From Etymology to Pragmatics
From Etymology to Pragmatics

Author: Eve Sweetser

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1991-07-26

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 1316582337

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This book offers a distinct approach to the analysis of the multiple meanings of English modals, conjunctions, conditionals and perception verbs. Although such ambiguities cannot easily be accounted for by feature-analyses of word meaning, Eve Sweetser's argument shows that they can be analysed both readily and systematically. Meaning relationships in general cannot be understood independently of human cognitive structure, including the metaphorical and cultural aspects of that structure. Sweetser shows that both lexical polysemy and pragmatic ambiguity are shaped by our metaphorical folk understanding of epistemic processes and of speech interaction. Similar regularities can be shown to structure the contrast between root, epistemic and 'speech-act' uses of modal verbs, multiple uses of conjunctions and conditionals, and certain processes of historical change observed in Indo-European languages. Since polysemy is typically the intermediate step in semantic change, the same regularities observable in polysemy can be extended to an analysis of semantic change. This book will attract students and researchers in linguistics, philosophy, the cognitive sciences, and all those interested in metaphor.

Introducing Semantics
Introducing Semantics

Author: Nick Riemer

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2010-03-25

Total Pages: 477

ISBN-13: 0521851920

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An introduction to the study of meaning in language for undergraduate students.

Regularity in Semantic Change
Regularity in Semantic Change

Author: Elizabeth Closs Traugott

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2005-03-24

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 9780521617918

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This new and important study of semantic change examines the various ways in which new meanings arise through language use, especially the ways in which speakers and writers experiment with uses of words and constructions. Drawing on extensive research from over a thousand years of English and Japanese textual history, Traugott and Dasher show that most changes in meaning originate in and are motivated by the associative flow of speech and conceptual metonymy.

Regularity in Semantic Change
Regularity in Semantic Change

Author: Elizabeth Closs Traugott

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2001-12-20

Total Pages: 363

ISBN-13: 1139431153

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This important study of semantic change examines how new meanings arise through language use, especially the various ways in which speakers and writers experiment with uses of words and constructions in the flow of strategic interaction with addressees. There has been growing interest in exploring systemicities in semantic change from a number of perspectives including theories of metaphor, pragmatic inferencing, and grammaticalization. Like earlier studies, these have for the most part been based on data taken out of context. This book is a detailed examination of semantic change from the perspective of historical pragmatics and discourse analysis. Drawing on extensive corpus data from over a thousand years of English and Japanese textual history, Traugott and Dasher show that most changes in meaning originate in and are motivated by the associative flow of speech and conceptual metonymy.

Historical Semantics - Historical Word-Formation
Historical Semantics - Historical Word-Formation

Author: Jacek Fisiak

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2011-06-15

Total Pages: 625

ISBN-13: 3110850176

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TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks as well as studies that provide new insights by building bridges to neighbouring fields such as neuroscience and cognitive science. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing.