Reference In Discourse

Author : A. A. