Philosophers and logicians have long debated how best to understand conditional or hypothetical sentences. William G. Lycan has a distinctive approach to this debate, attending not just to the semantics of such sentences, but equally to their syntax. He shows how insights from linguistic theory help to illuminate problems about the meaning and function of conditionals. For instance, philosophers and logicians have had problems analysing the locutions 'only if', 'unless', and 'even if'. Lycan sets out a general semantic theory of conditionals which works for all such sentences; he assigns meanings to them in a way that explains how and why those meanings depend upon features of utterance context. According to Lycan's theory the 'if'-clauses refer to items called 'events', 'circumstances', or 'conditions'. Real Conditionals gives at last the definitive presentation of this original approach to a topic at the intersection of philosophy, logic, and linguistics. Lycan's characteristically lively and witty expository style ensures that it can be enjoyed by readers from all three disciplines.
William G. Lycan offers a fresh original approach to the long-running debate among philosophers and logicians about the best way to analyse and understand conditional sentences. Lycan attends not just to the semantics of such sentences, but equally to their syntax, making use of insights from linguistic theory. Real Conditionals is the definitive presentation of Lycan's view, written in his characteristically lively style.
"Conditional sentences” express factual implications, or hypothetical situations and their consequences. There are two clauses in conditional sentences: Dependent clause: Expresses the condition Main clause: Expresses the consequence This Book Covers The Following Topics: What are “Conditional Sentences”? Present Real Conditional Sentences Present Unreal Conditional Sentences Past Real Conditional Sentences Past Unreal Conditional Sentences Future Real Conditional Sentences Future Unreal Conditional Sentences Continuous Forms of Conditional Sentences Mixed Conditional Sentences 'Were To' - Conditional Sentences 'Special Force' - Conditional Sentences 'Wish'- Conditional Sentences 'Miscellaneous' - Conditional Sentences Conditional Sentences: Exercise – 1 Conditional Sentences: Exercise – 2 Summary Sample This: Present Real Conditional Sentences The Present Real Conditional Is Used To Talk About What You Normally Do In Real-Life Situations. STRUCTURE [First Part – If / When + Subject + Present Verb…, Second Part – Simple Present] OR [First Part – Simple Present, Second Part – If / When + Subject + Present Verb…] Whether Use “If” OR “When”? "If" implies - things don’t happen regularly. “When” implies - things happen regularly. If you eat too much fast food, it makes you overweight. Or [It makes you overweight if you eat too much fast food.] If you put salt on salad, they taste nicer. Or [They taste nicer if you put salt on salad.] When I have free time, I often sit in the library. [Regularly] Or [I often sit in the library when I have free time.] MORE EXAMPLES: [First Part – If / When + Subject + Present Verb…, Second Part – Simple Present] If I move to school, I never take my mobile. If you want to be a super-achiever, first recognize your own capabilities. If it melts, it raises the sea level. If something bad happens anywhere, it is natural to be sad. If you heat water, it boils. If the office closes early, we definitely go to the library. If you need help, call me. If I don’t come on time, you are supposed to leave the office. If you feel sleepy, just go to bed. If that isn’t absolute verification, I don’t know what is. If the contractors fail to achieve the target within the specified period, they are liable to pay damages. If you don't get the first good, be content with the second good. [Note: Use of Imperative Sentence] If you are working for something with convictions, you are satisfied. If proper punishment is not awarded to the accused, the faith of the society is shaken in the legal system of the country. [Note: Use of passive voice – is + awarded, and is + shaken] If uranium is bombarded with a neutron, it absorbs some. If a Swedish govt. is interested in such a deal at all, Sweden can negotiate for itself a better deal. If a person is abused repeatedly then that person has the right to object and the right to argue also. If my statement has pained someone then I regret it. If they have done something wrong that doesn’t mean I have also done something wrong. If the refugee cannot afford to pay, she may be refused access to the hospital or have her refugee card confiscated. [First Part – Simple Present, Second Part – If / When + Subject + Present Verb…] I have come to bother you if you don’t mind. We don’t even know if any person by that name exists. Their wages are cut if they do not report for duty on time. You learn a language better if you visit the country where it is spoken. Agency works under pressure if one goes by what the ex-Director says. I apologize if at all the article hurt anyone. Power companies can hike the tariffs if the cost of imported coal rises. Hang me if I am guilty. I meet him if I go there. Butter dissolves if you leave it in sun. Plants die if you don’t water them. Milk goes off if you don’t keep it in a cool place. Ask the officer if you have any problems. I don’t mind if you sit in my cabin. Customers get upset if they are being overcharged. I have no problem if her name is disclosed. They promised to slash power rates if they are elected. Existing laws can be a deterrent if a time-based trial is conducted. Do you mind if I turn on the radio for a while? A death row convict cannot be executed if he is not physically and mentally fit. A student may not be motivated to work hard if a promotion is guaranteed. Many of the deaths can be avoided if bikers wear helmets. I go by taxi when the bus is late.
