Typological Discourse Analysis

Typological Discourse Analysis PDF Author: John Myhill
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0631176144
Category : Discourse analysis
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
This book gives the first account of a field of fast increasing importance in both theoretical and descriptive linguistics. The aim of Typological Discourse Analysis is to establish a universally valid framework for the objective description of linguistic function and so make it possible to compare directly the functions of constructions in different languages. For linguists working on grammars of specific languages this book provides both methodological tools for objective description and a wealth of ideas about functional parameters which have been found to be significant in the languages of the world. For linguists interested in language typology, this book gives data from a wide variety of languages which allow for a more direct cross-linguistic comparison of function than is possible from consulting reference grammars alone. For qualitative discourse analysts, this book describes in basic terms some quantitative methods of linguistic analysis, and includes discussion of word order and voice alternations, grammaticalization, aspect, topic and focus marking, clause-chaining and noun incorporation.

Typological Discourse Analysis

Typological Discourse Analysis PDF Author: John Myhill
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0631176144
Category : Discourse analysis
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book gives the first account of a field of fast increasing importance in both theoretical and descriptive linguistics. The aim of Typological Discourse Analysis is to establish a universally valid framework for the objective description of linguistic function and so make it possible to compare directly the functions of constructions in different languages. For linguists working on grammars of specific languages this book provides both methodological tools for objective description and a wealth of ideas about functional parameters which have been found to be significant in the languages of the world. For linguists interested in language typology, this book gives data from a wide variety of languages which allow for a more direct cross-linguistic comparison of function than is possible from consulting reference grammars alone. For qualitative discourse analysts, this book describes in basic terms some quantitative methods of linguistic analysis, and includes discussion of word order and voice alternations, grammaticalization, aspect, topic and focus marking, clause-chaining and noun incorporation.

Discourse Grammar and Typology

Discourse Grammar and Typology PDF Author: Werner Abraham
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027230307
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
This volume combines papers selected for their affinity with work on discourse analysis and language typology. The methodological platform is the authors' conviction that all linguistic work needs to be empirical in the sense that (1) generalizations are to be made on the basis of spoken texts in larger contexts, (2) generalizations are correct only as long as pertinent linguistic material does not contradict them, and (3) that linguistic categories and rules are of a temporal nature. In this sense, the contributions represent 'functional typological' comparison, often of languages not frequently investigated. The papers are arranged in 5 groups: Transitivity and voice; Clausal modality; Typology and discourse categories; Language and Culture; Functionality.

Reference in Discourse

Reference in Discourse PDF Author: A. A. Kibrik
Publisher: Oxford Studies in Typology and
ISBN: 0199215804
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 683

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Book Description
This is the first full study of how people refer to entities in natural discourse. It contributes to the understanding of both linguistic diversity and the cognitive underpinnings of language and it provides a framework for further research in both fields. Andrej Kibrik focuses on the way specific entities are mentioned in natural discourse, during which about every third word usually depends on referential choice. He considers reference as an overt representation of underlying cognitive processes and combines a theoretically-oriented cognitive approach with empirically-based cross-linguistic analysis. He begins by introducing the cognitive approach to discourse analysis and by examining the relationship between discourse studies and linguistic typology. He discusses reference as a linguistic phenomenon, in connection with the traditional notions of deixis, anaphora, givenness, and topicality, and describes the way his theoretical approach is centered on notions of referent activation in working memory. He argues that the speaker is responsible for the shape of discourse and that referential expressions should be understood as choices made by speakers rather than as puzzles to be solved by addressees. Kibrik examines the cross-linguistic aspects of reference and the typology of referential devices, including referring expressions per se, such as free and bound pronouns, and referential aids that help to tell apart the concurrently activated entities. This discussion is based on the data from about 200 languages from around the world. He then proposes a comprehensive model of referential choice, in which he draws on concepts from cognitive linguistics, psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology, and cognitive neuroscience, and applies this to Russian and English. He also draws together his empirical analyses in order to examine what light his analysis of discourse can shed on the way information is processed in working memory. In the final part of the book Andrej Kibrik offers a wider perspective, including deixis, referential aspects of gesticulation and signed languages. This pioneering work will interest linguists and cognitive scientists interested in discourse, reference, typology, and the operations of working memory in linguistic communication.

Discourse Phenomena in Typological Perspective

Discourse Phenomena in Typological Perspective PDF Author: Alessandra Barotto
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 9027254885
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 447

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Book Description
This book aims at investigating discourse phenomena (i.e., linguistic elements and constructions that help to manage the organization, flow, and outcome of communication) from a typological and cross-linguistic perspective. Although it is a well-established idea in functional-typological approaches that grammar is shaped by discourse use, systematic typological cross-linguistic investigations on discourse phenomena are relatively rare. This volume aims at bridging this gap, by integrating different linguistic subfields, such as discourse analysis, pragmatics, and typology. The contributions, both theoretically and empirically oriented, focus on a broad variety of discourse phenomena (ranging from discourse markers to discourse function of grammatical markers, to strategies that manage the discourse and information flow) while adopting a typological perspective and considering typologically distant languages.

