Mikaela Van Sistine (Linguistics, '10) will present her comps research on Thursday, 20 May, at 4:30 pm in Goodsell 03.

*****

Pragmatic Particles in Colloquial Malaysian English: Description and Analysis in a Politeness Theory Framework
Mikaela Van Sistine

Colloquial Malaysian English is a contact variety of English spoken in Malaysia that has been heavily influenced by Malay and varieties of Chinese.  In this talk, Mikaela will discuss the meanings and functions of five pragmatic particles, lah, ah, meh, what, and kan, that have been borrowed into Colloquial Malaysian English from these other languages and, using Brown and Levinson's Politeness Theory framework, analyze how they can function as politeness devices.

*****

A reception immediately follows this talk. All are invited to attend.