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Anthropomorphic grammar?: some linguistic patterns in the wildlife documentary series Life

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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Anthropomorphic grammar? some linguistic patterns in the wildlife documentary series Life. / Sealey, Alison; Oakley, Lee.
In: Text and Talk, Vol. 33, No. 3, 05.2013, p. 399-420.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Sealey, A & Oakley, L 2013, 'Anthropomorphic grammar? some linguistic patterns in the wildlife documentary series Life', Text and Talk, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 399-420. https://doi.org/10.1515/text-2013-0017

APA

Sealey, A., & Oakley, L. (2013). Anthropomorphic grammar? some linguistic patterns in the wildlife documentary series Life. Text and Talk, 33(3), 399-420. https://doi.org/10.1515/text-2013-0017

Vancouver

Sealey A, Oakley L. Anthropomorphic grammar? some linguistic patterns in the wildlife documentary series Life. Text and Talk. 2013 May;33(3):399-420. doi: 10.1515/text-2013-0017

Author

Sealey, Alison ; Oakley, Lee. / Anthropomorphic grammar? some linguistic patterns in the wildlife documentary series Life. In: Text and Talk. 2013 ; Vol. 33, No. 3. pp. 399-420.

Bibtex

@article{62f3e359ac744070a3bb072943bf6ebe,
title = "Anthropomorphic grammar?: some linguistic patterns in the wildlife documentary series Life",
abstract = "Human language inevitably depicts the world from a human point of view. This article briefly reviews key positions on the use of anthropomorphic and anthropocentric language taken by scientists and discourse analysts. It then presents the data used in this investigation - a corpus of transcripts of the television series Life. The methods of analysis are explained, as is the focus adopted, which is less on the more obvious, lexical choices made by the presenter, David Attenborough, and more on the grammatical patterns which we suggest play a significant role in the depiction of the wide range of species represented in the programs. Three grammatical features - pronouns, the connective so, and the to infinitive form - were explored in context, and the results demonstrate how, separately and together, they play a significant role in the representation in these texts of animals' perspectives, connoting in subtle ways both intention and evaluation. We suggest a need for greater dialogue between broadcasters, discourse analysts, and ethologists.",
keywords = "anthropomorphism, TV documentaries, corpus analysis, wildlife, pronouns, infinitives, ANIMALS, CONSTRUCTION, LANGUAGE, HUMANS",
author = "Alison Sealey and Lee Oakley",
year = "2013",
month = may,
doi = "10.1515/text-2013-0017",
language = "English",
volume = "33",
pages = "399--420",
journal = "Text and Talk",
issn = "1860-7330",
publisher = "Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG",
number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Anthropomorphic grammar?

T2 - some linguistic patterns in the wildlife documentary series Life

AU - Sealey, Alison

AU - Oakley, Lee

PY - 2013/5

Y1 - 2013/5

N2 - Human language inevitably depicts the world from a human point of view. This article briefly reviews key positions on the use of anthropomorphic and anthropocentric language taken by scientists and discourse analysts. It then presents the data used in this investigation - a corpus of transcripts of the television series Life. The methods of analysis are explained, as is the focus adopted, which is less on the more obvious, lexical choices made by the presenter, David Attenborough, and more on the grammatical patterns which we suggest play a significant role in the depiction of the wide range of species represented in the programs. Three grammatical features - pronouns, the connective so, and the to infinitive form - were explored in context, and the results demonstrate how, separately and together, they play a significant role in the representation in these texts of animals' perspectives, connoting in subtle ways both intention and evaluation. We suggest a need for greater dialogue between broadcasters, discourse analysts, and ethologists.

AB - Human language inevitably depicts the world from a human point of view. This article briefly reviews key positions on the use of anthropomorphic and anthropocentric language taken by scientists and discourse analysts. It then presents the data used in this investigation - a corpus of transcripts of the television series Life. The methods of analysis are explained, as is the focus adopted, which is less on the more obvious, lexical choices made by the presenter, David Attenborough, and more on the grammatical patterns which we suggest play a significant role in the depiction of the wide range of species represented in the programs. Three grammatical features - pronouns, the connective so, and the to infinitive form - were explored in context, and the results demonstrate how, separately and together, they play a significant role in the representation in these texts of animals' perspectives, connoting in subtle ways both intention and evaluation. We suggest a need for greater dialogue between broadcasters, discourse analysts, and ethologists.

KW - anthropomorphism

KW - TV documentaries

KW - corpus analysis

KW - wildlife

KW - pronouns

KW - infinitives

KW - ANIMALS

KW - CONSTRUCTION

KW - LANGUAGE

KW - HUMANS

U2 - 10.1515/text-2013-0017

DO - 10.1515/text-2013-0017

M3 - Journal article

VL - 33

SP - 399

EP - 420

JO - Text and Talk

JF - Text and Talk

SN - 1860-7330

IS - 3

ER -