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Silence can be a communicative act. Tanesini (2018) demonstrates how “eloquent” silences can virtuously indicate resistance and dissent; in this paper, I outline one way silence can also be used viciously to cause discursive harm, specifically by slurring victims. By distinguishing between eloquent and “signaling” silences (two kinds of what I call “performative” silences), I show how “slurring” silences — fully quiet discursive moves that signal one's commitment to a slurring perspective — function in a manner that illuminates the pragmatic topography of conversational silence in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful language learning in bilinguals requires the differentiation of two language systems. The capacity to discriminate rhythmically close languages has been reported in 4-month-olds using auditory-only stimuli. This research offers a novel perspective on early language discrimination using audiovisual material. Monolingual and bilingual infants were first habituated to a face talking in the participants' native language (or the more frequent language in bilingual contexts) and then tested on two successive language switches by the same speaker, with a close and a distant language. Code-switching exposure was indexed from parental questionnaires. Results revealed that while monolinguals could detect both the close- and distant-language switch, bilinguals only reacted to the distant language, regardless of home code-switching experience. In the temporal dimension, the analyses showed that language switch detection required at least 10 s, suggesting that the audiovisual presentation (here the same speaker switching languages) slowed down or even hindered the language switch detection. These results suggest that the detection of a multimodal close-language switch is a challenging task, especially for bilingual infants exposed to phonologically and rhythmically close languages. The current research sets the ground for further studies exploring the role of indexical cues and selective attention processes on language switch detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews empirical methods and findings on early language discrimination, questioning rhythm‐class based hypotheses on language discrimination in infancy, as well as the assumption that early language discrimination is driven primarily (or solely) by temporal prosodic cues. The present work argues that within‐rhythm class discrimination which – according to the rhythmic hypothesis – is not applicable very early in life, has not been sufficiently tested with infants under 4 months of age, that familiarity with a language is not a prerequisite for its discrimination from another rhythmically similar language, and that the temporal rhythm properties may not universally be the primary cues to language discrimination. Although rhythm taxonomy is now by many understood as outdated, some developmental literature still draws on the assumption that rhythm classification determines infants' language discrimination; other studies consider rhythm along a continuous scale and only a few account for cues to language discrimination other than temporal ones. It is proposed that studies on early language discrimination systematically test the contribution of other than temporal rhythm cues, similarly to recent work on multidimensional psychoacoustic salience in the acquisition of segmental categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I argue that “general pejoratives” such as “jerk” or “bastard” differ crucially from items such as “that damn N”. While items such as the latter typically serve to give vent to one's attitudes, general pejoratives essentially involve judgments about a person's behaviour or character. This is particularly evident in cases where pejoratives occur not as epithets, but as predicate nominals. If we want to account for the overall contribution of words such as “jerk”, there are three kinds of content that ought to be distinguished: truth‐conditional contents, evaluative presuppositions, and expressive contents that are either at‐issue (in the case of expressive predicates) or non‐at‐issue (in the case of epithets). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though most children acquire language effortlessly, not all do. Nowadays, language disorders are difficult to diagnose before 3-4 years of age, because diagnosis relies on behavioral criteria difficult to obtain early in life. Using electroencephalography, I investigated whether differences in newborns' neural activity when listening to sentences in their native language (French) and a rhythmically different unfamiliar language (English) relate to measures of later language development at 12 and 18 months. Here I show that activation differences in the theta band at birth predict language comprehension abilities at 12 and 18 months. These findings suggest that a neural measure of language discrimination at birth could be used in the early identification of infants at risk of developmental language disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Language delay affects near- and long-term social communication and learning in toddlers, and, an increasing number of experts pay attention to it. The development of prosody discrimination is one of the earliest stages of language development in which key skills for later stages are mastered. Therefore, analyzing the relationship between brain discrimination of speech prosody and language abilities may provide an objective basis for the diagnosis and intervention of language delay. Methods: In this study, all cases(n = 241) were enrolled from a tertiary women's hospital, from 2021 to 2022. We used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to assess children's neural prosody discrimination abilities, and a Chinese communicative development inventory (CCDI) were used to evaluate their language abilities. Results: Ninety-eight full-term and 108 preterm toddlers were included in the final analysis in phase I and II studies, respectively. The total CCDI screening abnormality rate was 9.2% for full-term and 34.3% for preterm toddlers. Full-term toddlers showed prosody discrimination ability in all channels except channel 5, while preterm toddlers showed prosody discrimination ability in channel 6 only. Multifactorial logistic regression analyses showed that prosody discrimination of the right angular gyrus (channel 3) had a statistically significant effect on language delay (odd ratio = 0.301, P < 0.05) in full-term toddlers. Random forest (RF) regression model presented that prosody discrimination reflected by channels and brain regions based on fNIRS data was an important parameter for predicting language delay in preterm toddlers, among which the prosody discrimination reflected by the right angular gyrus (channel 4) was the most important parameter. The area under the model Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.687. Conclusions: Neural prosody discrimination ability is positively associated with language development, assessment of brain prosody discrimination abilities through fNIRS could be used as an objective indicator for early identification of children with language delay in the future clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the resurgence of deviant leisure cultures in football, with a focus on virtual football violence. Despite advancements in curbing violence in UK football stadiums, new challenges emerge online. By analysing social media discourse from three English Premier League matches in 2022, the study reveals the prevalence of several forms of virtual violence, including threats of physical and sexual violence, emotional violence, and discriminatory violence. The research highlights the resurgence of ‘traditional’ norms of masculinity, aggression, and misogyny facilitated by anonymity in online spaces. Paradoxically, the results show that fans engage in derogatory language while simultaneously condemning similar actions by others. This phenomenon is particularly evident in the category of discriminatory violence, where comments are frequently challenged, indicating a ‘raising of consciousness’ and a growing intolerance to certain forms of discriminatory language. However, despite some evidence of social consciousness and pushback against discriminatory language, the prevalence of virtual violence remains concerning on multiple levels. This underscores the need for continued efforts to promote respectful discourse and foster inclusive environments online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary public discourse is saturated with speech that vilifies and incites hatred or violence against vulnerable groups. The term "hate speech" has emerged in legal circles and in ordinary language to refer to these communicative acts. But legal theorists and philosophers disagree over how to define this term. This paper makes the case for, and subsequently develops, the first corpus-based analysis of the ordinary meaning of "hate speech." We begin by demonstrating that key interpretive and moral disputes surrounding hate speech laws—in particular, surrounding their compatibility with the rule of law, democracy, and free speech—depend crucially on the ordinary meaning of "hate speech." Next, we argue, drawing on recent developments in legal philosophy, that corpus linguistics constitutes a distinctively promising tool for ascertaining the ordinary meaning of "hate speech." Finally, we offer a proof of concept, by outlining, and analyzing the interpretive and moral implications of, the first such study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay is an experiment in figuring the pandemic through its reconfigurations of Chineseness. It departs from the Sinophobic cliché that conflates race, geopolitics, and epidemiology: the "China Virus" and its cloud of cognate slurs. It considers the slogan-slur as both an epithet and a conceptual and political challenge to imagine the pandemic as it is lived, still, as a disorientation of Asian and Asian American life, time, and death. The essay pauses at each of the three Lunar New Years of the pandemic, so far, to consider how Chineseness—as a national example, as a mode of racialization, and as a site of racial suspicion—might upset a US-based accounting of the pandemic, which frames it only through its arrival on American shores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate experimentally whether the perceived offensiveness of slurs survives when they are reported, by comparing Italian slurs and insults in base utterances (Y is an S), direct speech (X said: "Y is an S"), mixed quotation (X said that Y is "an S"), and indirect speech (X said that Y is an S). For all strategies, reporting decreases the perceived offensiveness without removing it. For slurs, but not insults, indirect speech is perceived as more offensive than direct speech. Our hypothesis is that, because slurs constitute hate speech, speakers employ quotation marks to signal their dissociation from slur use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, as it relates to the speech and voice recognition industry, has established itself as a multibillion-dollar global market, but at whose expense? In this forum article, we amplify the current critiques of the architectures of large language models being used increasingly in daily life. Our commentary exposes emerging AI accent modification technology and services as agents of racial commodification and linguistic dominance, as it rests on the perceived superiority of standardized US English. We discuss our concern for such services leaching into academia. We argue that this technology follows a standardized language framework, which poses a fundamental problem of being informed by purist monolingual principles. These principles often help to perpetuate and maintain harmful raciolinguistic ideologies that result in language discrimination and the continual framing of the language practices of racially minoritized speakers as deficient. Thus, we write this piece with the intent to expose the fabricated humanity of accent modification technology whose existence perpetuates capitalism's reliance on dehumanization for economic advancement and the legacy and reproduction of white language superiority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the concept of trans language activism (TLA) and its role in achieving sociolinguistic justice for trans communities. The author argues that TLA should not only challenge misogyny, heteronormativity, and transphobia, but also address other systems of oppression such as ableism, capitalism, colonialism, fatphobia, HIV status, imperialism, incarceration, Islamophobia, poverty, racism, sexism, Survivorship, and xenophobia. The article emphasizes the importance of creating safe spaces for language play and collective discussion, as well as the need for political education to connect forms of oppression across different identities and geographies. The concept of euphoric transmutation is introduced as a strategy for liberation through language, involving the play, juxtaposition, innovation, and resignification of lexicon to challenge hegemonic power. The article also proposes the creation of a multilingual database to compare and name systems of oppression, promoting linguistic materialism and self-determination. Overall, the article advocates for TLA to center the joyful self-determination of oppressed people and promote linguistic innovation for collective liberation. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the importance of language activism in relation to the transgender community. It highlights the changes in norms around gender-inclusive language and the innovations in linguistic forms by trans, queer, and gender nonconforming individuals. The article emphasizes the need for intersectional coalitions in addressing linguistic issues faced by trans people, as transphobia is intensified by other forms of oppression. It also explores the challenges faced by trans language activism, including limited circulation, language ideologies, and the unequal impact of trans-affirming language. The article concludes by discussing the complex relationship between trans-affirming language and resistance to colonialism and cultural imperialism. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the complexities of using language to describe transgender individuals in different cultural contexts. It highlights examples of debates surrounding the use of pronouns and terminology, such as the case of a Japanese trans man being referred to as "she" in an article. The author argues that while trans-affirming language is important, it should be understood within its sociocultural context and not imposed universally. The article calls for a recognition of diverse perspectives and a move away from Eurocentric thinking in discussions of trans issues. [Extracted from the article]

