Academic literature on the topic 'Phonic wordplay'

As Aeneas begins his story of Troy's fall he wonders if in relating it even her enemies, such as the Myrmidons or Dolopes or the soldiers of Ulysses, could refrain from tears (Aen. 2.6–8). The reference to a weeping soldier of Ulysses is a subtle allusion to Vergil's Homeric model, but why are the Myrmidons and Dolopes mentioned? The usual explanation that these were the soldiers of Neoptolemus, who plays a central role in Aeneas' account of Troy's fall, is not entirely satisfactory.In Homer the Myrmidons inhabit Phthia (cf. Il. 2.683–4) and are thus naturally linked with Achilles and Patroclus, but the Dolopes seem to play no role at all in the fighting. Their name occurs only once in the Iliad (as the people ruled by Phoenix) and not at all in the Odyssey.

The article examines specific characteristics of literary nonce words on the example of English literary tales. It attempts to classify them on the basis of the word-building patterns used (highlighting the so-called nursery words and nonce words proper). It also describes their main functions in a literary text. The research objectives also included a comparative analysis of the translations of famous English literary tales. The analysis proved that the main translation strategies while dealing with literary nonce words are the creation of nonce words in the target language, descriptive translation and compensation. The most successful translation decisions take into account the target audience of readers and include the use of wordplay, as well as phonetic expressive means such as rhyme, alliteration and onomatopoeia. In general, the translation of nonce words directly depends on the specifics of word-building patterns that exist in the source and target languages.

The aim of the research is to provide a comprehensive linguocultural characteristic of a folk tale. The research is based on the material of the Irish Fairy and Folk Tales tale anthology, compiled and edited by W. B. Yeats. The research results allow for a suggestion that linguocultural markers are to be found on both ideologic-compositional and speech levels of a text. Thus, the motives of Christian morality form the basis for reciprocal altruism which is the conceptual entity of Irish folk tales. The tale structure is often linear and consists of a short introduction, the main part and the climax turning into a short sharp denouement. Irish folk tales are often a metaphor for the rite of passage. The didactic function of tales consists in demonstrating the possibilities of sin purge through their recognition and repentance. Tales also set social rules and norms. Culture-specific language units encountered in the texts of Irish folk tales belong to different levels of the English language system. The phonetic level reveals such features as metathesis, final consonant reduction, imitation of aspiration, alliteration, wordplay based on homophony, etc. They imitate a peculiar Irish accent and exert some vernacular effect. The lexical level is represented by culture-bound vocabulary including ethnographical terms, anthroponyms and geographical names, both real and invented, various kinds of borrowings from Irish Gaeilge,quotations etc. Some cultural features are exhibited in grammar and text rhythm, chiefly through the use of specific verb forms of Irish English as well as certain correlations of repetition-based rhythmic devices – polysyndeton, diacope, anaphora, epizeuxis, symploce etc. The study of linguocultural text markers gives a comprehensive idea of intra- and extralinguistic characteristics of the tale.

The article discusses specific features of the anecdote as a speech genre, analyzes communicative-pragmatic principles of creating a comic effect in anecdotes based on the wordplay. It is noted that the concept of «anecdote», despite the fact that it is widely used in modern literary criticism and linguistics, does not have a single interpretation and a precise theoretical definition, which is explained by its genre uniqueness and complexity of a cognitive-pragmatic nature. It is emphasized that the most important part of the work of this genre is its finale, originally known to the narrator. It is the last climax phrase that contains the unexpected and unpredictable final semantic resolution that constitutes the anecdote as such. Among the features inherent in the actual anecdotal texts are: small volume, lack of authorship, reproducibility, indefinite chronotope, stereotypicality of plot schemes, relatively constant set of characters, ambivalence of the meaning of language units, intertextuality, situational functioning, etc. The dominant category of the anecdote text is minimalism, manifested in the choice of details, the number of heroes, laconic form, the volume of compositional components. It is stated that formation of the types of anecdotes took place along two lines: folk and literary. A modern anecdote, in contrast to the literary jokes of previous years, as a rule, is a speech genre, not a literary one, which determines its specificity. It is noted that anecdotes are divided into situational (subject, referential), in which the comic nature of the described situation is not related to the linguistic design, and language (linguistic), which are based on the playing out of certain linguistic phenomena. The comic effect in the latter is based on purely linguistic mechanisms and depends on the choice of the used speech means. An integral part of creating a comic effect in linguistic anecdotes is violation of certain norms, or incongruence, in the implementation of which the leading role is played by the language game. The game potential of phonetic, lexical, word-building, morphological and syntactic means, as well as precedent phenomena involved in speech works of this type are described. Particular attention is paid to punning outplaying of polysemy and various types of homonymy as one of the most popular means of creating a language joke. It is concluded that peculiarity of the game means, used for creating a humorous effect, lies in their function: they have an additional evaluative connotation, express different degrees of negative loading and take part in creating comic ambiguity in the statement.

