Linguistic features of language of selected teen magazines: general analysis

By Mahani Aris and Mafuzah Aris

INTRODUCTION

Wardhaugh (1992) says that language is both an individual possession and a social possession. When a person behaves linguistically similar to another, we can expect them to belong to the same speech community. By sharing the same language, dialect or variety, individuals in this speech community are said to have achieved group identity and group differentiation from other speakers; creating a specific culture. Teen language is a sub-culture developed by teenagers to differentiate themselves from the mainstream culture, according to Ito (2006, cited in Olsen, 2006). It gives them a sense of identity with its shared codes only understood among them.

TEEN MAGAZINES

The language of teen magazines has always been informal and more personal and speech-like, riddled with slang, clippings and colloquial lexemes. The sentences also tend to be short; even long ones have dashes and commas.

THE STUDY

The study focused on selected popular Malaysian teen magazines in English – Hot, Seventeen, and Galaxie. The research methodology for this study is corpus analysis, where the content of these magazines are put into digital format for the purpose of analysis.

Because there are many aspects of the language in teen magazines that can be analysed, the study focused on only linguistic features to create personal and speech-like communication – use of punctuation marks to create effect of pause, use of capitalization and exclamation marks to create effect of emphasis, use of asterisks to create effect of gestures and indicate curses, and use of interjections.

1.  Punctuation marks to create effect of pause

By writing convention, dashes are used instead of colon or semicolon to mark off a summary or conclusion, and to separate extra information, an afterthought or comment of the preceding statement. Dots, or a series of full-stops (usually three) are used to indicate omitted portion of a sentence and hesitation or interrupted speech.

In spoken communication, pauses usually indicate that the speaker is thinking of his/her next words, or for “dramatic effect” – making the listeners anticipate his/her next statements.

For example,

Dash

the most nominations this year – 10. To date, Em is busy the main source of entertainment – updating me on news what happened to the red carpet – Cameron Diaz is wearing it can always expect to see its stars – Robert Pattinson, Taylor show with two change of outfits – a one-shoulder cocktail

Dots

much. As I look closely, …nothing. It’s such a weird it’s all in vain, for any of us…and I don’t think anyone trying to get my attention…I ended up in detention “Ladies and gentlemen… we are officially done. that they were assembling… I would have done it as they may be for me … would be extremely problematic C’mon, give me a break… Please?

As we can see from the examples above, while the use of dashes follows the writing convention, the use of dots in the teen magazines are used to indicate a pause – contemplation on the part of the writer. In both instances, readers are required to pause at the punctuation marks, as how the sentences would sound like in spoken communication.

2.   Capitalization and exclamation marks to create effect of emphasis

Generally, in written communication, capitalization is used to indicate importance, calling for the attention of the reader to the statement. Exclamation mark on the other hand, is used at the end of the sentence of indicate anger, surprise, joy or other strong emotions.

Because the written words lack intonation and stress like spoken communication, to indicate excitement and emphasis, teen magazines are found to use capitalization and exclamation marks.

For example,

Capitalization

Calf-length skirts are IN! showing off skin is NOT the way you want to get his to make a mind blowing first impression on ANYONE… You can NEVER go wrong with a SMILE…it’s the easiest all this will help you to project CONFIDENCE think I was gonna be the troublemaker? LOOK MA!!! No CUFFS!!!” Dear tabloid media aka FILTH: pls note I expressed and Most, if not ALL popsters welcome deals w/products Once AGAIN stop pitting artists against artists for your

Exclamation mark

Imagine! One movie! Yes! It is my new jam! Obsessed! Can’t quit dancing on the set! Go check it! Steven reiterated that he should be forgiven because he was busy touring! Put it away! If it’s too much it’s just vulgar! Whether as a vampire or human, Ashley Greene is dazzling! Look, it’s Taylor Lautner’s long lost brother! I’m so lucky! What are the odds of being in why we haven’t heard about this film, given its disturbing theme!

From the capitalization examples above, we can see that capitalization is used to create the effect of emphasis. In its spoken equivalence, the speaker would apply stress to these words to bring attention to their importance.

Exclamation marks in teen magazines, as mentioned above, are used to indicate strong emotions. What type of emotions needs to be understood from the content of the entire article or sentence itself. Teen magazines are very clear when it comes to indicating what they are feeling – it’s a question of how much. Therefore, exclamation marks are used to tell the readers the degree of these strong emotions.

3.  Asterisks to create effect of gestures and indicate curses/profanity

If there’s one thing that written communication completely lacks, it is the use of gestures. This unique spoken communication feature, however, has found its way into the written communication with the use of asterisks. Originated from the internet chat, the use of asterisks this way is still considered informal.

For example,

Gestures

someone behind him? *Turns*. Nope, it’s him Februalia which was meant to atone for sins! *gulp* when your reach for that pretend lint on his shirt! *wink* whose pants are on the ground! *wink*

We can see from the example above that to create effect of gestures, a verb is placed between asterisks. This is understood to indicate that the verb is not a content word as part of the sentence, but more as to specify an action that the writer “is doing” in the context of his/her writing. It creates a sense of spoken communication.

Asterisks are also used to in place of letters in curse words, except the first letter (and some cases, the final letter too). Given that it’s teen magazines in Malaysia, we would think that curse words would not have found their way there, but they did.

Curses/profanity

On being called a b****by one of her fans my music but I couldn’t give a s**t about what they think sorry for calling Alan Shearer a s*** manager after the fact Soon-to-be mummy still kicks a** in the pop charts the other simply kicks a**! Hellcats? “All of my songs are f**king amazing,” she explained. “I like crazy people who don’t give a f**k,” he said as she told Jimmy Kimmel: “I don’t watch that s***.”

From the examples above, readers can easily understand what the curse words are from their first letters. Although cursing is not limited to only spoken communication, it generally is not found in formal writing where extreme emotions or careless choice of words is not the norm. Therefore, the use of curses here creates a speech-like language – people say what they want to say according to what they are feeling at that time. An interesting point about this is, the curse word “fuck” are only found in quoted speech in these magazines. It could be because this curse word is considered to be the most offensive in English, and therefore our Malaysian writers would not have used it themselves in teen magazines.

4.  Interjections

While the use of interjections is not entirely unique to spoken communication, their use is very prevalent in the teen magazines.

For example,

Sounds

Psst…she was even quoted saying Trust us, you are not the only one going “huh?” Aawww…ok so tell us something or rather, anything Psst…don’t underestimate the talent of our he didn’t try to get in touch with me again. Phew! to the judges being positive. (Ouch!) If you haven’t heard I only have one thing to say to that. EWWWW!!!!

From the example above, we can see that the interjections used are somewhat like a short-cut to expressing emotions in written words. For example,

as opposed to writing:	the writer wrote:
“that was a relief”	“phew”, to indicate exhaling (in relief).
“that was disgusting”	“ewww!!!!”, to indicate extreme disgust.
“listen, I have more details”	“Psst…”, to tell the listener to come closer and get this extra juicy gossip.
“I don’t understand”	“huh?” to indicate confusion.
“that hurts”	“ouch!” to indicate pain and hurt.

Expression of emotions like this is unique to spoken communication, where lengthy explanation of emotions is a rarity, especially in informal situations. Its use in the magazines creates a sense of informal spoken communication.

CONCLUSION

The language of teen magazines has always been informal, personal and speech-like. They use many linguistics features to achieve this. Even in the limits of the written language, we have seen that they have done this successfully.

Will this be the written language of the future?

REFERENCES

Baumgartner, S.,  Kaufmann, C., Mahrer, S., Pavic, K. and Staehelin, S. From Manuscripts to the Internet: How Did Media Influence the English Language? Retrieved on 2nd Feb. 2011 from http://www.ehistling.meotod.de/data/papers/group_h_pub.pdf.

Bell, Allan. The Language of News Media. Retrieved on 2nd Feb. 2011 from http://www.media.uoa.gr/lectures/linguistic_archives/mda0405/notes/Bell_Media_and_Language.pdf.

Culpeper, Jonathan. (1997). History of English. London: Routledge.

Olsen, Stefanie. (2006). Cracking the code of teens’ IM slang. Retrieved on 19^th March 2011 from http://news.cnet.com/Cracking-the-code-of-teens-IM-slang/2009-1025_3-6135457.html.

Platt and Weber. (1980). English in Singapore and Malaysia: Status, features, functions. Oxford: OUP.
Stuart-Smith, Jane. (2008). Understanding media influence on language: insights from stylistic variation. Retrieved on 2nd Feb. 2011 from http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/ss17/contributions/abstract.php?paperID=840

Tagliamonte, S.A. and Denis, D. (2008). Linguistic Ruin? LOL! Instant Messaging and Teen Language. American Speech 2008 83(1):3-34; DOI:10.1215/00031283-2008-001. Retrieved on 2nd Feb. 2011 from http://americanspeech.dukejournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/83/1/3.

Wardhaugh, Ronald. (1992). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (2^nd Edition). Oxford: Blackwell Pub.

Written Corpus: Grammatical Item Analysis: NOT

The Corpus

The data for the written corpus was obtained from the internet. Five websites were viewed and retrieved, and all of them are related to hobbies. The websites are, Anuar’s Fishing Site: Fishes, Anuar’s Fishing Site: Articles (issues on fishing), New Gunung Online: Gear Page, Kuala Lumpur Mountainbike Hash: Trails in Peninsular Malaysia and Dan Loh’s Martial Arts Site: Background Page.

The pages from Anuar’s Fishing Site, which are Fishes and Articles (issues on fishing) were viewed and retrieved on 21st July 2004 from http://www.fortunecity.co.uk/ olympia/martial/70/ and http://www.fortunecity.co.uk/olympia/martial/70/article1.html respectively. Fishes deals with the types of fish which can be found and caught in Malaysia. It also explains the details of the fishes and how to fish them. Articles (issues on fishing) on the other hand, consists of two articles; Sportsfishing for Dummies talks about the types of fishing equipment, and Is fishing a game or just a hobby or just to cari makan?? talks about issues of game fishing. New Gunung Online: Gear Page was viewed and retrieved on 21st July 2001 from http://marina.fortunecity.com/harbourside/83/. It deals with the types of necessary equipment and gear suitable for jungle trekking in Malaysian climate and weather. Kuala Lumpur Mountainbike Hash: Trails in Peninsular Malaysia was viewed and retrieved on 22nd July 2004 from http://www.bikehash.freeservers.com. The web site offers details of the various mountbiking trails found in Peninsular Malaysia. Dan Loh’s Martial Arts Site: Background Page was viewed and retrieved on 25th July 2004 from http://members.tripod.com/%7EKerg/dan/index.html. The page tells the history and experience of a martial artist, and how he got to be who he is today.

Grammatical Item Analysis

For the grammatical item analysis, the negation aspect is selected for both spoken and written corpora, which is not. Not, according to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1989), basically has three meanings:

1.   a.  used with auxiliary verbs and modals to for the negative; often contracted to (n’t) in speech or informal writing,
     b.   used with non-finite verbs to give the negative,

2.   a.  used after believe, expect, hope, trust etc. instead of a clause beginning with that or containing a negative verb,
     b.  used to indicate the negative alternative after questions with are you, do you etc.,

3.  a.   used to reply in the negative part or all of a question, and
     b.   used to deny the significance of the following word or phrase.

Written Corpus

In the written corpus, NOT occurs 53 times and the contracted form N’T occurs 21 times. It is expected that NOT to have a high frequency in the corpus, it being written texts. Similar to what we see in spoken corpus, NOT collocates mainly with modals, be-copula and auxiliary verbs do in the corpus (35 occurrences).

1.         Preceded by modals

3	Betis in Kelantan. As such, the track may	not	remain unsealed for much longer. Start
12	Liquid from inside the garment will	not	evaporate out as usual, because the humidity
15	I was greatly frustrated that I could	not	control the fight and I truely understood
17	drag is set too high, the free spool may	not	function properly on these reels

2.         Preceded by be-copula

4	try to be smart! These lines are	not	only extremely thin but also very strong,
5	the body temperature well, but its	not	a good choice when its hot.
6	climbing. Therefore climbing gears are	not	necessary in order to reach the summit
10	a man brings his fist to your face is	not	the same moment the blow lands,
13	Tilapia is not a good fighter thus it is	not	considered as a game fish. Besides
14	ground. Goretex lining on boots is	not	recommended. This lining will cause
18	reason, GAME. Again, if you think it is	not	a game, you are wrong. Calculate
21	clothings is not recommended and is	not	suitable in Malaysian equatorial rainforest
27	is one more important thing. Tilapia is	not	not a good fighter thus it is not considered
31	photograph Goretex clothings is	not	recommended and is not suitable
32	that deduces one’s self defence ability is	not	determined by age, sex, and size ; How
35	You might say that the Toman is	not	good eating, has a flat taste and
36	bites and scratches. For people who are	not	familiar with moving through thick
37	causing it to smell bad. Most rucksack are	not	made of waterproof material. Waterproof
42	coastal waters to the open ocean, but is	not	found along the Pacific coast of North
43	bushings within the reel housing. This was	not	designed for nothing, the exclusive features
45	and caught. Then the whole thing is	not	a game fishing. Real freshwater game
48	is dead upon retrieval. This is definitely	not	a game or sport. But if you used a
49	(over what was simple enough, but its	not	important in this story … just so that
53	be a dirt track on your right. The turning is	not	obvious, it’s been a long time since I’ve

3.         Preceded by auxiliary verbs do

2	voice, but also the authorities too do	not	really care We lack game fishermen. The
9	means exhaustive; for example, it does	not	include Sungai Long. If you have information
22	10-20 lb.test). It’s important that you do	not	stray too far from the recommended specs
23	lever drag reel, it’s important that you do	not	stray too far beyond the recommended
25	with this big mama. After all, its does	not	only come with quality, but its also come
28	mountaineering activity in Malaysia does	not	involves climbing. Therefore climbing
34	maps available for sale to the public do	not	yet cover the whole of peninsular Malaysia
38	his case, sparring with an opponent did	not	mean physical contact. He felt that
39	remarked that the point system does	not	represent one’s ability in controlling street
41	a house and a fork on the trail that I did	not	see, and on another occasion, an exhausted

As spoken corpus, sometimes NOT in the study is also found to be followed adjectives, nouns or noun phrase, usually as compliments to the be-copula. For instance:

1.         Followed by Adjectives

4	try to be smart! These lines are	not	only extremely thin but also very strong,
6	climbing. Therefore climbing gears are	not	necessary in order to reach the summit
13	Tilapia is not a good fighter thus it is	not	considered as a game fish. Besides
14	ground. Goretex lining on boots is	not	recommended. This lining will cause
21	clothings is not recommended and is	not	suitable in Malaysian equatorial rainforest
31	photograph Goretex clothings is	not	recommended and is not suitable
32	that deduces one’s self defence ability is	not	determined by age, sex, and size ; How
35	You might say that the Toman is	not	good eating, has a flat taste and
36	bites and scratches. For people who are	not	familiar with moving through thick
49	(over what was simple enough, but its	not	important in this story … just so that
53	be a dirt track on your right. The turning is	not	obvious, it’s been a long time since I’ve

2.         Followed by Nouns or Noun Phrase

5	the body temperature well, but its	not	a good choice when its hot.
10	moment a man brings his fist to your face is	not	the same moment the blow lands,
18	reason, GAME. Again, if you think it is	not	a game, you are wrong. Calculate
27	there is one more important thing. Tilapia is	not	a good fighter thus it is not considered
45	and caught. Then the whole thing is	not	a game fishing. Real freshwater game
48	is dead upon retrieval. This is definitely	not	a game or sport. But if you used a

Besides that, NOT is also followed by verbs in base form when used with a modal or auxiliary verb do. We can see instances of this in:

3	Betis in Kelantan. As such, the track may	not	remain unsealed for much longer. Start
12	Liquid from inside the garment will	not	evaporate out as usual, because the humidity
15	I was greatly frustrated that I could	not	control the fight and I truely understood
17	drag is set too high, the free spool may	not	function properly on these reels
2	voice, but also the authorities too do	not	really care We lack game fishermen. The
9	means exhaustive; for example, it does	not	include Sungai Long. If you have information
22	10-20 lb.test). It’s important that you do	not	stray too far from the recommended specs
23	lever drag reel, it’s important that you do	not	stray too far beyond the recommended
34	maps available for sale to the public do	not	yet cover the whole of peninsular Malaysia
38	his case, sparring with an opponent did	not	mean physical contact. He felt that
39	remarked that the point system does	not	represent one’s ability in controlling street
41	a house and a fork on the trail that I did	not	see, and on another occasion, an exhausted

However, different from the spoken corpus, in the written corpus, NOT is also used to deny the importance of the following word or phrase, or to form the negative quite significantly. We can see this in:

