Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T18:38:16.082Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Intonation influences how children and adults interpret sarcasm*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2013

MELANIE GLENWRIGHT ,
JAYANTHI M. PARACKEL ,
KRISTENE R. J. CHEUNG  and
ELIZABETH S. NILSEN
MELANIE GLENWRIGHT*
Affiliation:
University of Manitoba, Canada
JAYANTHI M. PARACKEL
Affiliation:
University of Calgary, Canada
KRISTENE R. J. CHEUNG
Affiliation:
University of Manitoba, Canada
ELIZABETH S. NILSEN
Affiliation:
University of Waterloo, Canada
*
Address for correspondence: Melanie Glenwright, Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada. e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Adults distinguish sarcasm from literal language according to intonation involving a reduction in fundamental frequency (F0). We examined whether children's and adults' interpretation of a sarcastic speaker's belief, attitude, and humor was affected by degree of F0 reduction by presenting five- to six-year-olds and adults with sarcastic and literal criticisms with a small, medium, or large mean F0 reduction. Children and adults were more accurate in attributing the speaker's belief and intent for sarcastic criticisms for large F0 reductions compared to small reductions. These results show that F0 reduction is a helpful cue to sarcasm interpretation for both children and adults.

Type
Brief Research Reports
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , March 2014 , pp. 472 - 484
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

[*]

This research was supported by a University of Manitoba Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Research grant awarded to the first author. The authors thank the staff, parents, and children at the following schools from the Pembina Trails School Division: Bonnycastle, Chancellor, Dalhousie and Van Walleghem.

References

REFERENCES

Ackerman, B. P. (1983). Form and function in children's understanding of ironic utterances. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 35, 487–508.Google Scholar
Anolli, L., Ciceri, R. & Infantino, M. G. (2000). Irony as a game of implicitness: acoustic profiles of ironic communication. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 29(3), 275–311.Google Scholar
Berman, J. M. J., Chambers, C. G. & Graham, S. A. (2010). Preschoolers' appreciation of speaker vocal affect as a cue to referential intent. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 107, 87–99.Google Scholar
Boersman, P. & Weenink, D. (2007). Praat: doing phonetics by computer (Version 5.1.44) [Computer program]. Available from: <http://www.praat.org/> (last accessed 24 October 2010).+(last+accessed+24+October+2010).>Google Scholar
Bryant, G. A. & Fox Tree, J. E. (2002). Recognizing verbal irony in spontaneous speech. Metaphor and Symbol 17(2), 99–117.Google Scholar
Bryant, G. A. & Fox Tree, J. E. (2005). Is there an ironic tone of voice? Language and Speech 48(3), 257–77.Google Scholar
Capelli, C. A., Nakagawa, N. & Madden, C. M. (1990). How children understand sarcasm: the role of context and intonation. Child Development 61, 1824–41.Google Scholar
Cheang, H. S. & Pell, M. D. (2008). The sound of sarcasm. Speech Communication 50, 366–81.Google Scholar
Colston, H. L. (2002). Contrast and assimilation in verbal irony. Journal of Pragmatics 34, 111–42.Google Scholar
Coplan, R. J. & Weeks, M. (2009). Shy and soft-spoken: shyness, pragmatic language, and socio-emotional adjustment in early childhood. Infant and Child Development 18, 238–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Creusere, M. A. (2000). A developmental test of theoretical perspectives on the understanding of verbal irony: children's recognition of allusion and pragmatic insincerity. Metaphor and Symbolic Activity 15, 29–45.Google Scholar
Demorest, A., Meyer, C., Phelps, E., Gardner, H. & Winner, E. (1984). Words speak louder than actions: understanding deliberately false remarks. Child Development 55, 1529–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dews, S. & Winner, E. (1995). Muting the meaning: a social function of irony. Metaphor and Symbolic Activity 10, 3–19.Google Scholar
Friend, M. (2000). Developmental changes in sensitivity to vocal paralanguage. Developmental Science 3, 148–62.Google Scholar
Glenwright, M. & Pexman, P. M. (2007). Children's perceptions of the social functions of verbal irony. In Gibbs, R. W. & Colston, H. L. (eds), Irony in language and thought: a cognitive science reader, 447–64. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Associates, Taylor & Francis Group.Google Scholar
Glenwright, M. & Pexman, P. M. (2010). Development of children's ability to distinguish sarcasm and verbal irony. Journal of Child Language 37, 429–51.Google Scholar
Haiman, J. (1998). Talk is cheap: sarcasm, alienation, and the evolution of language. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hancock, J. T., Dunham, P. J. & Purdy, K. (2000). Children's comprehension of critical and complimentary forms of verbal irony. Journal of Cognition and Development 1, 227–48.Google Scholar
Jorgensen, J. (1996). The functions of sarcastic irony in speech. Journal of Pragmatics 26, 613–34.Google Scholar
Katz, A. N. & Lee, C. J. (1993). The role of authorial intent in determining irony and metaphor. Metaphor and Symbolic Activity 8, 257–79.Google Scholar
Katz, A. N. & Pexman, P. M. (1997). Interpreting figurative statements: speaker occupation can change metaphor to irony. Metaphor and Symbol 12, 19–41.Google Scholar
Keenan, T. R. & Quigley, K. (1999). Do young children use echoic information in their comprehension of sarcastic speech? A test of echoic mention theory. British Journal of Developmental Psychology 17, 83–96.Google Scholar
Laval, V. & Bert-Erboul, A. (2005). French-speaking children's understanding of sarcasm: the role of intonation and context. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 48, 610–20.Google Scholar
Lee, C. J. & Katz, A. N. (1998). The differential role of ridicule in sarcasm and irony. Metaphor and Symbol 13, 1–15.Google Scholar
Mewhort-Buist, T. A. & Nilsen, E. S. (2012). What are you really saying? Associations between shyness and verbal irony comprehension. Infant and Child Development. Available at DOI: 10.1002/icd.1769.Google Scholar
Milosky, L. M. & Ford, J. A. (1997). The role of prosody in children's inferences of ironic intent. Discourse Processes 23, 47–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pexman, P. M., Glenwright, M., Hala, S., Kowbel, S. & Jungen, S. (2006). Children's use of trait information in understanding verbal irony. Metaphor & Symbol 21, 39–60.Google Scholar
Pexman, P. M. & Olineck, K. (2002). Does sarcasm always sting? Investigating the impact of ironic insults and ironic compliments. Discourse Processes 33, 199–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pexman, P. M. & Zvaigzne, M. T. (2004). Does irony go better with friends? Metaphor and Symbol 19, 143–63.Google Scholar
Recchia, H. E., Howe, N., Ross, H. S. & Alexander, S. (2010). Children's understanding and production of verbal irony in family conversations. British Journal of Developmental Psychology 28, 255–74.Google Scholar
Rockwell, P. (2000). Lower, slower, louder: vocal cues of sarcasm. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 29(5), 483–95.Google Scholar
Rockwell, P. (2003). Empathy and the expression and recognition of sarcasm by close relations or strangers. Perceptual and Motor Skills 97, 251–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rockwell, P. (2007). Vocal features of conversational sarcasm: a comparison of methods. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 36, 361–69.Google Scholar
Voyer, D. & Techentin, C. (2010). Subjective auditory features of sarcasm. Metaphor and Symbol 25, 227–42.Google Scholar
Winner, E. (1988). The point of words: children's understanding of metaphor and irony. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Winner, E. & Leekam, S. (1991). Distinguishing irony from deception: understanding the speaker's second-order intention. British Journal of Developmental Psychology 9, 257–70.Google Scholar