See uptalk in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for uptalk meaning in English (7.8kB)
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "up",
"3": "talk"
},
"expansion": "up- + talk",
"name": "prefix"
}
],
"etymology_text": "up- + talk.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "uptalk (uncountable)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"up‧talk"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Linguistics",
"orig": "en:Linguistics",
"parents": [
"Language",
"Social sciences",
"Communication",
"Sciences",
"Society",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "50 50",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "46 54",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms prefixed with up-",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1993, The New York Times Magazine, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 248",
"text": "The sorority members' own interpretation of uptalk was that it was a way of being inclusive.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2013, Mary Ellen Guffey, Dana Loewy, “Professionalism at Work: Business Ethiquette, Ethics, Teamwork, and Meetings”, in Essentials of Business Communication, 9th edition, Mason, Oh.: South-Western, Cengage Learning, page 336",
"text": "Once used exclusively by teenagers, uptalk is increasingly found in the workplace with negative results. When statements sound like questions, speakers seem weak and tentative. […] On the job, managers afflicted by uptalk may have difficulty convincing staff members to follow directions because their voice inflection implies that other valid options are possible.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2016, Paul Warren, “Introduction – Why ‘Uptalk’?”, in Uptalk: The Phenomenon of Rising Intonation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, page 2",
"text": "As a working definition, uptalk is taken in this book to be a marked rising intonation pattern found at the ends of intonation units realised on declarative utterances, and which serves primarily to check comprehension or to seek feedback. This definition provides a lot of leeway, but at the same time constrains the possible scope of uptalk. The leeway is necessary because, as we will see in later discussion, the shape of uptalk is variable and quite possibly differs from one variety of English to another.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Speech that has a rising intonation at the end of a sentence, as if it were a question; upspeak."
],
"id": "en-uptalk-en-noun-vQoOd6Qn",
"links": [
[
"linguistics",
"linguistics"
],
[
"Speech",
"speech"
],
[
"rising",
"rising"
],
[
"intonation",
"intonation"
],
[
"sentence",
"sentence"
],
[
"question",
"question"
],
[
"upspeak",
"upspeak#Noun"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(linguistics) Speech that has a rising intonation at the end of a sentence, as if it were a question; upspeak."
],
"tags": [
"uncountable"
],
"topics": [
"human-sciences",
"linguistics",
"sciences"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈʌptɔːk/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈʌpˌtɔk/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈʌpˌtɑk/",
"tags": [
"cot-caught-merger"
]
},
{
"audio": "en-au-uptalk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/37/En-au-uptalk.ogg/En-au-uptalk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/En-au-uptalk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "uptalk"
}
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "up",
"3": "talk"
},
"expansion": "up- + talk",
"name": "prefix"
}
],
"etymology_text": "up- + talk.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "uptalks",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "uptalking",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "uptalked",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "uptalked",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "uptalk (third-person singular simple present uptalks, present participle uptalking, simple past and past participle uptalked)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"up‧talk"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Linguistics",
"orig": "en:Linguistics",
"parents": [
"Language",
"Social sciences",
"Communication",
"Sciences",
"Society",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "50 50",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "46 54",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms prefixed with up-",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"tags": [
"noun"
],
"word": "uptalking"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2004, Amy Sohn, My Old Man: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, page 265",
"text": "I asked the girl what she wanted. \"Um, an apple martini?\" she uptalked. / \"I can do one,\" I said, \"but you'll regret it.\" Our apple juice was disgusting and the apples we kept in stock weren't even the right kind.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2008, Lauren Myracle, Thirteen, New York, N.Y.: Dutton Children's Books",
"text": "I drove my sneaker into her shin. \"Our assignment was to pretend we were at a sporting event? Okay?\" / \"She uptalks when she's nervous,\" Cinnamon said to Lars. He chuckled, but her comment made me mad. And embarrassed. / \"I'm not nervous,\" I said.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2015, Rachel McKinnon, The Norms of Assertion: Truth, Lies, and Warrant (Palgrave Innovations in Philosophy), Basingstoke, Hampshire, New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan",
"text": "It's worth noting, too, that typical interpretation of uptalking – that the speaker is indicating doubt about their assertion – is inaccurate. While this is one function of uptalking, when performed by someone with less discursive power towards someone with more discursive power, uptalking also functions to let the hearer know that the speaker would like the hearer's input. This is what happens when speakers with more discursive power uptalk to hearers with less discursive power.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2016, Paul Warren, “Credibility Killer and Conversational Anthrax: Uptalk in the Media”, in Uptalk: The Phenomenon of Rising Intonation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, page 145",
"text": "Citing analyses of uptalk and proposals concerning its origins, he hopes that looking at the evidence for how uptalk is actually used 'will help you make linguistic peace with your uptalking daughter and her professional friends'.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To speak with a rising intonation at the end of a sentence, as if it were a question; to upspeak."