1	(sheet 76) is indispensible. Even so,	not	all the trails are marked on the map
8	driftnets, especially in the Pacific but	not	here in Malaysia, but use of these
7	ample shade and ensure a pleasant, even if	not	hardcore, ride. The main trail is
11	for commercially for its fine flesh but	not	here in Malaysia, which is often sold smoke.
19	All in the name, of? Certainly	not	self-defence. Indeed everyone knows
24	a joker tried to make money out of this (	not	the same ones who fought with me, weird huh?)
26	all the trails are marked on the map, and	not	all the marked trails still exist.
30	- Very cheap – Light -	Not	dangerous – Suitable for group
33	these plants, gloves is essential, but	not	always. Hat / Cap: photograph
40	if you prefer the more adventurous way by	not	hiring a guide, a map and compass
44	and make them pay for their crime	not	by fines or jail sentences but make them
47	trekker in Malaysia, they prefer	not	to bring tent. A flysheet (large plastic sheet)
51	- Strong wind may blow away lights -	Not	adjustable – Very cheap – Light
52	while sparring with a partner. I controlled	not	using the hook even though he only

We can see from the analysis that NOT when used with modals, be-copula or be-verb, or other auxiliary verbs, are not contracted. Perhaps, because the corpus is in written mode, the authors tend to utilize formal mode of using NOT. It is also possible that, as in spoken corpus, NOT is used its non-contracted form to stress the negative form of the statement.

The contracted form of NOT, N’T, occurs 21 times in the written corpus, and is found to occur with only auxiliary verb do: 13 times with do, four times with did and four times with does. As the spoken corpus findings, the study also found that, because N’T is used with auxiliary verb do, it is followed by base form of verb. For example:

1	My advice, if you become snagged,	don’t	pull with the rod. Rather, point the rod
2	regardless of size, age and sex. The bigger	don’t	always win. In sports karate a
3	the new braided, super thin diameter lines.	Don’t	try to be smart! These lines are not
4	individual to choose which one is better.	Don’t	leave the empty cartridge in the jungle.
5	of trails. However, be careful that you	don’t	get lost if you are unfamiliar with the
6	on to determine if a martial art is good, I	don’t	want to learn something and train so
7	backpacking trip. Sleeping Mat	Don’t	leave without them. This gear is
8	surprisingly technical singletrack trails. I	don’t	know the name of this park, and the directions
9	over the surface. The flesh is delicious, i	don’t	think so, and is often sold under its Hawaiian
10	Polo club, and through some pig farms. I	don’t	remember much else of the trail, except
11	obstacles to overcome. Better still, you	don’t	know if you will ever get a bite
12	them, you have to back off and untangle.	Don’t	try to tear through the vine, or it will
13	reel and 7. Ugly Stick Tiger. Hey why	don’t	I tell you a little bit about my
14	to be so hard (quite unbreakable) but I	didn’t	really feel pain. I convinced myself that
15	The native people ( orang asli )	didn’t	wear much except for ornaments.
16	too! Why??” At that time I thought I	didn’t	train hard enough so I went back to
17	photograph The third guy I countered	didn’t	turn out properly, I started panicking
18	the fist. Dan speaks from experience. He	doesn’t	claim to know everything, he insists
19	department (being fodder for mosquitoes	doesn’t	count), the RRI area has sufficient
20	in Malaysia, especially the orang asli ,	doesn’t	even have any navigation tools (map
21	kickboxing. I’m learning something that	doesn’t	depend on age for the ability to protect

A similar patter can be observed in both spoken and written corpora. It is interesting to find that NOT is only contracted with auxiliary verbs do, does and did. Perhaps the speakers are more comfortable to contract NOT with the most common form of contraction in Malaysian English. Although we also see that NOT being used in non-contracted form with auxiliary verbs do, does and did, we do not see contracted form N’T being used with modals, be-copula or be-verb, or other auxiliary verbs.

Conclusion

In the grammatical item analysis, negation NOT and the contracted form N’Tis selected for analysis. The most interesting finding in this section is that NOTcollocates with only grammar function words, such as modals, be-copula orbe-verb, or other auxiliary verbs, but not with any specific content word. This could suggest that the topic of discussion in written corpus is varied and of different genres. Therefore, patterns of collocation of content words are inadequate to be analysed.

.

Spoken Corpus: Grammatical Item Analysis: NOT

 The Corpus

The data for the written corpus was obtained from the internet. Five websites were viewed and retrieved, and all of them are related to hobbies. The websites are, Anuar’s Fishing Site: Fishes, Anuar’s Fishing Site: Articles (issues on fishing), New Gunung Online: Gear Page, Kuala Lumpur Mountainbike Hash: Trails in Peninsular Malaysia and Dan Loh’s Martial Arts Site: Background Page.

The pages from Anuar’s Fishing Site, which are Fishes and Articles (issues on fishing)were viewed and retrieved on 21^st July 2004 from http://www.fortunecity.co.uk/olympia/martial/70/ and http://www.fortunecity.co.uk/olympia/martial/70/article1.html respectively. Fishes deals with the types of fish which can be found and caught in Malaysia. It also explains the details of the fishes and how to fish them. Articles (issues on fishing) on the other hand, consists of two articles. Sportsfishing for Dummies talks about the types of fishing equipment, and Is fishing a game or just a hobby or just to cari makan?? talks about issues of game fishing.     New Gunung Online: Gear Page was viewed and retrieved on 21^st July 2001 from http://marina.fortunecity.com/harbourside/83/. It deals with the types of necessary equipment and gear suitable for jungle trekking in Malaysian climate and weather. Kuala Lumpur Mountainbike Hash: Trails in Peninsular Malaysia was viewed and retrieved on 22^nd July 2004 from http://www.bikehash.freeservers.com. The Website offers details of the various mountbiking trails found in Peninsular Malaysia.Dan Loh’s Martial Arts Site: Background Page was viewed and retrieved on 25^th July 2004 from http://members.tripod.com/%7EKerg/dan/index.html. The page tells the history and experience of a martial artist, and how he got to be who he is today.

Grammatical Item Analysis

For the grammatical item analysis, the negation aspect is selected for both spoken and written corpora, which is not. Not, according to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1989), basically has three meanings:

1.         a.         used with auxiliary verbs and modals to for the negative; often contracted to (n’t) in speech or informal writing,

b.         used with non-finite verbs to give the negative,

2.         a.         used after believe, expect, hope, trust etc. instead of a clause beginning with that or containing a negative verb,

b.         used to indicate the negative alternative after questions with are you, do you etc.,

3.         a.         used to reply in the negative part or all of a question, and

b.         used to deny the significance of the following word or phrase.

Spoken Corpus

NOT has the frequency of 80 and the contracted form N’T has the frequency of 37 in the spoken corpus. NOT collocates mainly with modals, be-copula and auxiliary verbs do and have in the corpus (61 occurrences, including in questions). For example:

1.         Preceded by modals

3	be remembered or you would	not	be valued for it whereas his talents and his
5	would not be but unfortunately he would	not	be remembered or you would
5	stuff legends being made up that may	not	uh  Tell us what happened then
14	you will uhm enjoy success and you will	not	be given preferential treatment just because
20	about how the Malay agenda should	not	be uh uh abandoned or vacated and how
32	too too much on crutches they would	not	be able to compete I’m not talking
42	could not decision political decision could	not	handle them right , because it’s
53	purely on the Malays would not will	not	give us enough people to go forward
56	don’t have that then the country will	not	benefit right You you’re talking
64	thing is you know this time now you could	not	decision political decision could

2.         Preceded by be-copula

1	thumbs down All right the clue is	not	good supposedly Hi Good morning
2	Australia New Zealand Erm we’re	not	far behind and sometimes I think we can
4	they would not be able to compete I’m	not	talking about crutches , you know
7	few and far between uh I mean they’re	not	many in numbers Yes you
8	uhm my my so called retort that you are	not	my father or you are not old enough
23	But after two years I found that I was	not	qualified to do anything else so I stayed
44	the ambition of No I I was	not	thinking of saying oh after this fight
51	job in the private sector Uhm we are	not	we are different from the Malays
58	you said that Vision twenty-twenty is	not	for the Malays It’s not something
63	Yes yes I think uhm uhm those are	not	the reasons why I joined politics
68	The the conflict is	not	driven by ambition? Uhm you think
69	anybody was there verify that I’m	not	going to say it happened unless somebody

3.         Preceded by auxiliary verbs do and have

15	fascination for motor sports did	not	happen overnight It started in 1910
28	I talk about the Malay agenda uh it does	not	necessarily mean that you give crutches
29	happened in the past for the Malays do	not	necessarily do not necessarily go to the best
57	uh the things that you mentioned uh did	not	happen uh in cabinet uhm my my so called
78	you know they can’t they’re not they do	not	know how to network with the
79	how you speak to you father and did you	not	say well but you are not my father
60	You made the comment that there have	not	been democracy in UMNO since

Some instances of NOT in the study is also found to be followed adjectives, nouns or noun phrase, generally as compliments to the be-copula. For instance:

1.         Followed by Adjectives

1	me thumbs down All right the clue is	not	good supposedly Hi Good morning
2	Australia New Zealand Erm we’re	not	far behind and sometimes I think
23	But after two years I found that I was	not	qualified to do anything else so I stayed
33	that you are not my father or you are	not	old enough to be my father didn’t
35	Rainforest No no they’re	not	connected the two words They’re
45	comments of you? Uhm perhaps it’s	not	right because uh I’m not allowed
77	something that do you do you were you	not	polite or were you not asked this

2.         Followed by Nouns or Noun Phrase

8	my my so called retort that you are	not	my father or you are not old enough
21	Uh huh  Is that is that	not	a good thing you think uh? Well
22	drive a taxi Uh I mean that’s totally uh	not	an unpleasant job and , and that’s
26	uhm I don’t look like a businessman I’m	not	the corporate type So I suppose it’s a
27	call Beckham Lose loser I mean it’s	not	a nice thing to call somebody but
55	and did you not say well but you are	not	my father? Laugh Is it true all these things?
63	Yes yes I think uhm uhm those are	not	the reasons why I joined politics
70	Melayu ya we say you know you’re	not	a kaki bodek ya? But it could be

Besides that, NOT is also followed by verbs in base form when a modal or auxiliary verb do precedes it, and verbs in progressive form (-ing) when be-verb precedes it. We can see this is in:

1.         Followed by verbs in base form

3	not be remembered or you would	not	be valued for it whereas his talents
5	be but unfortunately he would	not	be remembered or you would
13	crutches right it could be done but would	not	be but unfortunately he would
14	you will uhm enjoy success and you will	not	be given preferential treatment
15	Malaysia’s fascination for motor sports did	not	happen overnight It started in 1910 in
20	about how the Malay agenda should	not	be uh uh abandoned or vacated and
28	I talk about the Malay agenda uh it does	not	necessarily mean that you give crutches
29	in the past for the Malays do	not	necessarily do not necessarily go to the
32	too too much on crutches they would	not	be able to compete I’m not talking
42	could not decision political decision could	not	handle them right , because it’s
53	purely on the Malays would not will	not	give us enough people to go forward to
56	you don’t have that then the country will	not	benefit right You you’re talking about
57	uh the things that you mentioned uh did	not	happen uh in cabinet uhm my my so
79	you speak to you father and did you	not	say well but you are not my father

2.         Followed by verbs in progressive form

4	they would not be able to compete I’m	not	talking about crutches ,
19	no matter how good you are you’re	not	going to go anywhere you know
41	I’m sorry uh we’re	not	hearing you too well Can you can
44	mean the ambition of No I I was	not	thinking of saying oh after this fight I’m
46	relatives our friends you know We’re	not	getting the best Malays , You must
65	allowed to get No no we’re not we’re	not	campaigning or anything like
69	anybody was there verify that I’m	not	going to say it happened unless somebody
75	uh you know Uh uhm I’m	not	talking necessarily of your ambition

Although this is spoken corpus, instances of NOT when used with modals, be-copula or be-verb, or other auxiliary verbs, instead of the contracted form N’T, is considered to be quite high. There are perhaps two reasons why the speakers chose to use NOT in its non-contracted form. Firstly, the speakers wanted to stress the negation of the statement, where NOT has a stronger negative than the contracted form N’T. Secondly, some of the be-copula or be-verb or other auxiliary verbs are already contracted with the subject of the sentence. Therefore, another contraction of NOT is not possible.

