| A sample of 2.8 million words from four adult animated comedies, ( The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Family Guy, South Park) and contrasting sample from The Waltons and a variety of children's animated programs were collected electronically and entered for analysis of linguistic and emotional characteristics using the Whissell Dictionary of Affect in Language (DAL). Results indicate that while between and within program differences were found on some DAL measures, a common profile of deviation from everyday English in certain word categories was also apparent. All six television program types showed normal values for Very Low Activation words and values from 50% to 100% higher than normal for Soft words. This suggests a style of English usage that may be characteristic of scripted dialogue. Mildly to strongly objectionable words were counted and several categories emerged based on frequency and word characteristics. Results suggest that 'fart' may be a marker for comedy. 'Ass' showed the greatest variety in usage. |
