Lang Expository Essay (examples)

AAE Quick E.g's

pragmatic discourse tag 'owot' = avoid direct Q to ^ politeness
sub /n/ instead of /ng/
'mum' mother and/or aunts (broadening)

Banducci's BS

Elab: April 2024, Greens senator Nick Mckim grew increasingly frustrated with Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci’s refusal to adequately answer questions during a senate inquiry into supermarket pricing. -> warned B he may be held in contempt by Senate and up in prison.
E.g: Outlining that he was “not interested in [his] spin or [his] bullshit”
Explain: McKim’s use of the dysphemistic compound ‘bullshit’ including the expletive ‘shit’ serves him in…[quote here]… despite the serious context of the senate.
Quote: “venting strong emotion” (Fromkin, et al)

Broad Accent AND Dialect -Quick E.g's

flapping the medial /t/, (/t/ sound in the middle of a word is often pronounced with a /d/ sound instead -'little' said as 'liddle' for example).
Colourful compounds 'deadshit', 'shithead' and 'shitbox'

Ethnolects

Elab: ‘Ethnolects play a vital role in the cultural identity of their speakers in displaying in-group ID.’
Quick: Ethnocultural varieties of AusE differ across the subsystems depending on the users first language. Often most evident in terms of phonology, ethnolects may add or elide phonemes, may voice voiceless phonemes or alter stress patterns in particular lexemes. For example an ethnic Italian Australian language user may add phonemes on consonant ending lexemes in noun phrases such as 'thisa girla'; insert a schwa between syllables in lexemes such as 'b/r/eak/ə/fast' or voice voiceless consonants such as 'lizen' rather than 'listen'. Although they may be minority dialects in AusE, ethnocultural varieties are a crucial marker of social identity and ethnic group membership.

Euphemism quick e.g's

'correctional facility' (prison)
'pregnancy termination' (abortion)
'between jobs' (unemployed)

Friend group swearing

Elab: In personal experiences within friend groups and with people whom a close tenor is shared with, swearing is not considered offensive and is more often than not looked upon positively.
E.g: Colourful compounds “dickhead” and “dumbfuck” utilised jovially in response to someone making a silly mistake eg forgetting what day it is.
Explain: In these scenarios, the offensive lang is more or less disarmed and the mutual understanding of its attenuated meaning builds rapport between my friends and myself.

Inclusive quick e.g's

Use of 'person' not 'man' e.g 'businessperson' and steering away from gratuitous labelling patterns such as 'female surgeon' to be cogniscient of previously subjugated groups (women)
--> The language is a barometer of societal change and expectations.

J.Allan

Elaborate: Jacinta Allan is the premier of Victoria who in February 2024 gave a formal apology on behalf of the government to Victorians who experienced historical abuse and neglect as children in institutional care. This particular speech was given in the context of the legislative assembly.
Example: Allen employs the declarative “From 1928 to 1990, thousands of children were entrusted to the state, religious organisations and charitable agencies.”
Explain: Through the manipulation of information flow, front focus is placed on the adverbial phrase “from 1928 to 1990” to underscore the time frame within which the abuse and neglect occurred. This initial focus frames the following agentless passive “thousands of children were entrusted” which draws attention to the grammatical subject “thousands of children” while upholding negative face needs of the victims by respectfully not mentioning the perpetrators as the agent is ellipted.

Jargon quick e.g's

CommSec, aus largest online stockbroking firm, employs lexis with meanings specific to trading on their platform: 'exchange traded funds' /'ETFs'
'ask'
'dividend'....[Stephen Fry]
Fulfills communication needs for the initiated by efficiently and economically capturing distinctions not made in ordinary lang

Jeff Kennett

Earlier this month, at the Young Liberal Annual Gala, held at the Melbourne Arts Centre. Jeff Kennett, former Victorian premier, drew controversy following his use of the expletive noun 'bitch' when delivering a speech. Kennett employed the swear word as part of a larger derogatory noun phrase when he labelled a female guest a 'rude little bitch' after assuming she was talking throughout his speech. In this instance Kennett seeks to render "greater social distance" (Crystal) as he condemns the suspected poor behaviour of the guest. As a result of the misogynistic undertones of the expletive 'bitch', many took offence to Kennett's response and called for him to be kicked out of the gala, highlighting the divisive effects of this language.

Lambie

Elab: In May 2024 following the release of the federal budget, senator JL on ABC insiders interviewed. Outraged by the lack of clarity and detail provided by the labor govt.

Eg: “You can't be fricken well, you've got to be jokin' me”

Explain: Accent= evident in longer and wider diphthong in ‘me'. /oi/ & sub of final phoneme in verb ‘jokin’' /n/ for /nj/ ++ despite being on nat. TV Lambie employs mild expletive “fricken” to aid expression of frustration towards the Lab. Govt.

Liam Payne

7News article published following the death of singer Liam Payne who fell off a 13-14m balcony reported that he sustained 'severe injuries incompatible with life'

mattxiv **MAY NOT BE CONTEMPORARY ENOUGH**

Elab: Use of offensive lang by Tate supporters directed towards Instagram user @mattxiv followed their post calling out TikToks failure to censor Tate’s ‘inappropriate’ content. Supportes DM’d mattxiv on the app with insults…
E.g: homophobic slur “faggot” and crude imperatives including “kys faggot” and “burn in hell”
Explain: With clear intentions of in sighting fear, language is weaponised by the users with erroneous assumptions of superiority to vilify and shame mattxiv. Upon receiving this backlash, mattxiv reposted the comments in a subsequent post, highlighting the harm the language caused.