The article, titled "Wealth as Responsiveness to Earth Wisdom," discusses the importance of recognizing and respecting Indigenous perspectives and wisdom in relation to the Earth. The author emphasizes the need for Occidentalized societies to understand their origins and the consequences of their actions on the Earth. They argue that the concept of duality, which separates humans from nature, has led to the exploitation and commodification of the Earth. The author also highlights the importance of unlearning Western thinking and reimagining wealth in a way that aligns with Indigenous philosophies and values. The article concludes with a story that illustrates the idea of collective well-being and the interconnectedness of all beings. [Extracted from the article]

Five studies examined implicit (IAT) attitudes toward the slurs n***er and n***a among Black and White Americans (total N = 3,226). Both groups showed strong implicit negativity toward n***er/a combined relative to socially acceptable contrast terms such as Black or African American. Controlling for baseline Black-White race attitudes, Black Americans who engaged in conscious reappropriation exhibited similar implicit negativity toward n***er/a as White Americans. When the rhotic and non-rhotic forms were directly contrasted, n***er was more implicitly negative than n***a, with Black Americans distinguishing the two more strongly than did White Americans. However, even Black American reappropriators showed implicit negativity toward n***a relative to Black. In sum, both n***er and n***a evoke automatic negative meaning in a broad sample of Americans today. At the same time, the relatively more positive meaning of n***a over n***er demonstrates the power of reappropriation to wrest control of word meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the concept of trans language activism (TLA) and its role in achieving sociolinguistic justice for trans communities. The author argues that TLA should not only challenge misogyny, heteronormativity, and transphobia, but also address other systems of oppression such as ableism, capitalism, colonialism, fatphobia, HIV status, imperialism, incarceration, Islamophobia, poverty, racism, sexism, Survivorship, and xenophobia. The article emphasizes the importance of creating safe spaces for language play and collective discussion, as well as the need for political education to connect forms of oppression across different identities and geographies. The concept of euphoric transmutation is introduced as a strategy for liberation through language, involving the play, juxtaposition, innovation, and resignification of lexicon to challenge hegemonic power. The article also proposes the creation of a multilingual database to compare and name systems of oppression, promoting linguistic materialism and self-determination. Overall, the article advocates for TLA to center the joyful self-determination of oppressed people and promote linguistic innovation for collective liberation. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Policy & Internet is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses the need for linguists to change their approach to teaching Creole languages in order to rectify historical biases and promote equitable inclusion. The authors developed the Mis/Underrepresented Languages: Teaching and Inclusion (MULTI) Project, which provides pedagogical resources for integrating Creole language data and expertise into linguistics courses. The project aims to amplify the voices of Creole language users and empower educators to incorporate Creole languages into their classrooms. It includes resources such as video clips of interviews with Creole users, contextualized problem sets, and a facilitation guide for incorporating these materials into curricula. The text also emphasizes the importance of diversity and inclusivity in linguistics education, particularly in relation to underrepresented languages and language varieties. [Extracted from the article]

Writing against the backdrop of a complex postcolonial, multilingual scenario and discriminatory language policies of post-apartheid, independent South Africa, contemporary South African anglophone writers resort to appropriation and abrogation of English language by mixing marginalised languages to actualise their own linguistic identities. Sindiwe Magona has amalgamated her mother-tongue isiXhosa with the English language to counter the dominance of the English language and to question the language policies of both apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa. Specifically, in her autobiographical writings, To My Children's Children (1990) and Forced to Grow (1992), she has used code switching, translation and transliteration to relate the Xhosa culture and life. These works exemplify the process of a South African writer's linguistic struggle to reach a global audience and to enlighten them about the issues of linguistic discrimination in South Africa while writing in English. Applying the theory of translanguaging, this paper analyses Magona's autobiographies and aims to discuss how bilingual or multilingual writers gain their authority or linguistic competence in a lingua franca and create a dialogic space in their literary works that dismantles the hegemony of English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Muriel Spark (1918–2006) travelled from Scotland to Africa and stayed there from 1937 to 1944. Africa is a recurrent presence in her work. Critics focus mainly on her African-themed poems and stories. They pay less attention to depictions of that continent in her other work and tend to gloss over her problematic use of language. This article addresses Spark's representation of the African landscape and her different portrayals of Africans, white settlers, and missionaries. It also explores her deployment of the familiar colonial tropes of cannibalism and 'witch doctors'. It argues that Spark's representations of Africa in her works are at once ironic, comedic, satirical, and wittily arch, yet remain open to charges of being stereotypical and problematic, particularly at a time of public scrutiny and media concern with discriminatory language. These representations reveal that Spark mainly speaks for white missionaries rather than the downtrodden Africans in her writings. This article aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of Scottish involvement in colonialism in the modern period by untangling the connections between race, religion, and literary culture in Spark's writings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reception studies in audiovisual translation seek to explore how translation choices affect the audience's comprehension, emotional engagement, enjoyment, and overall viewing experience of audiovisual materials. This study focuses on the subtitling product and analyzes the acceptability of swear words translated through different stimuli: subtitles with softened, maintained, and intensified swearing, along with standard Netflix subtitles (control). Employing