapport with his interlocutor by keying his utterances via the (xiao) and w cues. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T21:57:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4f222185e82b4593b037a4ea5811712f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0024-3922 2350-420X |
| language | deu |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T21:57:31Z |
| publishDate | 2012-12-01 |
| publisher | University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Linguistica |
| spelling | doaj.art-4f222185e82b4593b037a4ea5811712f2023-01-18T09:50:26ZdeuUniversity of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)Linguistica0024-39222350-420X2012-12-0152110.4312/linguistica.52.1.187-199Say what? (xiao): the representation of laughter as a contextualization cue in online Japanese discourseGregory A. Bennett0Georgetown UniversityIn this paper, I compare two variants for representing laughter in synchronous Japanese Twitter discourse: (xiao), the kanji symbol meaning "laughter "situated between two parentheses, and w, the first letter of the romaji transliteration of that same word wara. I argue that they are digital equivalents of what Gumperz (1982) calls contextualization cues and that users employ each variant to convey a pragmatic tone, or what Goffman (1981) refers to as linguistic keys. To demonstrate, I analyze the public Tweets of saywhat327, a male Japanese university student. I find that saywhat327 (1) uses (xiao) to key his utterances as warm/friendly in the formal register of Japanese, (2) uses w to key his utterances as playful in the informal register of Japanese, and (3) uses both variants with informal Japanese to key two separate utterances within the same Tweet as warm/friendly and playful, respectively, based on the semantic content of each utterance. In each of these cases, I argue that @saywhat327 builds rapport with his interlocutor by keying his utterances via the (xiao) and w cues.https://journals.uni-lj.si/linguistica/article/view/144digital discoursecontextualization cuesdiscourse analysisinteractional sociolinguisticsorthographic variation. |
| spellingShingle | Gregory A. Bennett Say what? (xiao): the representation of laughter as a contextualization cue in online Japanese discourse Linguistica digital discourse contextualization cues discourse analysis interactional sociolinguistics orthographic variation. |
| title | Say what? (xiao): the representation of laughter as a contextualization cue in online Japanese discourse |
| title_full | Say what? (xiao): the representation of laughter as a contextualization cue in online Japanese discourse |
| title_fullStr | Say what? (xiao): the representation of laughter as a contextualization cue in online Japanese discourse |
| title_full_unstemmed | Say what? (xiao): the representation of laughter as a contextualization cue in online Japanese discourse |
| title_short | Say what? (xiao): the representation of laughter as a contextualization cue in online Japanese discourse |
| title_sort | say what xiao the representation of laughter as a contextualization cue in online japanese discourse |
| topic | digital discourse contextualization cues discourse analysis interactional sociolinguistics orthographic variation. |
| url | https://journals.uni-lj.si/linguistica/article/view/144 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gregoryabennett saywhatxiaotherepresentationoflaughterasacontextualizationcueinonlinejapanesediscourse |