Pragmatic Analysis of Swear Words in Online Communication via Messaging Apps

master's thesis

• Author: Sunčana Sinković
• Mentor: Marina Grubišić (mentor)
• Committee member: Mateusz-Milan Stanojević (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Ivana Bašić (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of English language and literature); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2021-07-13, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Philology; Anglistics

Abstract

This thesis will provide an insight into the pragmatics of swearing in online communication. The aim is to show that swearing in online environment is not exclusively insulting or harmful, but rather used for a multitude of different communicational purposes which depend on a range of correlated factors such as the situational context, background knowledge, speaker’s intention or emotion, manner of delivery, the position of power, relationship between participants of a conversation, etc. After briefly defining the swearing phenomenon, establishing the theoretical framework and the research methodology, swear words from the author’s personal corpus of text messaging on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger will be classified and analyzed pragmatically according to some of the prominent swearing typologies. The presented data intends to shed light on the function, motivation, frequency, and connotative meaning of swear words in online messaging in Croatian, as opposed to the corresponding findings in English.

Abstract (croatian)

Ovaj diplomski rad pruža uvid u pragmatiku psovke u mrežnoj komunikaciji. Cilj rada je dokazati da se psovke na društvenim mrežama ne koriste isključivo kako bi nekoga uvrijedile ili zlostavljale, već da mogu imati mnoštvo različitih komunikacijskih svrha koje ovise o nizu povezanih čimbenika kao što su situacijski kontekst, pozadinsko znanje, namjera ili emocija govornika, način isporuke, položaj moći, odnos između sudionika razgovora itd. Prvo će se definirati fenomen psovki, zatim uspostaviti teorijski okvir i metodologija istraživanja, te će se na temelju izabranih tipologija analizirati psovke iz autoričinog korpusa tekstualnih poruka preuzetih s Whats App i Facebook Messenger aplikacija za dopisivanje. Analizom tih podataka razjasnit će se funkcija, motivacija, učestalost i konotativno značenje psovki u internetskoj komunikaciji na hrvatskom jeziku, a dobiveni rezultati usporedit će se s odgovarajućim istraživanjima provedenim u engleskom jeziku.

• Keywords: swearing; swear words; cursing; taboo; context; pragmatics; Croatian; Facebook Messenger; WhatsApp
• Keywords (croatian): psovanje; psovke; tabu; kontekst; pragmatika; hrvatski jezik; Facebook Messenger; WhatsApp
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:723782
• Study programme: Title: English Language and Literature (double major); specializations in: Linguistics, Literature and Culture, Translation; Course: Linguistics; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti (magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2021-07-19 12:37:35