a multi-method approach, the study collected data through a survey, using questionnaires with a Likert scale and interviews, following the user-centered translation model to understand how participants receive and perceive swear words in subtitling. The results indicate that the control group had the highest acceptability of the participants, while the group with softened swear words presented the lowest acceptability rate. The analysis shows that participants across all groups reported that discomfort does not arise from reading the swear word in the subtitle but from perceiving a deliberate change in its offensive load—usually softened. The findings demonstrate that this change can lead to a breach of the contract of illusion in subtitling, as participants are exposed to the original dialogue and the translated subtitle simultaneously. In conclusion, when perceived, the change in the offensive load can redirect the viewer's focus from the video to the subtitles, negatively affecting the enjoyment of the audiovisual experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kukho ingcinga ephosayo, neyalatha ukuba amagama ocalucalulo nathoba isidima sabaNtsundu kwimeko yoMzantsi Afrika omtsha, anokuqondwa ngeenkcazobungcali zesimantiki nepragmatiki kuphela. Loo nto yenza kubekho ukuqhwalela ekuqondeni iintsingiselo ezondele nzulu kwimbali nocalucalulo olwalugquba eMzantsi Afrika. Oku, kungaphezu kokuba kusekho iimpawu nemikhwa yokusetyenziswa kolwimi olucalucalulayo kuMzantsi Afrika omtsha, nto leyo ethi ithibaze kwaye ithintele intsebenziswano nokubumbana phakathi kweentlanga ngeentlanga. Ngesi sizathu, eli nqaku lijolise ekuphicotheni nzulu nasekucubunguleni iintsingiselo eziminxiselwe kwigama elithi kaffir elisetyenziswa kakhulu kwimeko yoMzantsi Afrika ukubulala isidima nokutshabalalisa ubuntu kwisizwe somgquba. Ukuchongwa kweli gama kutyhalwa kukungaqondakali kobunzulu beentsingiselo ezincathame kulo, into ke leyo ethi ikhokelele ekubeni abaMhlophe bangabonakalisi kurhoxa nganeno ngokungqamene nokusebenzisa ulwimi oluthoba isidima sabaNtsundu. Ukuphalisa iingxoxobunzululwazi zeli nqaku, inkcazobungcali yobuhlanga isetyenziswa njengegqwesileyo ukuze kuvele iintsingiselo ezincathame kwigama elithi kaffir kwimeko yoMzantsi Afrika. Iziphumo kunye neengxoxobunzululwazi zeli nqaku zibonisa ukuba eli gama lithi lithunuke, livuselele iinkumbulo kwaye lisebenze njengesithuko kwisizwe sabaNtsundu ngenxa yezenyeliso elizimumethileyo. Phakathi kwezinye iintsingiselo, kuvela ngakumbi nangakumbi ukuba igama eli linentsingiselo ejolise ekwenzeni abaNtsundu izicamba zokuxangxathwa. Ngamazwi aqukumbelayo, kuyabonakala ukuba ulwimi olucalucalulayo lumumethe imbali etyebileyo. Loo nto ibonise ukuba olu lwimi kusafuneka ukuba luphicothwe ngokubanzi kuxhathiswe ngeembonobunzululwazi zaseAfrika. Okungamandla, kugxininiswa ukuba asingombono omhle ukuyeka imbali yabaNtsundu emumethwe lulwimi icime, njengoko ubani enokuqaphela ukuba ulwimi lusisisele senyathi. A critical examination of interwoven meanings in the word 'kaffir' using critical race theory There is a misconception which underlines that the linguistic terms of discrimination for the Ntsundu people in the new South African context can only be understood through the theories of semantics and pragmatics. This makes it challenging to understand the meanings that are interwoven in the history of apartheid that prevailed in South Africa. This is more than the reality that there are still lingering signs and behaviours where discriminatory language is used in the new South Africa. This delays and prevents cooperation and inclusivity among different races. For this reason, this article aims to critically examine the profoundly entrenched meanings attached to the word kaffir which has been widely used in the South African context to distort and degrade the nobility and humanity of the Ntsundu people. The preference for this word is motivated by the ambiguity of the depth of the meanings concealed in it. This is what leads to the fact that white people do not seem to discontinue its use, and this degrades the dignity of the Ntsundu people. To advance the discussions of this article, critical race theory is used as a lens to uncover the meanings hidden in the word kaffir in the context of South Africa. The results and discussion in this article underscore that this word is painful, evokes memories of colonialism and serves as an insult to the Ntsundu nation. Among other meanings, it becomes clear that this word has a meaning aimed at making Ntsundu people the target of mockery and humiliation. In closing, it is obvious that discriminatory language has a rich history. This is indicative that this language still needs to be exhaustively critiqued by scholarship and supported by African theoretical perspectives. In addition to this, it is underscored here that it is not an appropriate idea to let the history of the Ntsundu people reproduced by language be erased, as one may observe that language serves as a part of knowledge and history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Understanding linguistic profiling and its substantial consequences on employee career development is essential in diverse workplaces. This study utilizes Levinson's eras and career development theories to analyze the complicated relationship between linguistic profiling and biases, which hamper employee career development. Design/methodology/approach: This study used an interpretive methodology and conducted thematic data analysis. It documented lessons learned from diverse viewpoints through semi-structured interviews with 19 participants conducted in November and December 2022. Findings: The study demonstrates that linguistic discrimination occurs in diverse workplaces. After data exploration, four intriguing themes appeared. The first theme was related to employees who were discriminated against because of various languages. This shows how often language choice affects employees. The second theme examined how linguistic profiling intersected with marginalized groups, increasing discrimination. The third theme, linguistic profiling and career development showed that bias had a huge influence on career progression. The fourth theme emphasizes organizational policies for preventing language discrimination, promoting career growth and inclusive organizations. Originality/value: This study advances the understanding of linguistic profiling and career development in a multilingual society. In addition, it furthers discourse and provides ways to minimize biases, creating a more inclusive workplace environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the concept of linguistic profiling and its impact on career development. Linguistic profiling refers to the discrimination and profiling of individuals based on their speech, particularly within racial and ethnic subgroups. The article highlights how linguistic profiling can hinder career progression and create barriers for diverse individuals. It also discusses the intersectionality of linguistic profiling with marginalized groups, the strategies individuals adopt in response to profiling, the institutionalization of profiling in workplace practices, and the integration of linguistic profiling with career theories. The article emphasizes the need for a deeper understanding of linguistic profiling and the implementation of strategic interventions to support marginalized groups in their career development. It suggests that organizations critically examine their policies and practices, raise awareness about linguistic diversity, and implement inclusive strategies. Career development professionals are encouraged to play a role in facilitating this process through education, training, and awareness. The document concludes by stating that further research is needed to enhance our understanding of linguistic profiling and its impact on career development. [Extracted from the article]