The contracted form of NOT, N’T, which occurs 37 times in the spoken corpus, is found to occur only with auxiliary verb do: 33 times with do, twice with did and twice with does. Out of 33 occurrences, N’T occurs 22 times with the first person pronoun I. For example:

1	look like a statis statistician uhm I	don’t	look like a businessman I’m not the
2	anyway Thanks anyway Uh I	don’t	know if there’s any more call if there isn’t
5	All Come Come on Joe cock I	don’t	know Nigel’s giving me thumbs All right
6	think it was I don’t think it was I	don’t	think it was uh you Uh uhm I’m
7	Beckham is OK I don’t like him but I	don’t	like to say bad things about
8	about rate Uhm I don’t think it was I	don’t	think it was I don’t think it was
9	OK you don’t fully deny it Laugh I	don’t	think anybody was there verify that I’m
11	Guess who’s gonna be gone now? I	don’t	know You gonna be gone laugh
12	assumptions about I mean uh because I	don’t	look like a statis statistician uhm
13	can do Uh I don’t know Cockroach I	don’t	know Hi Good morning
14	Yea exactly I I’m very excited I	don’t	know who’s gonna win Yes somebody’s
15	wedding in November I! Exactly I	don’t	know when is the date but I think
19	love L O V Loved? Past tense? What? I	don’t	get it Loved Loved Loved
22	statistician to talk about rate Uhm I	don’t	think it was I don’t think it was I don’t
23	with kill little that Uhm Am I right? I	don’t	think so laugh OK Good
25	not a nice thing to call somebody but I	don’t	know some people say Oh come on
27	cockroach uh uh uh What cockroach I	don’t	know Come on you can do Uh I
28	peno Uh uhm Extremely Ya I	don’t	know how you ever get that close
30	playing the word game But you cheat I	don’t	cheat No I know you cheat No
31	some people Yea Beckham is OK I	don’t	like him but I don’t like to say bad things
33	I don’t Come on you can do Uh I	don’t	know Cockroach I don’t know
37	He walked in here I’m so lucky I	didn’t	say it again laugh All righty

The study also found that, because N’T is used with auxiliary verb do, it is followed by base form of verb, as we can see in the analysis above. Other instances in the corpus are:

3	How can you help me please	Don’t	embarrass me laugh
4	become as as good as can be and if you	don’t	have that then the country will not
16	environment is very demanding and and	don’t	you think that Malaysia also needs
17	The kind of company that uh	don’t	look like corporate
18	you know then then Malay and	don’t	you think uh it might be useful to had
24	think of household all No	don’t	give me the clues just give
26	He said ya give it a try for two If you	don’t	like it uhm you tell me then
27	have any recollection of OK OK you	don’t	fully deny it Laugh I don’t think
29	that uh don’t look like corporate	don’t	look like uh you know the fast-moving
32	the politicians So you have to if you	don’t	know anybody right no matter how
34	beautiful fact that they Malays	doesn’t	realise what was happening after
35	interpretation at that time and also that	don’t	mean it’s funny for a statistician to
36	you are not old enough to be my father	didn’t	happen in public event If it it

It is interesting to find that NOT is only contracted with auxiliary verbs do, does and did. Perhaps the speakers are more comfortable to contract NOT with the most common form of contraction in Malaysian English. Although we also see that NOT being used in non-contracted form with auxiliary verbs do, does and did, we do not see contracted form N’T being used with modals, be-copula or be-verb, or other auxiliary verbs.

Conclusion

In the grammatical item analysis, negation NOT and the contracted form N’T is selected for analysis. The most interesting finding in this section is that NOT collocates with only grammar function words, such as modals, be-copula or be-verb, or other auxiliary verbs, but not with any specific content word. This could suggest that the topic of discussion in spoken corpus is varied and of different genres. Therefore, patterns of collocation of content words are inadequate to be analysed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dictionary.com. Viewed and retrieved on 27^th September 2004 from http://dictionary.reference.com/

Graeme, Kennedy. An Introduction to Corpus Linguistics. London: Longman, 1998.

Hanston, Susan. Corpora in Applied Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Hornby, A.S. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English (4^th Ed.). Cowie, A.P. (Chief Ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989


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Lexico-Semantic Analysis: “if”

Introduction

According to Graeme (1998), a corpus is made up of an empirical basis for identifying the elements and structural patterns of the systems in a language and for mapping out our use of the systems. We should be able to analyse and compare a corpus with other corpora or parts of corpora to study variation. A corpus must also be analysed distributionally to show how often and where particular lexical, phonological, grammatical, discoursal or pragmatic features occur.

Based on the definition above, the research tries to investigate some features of the corpus compiled specifically for this study. The data was gathered from the internet. The corpus is based on Malaysian English, that is, English as used by Malaysians in written mode.

Because the corpus size is only about 23,000 words, the study cannot claim to represent the true nature of Malaysian English because it does not have enough genres to represent the whole language. However, certain aspects, such as collocation and semantic prosody are observable in the corpus.
This study looks at the lexico-semantic analysis, where if is selected for the corpus.

The Corpus

The data for the written corpus was obtained from the internet. Five websites were viewed and retrieved, and all of them are related to hobbies. The websites are, Anuar’s Fishing Site: Fishes, Anuar’s Fishing Site: Articles (issues on fishing), New Gunung Online: Gear Page, Kuala Lumpur Mountainbike Hash: Trails in Peninsular Malaysia and Dan Loh’s Martial Arts Site: Background Page.

