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Why Do Adults Use Baby Talk in the Online Space? Baby Talk as a Pragmatic Face Device in Adult Communication

Year 2021, Volume: 15 Issue: 2, 311 - 329, 26.12.2021
https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1047505

Abstract

This study aims to explore the motives and pragmatic functions of baby talk in adultto-
adult communication in the online space. By concentrating on a recent
communicative trend of using scripted baby talk in Turkish language by the Turkish
social media users, we seek to answer why adults collectively adopt a speech register
which is primarily used in adult-infant communication in their online socializations.
Drawing on the Goffmanian notion of face and the theory of (im)politeness, the study
argues that baby talk among adults in the online space functions as a powerful
multidirectional and multifunctional face device addressing the notion of face in
diverse directions and communicative goals. The most significant pragmatic functions
of adult baby talk are found to be attacking/threatening one’s face, responding to face
attacks and lastly enhancing/boosting one’s face. Face attacks were observed to occur
through imposing sarcasm, mock-politeness, verbal aggression and insult while face
boosting communicates affection, admiration and love. We also suggest that new
affordances of the online space lead to the transformation of baby talk as a register
among adults and its recontextualization as a tool for a new way of online language
socialization.

References

  • Balpınar, Zülal. “The Use of Pronouns of Power and Solidarity in Turkish.” Dilbilim Araştırmaları, vol. 7, 1996, pp. 288-293. http://dad.boun.edu.tr/tr/pub/issue/ 4533/290310
  • Bayyurt, Yasemin. The Analysis of the Determining Factors Affecting People’s Choice of Address Forms in Turkish. 1992. Lancaster University, Master’s Thesis.
  • Bombar, Meredith L., and Lawrence W. Littig. “Babytalk as a Communication of Intimate Attachment: An Initial Study in Adult Romances and Friendships.” Personal Relationships, vol. 3, 1996, pp. 137-158. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.1996.tb00108.x.
  • Caporael, Linnda R. “The Paralanguage of Caregiving: Baby Talk to the Institutionalized Aged.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 40, no. 5, 1981, pp. 876-884. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.40.5.876.
  • Caporael, Linnda R., et al. “Secondary Baby Talk: Judgments by Institutionalized Elderly and Their Caregivers.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 44, no. 4, 1983, pp. 746-754. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.4.746.
  • Culpeper, Jonathan. “Towards an Anatomy of Impoliteness.” Journal of Pragmatics, vol. 25, no 3, 1996, pp. 349-367. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(95)00014-3.
  • Culpeper, Jonathan. “Impoliteness and Entertainment in the Television Quiz Show, The Weakest Link.” Journal of Politeness Research, vol 1, no 1, 2005, pp. 35–72. https://doi.org/10.1515/jplr.2005.1.1.35.
  • Culpeper, Jonathan. Impoliteness: Using Language to Cause Offence. Cambridge University Press, 2011a.
  • Culpeper, Jonathan. “Politeness and impoliteness.” Pragmatics of Society, Volume 5 of Handbooks of Pragmatics, edited by Karin Aijmer and Gisle Andersen, De Gruyter Mouton, 2011b, pp. 391–436. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110214420.393.
  • Culpeper, Jonathan, et al. “Impoliteness Revisited: With Special Reference to Dynamic and Prosodic Aspects.” Journal of Pragmatics, vol. 35, no. 10-11, 2003, pp. 1545–1579. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(02)00118-2.
  • Goffman, Erving. Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behaviour. Pantheon Books, 1967.
  • Ferguson, Charles A. “Baby Talk in Six Languages.” American Anthropologist, vol. 66, no 6, 1964, pp. 103-114. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1964.66.suppl_3.02a00060.
  • Ferguson, Charles A. “Baby Talk as a Simplified Register.” Talking to Children: Language Input and Acquisition, edited by Catherine A. Snow and Charles A. Ferguson, 1977, pp. 219-236.
  • Kelkar, Ashok R. “Marathi Baby Talk.” Word, vol. 20, no. 1, 1964, pp. 40-54. https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.1964.11659812.
  • Kess, Joseph Francis, and Anita Copeland Kess. “On Nootka Baby Talk.” International Journal of American Linguistics, vol. 52, no. 3, 1986, pp. 201-211. https://doi.org/10.1086/466018.
  • König, Güray. “Türkçe’de Sen/Siz Adıllarının İkinci Tekil Şahıs için Kullanımına Toplumdilbilimsel bir Yaklaşım.” IV. Dilbilim Sempozyumu Bildirileri, İstanbul, 17- 18 May 1990. Edited by A. Sumru Özsoy and Hikmet Sebütekin, 1990, pp. 175- 184.
  • Kranjčić, Tamara. Baby Talk in Adult-to-Adult Communication. 2016. Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Diploma Thesis.
  • Lüdtke, Ulrike, M., editor. Emotion in Language: Theory, Research, Application. John Benjamins, 2015.
  • Partington, Alan. “Corpora and Discourse: A Most Congruous Beast.” Corpora and Discourse, edited by Alan Partington, et al., Peter Lang, 2004, pp. 11-20.
  • Partington, Alan. “Evaluating Evaluation and Some Concluding Thoughts on CADS.” Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies on the Iraq Conflict, edited by John Morley and Paul Bayley, Routledge, 2009, pp. 261-304.
  • Partington, Alan, et al. “Patterns and Meanings in Discourse: Theory and Practice in Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies.” John Benjamins, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.55.
  • Solomon, Olga. “Rethinking Baby Talk.” The Handbook of Language Socialization, edited by Alessandro Duranti, et al., Wiley Blackwell, 2011, pp. 121-149. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444342901.ch5.
  • Taylor, Charlotte. "Mock Politeness and Culture: Perceptions and Practice in UK and Italian Data." Intercultural Pragmatics, vol. 13, no. 4, 2016, pp. 463-498. https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2016-0021.
  • Taylor, Charlotte. “Women are Bitchy but Men are Sarcastic? Investigating Gender and Sarcasm.” Gender and Language, vol. 11, no. 3, 2017, pp. 415–445. https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.27906.
  • Yus, Francisco. “Not All Emoticons are Created Equal.” Linguagem Em (Dis)Curso, vol. 14, no. 3, 2014, pp. 511–529. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-4017-140304- 0414.