],
"id": "en-uptalk-en-verb-el0ik-w-",
"links": [
[
"linguistics",
"linguistics"
],
[
"speak",
"speak"
],
[
"rising",
"rising"
],
[
"intonation",
"intonation"
],
[
"sentence",
"sentence"
],
[
"question",
"question"
],
[
"upspeak",
"upspeak#Verb"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(linguistics, intransitive) To speak with a rising intonation at the end of a sentence, as if it were a question; to upspeak."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"tags": [
"noun",
"verb"
],
"word": "upspeak"
}
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
],
"topics": [
"human-sciences",
"linguistics",
"sciences"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "to speak with a rising intonation at the end of a sentence",
"word": "stoupat hlasem"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈʌptɔːk/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈʌpˌtɔk/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈʌpˌtɑk/",
"tags": [
"cot-caught-merger"
]
},
{
"audio": "en-au-uptalk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/37/En-au-uptalk.ogg/En-au-uptalk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/En-au-uptalk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "uptalk"
}
{
"categories": [
"English 2-syllable words",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms prefixed with up-",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English uncountable nouns",
"English verbs"
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "up",
"3": "talk"
},
"expansion": "up- + talk",
"name": "prefix"
}
],
"etymology_text": "up- + talk.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "uptalk (uncountable)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"up‧talk"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"en:Linguistics"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1993, The New York Times Magazine, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 248",
"text": "The sorority members' own interpretation of uptalk was that it was a way of being inclusive.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2013, Mary Ellen Guffey, Dana Loewy, “Professionalism at Work: Business Ethiquette, Ethics, Teamwork, and Meetings”, in Essentials of Business Communication, 9th edition, Mason, Oh.: South-Western, Cengage Learning, page 336",
"text": "Once used exclusively by teenagers, uptalk is increasingly found in the workplace with negative results. When statements sound like questions, speakers seem weak and tentative. […] On the job, managers afflicted by uptalk may have difficulty convincing staff members to follow directions because their voice inflection implies that other valid options are possible.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2016, Paul Warren, “Introduction – Why ‘Uptalk’?”, in Uptalk: The Phenomenon of Rising Intonation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, page 2",
"text": "As a working definition, uptalk is taken in this book to be a marked rising intonation pattern found at the ends of intonation units realised on declarative utterances, and which serves primarily to check comprehension or to seek feedback. This definition provides a lot of leeway, but at the same time constrains the possible scope of uptalk. The leeway is necessary because, as we will see in later discussion, the shape of uptalk is variable and quite possibly differs from one variety of English to another.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Speech that has a rising intonation at the end of a sentence, as if it were a question; upspeak."
],
"links": [
[
"linguistics",
"linguistics"
],
[
"Speech",
"speech"
],
[
"rising",
"rising"
],
[
"intonation",
"intonation"
],
[
"sentence",
"sentence"
],
[
"question",
"question"
],
[
"upspeak",
"upspeak#Noun"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(linguistics) Speech that has a rising intonation at the end of a sentence, as if it were a question; upspeak."
],
"tags": [
"uncountable"
],
"topics": [
"human-sciences",
"linguistics",
"sciences"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈʌptɔːk/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈʌpˌtɔk/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈʌpˌtɑk/",
"tags": [
"cot-caught-merger"
]
},
{
"audio": "en-au-uptalk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/37/En-au-uptalk.ogg/En-au-uptalk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/En-au-uptalk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "uptalk"
}
{
"categories": [
"English 2-syllable words",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms prefixed with up-",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English uncountable nouns",
"English verbs"
],
"derived": [
{
"tags": [
"noun"
],
"word": "uptalking"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "up",
"3": "talk"
},
"expansion": "up- + talk",
"name": "prefix"
}
],
"etymology_text": "up- + talk.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "uptalks",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "uptalking",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "uptalked",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "uptalked",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "uptalk (third-person singular simple present uptalks, present participle uptalking, simple past and past participle uptalked)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"up‧talk"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English intransitive verbs",
"English terms with quotations",
"en:Linguistics"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2004, Amy Sohn, My Old Man: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, page 265",
"text": "I asked the girl what she wanted. \"Um, an apple martini?\" she uptalked. / \"I can do one,\" I said, \"but you'll regret it.\" Our apple juice was disgusting and the apples we kept in stock weren't even the right kind.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2008, Lauren Myracle, Thirteen, New York, N.Y.: Dutton Children's Books",
"text": "I drove my sneaker into her shin. \"Our assignment was to pretend we were at a sporting event? Okay?\" / \"She uptalks when she's nervous,\" Cinnamon said to Lars. He chuckled, but her comment made me mad. And embarrassed. / \"I'm not nervous,\" I said.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2015, Rachel McKinnon, The Norms of Assertion: Truth, Lies, and Warrant (Palgrave Innovations in Philosophy), Basingstoke, Hampshire, New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan",
"text": "It's worth noting, too, that typical interpretation of uptalking – that the speaker is indicating doubt about their assertion – is inaccurate. While this is one function of uptalking, when performed by someone with less discursive power towards someone with more discursive power, uptalking also functions to let the hearer know that the speaker would like the hearer's input. This is what happens when speakers with more discursive power uptalk to hearers with less discursive power.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2016, Paul Warren, “Credibility Killer and Conversational Anthrax: Uptalk in the Media”, in Uptalk: The Phenomenon of Rising Intonation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, page 145",
"text": "Citing analyses of uptalk and proposals concerning its origins, he hopes that looking at the evidence for how uptalk is actually used 'will help you make linguistic peace with your uptalking daughter and her professional friends'.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To speak with a rising intonation at the end of a sentence, as if it were a question; to upspeak."
],
"links": [
[
"linguistics",
"linguistics"
],
[
"speak",
"speak"
],
[
"rising",
"rising"
],
[
"intonation",
"intonation"
],
[
"sentence",
"sentence"
],
[
"question",
"question"
],
[
"upspeak",
"upspeak#Verb"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(linguistics, intransitive) To speak with a rising intonation at the end of a sentence, as if it were a question; to upspeak."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
],
"topics": [
"human-sciences",
"linguistics",
"sciences"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈʌptɔːk/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈʌpˌtɔk/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈʌpˌtɑk/",
"tags": [
"cot-caught-merger"
]
},
{
"audio": "en-au-uptalk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/37/En-au-uptalk.ogg/En-au-uptalk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/En-au-uptalk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"tags": [
"noun",
"verb"
],
"word": "upspeak"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "to speak with a rising intonation at the end of a sentence",
"word": "stoupat hlasem"
}
],
"word": "uptalk"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.