The pages from Anuar’s Fishing Site, which are Fishes and Articles (issues on fishing) were viewed and retrieved on 21^st July 2004 from http://www.fortunecity.co.uk/olympia/martial/70/ and http://www.fortunecity.co.uk/olympia/martial/70/article1.html respectively. Fishes deals with the types of fish which can be found and caught in Malaysia. It also explains the details of the fishes and how to fish them. Articles (issues on fishing) on the other hand, consists of two articles. Sportsfishing for Dummies talks about the types of fishing equipment, and Is fishing a game or just a hobby or just to cari makan?? talks about issues of game fishing.     New Gunung Online: Gear Page was viewed and retrieved on 21^st July 2001 from http://marina.fortunecity.com/harbourside/83/. It deals with the types of necessary equipment and gear suitable for jungle trekking in Malaysian climate and weather. Kuala Lumpur Mountainbike Hash: Trails in Peninsular Malaysia was viewed and retrieved on 22^nd July 2004 from http://www.bikehash.freeservers.com. The Website offers details of the various mountbiking trails found in Peninsular Malaysia. Dan Loh’s Martial Arts Site: Background Page was viewed and retrieved on 25^th July 2004 from http://members.tripod.com/%7EKerg/dan/index.html. The page tells the history and experience of a martial artist, and how he got to be who he is today.

The Analysis

For written corpus, the word if is selected for analysis. In the corpus, if occurs 39 times. According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary (1989), if has nine basic meanings, which are:

1.         on condition that, supposing,
a.         likely situations (using present and present perfect tenses),
b.         imaginary situations or unlikely (using past tense),

2.         when or whenever,

3.         as a polite request (usually used with will and would),

4.         to introduce alternative; whether (used after ask, know, find out, wonder etc.),

5.         to express feelings (usually used after Verbs or Adjectives),

6.         admitting that something may be true or may happen; although,

7.         used before an Adjective to introduce a contrast; although also,

8.         to express surprise, astonishment, dismay etc., and

9.         used before you think, ask, remember etc to invite somebody to listen to one’s opinion.

With the meanings in mind, if is used in a complex sentence, as a relative clause (if-clause). According to Dictionary.com, the clause is introduced by if to indicate uncertainty, conditional, presupposed occurrences (contrary to fact or not) and indirect questions.

The study found that if occurs mostly in the initial position of a sentence, a clause, or following an adverbial clause. For instance:

1.         Initial position of a sentence

2	seeping from the ground to sleeping bag.	If	a person has a sleeping mat but with no
3	is about 30 kilometres South of Ipoh).	If	coming from KL on the old Ipoh trunk road
8	but can your sister? Can she?	If	she can’t then the martial art you’ve both
10	of the braided line exceeds this figure.	If	the drag is set too high, the free spool may
15	organised here by Major Jaafar in 1999.	If	visiting Kelly’s Castle, be sure to
19	nets and converted into keropoks .	If	you are really keen on fishing, go
22	example, it does not include Sungai Long.	If	you have information on this or any other
25	nobody land cobia using fly tackle.	If	you got one please let me know.
30	Freshwater game fishing. photograph	If	you catch a Tilapia with a 30lb line and rods
31	can hardly be seen from the Rover track.	If	you ride it in the reverse direction of the race

2.         Initial position of a clause

1	questions spurred me on to determine	if	a martial art is good,
5	could kill all those guys in that kiddy fight	if	it happened again.
6	, the trail can be extremely muddy	if	it rains, consuming much time and
11	want to use the cutter at the end because	if	the pound test exceeds the rod’s
14	break before the line does. Also,	if	using a lever drag reel, it’s important
16	judgement for a bit, I would appreciate	if	you will read these pages with the spirit of a
17	This is definitely not a game or sport. But	if	you used a 4lb line and prawn hooks and
18	good budget for all You wouldn’t do this	if	you just want to cari makan , it is

3.         Following an adverbial clause

20	ruan Tasik ), and Dorado. Now folks,	if	you participate in a fishing competition
27	on the use of these lines. My advice,	if	you become snagged, don’t pull with the

Similar to the phrase I think, because of its position in the initial position of a clause or sentence, if is immediately followed by pronouns such as it, she, and you, noun phrase or nouns, such as a martial art and a person. For example:

1.         Followed by Pronouns

5	could kill all those guys in that kiddy fight	if	it happened again.
6	, the trail can be extremely muddy	if	it rains, consuming much time and
8	but can your sister? Can she?	If	she can’t then the martial art you’ve both
16	judgement for a bit, I would appreciate	if	you will read these pages with the spirit of a
17	definitely not a game or sport. But	if	you used a 4lb line and prawn hooks and strike
22	example, it does not include Sungai Long.	If	you have information on this or any other trail
25	nobody land cobia using fly tackle.	If	you got one please let me know. Tackle

2.         Followed by Nouns or Noun Phrase

1	questions spurred me on to determine	if	a martial art is good,
2	seeping from the ground to sleeping bag.	If	a person has a sleeping mat but with
10	of the braided line exceeds this figure.	If	the drag is set too high, the free spool
11	to use the cutter at the end because	if	the pound test exceeds the rod’s
39	The most helpful little piece of equipment	if	your rucsac rucsac rucksack or your

From the analysis, we can see a collocation pattern where the most highly frequent pronoun to follow if is you (24 occurrences out of 39). Perhaps this happens because the nature of the texts; all the texts are descriptive texts where the authors give descriptions based on their hobbies. Therefore, the texts were written in such a manner as if the authors are giving direct explanation and description to the readers.

