Discourse and Syntax
Syntax and Semantics
- 1st Edition - January 1, 1979
- Imprint: Academic Press
- Editor: Talmy Givón
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 0 6 6 3 - 9
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 2 0 0 6 - 2
Syntax and Semantics, Volume 12: Discourse and Syntax provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of the study of the syntax of isolated sentences. This book… Read more
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Request a sales quoteSyntax and Semantics, Volume 12: Discourse and Syntax provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of the study of the syntax of isolated sentences. This book discusses the relationship between the discourse notion topic and the syntactic notion subject. Organized into five parts encompassing 20 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the discourse-function definition of so-called movement transformations. This text then presents the argument against the existence of an independent structural level called syntax as far as it can go, suggesting that all syntactic behavior within a given range of data can be predicted from functional considerations. Other chapters consider syntax as a mode of the automatic processing of speech. This book discusses as well the integration of the speaker's goals with communicative strategies in the structure and flow of personal narratives. The final chapter deals with discourse-pragmatic governance of so-called syntactic phenomena. This book is a valuable resource for linguists.
List of Contributors
Preface
Part I Between Discourse and Syntax
On the Explanation of Transformations
1. Introduction
2. Topicalizing Rules
3. Focusing Rules
4. Stress and Intonation
5. The Place of English in Types of Discourse Organizing Systems
References
Discourse without Syntax
1. Introduction
2. The Problem
3. The Analysis
4. Conclusions
Appendix. The Corpus
References
Planned and Unplanned Discourse
1. Introduction
2. Data Base
3. Dimensions of Planned and Unplanned Discourse
4. Features of Children's Discourse
5. Features of Relatively Unplanned and Planned Discourse
6. Constraints on Discourse Planning
7. Planned Unplanned Discourse
References
From Discourse to Syntax: Grammar as a Processing Strategy
1. Introduction
2. The Diachronie Process of Syntactization
3. An Interim Summary
4. Pidgins and Creoles
5. Child Versus Adult Language
6. Informal Versus Formal Speech
7. Discussion
References
Part II The Organization of Discourse
The Paragraph as a Grammatical Unit
1. Introduction
2. Arguments for the Grammar of the Paragraph
3. A System of Paragraphs with Structural Parameters
4. The Structure of Unrestricted Paragraphs
References
Organizational Patterns in Discourse
1. Introduction
2. Segmentation of Discourse
3. The Second Loop
4. Paragraph Structure
5. Segment Structure
6. Conclusion
References
The Flow of Thought and the Flow of Language
1. Introduction
2. The Hierarchical Model
3. The Flow Model
4. Thoughts in the Flow Model
5. Episodes in the Flow Model
6. Conclusion
References
Communicative Goals and Strategies: Between Discourse and Syntax
1. Introduction
2. Reconstructing the Speaker's Mental Processes
3. Communicative Goals and Strategies
4. Language Production as a Planning Process
5. Relation to Other Approaches: Speech Acts and Text Grammars
6. Conclusions
References
Part III The Flow of Discourse
Aspect and Foregrounding in Discourse
1. General Properties of Foregrounding
2. Foregrounding through Tense-Aspect Morphology
3. Foregrounding through Word Order
4. Foregrounding through "Voice"
5. Conclusion
References
The Figure a Sentence Makes: An Interpretation of a Classical Malay Sentence
The Relevance of Repair to Syntax-for-Conversation
1. Introduction
2. On the Effects of Repair on the Syntactic Form of Sentences
3. On the Occurrence of Repair in Sentences
4. On the Systematic Relevance of Repair
5. On Aspects of the Orderliness of Same-Turn Repair
6. Syntax or Super-Syntax?
7. Concluding Comments
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
References
Part IV Pronouns and Topic Recoverability
Pronouns in Discourse
1. Introduction
2. No Explicit Antecedent
3. Connections, Loose and Tight
4. Themes, Rhemes, and Topics
5. Point of View
6. Conclusion
References
Third-Person Pronouns and Zero-Anaphora in Chinese Discourse
1. Introduction
2. Zero-Pronouns
3. Realized Pronouns
4. Conclusions
References
Focus of Attention and the Choice of Pronouns in Discourse
Deixis in Discourse: An Exploratory Quantitative Study of the Modern Dutch Demonstrative Adjectives
1. The Problem
2. Inadequacies of Proximate-Distal
3. The System of Deixis and Its Exploitation
4. Validation of the Hypothesis
5. Additional Evidence: Variation across Discourse Types
6. Proximity Revisited
7. Conclusion
References
Left-Dislocation in Italian Conversation
1. The Scope of Left-Dislocation in Italian
2. Clitic Pronouns as Agreement Markers
3. The Informational Level
4. Interactional Level
5. LD as an Alternative to Passive: A Multilevel Explanation
References
Part V Discourse Control of Syntactic Processes
Anything You Can Do
1. Introduction
2. On, Indefinite par Excellence
3. Tu~Vous as Indefinite: Contexts of Alternation with On
4. Discursive Effects: What Are Indefinite Referents Used For?
5. Syntactic and Pragmatic Types as Constraints
6. Speakers' Repertoires
7. Sequential Considerations
8. Conclusions
References
Discourse Constraints on Dative Movement
1. Introduction
2. Determiners and Dominance
3. Dominance and Dative Movement
4. Conclusion
References
Discourse Function of Morphology: The Focus System in German
1. Relative Clauses—A Diagnostic Environment for Validating the Focus System
2. Frequency of Mention in Discourse
3. Range of Reference in Discourse
4. Successive Reference in Discourse: The Chaining Effect
5. Egocentrism in Discourse
6. Alternative Explanations for Empirical Data
References
The Development of the Swahili Object Marker: A Study of the Interaction of Syntax and Discourse
1. Introduction
2. Syntactic Properties of the Swahili OM
3. Discourse Constraints on OM-Marking
4. Conclusions
References
Subject Index
- Edition: 1
- Published: January 1, 1979
- Imprint: Academic Press
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN: 9781483206639
- eBook ISBN: 9781483220062