Yetişkinler Çevrimiçi Sosyal Ağlarda Neden Bebek Gibi Konuşur? Edimsel bir Yüz Aracı Olarak Bebek Konuşması

Year 2021, Volume: 15 Issue: 2, 311 - 329, 26.12.2021
https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1047505

Abstract

Bu çalışma, çevrimiçi sosyal ağlarda yetişkinler arası iletişimde bebek konuşmasının
edimsel işlevlerini ve motivasyonlarını araştırmayı amaçlamaktadır. Yeni bir çevrimiçi
iletişim eğilimi olarak Türkçe bebek konuşmasının yazılı versiyonlarının Türk sosyal
medya kullanıcıları tarafından kullanımına odaklanarak, yetişkinlerin çevrimiçi
sosyalleşmelerinde öncelikli olarak yetişkin-bebek iletişiminde kullanılan bir dil
değişkesini neden kolektif bir biçimde kullandıkları sorusunu yanıtlamaya çalışıyoruz.
Çalışma, yüz kavramına ve incelik/kabalık kuramına dayanarak, çevrimiçi alanda
yetişkinler arasında bebek konuşmasının çok yönlü, çok işlevli bir yüz aygıtı olarak
işlev gördüğünü ve yüz kavramını farklı doğrultularda ve farklı iletişimsel amaçlarla
ele aldığını savunuyor. Çalışmada, yetişkin bebek konuşmasının en önemli edimsel
işlevlerinin kişinin yüzüne saldırma/ yüzü tehdit etme, yüz saldırılarına yanıt verme
ve son olarak kişinin yüzünü güçlendirme/güçlendirme olduğu bulunmuştur. Yüz tehditlerinin alaycılık, sahte-incelik, sözlü saldırganlık ve hakaret yoluyla gerçekleştiği
gözlemlenirken, yüz güçlendirmenin sevgi, hayranlık ve sevgiyi ifade ettiği
gözlemlenmiştir. Son olarak, çevrimiçi alanın yeni olanaklarının, yetişkinler arasında
bir değişke olarak bebek konuşmasının dönüşümüne ve yeni bir çevrimiçi dil
sosyalleşmesinin aracı olarak yeniden bağlamsallaştırılmasına yol açtığını öneriyoruz.

