http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/linguistics Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Sun, 28 Jun 2026 20:52:54 -0400 Sun, 28 Jun 2026 20:52:54 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1884/linguistic-affect-positive-and-negative-emotion-words-are-contagious-predict-likability-and-moderate-positive-and-negative-affect By Ryan M. Knuppenburg - Positive affect (PA) is active, enthusiastic, and happy engagement in pleasurable activities and negative affect (NA) includes aversiveness, anger, and fear (Watson et al., 1988). Two studies examined linguistic affect presented as emotion words used to describe experiences with PA and NA. The first study explored linguistic affect priming and altruistic decision-making, PA and NA valence word-choice, likability, and affect. 132 undergraduates were randomly assigned to read a narrative with positive or negative linguistic affect priming. Altruism was assessed and no difference in altruistic decisions... Fri, 05 Mar 2021 11:14 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1884/linguistic-affect-positive-and-negative-emotion-words-are-contagious-predict-likability-and-moderate-positive-and-negative-affect http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1829/construction-of-asian-identity-in-restaurant-menus-a-case-study By Mika Skibinsky - This paper explores the meaning and implications of “Asian” in the context of American restaurant menus. I determine what kind of language in dish descriptions, specifically ingredients and adjectives, indexes a restaurant or dish as “Asian.” Then, building on Mapes (2018), I observe how “Asianness” is constructed and performed using key discourse strategies, which I divide into two parts: Constructing “The Other” and Constructing “The Comfort Zone.” I then discuss how the construction of “Asianness” indexes the restaurant... Thu, 29 Oct 2020 09:56 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1829/construction-of-asian-identity-in-restaurant-menus-a-case-study http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1816/preserving-cultural-identity-in-english-language-use-by-korean-immigrants By Heajune Lee - This paper argues that the Korean cultural values of humility and social deference directly influence the linguistic choices in Korean immigrants’ English emails. This relationship can be seen in consistent qualification of requests, ambiguous use of power verbs, and excessive use of impersonal statements. To support this argument, I first examine the literature establishing a strong relationship between an individual’s identity and linguistic choices. Given the centrality of humility and respect in Korea’s Confucian society, I explore ways in which these cultural values are... Wed, 14 Oct 2020 08:25 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1816/preserving-cultural-identity-in-english-language-use-by-korean-immigrants http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1651/fighting-for-euskera-the-role-of-language-in-basque-nationalism-and-the-development-of-the-eta By Keely L. Smith - Basque nationalism is a movement that has encompassed myth, mystery, violence, and compromise, all of which have found their justification from the unique language, Euskera. The source of Euskera is uncertain due to its non-Indo-European origin, although there is evidence that it belongs “to the same agglutinative type of speech as do Santali, Mundari, Kurku, and other dialects of the Munda or Kolarian family of Bengal.”[1] This differentiation, though it gives little explanation as to the location of its foundations, does suggest that the Basques “are the descendants of indigenous... Fri, 09 Jun 2017 09:23 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1651/fighting-for-euskera-the-role-of-language-in-basque-nationalism-and-the-development-of-the-eta http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1538/a-general-theory-of-buzzwords-synergistic-meta-linguistic-paradigm-shifts By Brahm Capoor - Liz Lemon, frazzled executive producer of a struggling sketch comedy show and main character of the NBC comedy 30 Rock is trying to convince her boss, Jack Donaghy, that it makes sense to send the show’s staff to Miami for a week. This is no meager request, and will require a convincing presentation. When this is pointed out to her, she smiles and confidently claims that she can sell this. The camera cuts to her and her assistant standing in Donaghy’s opulent office, in front of his imposing desk, as she confidently recites a string of important sounding, vaguely corporate phrases: &... Thu, 16 Feb 2017 09:07 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1538/a-general-theory-of-buzzwords-synergistic-meta-linguistic-paradigm-shifts http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1522/linguistic-hegemony-in-academia-and-the-devaluation-of-minority-identity-in-higher-education By Joe Henao - A commonly observed trend among American universities is the relative underperformance of minorities in the academic arena. The usual, often lazily regurgitated explanation for this phenomenon revolves around socioeconomic situations that minority groups find themselves in, contributing to their academic plight. While this deserves some credit, this fails to tell the entire story. Apart from the general socioeconomic status of many social groups, minorities often engage in academic communities that do not even remotely mirror their cultural upbringing, values, or habitus. Institutions of higher... Mon, 30 Jan 2017 06:01 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1522/linguistic-hegemony-in-academia-and-the-devaluation-of-minority-identity-in-higher-education http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1502/first-language-attrition-in-german-jewish-refugees-of-the-nazi-dictatorship-the-impact-of-age-and-attitude-on-language-loss By Christian David Zeitz - First language attrition (L1) studies are a comparably young and theoretically unspecified field of research in bilingualism. Young, because the first scientifically acclaimed, related article, Andersen’s “Determining the linguistic attributes of language attrition,” was only published in 1982. (For comparison, Lennenberg’s monograph Biological foundations of language, widely cited in second language acquisition (SLA) studies, was published as early as 1967.) Theoretically unspecified, because most studies concerned with L1 attrition offer a well-derived discussion of data... Fri, 02 Dec 2016 10:46 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1502/first-language-attrition-in-german-jewish-refugees-of-the-nazi-dictatorship-the-impact-of-age-and-attitude-on-language-loss