The Handbook of Discourse Analysis

The Handbook of Discourse Analysis PDF Author: Deborah Schiffrin
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470751983
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 872

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Book Description
The Handbook of Discourse Analysis makes significant contributions to current research and serves as a comprehensive and authoritative guide to the central issues in contemporary discourse analysis. Features comprehensive coverage of contemporary discourse analysis. Offers an overview of how different disciplines approach the analysis of discourse. Provides analysis of a wide range of data, including political speeches, everyday conversation, and literary texts. Includes a varied range of theoretical models, such as relevance theory and systemic-functional linguistics; and methodology, including interpretive, statistical, and formal methodsFeatures comprehensive coverage of contemporary discourse analysis.

Introduction to Typology

Introduction to Typology PDF Author: Lindsay J. Whaley
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780803959637
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
Ideal in introductory courses dealing with grammatical structure and linguistic analysis, Introduction to Typology overviews the major grammatical categories and constructions in the world's languages. Framed in a typological perspective, the constant concern of this primary text is to underscore the similarities and differences which underlie the vast array of human languages.

Applying Cognitive Linguistics

Applying Cognitive Linguistics PDF Author: Ana María Piquer-Píriz
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 9027263450
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
In recent years, Cognitive Linguistics (CL) has established itself not only as a solid theoretical approach but also as an important source from which different applications to other fields have emerged. In this volume we identify some of the current, most relevant topics in applied CL-oriented studies – analyses of figurative language (both metaphor and metonymy) in use, constructions and typology –, and present high-quality research papers that illustrate best practices in the research foci identified and their application to different fields including intercultural communication, the psychology of emotions, second and first language acquisition, discourse analysis and translation studies. It is also shown how different methodologies –the use of linguistic corpora, psycholinguistic experiments or discourse analytic procedures– can shed some light on the basic premises of CL as well as providing insights into how CL can be applied in real world contexts. Finally, all the studies included in the volume are based on empirical data and there are some analyses of languages other than English (Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Danish, German and Polish), thus overcoming the contentions that CL-theoretically-based research is often based on linguistic intuition and focused only on the English language. We hope that the present volume will not only contribute to a better understanding of how CL can be applied but that it will also help to encourage, even further, more robust empirical research in this field. Originally published as a special issue of Review of Cognitive Linguistics 14:1 (2016).

A Typological Study of the Existential Clause

A Typological Study of the Existential Clause PDF Author: Wang Yong
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040051359
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
This book investigates the existential clause (EC) from a cross-linguistic perspective and within the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics. The prototypical EC in the less familiar languages is identified through its functional equivalents in the more familiar ones, which share the common semantic basis of ‘there exists something in some location’. Topics addressed include the morpho-syntactic features of the EC, the subject of the EC, the definiteness effect and its manifestations in the EC, the EC as impersonals, the distinction between entity- vs. event-existentials, and the EC and its related constructions. Drawing on both cross-linguistic observations based on the language sample and in-depth investigations in particular languages (e.g., in Chinese and English), the study aims to unravel how the lexico-grammar of EC is related to its meanings and functions, that is, how meaning is realised in form. The title will appeal to scholars and students in the field of linguistics, especially functional linguistics, and syntax.

Explanation in typology

Explanation in typology PDF Author: Karsten Schmidtke-Bode
Publisher: Language Science Press
ISBN: 3961101477
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
This volume provides an up-to-date discussion of a foundational issue that has recently taken centre stage in linguistic typology and which is relevant to the language sciences more generally: To what extent can cross-linguistic generalizations, i.e. statistical universals of linguistic structure, be explained by the diachronic sources of these structures? Everyone agrees that typological distributions are the result of complex histories, as “languages evolve into the variation states to which synchronic universals pertain” (Hawkins 1988). However, an increasingly popular line of argumentation holds that many, perhaps most, typological regularities are long-term reflections of their diachronic sources, rather than being ‘target-driven’ by overarching functional-adaptive motivations. On this view, recurrent pathways of reanalysis and grammaticalization can lead to uniform synchronic results, obviating the need to postulate global forces like ambiguity avoidance, processing efficiency or iconicity, especially if there is no evidence for such motivations in the genesis of the respective constructions. On the other hand, the recent typological literature is equally ripe with talk of "complex adaptive systems", "attractor states" and "cross-linguistic convergence". One may wonder, therefore, how much room is left for traditional functional-adaptive forces and how exactly they influence the diachronic trajectories that shape universal distributions. The papers in the present volume are intended to provide an accessible introduction to this debate. Covering theoretical, methodological and empirical facets of the issue at hand, they represent current ways of thinking about the role of diachronic sources in explaining grammatical universals, articulated by seasoned and budding linguists alike.

Language Typology

Language Typology PDF Author: Alice Caffarel
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027247668
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 716

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Book Description
This book is intended as a systemic functional contribution to language typology both for those who would like to understand and describe particular languages against the background of generalizations about a wide range of languages and also for those who would like to develop typological accounts that are based on and embody descriptions of the systems of particular languages (rather than isolated constructions). The book is a unique contribution in at least two respects. On the one hand, it is the first book based on systemic functional theory that is specifically concerned with language typology. On the other hand, the book combines the particular with the general in the description of languages: it presents comparable sketches of particular languages while at the same time identifying generalizations based on the languages described here as well as on other languages. The volume explores eight languages, covering seven language families: French, German, Pitjantjatjara, Tagalog, Telugu, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese.