- Published: September 11, 2022
- Updated: September 11, 2022
- University / College: University of California, Berkeley (UCB)
- Language: English
- Downloads: 25
Discuss the ways in which the language used shows the closeness of the relationships between participants. In this essay, I am going to explore how the language used shows the closeness of the relationships between the participants, and how theirfriendshipis shown. In the friendship context, speech is more relaxed and casual and there is more use of dialect and colloquialisms than if it were a formal situation.
There is also the use of words and phrases which could only be understood in this context, like idiolect and words that a particular age group use. In a formal situation there wouldn’t be as much interruption or slang words, as it wouldn’t be appropriate. In the transcript, there is a lot of interruption which shows they know each other quite well and wouldn’t get offended by it. This is shown when speaker A says “ on //Saturday//” and speaker B overlaps by saying “//The Aviator//”, which shows they are both on the same wavelength and speaking quite quickly.
Also the fact that they continue talking when another speaker interrupts like when speaker A continues after speaker C interrupts her shows they are both comfortable with each other and aren’t worried about being innapropriate as they are good friends. Additionally, the way they share their personal thoughts and crushes shows they are comfortable with each other and know each other well enough that it is appropriate. By saying that “ he’s a real hottie” and “ I wouldn’t turn down Clive Owen either”, they are showing how they aren’t afraid to say this to each other as they both share mutual feelings, which portrays that they are friends.
Also the use of idiolect is present in the transcript when speaker A says “ dead interesting”, with the word dead meaning really instead of having died. This is the way the individual talks so they would use this with friends, rather than in a more formal situation where Standard English would be expected to be used. When speaker A does an impression when saying “ shu shu”, it shows she isn’t afraid of embarrassing herself as her friends would find it funny rather than weird. This shows they are friends because nobody would do this except with people they know and have fun with.