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This study argues that the domain traditionally covered by 'coordination' and 'subordination' in English can be subdivided into four distinct construction types. The constructions are defined on the basis of differences in their 'interpersonal' structure, i.e. the grammatical encoding of speaker-attitude and speaker-interlocutor interaction. It is shown that the four types constitute syntactically, semantically and pragmatically coherent categories, with differences in interpersonal structure defining and motivating distinct syntactic behaviour, distinct pragmatic functions and distinct semantic classes of clause linkage. The validity of the analysis is demonstrated in three ways. First, it is shown that the analysis can make sense of the wide range of apparently conflicting criteria found in the literature on complex sentences, which can now be explained as reflections of four different construction types rather than as alternative perspectives on one single contrast between coordination and subordination. Second, it is shown how the analysis can deal with two specific problems in the more general area of clause combining, viz. the syntactic basis of the distinction between 'content', 'epistemic' and 'speech act' levels of clause linkage, and the distinct discursive functions associated with initial and final position of adverbial clauses. Finally, it is also shown that the proposed analysis is useful beyond the analysis of English, with parallels in a number of cross-linguistically recurrent phenomena of clause linkage. The book is mainly of interest to linguistics researchers in the areas of syntax, semantics and pragmatics as well as to graduate students with a focus on these fields.
English language --- Modality --- Adverb --- Clauses --- Engelse taal --- Adverb. --- Clauses. --- Modality. --- bijwoordelijke bijzinnen --- bijwoorden --- modaliteit --- Academic collection --- 802.0-56 --- Engels: syntaxis; semantiek --- 802.0-56 Engels: syntaxis; semantiek --- bijwoordelijke bijzinnen. --- bijwoorden. --- modaliteit. --- Bijwoordelijke bijzinnen. --- Bijwoorden. --- Modaliteit. --- Germanic languages --- English language - Modality --- English language - Adverb --- English language - Clauses --- English / language. --- pragmatics. --- semantics. --- syntax.
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In spite of the vast literature on modality in English, very little research has been done on modal adverbs as a group. While there are studies of individual adverbs, the semantic and pragmatic relations between them have been left largely unexplored. This book takes a close look at the whole field of modal certainty as expressed by adverbs in English. On the basis of corpus data the most frequent adverbs of certainty, including certainly, indeed, and no doubt, are examined from the point of view of their syntactic, semantic and pragmatic characteristics. The corpus used is the International Corpus of English - Great Britain, supplemented by data from other present-day English corpora, and questionnaires testing native speakers' intuitions on fine-grained similarities and differences between closely related adverbs. The methodology also includes the study of cross-linguistic equivalents as indicators of semantic-pragmatic relations between adverbs. Translation corpora yield correspondences in Swedish, Dutch, French and German. A detailed study of those correspondences adds useful information for setting up a semantic-pragmatic profile of each adverb, showing where their meanings overlap and where the boundaries are. The concept of semantic maps is relied on for plotting these relations. The book not only provides a thorough empirical study of English adverbs expressing certainty, it also contributes to a better theoretical understanding of the complexity of modal certainty, how it is related to speakers' goals and to other semantic areas. It is the first in-depth study of this kind, combining rich information on English as well as opening up perspectives for further empirical and theoretical research into modality.
#KVHA:Semantiek; Engels --- #KVHA:Bijwoorden; Engels --- 802.0-56 Engels: syntaxis; semantiek --- Engels: syntaxis; semantiek --- Adverbe --- 802.0-56 --- English language --- Field theory (Linguistics) --- Linguistics --- Semantics --- Adverb. --- Modality. --- Semantics. --- Semasiology --- Adverb --- Modality --- Lexicology. Semantics --- Grammar --- Field theory (Linguistics). --- Anglais (Langue) --- Champ, Théorie du (Linguistique) --- Modalité --- Sémantique --- English language Semantics --- Germanic languages --- English /language. --- modality. --- rhetorics.
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