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Multimodal arguments: language, script, and politics

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Published/Copyright: October 17, 2023

Abstract

This study uses discourse analysis to investigate the connectedness between embodiment and the politics of orthography. Drawing on a video-recorded conversation from a large sociolinguistic dataset on Amazigh/Berber, the study examines the role of embodied acts not only as semiotic resources that elaborate talk but also as consequential discursive entities that organize political arguments about script. The participants use multimodal utterances that extend beyond meaning to iconize social orientation as well as power in conversation. Analysis of the video reveals the way participants map their social perceptions of the language and its script onto their talk and embodied actions. Analysis also shows how script arguments mirror larger political debates in Morocco, in which script preferences are based on ideological and political orientations.


Corresponding author: Dris Soulaimani, Department of Linguistics, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA, 92182-0001, USA, E-mail:

Acknowledgment

The author would like to thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers of this journal for their helpful comments on this article.

Appendix A: Transcription conventions

The transcription is based on prior analysis developed by Sacks (1992). See also Schegloff (1997). A concise explanation of this system is provided by Goodwin (1990, 25–26).

. Falling intonation
, Continuing intonation
(( )) Nonverbal activity
(0.1) Silence in tenths of a second
[ Overlap
= Latched or contiguous utterances (no pause between the previous utterance and the next)
: Vowel lengthening
? Rising intonation
Capitalization Increased volume (e.g. KAY)
Capital italics Increased volume and some type of emphasis (e.g. WAL)
° Low volume
*hh Inbreath
with- Missing words

Appendix B: Transcription symbols of (Moroccan) Arabic sounds

ج ح ش ص ض ط ع غ ء ك ق خ ا و ي
ž ħ š ʕ γ ʔ k q x ā ū ī

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Received: 2023-06-08
Accepted: 2023-09-26
Published Online: 2023-10-17

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