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Article published In: Asia-Pacific Language Variation
Vol. 12:1 (2026) ► pp.112–141

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Embodying shifting political styles

Sibilant and gestural variation by a Taiwanese young legislator

 | National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
ORCiD logo with link | The University of Edinburgh
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with University of Edinburgh.

Published online: 10 February 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/aplv.25001.wan
Abstract
This study examines multimodal linguistic variation in the political discourse of Taiwanese legislator Pin-Yu Lai (PYL), focusing on her stylistic shifts during parliamentary interpellations. Employing both acoustic and gestural analysis, we explore her transition from a polite junior MP aligned with traditional party stances to a confrontational advocate for marginalized young voters. PYL’s ascent reflects the emerging wave of “new politics,” emphasizing youth engagement and transparent governance that prioritizes public interests. Our findings reveal a near-merger of alveolar-retroflex sibilant contrasts and a shift to assertive gestures, highlighting how PYL adeptly uses both linguistic and paralinguistic resources to navigate her self-positioning within the parliament, particularly regarding a controversy over the anime, comics and game (ACG) community. This research pioneers the integration of gestural analysis into studies of political linguistic variation and expands the geographic scope of field by incorporating an East Asian perspective.
Abstract (Chinese)
本研究探討臺灣立法委員賴品妤（PYL）在立法院質詢語境中的多模態語言變異，其中特別關注她在風格上的轉變。透過音韻與手勢分析，我們觀察她如何從一位遵循傳統黨派立場的禮貌年輕立委，轉變為積極替邊緣化青年選民發聲的對抗型政治人物。賴品妤的崛起反映了「新政治」浪潮的興起，強調青年參與與重視公共利益的透明治理。研究結果顯示，當賴品妤由禮貌年輕立委轉為「女戰神」人設時，她的齒齦—捲舌齒擦音對立呈現近合流，並伴隨威脅面子手勢。這些多模態資源展現出在動漫畫與遊戲（ACG）社群的爭議事件中，賴品妤如何巧妙地建構與定位自身形象。本研究將手勢分析引入政治語言變異的探討中，並透過納入東亞的案例，擴展該領域的地理範疇。
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background of this study
    • 2.1Taiwanese parliament speech
    • 2.2The interpellations under examination
  • 3.Constructing political personae through stylistic variables
    • 3.1Variationist research on political talk
    • 3.2Embodying political personae
  • 4.Variables
    • 4.1Phonological variation: The retroflex-alveolar contrast
    • 4.2Gestural variation: Pointing and other gestural uses indexing politeness
      • 4.2.1Pointing
      • 4.2.2Other gestural uses: Hand-folding and face-threatening gestures
  • 5.Methods
    • 5.1Retroflex/alveolar initials
    • 5.2Gestural annotations and analysis
  • 6.Results
    • 6.1Sibilant fricatives
    • 6.2Gestures
      • 6.2.1Indexical deictic gesture indexing (im)politeness
      • 6.2.2Non-indexical deictic and symbolic gestures indexing (im)politeness
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
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