Migrants' children face challenges when returning to their parent's home country, which is usually unfamiliar to them. This qualitative study explores this phenomenon to understand more about the experiences of returnee children regarding their social-educational (re)integration and adaptation, the challenges they faced, and the mechanisms they have developed to overcome them. Results are discussed from the perspective of acculturative stress and social networks, identifying the struggle that returnees have to adapt and acculturate to their new home because of the lack of competence in the Spanish language and the consequences of the discrimination they suffer in the social environment, namely school and in their parents' hometowns. However, results also shed light on how returnees create social networks with classmates and family members who help them overcome these challenges, fears, and feelings of alienation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Longstanding philosophical debate over the semantics of proper names has yet to examine the distinctive behavior of deadnames, names that have been rejected by their former bearers. The use of these names to deadname individuals is derogatory, but deadnaming derogates differently than other kinds of derogatory speech. This paper examines different accounts of this behavior, illustrates what going views of names will have to say to account for it, and articulates a novel version of predicativism that can give a semantic explanation for this derogation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal for Sociology of Education & Socialization / Zeitschrift für Soziologie der Erziehung & Sozialisation is the property of Julius Beltz GmbH & Co. KG Beltz Juventa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

It is generally thought that the reclamation of slurs is restricted to the in-group. Bianca Cepollaro and Dan Lopez de Sa challenge this assumption by presenting cases in which slurs are successfully reclaimed by members of out-groups. I agree with the idea that the out-groups often participate in reclamation. In this paper, I present a view which accommodates the fact that sometimes out-groups successfully reclaim slurs. At the same time, the view preserves the central role of the in-group in reclamation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a list of references for various research articles on topics related to language and communication. The articles cover a range of subjects, including the impact of non-native speakers on word forms, the influence of second language learners on nominal case, the relationship between bite configuration and human sound systems, the modeling of genetic diversity within India, the role of spatial distribution in cultural evolution, the linguistic and memory correlates of societal variation, the self-organization of vowel systems, the co-evolution of speech and biology, the transmission of vowels and weak biases, the interpretation and evaluation of complexity metrics, the influence of climate on languages, the adaptation of speech to differences in dentition, the relationship between sonority and climate, the connection between climate and tonal languages, the impact of climate on language evolution, the relationship between dentition and speech, the influence of population size on phoneme inventory, the causal inference in research, the transmission of SARS and language, the origin and maintenance of clausal embedding complexity, the impact of color use on color naming, the evolution of predication, the introduction of asymmetry into cognitive structures, the typologizing of grammatical complexities, the relationship between population size and language evolution, the statistical bias control in typology, the impact of desiccation on language, the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the environmental effects on phonology using diachronic models, the methodological problems in quantitative research on environmental effects in phonology, and the relationship [Extracted from the article]

The document titled "Sociolinguistic History of Mexico. Volume 5. New visits to the past and present" is a review of the book directed by Rebeca Barriga Villanueva and Pedro Martín Butragueño. The book addresses topics such as the role of migrations in processes of linguistic variation and change, the influence of linguistic attitudes and beliefs on speakers' decisions, the function of identity and linguistic ideologies in defining linguistic varieties, and the impact of language policies on speaker communities. It also analyzes variation and linguistic change in Mexican Spanish, as well as literature in indigenous languages and dialectal contact in Mexican Spanish. Additionally, it examines the language and educational policies implemented in relation to indigenous languages in Mexico, noting that they have contributed to the displacement of these languages and discrimination against indigenous communities. [Extracted from the article]

This summary is about a dissertation that focuses on the sign language Kata Kolok used in a rural enclave in Northern Bali, Indonesia. The dissertation explores how phonology is used and acquired in the community, examining variation within the language, cross-linguistic variation, and individual variation in acquisition settings and patterns. The research is based on fieldwork and includes data from adult signers and deaf children. The findings contribute to our understanding of variation in sign languages and the acquisition of phonology, emphasizing the importance of linguistic diversity in research. [Extracted from the article]

This piece of research analyzes, through a case study, how the former presidential candidate and Colombian politician Rodolfo Hernández Suárez, built a disperse discourse based on violence and insult as a justification to different social and political issues of the country, where political emotionality seems to exacerbate the very limits of freedom of expression and democracy in its different processes of participation. More than one hundred recorded sources were analyzed in which speeches, interviews, and telephone calls, are found, where four of them were chosen to perform the analysis of emotionality from Martha Nussbaum's analytical and theoretical perspective, by recognizing there, a series of words where insult and discrimination to both national and foreign citizens are evident, where it is concluded that the common language with discriminatory focus seems to be attractive to their voters, because it appeals fundamentally to emotionality through violence as a support for distrust and political disillusionment of a large part of citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The AKMB Autumn