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Article published In: Corpus approaches to telecinematic language
Edited by Monika Bednarek, Valentin Werner and Marcia Veirano Pinto
[International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 26:1] 2021
► pp. 127–160

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A linguistic typology of American television

 | São Paulo Catholic University
 | São Paulo Federal University
Published online: 12 November 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.00039.ber
Abstract
This paper presents the first entirely linguistic typology of contemporary American television, derived from a multi-dimensional (MD) analysis of the USTV corpus. The USTV corpus comprises 930 texts from 191 different TV programs, classified into 31 different registers (including nine telecinematic ones: drama series, miniseries, movies, sitcoms, soap operas, general animation, children’s animation, short-feature animation, and children’s and teens’ shows). The linguistic typology we present in this study is based on the linguistic characteristics present in the individual programs, with no a priori textual categorizations. A cluster analysis grouped the individual programs into clusters that shared similar dimensional profiles. The resulting typology comprises nine different text types – namely Presentation of information, Opinion and discussion, Analysis and debate, Description, Interactive recount, Engaging demonstration, Playful discourse, Simplified interaction, and Simulated conversation. The paper discusses and illustrates each text type and considers how telecinematic discourse relates to each of them.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Data and methodology
  • 3.Analysis
    • 3.1Text type 1: Presentation of information
    • 3.2Text type 2: Opinion and discussion
    • 3.3Text type 3: Analysis and debate
    • 3.4Text type 4: Description
    • 3.5Text type 5: Interactive recount
    • 3.6Text type 6: Engaging demonstration
    • 3.7Text type 7: Playful discourse
    • 3.8Text type 8: Simplified interaction
    • 3.9Text type 9: Simulated conversation
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (46)
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