http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1466/right-hemisphere-involvement-in-auditory-processing-a-review By Lydia English - An orthodox opinion within neurolinguistics is left hemispheric lateralization for language processing. The left hemisphere of the brain is dominant for processing language, logic, critical thinking and reasoning (Gootjes et al. 1999; Hickok, Love-Geffen and Kilma 2002; Tyler et al. 2011), while emotion, auditory and non-verbal stimuli processing tends to be specialized to the right hemisphere (Joseph 1988; George et al. 1996). However, research on hemispheric lateralization adopts a limited view towards the right hemisphere and gives minimal recognition to its abilities and functions. Although... Mon, 24 Oct 2016 09:38 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1466/right-hemisphere-involvement-in-auditory-processing-a-review http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1422/the-crispr-fantasy-flaws-in-current-metaphors-of-gene-modifying-technology By Alex J. Maben - CRISPR gene-modifying technology continues to revolutionize fields involving biological research. Rapid advancements, however, have sparked a vibrant bioethical debate scene. This research focuses on the effective usage of CRISPR metaphors in scientific communication. Specifically, I argue that the current figurative terminology—gene editing, targeting, scissors, etc.—exhibit underlying oversimplifications that bias public perspectives on CRISPR. Though the actual experimental science occurs in lab, the world learns about the discoveries through literary expression. It is thus... Mon, 13 Jun 2016 10:59 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1422/the-crispr-fantasy-flaws-in-current-metaphors-of-gene-modifying-technology http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1087/sociolinguistic-bias-in-ap-style-how-news-media-deny-african-american-vernacular-english-realities By Andrew B. Keefe - In Media Representations and the Global Imagination, Orgad (2012) addresses the division between content and interpretative analyses of media representations in critical theory research (36). This paper attempts a marriage of structural and cultural methods, both highlighting the bias embedded within Associated Press (AP) style and employing critical discourse analysis of journalistic productions. I argue that U.S. news media that follow AP style prioritize the realities of Standard American English (SAE) speakers; this sociolinguistic bias complements symbiotic relationships between news media... Tue, 01 Sep 2015 09:48 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1087/sociolinguistic-bias-in-ap-style-how-news-media-deny-african-american-vernacular-english-realities http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/875/gender-differences-in-syntactic-development-among-english-speaking-adolescents By Hannah E. Cornett - Numerous studies have reported on the female advantage in language skills. It appears that across many domains of language, female language skills are more highly developed and often more complex than the language skills of their male counterparts. For instance, in a vast study of over 13,000 children in ten different language communities, Eriksson et al. (2012) found girls to be more advanced than boys in language abilities in each language community. Specifically, results showed girls to be ahead of boys in early communicative gestures, in productive vocabulary, and in combining words. Although... Mon, 24 Mar 2014 10:07 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/875/gender-differences-in-syntactic-development-among-english-speaking-adolescents http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/591/the-word-pocalypse-joss-whedons-dollhouse-and-dystopian-language By Elizabeth Padden - In my linguistic analysis of Dollhouse I will begin by examining four words: Attic, Echo, Active, and Doll, selected for their frequent usage in the series and for their exemplification of the way in which new meanings are associated with words that already have preexisting meanings. Using Hayakawa's definitions of the two categories of word meaning, denotative and connotative, I will deconstruct the preexisting meanings of the selected words and address their relationship to new denotations and connotations associated through context. Literal denotative meanings and associative connotative meanings... Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:05 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/591/the-word-pocalypse-joss-whedons-dollhouse-and-dystopian-language http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/82/understanding-human-language-an-in-depth-exploration-of-the-human-facility-for-language By Kendra A. Palmer - First, the concept of language should be discussed. What is it, exactly? As Joel Davis notes in his work, Mother Tongue, “Everybody uses language, but nobody knows quite how to define it” (6). He indicates that renowned linguists, such as Edward Sapir, G. Trager, and Robert Hall have all attempted their own classifications but have not quite succeeded. Some of these proposed definitions seemed accurate at the time, but then excluded individuals who use Sign Language (through a purely nonverbal transmission), or animals, some of which are known to employ a kind of communication... Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:48 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/82/understanding-human-language-an-in-depth-exploration-of-the-human-facility-for-language http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/11/sermons-in-sociolinguistic-skins-an-analysis-of-wharrys-study-on-discourse-markers-in-african-american-sermons By Scott Berghegger - In her article, “Amen and Hallelujah preaching: Discourse functions in African American sermons,” Cheryl Wharry examines the use of “sermonic expressions” by African American preachers to denote textual changes, to mark rhythm (a feature commonly associated with traditional African American culture-speak), and to maintain an atmosphere of spirituality. Wharry refutes the assumption that Black preachers’ spiritual expressions are markers for a call-and-response technique, noting that call-and-response “is displayed in the overall service and in congregational... Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:31 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/11/sermons-in-sociolinguistic-skins-an-analysis-of-wharrys-study-on-discourse-markers-in-african-american-sermons