Training 2023 took place on November 9th and 10th and focused on the topic "Everything in the Green Zone? Sustainability in Art and Museum Libraries". The event was organized by the Working Group of Art and Museum Libraries (AKMB) in cooperation with the German Society for Information and Knowledge (DGI). Various lectures and discussions were held on topics such as climate protection in museums, sustainable use of resources in libraries, and networking and participation in consortia as a strategy. There was also a discussion on the implementation of sustainability in the library of the German Literature Archive in Marbach and the long-term preservation of digital content. The article describes the contributions of museum libraries to social sustainability. Concrete examples from the DHM library are discussed, such as equal access to resources, the library as a meeting place, and working conditions. It emphasizes that dealing with social sustainability depends on the users, staff, available media and facilities, as well as the institution's focus. Other topics addressed in the lectures include volunteer management at the Technoseum Mannheim, dealing with racist and discriminatory language in image databases, and knowledge transfer in libraries and cultural archives. The concept of Library Carpentry, which teaches data and programming skills, is also introduced. The article concludes with a mention of further opportunities for in-depth exploration of the topics covered. [Extracted from the article]

Objectives: Language brokering (LB) often occurs in public places, putting youth who broker at risk for experiencing discrimination while engaging in brokering. Guided by the risk and resilience theoretical framework, the present study goals were twofold: (a) to examine the association between discrimination and LB, and (b) to explore moderating abilities of ethnic identity and family dynamics. Method: Data were collected from 458 young adults (Mage = 21.36, 80% female). Participants were from a diverse region in the United States, and a majority of them self-identified as Latino (66.2%). Participants were invited to complete a one-time online survey about their LB and family experiences. Results: We found that discrimination was negatively associated with LB for these young people. Specifically, discrimination was related to higher LB burden and higher LB role reversal, and lower LB efficacy. In addition, we found that ethnic–racial identity (ERI) acted as a moderator of LB role reversal against discrimination, and that negative family dynamics moderated the association between discrimination and LB. Positive family dynamics were not successful in buffering against negative effects of discrimination. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that young people who broker seem to be negatively impacted by discrimination. The effects of discrimination on LB role reversal could be alleviated by strong ERI; however, the same is not true for LB burden and LB efficacy. Furthermore, negative family dynamics exacerbated the negative effects of discrimination on LB, and positive family dynamics did not serve as a buffer against discrimination. Implications for those working with language brokers are discussed. Public Significance Statement: Young people who language broker for their parents may experience discrimination. While some factors, such as a strong ethnic–racial identity, can protect against negative effects of discrimination, being involved in family conflict can make the negative effects of discrimination even worse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to hate speech (HS) leads to desensitization of listeners. Yet, most evidence of this process has been obtained using self‐report measures. In this paper, we examined desensitization to HS using an unobtrusive, psychophysiological measure. In an experimental electrocardiogram study (N = 56), we observed heart rate (HR) deceleration after reading comments that contained HS. This suggested a substantive psychophysiological reaction of participants to hateful comments. However, such HR deceleration was not observed among participants preexposed to HS. People exposed to hateful comments thus appeared to show different HR responses to HS compared to people who were not previously exposed to such comments. Consequently, not only does frequent exposure to HS influence an individual's beliefs as observed in earlier studies, but it also impacts psychophysiological reactions to derogatory language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LGBTQ+ slurs can now be registered as federal trademarks. The U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in Matal v. Tam and Iancu v. Brunetti permitted federal registration of disparaging, immoral, or scandalous trademarks. Appellee Simon Tam cheered, hoping that these decisions would usher in a new era of minority communities reappropriating offensive terms steeped in hate and prejudice. Others were less optimistic. Advocacy organizations, scholars, and minority groups worried that these decisions opened the floodgates to the United States Patent and Trademark Office registering the vilest and most prejudicial terms in the U.S. lexicon, ossifying hatred. Only time would tell who was right. Now, several years after Tam, this Article seeks to answer this question for LGBTQ+ slurs. A prior study found that, following Tam, affirming uses of racially-oriented marks by in-group members predominated over disparaging ones. This Article builds on that analysis and breaks ground on examining trademark law's relationship with LGBTQ+ persons. To date, there has been practically no trademark law scholarship on the LGBTQ+ community. This Article presents an empirical analysis of 144 LGBTQ+-oriented trademark applications filed before and after Tam. This study finds that the number of LGBTQ+-oriented trademark applications has increased over twofold since Tam. More surprisingly, LGBTQ+-oriented marks have been unanimously affirming in nature; not a single disparaging use of the slurs in trademarks was identified over the entire nine-year period. Based on these findings, I posit that Tam and Brunetti have facilitated increasing applications for and registrations of LGBTQ+-oriented trademarks by and for the LGBTQ+ community rather than symbols of hate against it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine intern physicians' attitudes and beliefs toward obesity and individuals with obesity and the frequency at which they encounter discriminatory language in their work environments. