Word Boundaries and Language Play

Bilyana Todorova

Abstract


The aim of the paper is to present the role of incorrect speech segmentation in the process of creation of short ludic forms, such as calambours, epigrams, anecdotes, etc. The research tries to propose a classification of some of these uses, as it reveals common features between them. Most of the examples are excerpted from the social media Facebook, because the language play is very popular in the informal genres of Computer-Mediated Communication. The common feature between all researched examples is the co-existence of the meanings of both homonymic phrases. In fact, this impossibility to avoid ambiguity makes the phrases sound amusing and interesting.


Keywords


language play, homonymy, word segmentation, calambour

References


Blagoeva 2006: Blagoeva, Diana. “Language Play Manifestation in Bulgarian and Russian Computer Slang”. Sapostavitelno ezikoznanie, no. 2 (2006): 5–13. [In Bulgarian: Благоева, Диана. „Прояви на езикова игра в българския и руския компютърен жаргон. В: Съпоставително езикознание, no. 2 (2006), 5–13.]

Cummings 2005: Cummings, Louise. Pragmatics: A Multidisciplinary Perspective. Edinburgh Univ. Press, 2005.

Demirkova 2015: Demirkova, Ralitsa. “Language Play, Wordplay and Pun: Conceptual and Terminological Aspects and Hierarchical Relations”. Proglas, no. 2 (2015): 340–360. [In Bulgarian: Демиркова, Ралица. „Езикова игра, игра на думи и каламбур – понятийно-терминологични аспекти и йерархична съотнесеност“. Проглас, no. 2 (2015), 340-360].

Gambell & Yang 2005: Gambell, Timothy & Charles Yang. Word Segmentation: Quick but not Dirty. (Published June 2005). http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~ycharles/papers/quick.pdf (Accessed 26.02.2018).

Georgiev 2002: Georgiev, Nikola. “Malapropisms in speech and literature”. LiterNet, https://liternet.bg/publish/ngeorgiev/cit/malapropizmite.htm (Published 12. 11. 2002). [In Bulgarian: Георгиев, Никола. „Малапропизмите в речта и художествената литература“. ЛитерНет, https://liternet.bg/publish/ngeorgiev/cit/malapropizmite.htm (Публ.: 12.11.2002).]

Mineva 2012: Mineva, Martina. “Dialogue as a language game”. Retorika i komunikatsii, no. 5 (2012). http://rhetoric.bg/диалогът-като-езикова-игра (Accessed 01.07.2018). [In Bulgarian: Минева, Мартина. „Диалогът като езикова игра“. Реторика и комуникации, no. 5 (2012). http://rhetoric.bg/диалогът-като-езикова-игра (Достъп: 01.07.2018).

Sanders & Neville & Woldorff 2002: Sanders, Lisa & Helene Neville, Marty Woldorff. “Speech Segmentation by Native and Non-Native Speakers: The Use of Lexical, Syntactic, and Stress-Pattern Cues.” Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR, no 45 (3) (2002): 519–530.

Todorova 2015a: Todorova, Bilyana. “Language Play in Internet Forums (Based on Bg-Mamma Forum Materials)”. In Lukacs, Istvan, ed. Scientific Perspectives of Contemporary Bulgarian Studies. Budapest: Cathedra Philologiae Slavicae, 2015: 282–287. [In Bulgarian: Тодорова, Биляна. „Езиковата игра в интернет форумите (по материали от форумите на bg-mamma)“. В: Лукач, Ищван, ред. Научни перспективи на съвременната българистика. Budapest: Cathedra Philologiae Slavicae, 2015: 282-287.]

Todorova 2015b: Todorova, Bilyana. “Manners of Expressing Irony in Internet Communication (Based on Bg-Mamma Forums’ Texts).” Ezikov svyat, no. 12 (1) (2015): 56–61. [In Bulgarian: Тодорова, Биляна. „Начини за изразяване на ирония при общуването в интернет (по материали от форумите на bg­mamma“). Езиков свят, no. 12 (1) (2015): 56–61.]

Wittgenstein 1988: Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Selected Works. Sofia: Nauka i Izkustvo, 1988. [In Bulgarian: Витгенщайн, Лудвиг. Избрани съчинения. София: Наука и изкуство, 1988.]




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/zcm.2018.7.47-57
Date of publication: 2018-12-17 13:02:47
Date of submission: 2018-12-14 12:19:05


Statistics


Total abstract view - 1156
Downloads (from 2020-06-17) - PDF (Bulgarian) (Język Polski) - 728

Indicators



Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2018 Bilyana Todorova

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.