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Functions and contextual triggers of offensive language on Twitter
The use of social media in daily life is dramatically increasing all over the world and microblogging websites, particularly Twitter, have become widespread and excessively used. These web-based mediums of communication host significant social interaction and distinctive user-generated content that...
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| Format: | Thesis |
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AUC Knowledge Fountain
2017
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| _version_ | 1867613411798417408 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Mansour, Deena Mohamed |
| author_browse | Mansour, Deena Mohamed |
| author_facet | Mansour, Deena Mohamed |
| author_sort | Mansour, Deena Mohamed |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. |
| description | The use of social media in daily life is dramatically increasing all over the world and microblogging websites, particularly Twitter, have become widespread and excessively used. These web-based mediums of communication host significant social interaction and distinctive user-generated content that are characterized by the use of unique lexical choices and structures. This has led to emergent and diversified research investigating how different the linguistic behavior on these web-based platforms is from other forms of interactions. A controversial linguistic phenomenon on social media is the use of offensive language, which is on the increase and suggests a new domain of linguistic research to answer many questions that have arisen in light of this phenomenon. This phenomenon applies to many languages one of which is Arabic, especially where colloquial Arabic is concerned. This study examines the expressive functions of offensive language on Twitter which were written in Arabic by Egyptians. It also examines the pragmatic categories utilized when this offensive language occurs, as well as the contextual triggers of this type of language. A large purposeful sample of 482 tweets was collected from the Twitter website from different Egyptian tweeps writing in colloquial Arabic. Based on Culpeper's (2010) impoliteness formulae, the collected data was classified into four pragmatic categories: insults, pointed criticism or complaints, negative expressives, and challenging or unpalatable questions. The results show that the offensive language used on Twitter serves expressive functions such as hate, anger, and sarcasm. The results also show that the most common contexts that trigger this offensive use of language are political, economic, personal, and soccer games. The study concludes that the use of offensive language on Twitter has become conventionalized and accepted by this speech community. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-1682 |
| institution | American University in Cairo (Egypt) |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:35:43.583Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | AUC Knowledge Fountain |
| publisherStr | AUC Knowledge Fountain |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress |
| spelling | oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-1682 Functions and contextual triggers of offensive language on Twitter Mansour, Deena Mohamed The use of social media in daily life is dramatically increasing all over the world and microblogging websites, particularly Twitter, have become widespread and excessively used. These web-based mediums of communication host significant social interaction and distinctive user-generated content that are characterized by the use of unique lexical choices and structures. This has led to emergent and diversified research investigating how different the linguistic behavior on these web-based platforms is from other forms of interactions. A controversial linguistic phenomenon on social media is the use of offensive language, which is on the increase and suggests a new domain of linguistic research to answer many questions that have arisen in light of this phenomenon. This phenomenon applies to many languages one of which is Arabic, especially where colloquial Arabic is concerned. This study examines the expressive functions of offensive language on Twitter which were written in Arabic by Egyptians. It also examines the pragmatic categories utilized when this offensive language occurs, as well as the contextual triggers of this type of language. A large purposeful sample of 482 tweets was collected from the Twitter website from different Egyptian tweeps writing in colloquial Arabic. Based on Culpeper's (2010) impoliteness formulae, the collected data was classified into four pragmatic categories: insults, pointed criticism or complaints, negative expressives, and challenging or unpalatable questions. The results show that the offensive language used on Twitter serves expressive functions such as hate, anger, and sarcasm. The results also show that the most common contexts that trigger this offensive use of language are political, economic, personal, and soccer games. The study concludes that the use of offensive language on Twitter has become conventionalized and accepted by this speech community. 2017-06-01T07:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/683 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/1682/viewcontent/Thesis_final_Deena.pdf The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain offensive language impoliteness |
| spellingShingle | offensive language impoliteness Mansour, Deena Mohamed Functions and contextual triggers of offensive language on Twitter |
| title | Functions and contextual triggers of offensive language on Twitter |
| title_full | Functions and contextual triggers of offensive language on Twitter |
| title_fullStr | Functions and contextual triggers of offensive language on Twitter |
| title_full_unstemmed | Functions and contextual triggers of offensive language on Twitter |
| title_short | Functions and contextual triggers of offensive language on Twitter |
| title_sort | functions and contextual triggers of offensive language on twitter |
| topic | offensive language impoliteness |
| url | https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/683 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/1682/viewcontent/Thesis_final_Deena.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mansourdeenamohamed functionsandcontextualtriggersofoffensivelanguageontwitter |