Nominalizations

Elaborate: The VCAA exploit formal language choices to reflect their expertise as a leading education authority in communications to schools regarding the satisfactory completion of VCE.
Example: Nominalised nouns such as ‘assessment’, ‘submission’, ‘achievement’ and ‘calculation’ are chosen by the VCAA.
Explain: These choices create a more commanding style which appears more objective in nature as rules and expectations of examinations are outlined. Suiting the formality of the discourse these nominalization's have a place and fulfill an important referential function through their clear inter comprehensibility.

Pedro

Elaborate: Pedro Wonaemirri, winner of the NATSIAA award for Indigenous art, is a Tiwi artist who featured in a recent episode of “AWAYE!” on radio national. In speaking with Rudi Bremer, many features common to Aboriginal Englishes are evident.
Example: “Winnin’ de award for dis year make me feel bery proud an’ ‘appy and strong”
Explain: sound change from /ng/ to /n/ is evident in “winning” and /d/ for /th/ in “this” and “the”
Another common characteristic is the elision of the initial /h/ phoneme in “happy”

Powell & Clarko (gender)

Elab: May 2024, Wil Powell-AFL player for the GC suns- was handed a 5 match suspension
after employing the
E.g: homophobic noun slur “faggot” directed towards a Brisbane Lions player.
Eplain: While he utilised the slur as a normalised sledge not intending to carry the same hostility (eg fear mongering) as it conveyed… [quote]… Powell whose 2 brothers are gay recognised the impact his words had and since apologised profusely for his actions. it’s use still

Quote: “validates all the fear they [members of LGBTQIA+ community] feel” (Ian Roberts, gay rights activist and ex rugby league player)

Extension: Instance came in the wake of a series of offensive language call outs in the AFL during March and April. Including esteemed coach Alistair C, use of compound noun “cocksucker”

PWDA

An authority on integration of people with disabilities into the community, encourages consideration of both 'person first' and 'ID first' language. Leaning more towards the person first alternative which is supported by recent research in 'trends in neuroscience' PWDA focuses on emphasising the humanity of the person. The paper also discourages throwaway adj "maniacal", "mad" -> should use more formal NP. and euphemisms = "at best condescending, at worst offensive"

Rio Tinto #1

Elab: multinational mining company with a strong presence in Australia mixes language sensical to the masses with dense and elaborate noun phrases in communications to shareholders.
E.g: “to stress test our portfolio and investment decisions under alternative macroeconomic settings and commodity outlooks.”
Explain: By mixing the common-sense verb phrase “stress test” with the complexity of the noun phrase “alternative macroeconomic settings” RT encourages a perception of understanding for readers while obscuring salient information. As a large company, RioTinto leverages the language to reassure shareholders about future stability through deliberate ambiguity.
Quote: ‘an instrument of concealment rather than revelation’ (Harold Pinter)

Rio Tinto #2 (FLS)

Elab: Included as small print at the end of the document, a deft display of doublespeak and deception is present in details surrounding ‘forward looking statements’ which comprises of verbs such as ‘plan’, ‘should’ and ‘will’.
E.g: ‘plan’, ‘should’ and ‘will’
Explain: RT explains with great ambiguity that due to the ‘unknown risks and uncertainties’ they cannot be held to commitments made using FLS.
Quote: RioTinto adroitly covers themselves, nullifying assurances around decarbonisation, as their ‘words become divorced from reality, responsibility and people’s real thoughts’ (Jung Chang)

S.Wog

Elaborate: Brothers Theodore and Nathan Saidden are Sydney-born Australians of Egyptian and Greek descent. Their Greek ethnolect is overtly evident in their youtube and Netflix series episodes where they parody their lives growing up in the western Sydney suburbs.
Example: In an episode titled “The iPhone” Theo enthusiastically describes his new phone to his brother “Itz god all da add ons az well”
Explain: Voiced voiceless consonants with /z/
Sub /d/ for /t/ and flapping /d/ not /ð/
The popularity of the show perhaps signals contemporary Aus awareness of NS varieties as a legitimate and important reflection of the nation’s multicultural ID
Quote: “ethnicity is an important part of social ID” (Burridge & Mulder)

Sentinel events

In May 2024 following an equipment failure during heart surgery at the Austin Hospital in Heidelberg, Melbourne, Austin health utilised euphemisms in subsequent interviews. The incident- which left the patient seriously harmed- was declared a 'sentinel event'. The term, defined by Safer care VIC as 'when something goes wrong with a patient's care resulting in serious preventable harm or death', allows medical and healthcare professionals to discuss confronting and often disturbing scenarios without insighting fear in audiences. it also provides a term which can be used in the media witout disclosing confidential treatment information.->Burridge 'avoiding' quote

Teenspeak/slang quick e.g's

noun 'rizz' 'rizzler'
verb 'cooked'
noun 'aura'

Gyatt lazarbeam

For example, Lazarbeam, an Australian content creator, frequently uses the semantically ambiguous noun “gyatt” in his videos to dysphemistically refer to the gluteus maximus.
This term, popularised by American creator Kai Cenat, reflects the influence of global contact on the dynamic nature of the Australian lexicon.
Originally only part of the idiolects of online creators, “gyatt” was rarely used outside their content; however, it has recently become more widespread, with Australians — mainly millennials — adopting it into their vernacular.
Because Lazarbeam’s fanbase is predominantly younger, his use of immature humour, such as the noun “gyatt,” embodies cultural values of irreverent humour and creativity, while functioning as a marker of covert prestige.
Within these covert linguistic norms, adopting the term signals solidarity and allows speakers to gain status and acceptance within the social group, reflecting the cultural value Australians place on authenticity and mateship.