Real Metaphysics brings together new articles by leading metaphysicians to honour Hugh Mellor's outstanding contribution to metaphysics. Some of the most outstanding minds of current times shed new light on all the main topics in metaphysics: truth, causation, dispositions and properties, explanation, and time. At the end of the book, Hugh Mellor responds to the issues raised by each of the thirteen contributors and gives us new insight into his own highly influential work on metaphysics.
Conditionals encode speculation. They convey how events could have been different in the past or present, or might be different in the future if particular conditions had been or will be met. While all languages afford the means to speculate or hypothesize about possible events, the ways in which they do so vary. This work explores some of this variation through an analysis of the stucture and semantics of complex conditional sentences in Russian and Macedonian. It addresses typological questions about the general properties of natural language conditionals and examines the role of the grammatical categories tense, aspect, mood and status in the coding of conditional meaning. The book also discusses the relationship between the use of these categories and the shape of a language's conditional system. For example, the use of tense in counterfactual contexts in Macedonian correlates with the grammaticalization of more shades of conditional meaning than are grammaticalized in Russian, which does not employ tense forms in this way. The study draws on data from a rich variety of sources and thus includes kinds of conditionals overlooked in many other studies. The book addresses issues of concern to Slavists and raises questions for those interested in conditionals and the coding of hypothetical meaning.
This volume is a collection of articles written by more than 40 scholars who work in the field of Arabic dialectology. All articles are revised versions of papers presented at the 9th Conference of the Association Internationale de Dialectologie Arabe (AIDA) held in Pescara in March 2011. The variety of dialects represented in the book engage various issues in Arabic dialectology - such as sedentary and Bedouin dialects, sociolinguistic phenomena, and the written dimension - investigated from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives. The broad range of meaningful subjects that are tackled in the book offer an important contribution to the current debates on general linguistics and sociolinguistics, Arabic linguistics, Arabic literature, as well as Semitic and Islamic studies. (Series: Neue Beihefte zur Wiener Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes - Vol. 8)
The proposed book is best described as a linguistically oriented textbook taking the grammar of English as its subject matter. It is directed to professional teachers of English (ESL and EFL) and their students, as well as those currently training to become teachers of English. The book is also likely to be of interest to interpreters, translators and other English language professionals. It will explore selected aspects and problem areas of English from a broadly “functional” linguistic perspective. My experience as a teacher and teacher trainer has shown me that this perspective has the potential to inspire teachers and students with a genuine enthusiasm for the grammatical features of English and that it often enables them to “make sense” of the grammar in a way that all too often other approaches signally fail to do. An important focus of the book is on understanding grammar as a series of conventionalized patterns rather than a set of rules (which is how grammar has traditionally been presented). Moreover, unlike many other grammar books, this book emphasizes how the grammatical constructions under consideration are employed in various types of communicative situation, attention being given to the importance of discourse context in interpreting the target forms. In line with contemporary linguists generally, the approach adopted is descriptive rather than prescriptive. While the main focus is on English, I offer occasional comments on how the issue under discussion is expressed in languages other than English. Apart from the inherent interest which I hope such comparisons may have for the reader, I take the view that these can be helpful in casting further light on the grammar of English.
This is "a textbook and reference book designed to help students understand all aspects of sentence structure and syntax and to help teachers explain all difficult to answer questions that students might have. This book is also suitable for students hoping to achieve a 6.0 or a 7.0 in the IELTS test. This book covers the following topics: adverbial clauses, cause and effect language, cohesion, compare and contrast language, gerund clauses, hedging, independent and dependent clauses, infinitive clauses, modals, noun clauses, participial clauses, passive voice, refutation, relative clauses, tense, word forms, writer voice. Answers and examples included." -- from back cover.
"The Teacher's grammar of English enables English language teachers and teachers-in-training to fully understand and effectively teach English grammar. With comprehensive presentation of form, meaning, and usage, along with practical exercises and advice on teaaching difficult structures, it is both a complete grammar course and an essential reference text."--Back cover.
