Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics Commons^™

I Don't Know Why It's Funny, But I'Ll Laugh Anyway: Analysis Of Feigned Laughter In The Context Of Face-Threatening-Utterances, Dirkson Christopher Lee

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this thesis is to reveal some of the behavioral characteristics of a specific type of laughter that I term "feigned laughter," and how it is used in the context of face-threatening-utterances (FTUs), or utterances that threaten the face needs of an individual.

A Comparative Study Of Standard American English And Non-Standard American English Accents, Casey S. Gleason

Masters Theses

Through the birth and maturation of the American society, dominant cultures have developed and become the accepted norm of America. However, with the constant flow of immigrants entering America, a variety of cultures and languages entered, also. The English language has remained the dominant language, while Standard American English has remained the dominant accent. Those who do not display Standard American English (SAE) often fall victim to a lower level of speaker credibility than those who speak SAE. One's sex may also affect speaker credibility due to different communication styles. The affect one's combination of accent and sex has on …

The Role And Status Of English Among The Urban Punjabis In Malaysia, Kamila Devi Jai Dev Kundra

Student Works (2000-2009)

This is a study of the role and status of the English language among the minority ethnic group of Punjabis, with special reference to the urban Punjabis in Malaysia. The purpose of this study is to show how and why English has become so important among this minority group. The Punjabis in Malaysia speak a language, which is a mixture of Punjabi and Hindi or as Khubchandini (1963) points out 'Kari Boli'. According to Khubchandini, the reason this happens is because the spoken versions of Hindi and Punjabi are quite similar and as such, they are mutually intelligible to speakers …

The Influence Of Tamil Lexical Items In The English Spoken By Malaysian Tamils In The Domain Of Frienship, Kahlah Vathee Periasamy

Student Works (2000-2009)

Malaysian Tamils who speak English in the domain of friendship. The researcher divided the participants into three age groups so as to get a comprehensive data for the study. The three age groups are as shown:

i. 10-20 Year Age Group.

ii. 21-49 Year Age Group.

iii. 50 > Year Age Group.

The researcher selected helpers from each of the group to aid in the recording of the English conversations of the participants. This was done in order to determine the influence of Tamil as well as Bahasa Melayu. and other lexical items in the English that the participants speak. The …