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Part of
Emotion in Discourse
Edited by J. Lachlan Mackenzie and Laura Alba-Juez
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 302] 2019
► pp. 29–54

Chapter 2
The multifunctionality of swear/taboo words in television series

| The University of Sydney (Australia) | Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (Germany)
This chapter focuses on swear/taboo words, which can be used for the expression of emotion. It combines a theoretical with an applied lens, in first discussing their place in Systemic Functional Linguistics, before examining their use in contemporary US television series. To do so, the chapter makes use of a new corpus of dialogue transcribed from 66 contemporary TV series: the Sydney Corpus of Television Dialogue (SydTV). SydTV is a small, specialized corpus which has been designed to be representative of the language variety of fictional US American TV dialogue. The analysis of SydTV focuses on the frequency, distribution and functions of swear/taboo words, showing that they are a prime example of the multifunctionality of much television dialogue. As I will illustrate with examples, they can be used for characterization, for humor, as a plot device, as a catch-phrase, to create realism, or to control viewer evaluation/emotion.
Keywords: swear words, taboo words, expletives, appraisal, emotion, affect, TV series, media linguistics
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Swear/taboo words
    • 2.1Terminology and conceptualization
    • 2.2Functions
  • 3.Analyzing swear/taboo words in US TV series
    • 3.1Introducing the Sydney Corpus of Television Dialogue
    • 3.2US rules, regulations, attitudes
  • 4.Analysis
    • 4.1Key swear/taboo words
    • 4.2The multifunctionality of swear/taboo words
      • 4.2.1Creating realism
      • 4.2.2Constructing setting and happenings
      • 4.2.3Characterization
      • 4.2.4Exploitation of the resources of language: humor
  • 5.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 27 March 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.302.02bed
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