Mali wrote this rant about "uptalk" as a poem. It was featured on NPR's Poetry Month in April of 2005. But linguists question whether the rising end of a phrase indicates uncertainty and lack of confidence. One study of Hong Kong English speakers found the rise used more frequently by the more powerful person (those who were chairing a meeting rather than the other participants, supervisor rather than supervisee). (Go to http://www.ingentaconnect.com/ and search for Cheng and Martin)
3 comments:
That is hysterical! Great stuff, you know...
Mali wrote this rant about "uptalk" as a poem. It was featured on NPR's Poetry Month in April of 2005. But linguists question whether the rising end of a phrase indicates uncertainty and lack of confidence. One study of Hong Kong English speakers found the rise used more frequently by the more powerful person (those who were chairing a meeting rather than the other participants, supervisor rather than supervisee). (Go to http://www.ingentaconnect.com/ and search for Cheng and Martin)
Jay, you know way too much! Wow.
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