The term markedness has been used for various concepts in linguistics for a long time in spite of its controversial usage. The discourse on emotions or emotional language from a linguistic point of view has also been controversial and, as opposed to markedness theories, has not had a long tradition. When conducting research for this topic I noticed that there is little material that links markedness theory to emotional language. This paper is an attempt to link the two concepts and to show that markedness is an indicator for the intensity of emotions.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Markedness
2.1. The Concept in General
2.2. Comrie’s Comments
2.3. The Twelve Senses
2.4. How to Diagnose Markedness
2.5. Scale of Markedness
2.6. Markedness as Expectation
2.7. Markedness Assimilation
3. Emotions in Language
3.1. Stance
3.2. Rules of Emotionality
3.3. Expressing Emotions
3.4. Emotion Analysis
4. Markedness in Emotional Language
4.1. The Emotions
4.2. Markedness of the Emotional Terms
5. Conclusion
Research Objective and Core Themes
This study aims to bridge the gap between markedness theory and the linguistic expression of emotions, investigating whether markedness serves as an indicator for the intensity of emotional language. By applying established linguistic theories to literary dialogues, the paper explores how specific word choices and emotional strategies reveal the underlying relationship between unmarked, neutral forms and marked, emotionally charged expressions.
- Theoretical foundations of markedness (Comrie, Battistella, Haspelmath, Hume).
- Fiehler’s rules of emotionality and emotion regulation in conversation.
- Methods for analyzing emotional intensity through communicative behavior.
- Corpus-based approaches to identifying marked vs. unmarked emotional terms.
- Practical analysis of conversational dynamics using Nick Hornby's "Juliet, Naked".
Excerpt from the Book
2.1. The Concept in General
The underlying concept of all uses of markedness is that one feature of a linguistic form is more neutral than another. The less neutral form is regarded as marked whereas the other form is called ‘unmarked’. This concept has been discussed for a long time, but the term markedness was originally introduced by linguists of the Prague School at the beginning of the 20th century, who used it to explain phonological frequency differences. (Trask 2007: 163)
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter outlines the research gap regarding the intersection of markedness theory and emotional language, setting the stage for an analysis using specific scholarly frameworks.
2. Markedness: This section provides a comprehensive theoretical overview of markedness, covering concepts like language-internal markedness, diagnostic criteria, scales of frequency, and expectation-based models.
3. Emotions in Language: This chapter introduces key concepts in the study of emotional language, including the expression of stance, rules of emotionality (emotion, manifestation, correspondence, coding), and linguistic methodologies for emotion analysis.
4. Markedness in Emotional Language: This chapter applies the previously established theories to dialogues from Nick Hornby's "Juliet, Naked" to examine how emotional terms function as marked or unmarked elements.
5. Conclusion: The final chapter summarizes the findings, reiterating that markedness is a significant factor in communicating emotional intensity and suggesting directions for future research.
Keywords
Markedness, Emotional Language, Stance, Emotion Regulation, Linguistic Theory, Intensity, Corpus Linguistics, Semantics, Pragmatics, Metaphor, Metonymy, Expressive Terms, Discourse Analysis, Communication Patterns, Unmarkedness
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper focuses on the relationship between markedness theory and the linguistic expression of emotions, specifically exploring how marked linguistic forms can serve as indicators for the intensity of expressed emotions.
Which theoretical frameworks are central to the study?
The study relies heavily on Bernard Comrie, Edwin L. Battistella, and Elizabeth Hume for markedness theory, and uses Reinhard Fiehler’s rules of emotionality and Zoltán Kövecses’ work on the conceptualization of emotions as the basis for analyzing emotional language.
What is the primary objective of the author?
The primary goal is to show the complexity of linking these two linguistic concepts and to provide a systematic way to determine how markedness influences the perceived intensity of emotions in spoken and written communication.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The paper uses theoretical research and practical analysis of literary dialogues. It incorporates corpus frequency data (COCA) to determine markedness values and applies a six-step guideline by Fiehler for analyzing emotions in interaction.
What topics are covered in the main section?
The main part covers the general concept of markedness, diagnostic criteria for identifying marked terms, the role of stance in communication, rules regulating emotional behavior, and a practical application of these theories to dialogues from the novel "Juliet, Naked".
How are markedness and emotion linked in the analysis?
The analysis argues that speakers choose marked terms—which are often less neutral or more specific—to emphasize feelings and stress their emotions, whereas unmarked, frequent terms are used for more neutral descriptions.
How does the author analyze "Juliet, Naked"?
The author identifies "exceedingly emotional" parts of the dialogue and applies Fiehler’s steps to analyze communicative behavior, finding that Annie uses both literal and figurative expressions that demonstrate various degrees of markedness.
Does the paper conclude that emotional intensity is always linked to markedness?
The conclusion suggests that while markedness is a powerful factor in denoting intensity, further research using transcriptions of real-life, authentic conversations is required to fully verify these findings across different contexts.
- Quote paper
- Lisa Jensen (Author), 2010, Markedness Theories, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/181182