AbstractThis is an attempt to describe the bi-lingual poet Arie Ludwig Strauss’s journey from his poetry in German to his Hebrew poetry. Steeped as he was in the German poetic tradition, from Old Germanic Stabreim to Hölderlin and particularly Stefan George, and preoccupied with the phonetic, musical aspects of verse, Strauss was determined, on discovering his Hebrew heritage, to apply George’s sound devices to the Hebrew poems he began writing after his immigration to Palestine. This paper focuses on Strauss’s struggle to find a Hebrew parallel to the music of his German verse. It argues that the tonality of his Hebrew poetry is a product of two traditions: a phonological orchestration of syllables, derived largely from George, and wordplay involving whole words rather than only syllables, derived from biblical Hebrew and the Hebrew of medieval Judeo-Spanish poetry.

Dans le parler des jeunes du Mexique, on retrouve, entre autres formes de vitalité linguistique, un usage fréquent de jeux phoniques qui transforment ou substituent des lexèmes et syntagmes sans qu'il y ait altération significative du signifié. Ce phénomène linguistique utilise trois procédés phoniques: la suffixation parasitaire, la substitution lexicale basée sur la similitude phonique et l'enchaînement en écho. Le présent mémoire contribue à remplir un vide dans la littérature scientifique et faire connaître ce phénomène peu étudié en explorant les aspects formels linguistiques et les fonctions sociales. Nous cherchons à établir les relations qui existent entre la structure linguistique et les fonctions linguistiques et sociales inhérentes à l'usage de jeux phoniques. L'étude empirique menée dans la ville de Puebla (Mexique) a permis la collecte d'un corpus de plus de deux cents jeux phoniques et la réalisation d'entrevues sociolinguistiques avec dix-huit jeunes de Puebla usagers des expressions étudiées. Nous proposons une classification du corpus de jeux phoniques basée sur la structure formelle afin d'apprécier que le phénomène réponde à des patrons fixes de construction. Suite à une analyse thématique des entrevues que nous appuyons d'exemples de jeux phoniques, nous verrons que l'usage de jeux phoniques joue principalement une fonction poétique, ludique ainsi qu'une fonction de cohésion sociale et une fonction identitaire. La présente étude confirme que le caractère non normatif et cryptique intrinsèque aux jeux de mots sert à renforcer ces fonctions sociales, à la manière d'un parler argotique.
In the youth speech of Mexico a frequent use of phonic wordplays that transform or substitute lexemes and phrases without significant alteration of the signifier are found among linguistic vitality signs. This linguistic phenomenon uses three phonic techniques: parasitic suffixation, lexical substitution based on phonic similarity and echo chaining. This report contributes by filling a void in the scientific literature and to expose this overlooked phenomenon by exploring its formal linguistic aspects and social functions. The aim of this study is to establish the relationship between linguistic structure and linguistic and social functions inherent to phonic wordplay use. The empiric study conducted in Puebla (Mexico) allowed the collection of a corpus of more than two hundred phonic wordplays and the realization of sociolinguistic interviews with eighteen Puebla youth, who employ the studied expressions. This work proposes a classification of the corpus based on their formal structure in order to highlight that the phenomenon conforms to fixed patterns of construction. After a thematic analysis of the interviews, with an emphasis on phonic wordplay examples, we observe that the use of phonic wordplays mainly accomplishes poetic and ludic, as well as social cohesion and identity functions. This study confirms that the non-normative and cryptic characteristics intrinsic to phonic wordplays help to reinforce the aforementioned social functions as an argotic speech.
En el habla de los jóvenes de México encontramos, entre otras muestras de vitalidad lingüística, un uso frecuente de juegos fónicos que transforman o sustituyen lexemas y sintagmas sin que haya alteración significativa del significado. Este fenómeno lingüístico utiliza tres recursos fónicos: la sufijación parasitaria, la sustitución léxica por similitud fónica y el encadenamiento en eco. La presente memoria contribuye a llenar un vacío en la literatura científica y dar a conocer este fenómeno poco estudiado, explorando los aspectos formales lingüísticos y las funciones sociales. Buscamos establecer las relaciones que existen entre la estructura lingüística y las funciones lingüísticas y sociales inherentes al uso de los juegos fónicos. El estudio empírico que se llevó a cabo en la ciudad de Puebla (México) permitió la recolección de un corpus de más de doscientos juegos fónicos y la realización de entrevistas sociolingüísticas con dieciocho jóvenes poblanos usuarios de las expresiones estudiadas. Proponemos una clasificación del corpus de juegos fónicos basada en la estructura formal para apreciar que el fenómeno responde a patrones fijos de construcción. Tras un análisis temático de las entrevistas, que apoyamos con ejemplos de juegos fónicos, veremos que el uso de juegos fónicos cumple principalmente una función poética, lúdica, así como una función de cohesión social y una función identitaria. El presente estudio confirma que el carácter no normativo y críptico intrínseco a los juegos fónicos sirve para reforzar estas funciones sociales, a modo de habla argótica.