The study found that if is used the most to mean likely situation, with the use of present tense (21 occurrences). There are only three occurrences of if being used to refer to imaginary or unlikely situation, with the use of past tense. We can see this is:

1.         Likely situation
 

1	questions spurred me on to determine	if	a martial art is good, I don’t want
6	, the trail can be extremely muddy	if	it rains, consuming much time and energy
7	seeping from the ground to sleeping bag.	If	a person has a sleeping mat but with no
8	you can, but can your sister? Can she?	If	she can’t then the martial art you’ve
9	allow the fish a fighting chance. So what	if	the fish escapes? Remember,
10	of the braided line exceeds this figure.	If	the drag is set too high, the free spool
11	want to use the cutter at the end because	if	the pound test exceeds the rod’s
18	budget for all You wouldn’t do this	if	you just want to cari makan , it is
19	the nets and converted into keropoks .	If	you are really keen on fishing, go for
20	Haruan Tasik ), and Dorado. Now folks,	if	you participate in a fishing competition
22	it does not include Sungai Long.	If	you have information on this or any other
24	is to play a game with the fish. And	if	you do land the fish and release it immediately
23	fishing for one reason, GAME. Again,	if	you think it is not a game, you are wrong.
27	on the use of these lines. My advice,	if	you become snagged, don’t pull with
28	Sungai Chongkak on your left. * Pangsun.	If	you continue North along the Ulu
29	Navigation photograph	If	you are on a guided trip, all the
30	Freshwater game fishing photograph	If	you catch a Tilapia with a 30lb line
31	can hardly be seen from the Rover track.	If	you ride it in the reverse direction of the
33	be careful that you don’t get lost	if	you are unfamiliar with the area. You
36	Mercedes sign. You’ll come to this sign	if	you are entering Ipoh from the South on
39	The most helpful little piece of equipment	if	your rucsac rucsac rucksack or your

2.         Imaginary or unlikely situation

5	could kill all those guys in that kiddy fight	if	it happened again. But
17	This is definitely not a game or sport. But	if	you used a 4lb line and prawn hooks
25	nobody land cobia using fly tackle.	If	you got one please let me know.

Besides that, the study also found instances of if followed by a gerund. It is as if the word is being used as a preposition and the clause is a prepositional clause, where the verb which follows it is in –ing form (gerund). Although this use of if is considered incorrect English by traditional grammar, there are four instances of it in the corpus. Perhaps this is the short version of if you are (verb)+ ing, where you are is dropped.

3	is about 30 kilometres South of Ipoh).	If	coming from KL on the old Ipoh trunk road
4	South Expressway on the Tambun road (	if	coming from Ipoh). The limestone outcrop
14	may break before the line does. Also,	if	using a lever drag reel, it’s important
15	organised here by Major Jaafar in 1999.	If	visiting Kelly’s Castle, be sure to check out

In addition to that, the use of if in the corpus also gives the sense that the author leaves it to how the reader is feeling for further actions. For example:

19	the nets and converted into keropoks .	If	you are really keen on fishing, go for a
32	Important!! Be sure to tell your dealer	if	you plan on using the new braided, super thin
34	doing long trips to hire a guide. However,	if	you prefer the more adventurous way
37	me your comments or send photos,	if	you feel so inclined. Go Fishing!
38	welcomes your contribution to this page.	If	you would like to post a review of your

Most of the uses of if in the study carry a positive semantic prosody. Most are positive situations where people may find themselves in and things which people may do. For instance:

2	the ground to sleeping bag.	If	a person has a sleeping mat but with no
3	is about 30 kilometres South of Ipoh).	If	coming from KL on the old Ipoh trunk road
15	organised here by Major Jaafar in 1999.	If	visiting Kelly’s Castle, be sure to check out
29	Navigation photograph	If	you are on a guided trip, all the burdent
31	can hardly be seen from the Rover track.	If	you ride it in the reverse direction of the
34	doing long trips to hire a guide. However,	if	you prefer the more adventurous way
36	Mercedes sign. You’ll come to this sign	if	you are entering Ipoh from the South

The use of if in the corpus also implies that the authors are giving advice and warnings to the readers. The nature of the texts is descriptive texts, where the authors give descriptions and explanation based on the hobbies. Therefore, they also include advice for the readers, who presumably have the same hobby, on what to do and how to do it if a situation arises. For example:

6	the trail can be extremely muddy	if	it rains, consuming much time and energy
10	of the braided line exceeds this figure.	If	the drag is set too high, the free spool may
11	the cutter at the end because	if	the pound test exceeds the rod’s
14	may break before the line does. Also,	if	using a lever drag reel, it’s important that you
17	is definitely not a game or sport. But	if	you used a 4lb line and prawn hooks and
27	on the use of these lines. My advice,	if	you become snagged, don’t pull with the rod.
30	Freshwater game fishing photograph	If	you catch a Tilapia with a 30lb line and rods
32	Important!! Be sure to tell your dealer	if	you plan on using the new braided, super
33	, be careful that you don’t get lost	if	you are unfamiliar with the area. You

In short, if is used in the corpus is found to occur mostly in the initial position of a sentence, a clause, or following an adverbial clause. Similar to the phrase I think in the spoken corpus, because of its position in the initial position of a clause or sentence, if is immediately followed by pronouns, noun phrase or nouns. We can see a collocation pattern where the most highly frequent pronoun to follow if is you. This could suggest that the texts were written in such a manner as if the authors are giving direct explanation and description to the readers. The study also found that if is used the most to mean likely situation, with the use of present tense with 21 occurrences.

Besides that, the study found four instances of if followed by a gerund, as if the word is acting as a preposition. Most of the uses of if in the study carry a positive semantic prosody. Most are positive situations where people may find themselves in and things which people may do. The use of if in the corpus also implies that the authors are giving advice and warnings to the readers. Descriptive texts, where the authors give descriptions and explanation based on the hobbies, allow them to also include advice for the readers, who presumably have the same hobby, on what and how to act in a particular situation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dictionary.com. Viewed and retrieved on 27^th September 2004 from http://dictionary.reference.com/

Graeme, Kennedy. An Introduction to Corpus Linguistics. London: Longman, 1998.

Hanston, Susan. Corpora in Applied Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Hornby, A.S. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English (4^th Ed.). Cowie, A.P. (Chief Ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989

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