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed with intern physicians at the Ondokuz Mayıs University Medical Faculty in Samsun, Türkiye. A questionnaire was employed for data collection (Appendix). Two hundred eighteen (82.2%) interns took part in the study. The questionnaire consisted of 53 questions in five sections, and included the attitudes toward obese persons (ATOP) and beliefs about obese persons (BAOP) scales. Results: The interns most frequently cited genetic factors (98.1%) and endocrine disorder-metabolic disorders (98.1%) as non-behavioral causes of obesity, and overeating (96.2%) and physical immobility (96.2%) as behavioral causes. Lifestyle changes and exercise were most frequently recommended for treatment. The interns' attitudes toward individuals with obesity were very slightly negative, but close to neutral. Analysis showed that 46.8% of the interns reported hearing members of academic staff, intern physicians, or health workers make negative or derogatory comments or jokes about obese patients during their education, while 22.0% reported witnessing an obese patient being subjected to discriminatory treatment in the hospital environment. Conclusion: Medical faculties must develop curricula aimed at comprehensively addressing obesity-related bias. Such a curriculum should allow students to reflect on their biases, be aimed at reducing the effect of those biases on patient communication, and involve strategies directed toward eliminating those effects from physicians' treatment decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interpreting taboo language from and into Kinyarwanda, English and French can lead to poor quality renderings if a combination of linguistic and cultural factors is unattended to. This study aimed to explore the strategies used by Rwandan interpreters to render cultural-linguistic aspects found in taboo expressions from and into Kinyarwanda, English and French. The paper drew on a set of 'equivalence theories' in the field of translation (Baker, 2011; Nida, 2000; Vinay and Darbelnet, 1995), the skopos theory (Basnett & Lefevre, 1990) as well as the bottom-up and top-down models (Hatim and Mason, 1997). Renditions by 20 Rwandan interpreters using the simultaneous mode were recorded, transcribed, coded and analysed. The findings revealed that most Rwandan interpreters resorted to the 'literal strategy' to render taboo expressions with the effect that the meaning of the source text (ST) sometimes got distorted while translating vulgar and derogatory language, insults, euphemism, and vulgar proverbs. The findings also revealed that in an attempt to cope with interpreting taboo language, it is not enough to rely on a single strategy, that is to say interpreters should use a combination of strategies in order to improve the quality of their renditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: While the economic literature mostly tackled discrimination looking at labour costs, this work focuses on its relation to labour productivity, arguing that discrimination may worsen the performance of female employees. In this view, it represents a source of allocative inefficiency, which contributes to reducing output. Design/methodology/approach: Female discrimination is both a social and an economic problem. In social terms, consolidated gender stereotypes impose constraints on women's behaviour, worsening their overall well-being. In economic terms, women face generally worse labour market conditions. Using long-run Italian data spanning from 1861 to 2009, the authors propose a novel measure of female discrimination based on the observed frequency of discriminating epithets. Following social capital theory, the authors distinguish between structural and voluntary discrimination, and use Data Envelopment Analysis for time series data to assess the extent of inefficiency that each component of discrimination induces in the production process. Findings: The results draw the trajectory of female discrimination in Italy and provide evidence in favour of the idea that female discrimination reduces productive efficiency. In particular, the structural component of female discrimination, although less sizeable than the voluntary component, plays a major role, especially in recent years, where more stringent beauty standards fuel looks-based discrimination. Originality/value: The contribution of this work is twofold. First, based on contributions from social sciences different from economics, it proposes a novel theoretical framework that explores the effect of discriminatory language on labour productivity. Second, it introduces a novel and direct measure of female discrimination at the country level, based on the bidirectional link between language and culture. The indicator is easily understood by policymakers and may be used to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-discrimination policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, systems have been developed to monitor online content and remove abusive, offensive or hateful content. Comments in online social media have been analyzed to find and stop the spread of negativity using methods such as hate speech detection, identification of offensive language or detection of abusive language. We define hope speech as the type of speech that is able to relax a hostile environment and that helps, gives suggestions and inspires for good to a number of people when they are in times of illness, stress, loneliness or depression. Detecting it automatically, in order to give greater diffusion to positive comments, can have a very significant effect when it comes to fighting against sexual or racial discrimination or when we intend to foster less bellicose environments. In this article we perform a complete study on hope speech, analyzing existing solutions and available resources. In addition, we have generated a quality resource, SpanishHopeEDI, a new Spanish Twitter dataset on LGBT community, and we have conducted some experiments that can serve as a baseline for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our study we assess the responsiveness of Hungarian local governments to requests for information by Roma and non-Roma clients, relying on a nationwide correspondence study. Our paper has both methodological and substantive relevance. The methodological novelty is that we treat discrimination as a classification problem and study to what extent emails written to Roma and non-Roma clients can be distinguished, which in turn serves as a metric of discrimination in general. We show that it is possible to detect discrimination in textual data in an automated way without human coding, and that machine learning (ML) may detect features of discrimination that human coders may not recognize. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first attempt to assess discrimination using ML techniques. From a substantive point of view, our study focuses on linguistic features the algorithm detects behind the discrimination. Our models worked significantly better compared to random classification (the accuracy of the best of our models was 61%), confirming the differential treatment of Roma clients. The most important predictors showed that the answers sent to ostensibly Roma clients are not only shorter, but their tone is less polite and more reserved, supporting the idea of attention discrimination, in line with the results of Bartos et al. (2016). A higher level of attention discrimination is detectable against male senders, and in smaller settlements. Also, our results can be interpreted as digital discrimination in the sense in which Edelman and Luca (2014) use this term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes implicit racist rhetoric in Japan after the Hate Speech Elimination Act was enacted in 2016. While the law brought about the deradicalization and decline of hate groups, it has been ineffective in regulating covert hate speech. Zainichi Koreans, the primary victims of such speech, have struggled to have the illegality of racial discrimination recognized in litigation. By analyzing the case of Shin Sugok versus