linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Ling ...

, affect is an attitude or

emotion Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is currently no scientific consensus on a definitio ...

that a speaker brings to an utterance. Affects such as sarcasm, contempt, dismissal, distaste, disgust, disbelief, exasperation, boredom, anger, joy, respect or disrespect, sympathy,

pity Pity is a sympathetic sorrow evoked by the suffering of others, and is used in a comparable sense to ''compassion'', ''condolence'' or ''empathy'' – the word deriving from the Latin ''pietas'' (etymon also of ''piety''). Self-pity is pity ...

, gratitude, wonder, admiration, humility, and awe are frequently conveyed through paralinguistic mechanisms such as intonation, facial expression, and

gesture A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or ...

, and thus require recourse to punctuation or emoticons when reduced to writing, but there are grammatical and lexical expressions of affect as well, such as

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

and approbative or laudative expressions or inflections, adversative forms, honorific and deferential language,

interrogative An interrogative clause is a clause whose form is typically associated with question-like meanings. For instance, the English sentence "Is Hannah sick?" has interrogative syntax which distinguishes it from its declarative counterpart "Hannah is ...

s and tag questions, and some types of evidentiality.

Lexical affect

Lexical choices may frame a speaker's affect, such as ''slender'' (positive affect) vs. ''scrawny'' (negative affect), ''thrifty'' (positive) vs. ''stingy'' (negative) and ''freedom fighter'' (positive) vs. ''terrorist'' (negative).

Grammatical affect

In many languages of Europe,

augmentative An augmentative ( abbreviated ) is a morphological form of a word which expresses greater intensity, often in size but also in other attributes. It is the opposite of a diminutive. Overaugmenting something often makes it grotesque and so in s ...

derivations are used to express contempt or other negative attitudes toward the noun being so modified, whereas

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A ( abbreviated ) is a word-form ...

s may express affection; on the other hand, diminutives are frequently used to belittle or be dismissive. For instance, in Spanish, a name ending in diminutive ''-ito'' (masculine) or ''-ita'' (feminine) may be a term of endearment, but ''señorito'' "little mister" for ''señor'' "mister" may be mocking. Polish has a range of

and

forms, which express differences in affect. So, from ''żaba'' "a frog", besides ''żabucha'' for simply a big frog, there is augmentative ''żabsko'' to express distaste, ''żabisko'' if the frog is ugly, ''żabula'' if it is likeably awkward, etc. Affect can also be conveyed by more subtle means. Duranti, for example, shows that the use of pronouns in Italian narration indicates that the character referred to is important to the narration but is generally also a mark of a positive speaker attitude toward the character. In Japanese and Korean, grammatical affect is conveyed both through

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

, polite, and humble language, which affects both nouns and verbal inflection, and through clause-final particles that express a range of speaker emotions and attitudes toward what is being said. For instance, when asked in Japanese if what one is eating is good, one might say 美味しい ''oishii'' "it's delicious" or まずい ''mazui'' "it's bad" with various particles for nuance: :美味しいよ ''Oishii yo'' (making an assertion; explicitly informing that it is good) :美味しいわ ''Oishii wa!'' (expressing joy; feminine) :美味しいけど ''Oishii kedo'' ("it's good but ...") :まずいね ''Mazui ne'' ("it's bad, isn't it?" -- eliciting agreement) :まずいもん ''Mazui mon'' (exasperated) The same can be done in Korean: :맛있어요 ''Masi-issoyo'' (Neutral, polite) :맛있군요 ''Masi-ittgunyo!'' (Surprised, elated) :맛있잖아 ''Masi-ittjianha'' (lit. "It's not delicious," but connotes "It's delicious, no?") :맛이 없다 ''Masi-eopda'' (the base verb form for "bad tasting," used as a blunt, impolite statement) In English and Japanese, the

passive Passive may refer to: * Passive voice, a grammatical voice common in many languages, see also Pseudopassive * Passive language, a language from which an interpreter works * Passivity (behavior), the condition of submitting to the influence of o ...

of intransitive verbs may be used to express an adversative situation: : In some languages with split intransitive grammars, such as the Central Pomo language of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, the choice of encoding an affected

verb argument In linguistics, an argument is an expression that helps complete the meaning of a predicate, the latter referring in this context to a main verb and its auxiliaries. In this regard, the '' complement'' is a closely related concept. Most predicates ...

as an "object" ( patientive case) reflects empathy or emotional involvement on the part of the speaker:Mithun, M. 1991. "Active/agentive case marking and its motivations." ''Language'' 67(3):510–546.

References

{{Nonverbal communication Pragmatics Linguistics terminology

Lexical affect

Grammatical affect

See also

References