References

  • Balpınar, Zülal. “The Use of Pronouns of Power and Solidarity in Turkish.” Dilbilim Araştırmaları, vol. 7, 1996, pp. 288-293. http://dad.boun.edu.tr/tr/pub/issue/ 4533/290310
  • Bayyurt, Yasemin. The Analysis of the Determining Factors Affecting People’s Choice of Address Forms in Turkish. 1992. Lancaster University, Master’s Thesis.
  • Bombar, Meredith L., and Lawrence W. Littig. “Babytalk as a Communication of Intimate Attachment: An Initial Study in Adult Romances and Friendships.” Personal Relationships, vol. 3, 1996, pp. 137-158. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.1996.tb00108.x.
  • Caporael, Linnda R. “The Paralanguage of Caregiving: Baby Talk to the Institutionalized Aged.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 40, no. 5, 1981, pp. 876-884. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.40.5.876.
  • Caporael, Linnda R., et al. “Secondary Baby Talk: Judgments by Institutionalized Elderly and Their Caregivers.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 44, no. 4, 1983, pp. 746-754. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.4.746.
  • Culpeper, Jonathan. “Towards an Anatomy of Impoliteness.” Journal of Pragmatics, vol. 25, no 3, 1996, pp. 349-367. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(95)00014-3.
  • Culpeper, Jonathan. “Impoliteness and Entertainment in the Television Quiz Show, The Weakest Link.” Journal of Politeness Research, vol 1, no 1, 2005, pp. 35–72. https://doi.org/10.1515/jplr.2005.1.1.35.
  • Culpeper, Jonathan. Impoliteness: Using Language to Cause Offence. Cambridge University Press, 2011a.
  • Culpeper, Jonathan. “Politeness and impoliteness.” Pragmatics of Society, Volume 5 of Handbooks of Pragmatics, edited by Karin Aijmer and Gisle Andersen, De Gruyter Mouton, 2011b, pp. 391–436. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110214420.393.
  • Culpeper, Jonathan, et al. “Impoliteness Revisited: With Special Reference to Dynamic and Prosodic Aspects.” Journal of Pragmatics, vol. 35, no. 10-11, 2003, pp. 1545–1579. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(02)00118-2.
  • Goffman, Erving. Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behaviour. Pantheon Books, 1967.
  • Ferguson, Charles A. “Baby Talk in Six Languages.” American Anthropologist, vol. 66, no 6, 1964, pp. 103-114. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1964.66.suppl_3.02a00060.
  • Ferguson, Charles A. “Baby Talk as a Simplified Register.” Talking to Children: Language Input and Acquisition, edited by Catherine A. Snow and Charles A. Ferguson, 1977, pp. 219-236.
  • Kelkar, Ashok R. “Marathi Baby Talk.” Word, vol. 20, no. 1, 1964, pp. 40-54. https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.1964.11659812.
  • Kess, Joseph Francis, and Anita Copeland Kess. “On Nootka Baby Talk.” International Journal of American Linguistics, vol. 52, no. 3, 1986, pp. 201-211. https://doi.org/10.1086/466018.
  • König, Güray. “Türkçe’de Sen/Siz Adıllarının İkinci Tekil Şahıs için Kullanımına Toplumdilbilimsel bir Yaklaşım.” IV. Dilbilim Sempozyumu Bildirileri, İstanbul, 17- 18 May 1990. Edited by A. Sumru Özsoy and Hikmet Sebütekin, 1990, pp. 175- 184.
  • Kranjčić, Tamara. Baby Talk in Adult-to-Adult Communication. 2016. Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Diploma Thesis.
  • Lüdtke, Ulrike, M., editor. Emotion in Language: Theory, Research, Application. John Benjamins, 2015.
  • Partington, Alan. “Corpora and Discourse: A Most Congruous Beast.” Corpora and Discourse, edited by Alan Partington, et al., Peter Lang, 2004, pp. 11-20.
  • Partington, Alan. “Evaluating Evaluation and Some Concluding Thoughts on CADS.” Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies on the Iraq Conflict, edited by John Morley and Paul Bayley, Routledge, 2009, pp. 261-304.
  • Partington, Alan, et al. “Patterns and Meanings in Discourse: Theory and Practice in Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies.” John Benjamins, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.55.
  • Solomon, Olga. “Rethinking Baby Talk.” The Handbook of Language Socialization, edited by Alessandro Duranti, et al., Wiley Blackwell, 2011, pp. 121-149. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444342901.ch5.
  • Taylor, Charlotte. "Mock Politeness and Culture: Perceptions and Practice in UK and Italian Data." Intercultural Pragmatics, vol. 13, no. 4, 2016, pp. 463-498. https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2016-0021.
  • Taylor, Charlotte. “Women are Bitchy but Men are Sarcastic? Investigating Gender and Sarcasm.” Gender and Language, vol. 11, no. 3, 2017, pp. 415–445. https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.27906.
  • Yus, Francisco. “Not All Emoticons are Created Equal.” Linguagem Em (Dis)Curso, vol. 14, no. 3, 2014, pp. 511–529. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-4017-140304- 0414.
There are 25 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Language Studies, Linguistics
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Esranur Efeoğlu 0000-0001-9627-4628

Yasemin Erdoğan-öztürk 0000-0001-5033-0436

Hale Işık Güler 0000-0002-6859-9377

Publication Date December 26, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021 Volume: 15 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Efeoğlu, E., Erdoğan-öztürk, Y., & Işık Güler, H. (2021). Why Do Adults Use Baby Talk in the Online Space? Baby Talk as a Pragmatic Face Device in Adult Communication. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 15(2), 311-329. https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1047505

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