DHC TV, this article addresses the question of how racists use hateful rhetoric against Zainichi Koreans in the post-HSEA era. Shin filed a lawsuit in 2018 claiming defamation by DHC TV and won substantial compensation; however, the initial court decision in 2021 did not find racial discrimination against her, and the discrimination was only recognized by the Appeals Court in 2022. This blurring of judicial decisions was due to the expressions of racial discourse being subtle, which is referred to as strategic racism. The TV program did not use discriminatory language but stimulated the interest of racist viewers by persistently referring to the ethnic origin of the plaintiff. In this sense, Japan has entered an era in which it is necessary to analyze implicit racial codes, similarly to the situation with racist discourse in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution takes a look at video-sharing platforms to highlight a popular entertainment format which consists in re-framing political discourse for the purposes of entertaining the audience and, at the same time, providing an evaluation of that discourse. Evaluations of political discourse uncover the role and importance imputed to it by those who are outside of the political system, but who are directly impacted by it, that is, the people. A sample of French-language data, collected from YouTube, is examined for the categories of evaluation which are used by the authors, which are conjectured to represent the ideas ordinary citizens have about political discourse. Reframing political discourse carries these evaluations through offensive language and humor. Teasing out the relevant parameters of evaluation can provide a basis for understanding how regular citizens gauge political discourse. Appropriateness appears to be an important evaluation criterion pertaining to the characteristics of political discourse, occurring in a particular context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study intends to contribute to the delimitation of selected offensive language categories based on an analysis of a corpus of contributions to discussion forums in Czech online national newspapers and news platforms called Czech Corpus of Offensive Language (CCOL). It endeavours to study three problematic areas (1) delimitation between the speech acts performed, (ii) lexical realisation of specific properties of the target and (iii) identification and categorisation of implicit offence (e.g. figurative semantic shifts) by exploring contextual cues for the speech act identification, the keywords indicating the properties of the target and the types of semantic shifts in implicit expressions of offence. The findings indicate that annotation systems that do not use context information for the detection of offensive language may face problems with adequate interpretation of the language means under investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The automatic detection of implicitly offensive language is a challenge for NLP, as such language is subtle, contextual, and plausibly deniable, but it is becoming increasingly important with the wider use of large language models to generate human-quality texts. This study argues that current difficulties in detecting implicit offence are exacerbated by multiple factors: (a) inadequate definitions of implicit and explicit offense; (b) an insufficient typology of implicit offence; and (c) a dearth of detailed analysis of implicitly offensive linguistic data. In this study, based on a qualitative analysis of an implicitly offensive dataset, a new typology of implicitly offensive language is proposed along with a detailed, example-led account of the new typology, an operational definition of implicitly offensive language, and a thorough analysis of the role of figurative language and humour in each type. Our analyses identify three main issues with previous datasets and typologies used in NLP approaches: (a) conflating content and form in the annotation; (b) treating figurativeness, particularly metaphor, as the main device of implicitness, while ignoring its equally important role in the explicit offence; and (c) an over-focus on form-specific datasets (e.g. focusing only on offensive comparisons), which fails to reflect the full complexity of offensive language use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to shed some light on the linguistic concept of implicit offensiveness. On the one hand, implicitness will be juxtaposed with indirectness as the two concepts are not conceived of here as synonymous. On the other hand, a typology of offensiveness (vs offensive language and vs offendedness) will be proposed, as well as the overarching term 'covert meaning' that will span figurative implicitness and non-figurative implicitness. The gradability of various forms of covert meaning and its overlap with overt meaning (subsuming explicit literal meaning and implicit literal meaning) will also be discussed. In the analysis, two sample implicit concepts will be examined (irony vs sarcasm) based on corpus data (of general English and dedicated offensiveness corpus) and using non-contextual embeddings. Theory-wise, the paper demonstrates that implicitness is a complex term which is fuzzy and gradable; methodology-wise, it shows how computational tools can be used to attest theoretical assumptions related to offensive covert terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a streamlined taxonomy for categorizing offensive language in Hebrew, addressing a gap in the literature that has, until now, largely focused on Indo-European languages. Our taxonomy divides offensive language into seven levels (six explicit and one implicit level). We based our work on the simplified offensive language (SOL) taxonomy introduced in (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk et al. 2021a) hoping that our adjustment of SOL to the Hebrew language will be capable of reflecting the unique linguistic and cultural nuances of Hebrew. The study involves both linguistic and cultural analysis beyond Natural Language Processing (NLP). We employed manual linguistic analysis to understand the nuances of offensive language in Hebrew. An accompanying dataset, gathered on Twitter and manually curated by human annotators, is described in detail. This dataset was constructed to both validate the taxonomy and serve as a foundation for future research on offensive language detection and analysis in Hebrew. Preliminary analysis of the dataset reveals intriguing patterns and distributions, underscoring the complexity and specificity of offensive expressions in the Hebrew language. The aim of our work is to capture the complexity and specificity of offensive expressions in Hebrew beyond what automated NLP methods alone can provide. Our findings highlight the significance of considering linguistic and cultural variations when researching and correcting abusive language online. We believe that our streamlined taxonomy and associated dataset will be crucial in improving research in Hebrew language sociocultural studies, natural language processing, and offensive language detection. Our study also makes a substantial contribution to the study of low-resource languages and can be used as a model for future research on other languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]