Watching TV with a Linguist / edited by Kristy Beers Fägersten.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Beers Fägersten, Kristy, editor of compilation.

Series:

Television and popular culture.

Television and popular culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sociolinguistics.

Conversation analysis.

Dialogue analysis.

Television series--United States.

Television series.

Television broadcasting--Language.

Television broadcasting.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (407 pages) : illustrations.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Syracuse : Syracuse University Press, 2016.

Summary:

In Watching TV with a Linguist, Fägersten challenges the conventional view of television as lowbrow entertainment devoid of intellectual activity. Rather, she champions the use of fictional television to learn about linguistics and at the same time promotes enriched television viewing experiences by explaining the role of language in creating humor, conveying drama, and developing identifiable characters. The essays gathered in this volume explore specific areas of linguistics, providing a comprehensive yet accessible introduction to the study of language. Through programs such as Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Sherlock, and The Wire, contributors deftly illustrate key linguistic concepts and terminology using snippets of familiar dialogue and examples of subtle narration. In addition, contributors aim to raise linguistic awareness among readers by identifying linguistics in action, encouraging readers to recognize additional examples of concepts on their own. To this end, each chapter provides suggestions for viewing other television series or specific episodes, where further examples of the linguistic concepts in focus can be found. Invaluable as a resource in linguistics and communication courses, Watching TV with a Linguist is the first book to use the familiar and compelling medium of television to engage students with the science of language.

Contents:

Introduction: The linguist's view of television / Kristy Beers Fägersten

Watching the detective: Sherlock and spoken television discourse / Kay Richardson

Dealers and discourse: sociolinguistic variation in The wire / Joe Trotta

"Back in St. Olaf...": regional variation in The Golden Girls / Jean Ann

SaMANtha: language and gender in Sex and the city / Kristy Beers Fägersten and Hanna Sveen

The pragmatics explication: making sense of nerds in The big bang theory / Matthias Eitelmann and Ulrike Stange

Cunning linguistics: the semantics of word play in South Park / Michael Percillier

Word formation in HIMYM / Jessie Sams

What's the deal with morphemes? doing morphology with Seinfeld / Kristy Beers Fägersten

Channel surfing: tuning into the sounds of English / Kristy Beers Fägersten

Syntax in Seattle / Güliat Aygen

I'm learneding! first language acquisition in The Simpsons / Kristy Beers Fägersten

Lost and language found / Kristy Beers Fägersten and Ilaria Fiorentini

The one based on 738,032 words: language use in the Friends-corpus / Paulo Quaglio

Appendix A: WMatrix grammatical tags

Appendix B: WMatrix semantic tags

Glossary

Contributors.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-8156-5395-6

OCLC:

955275501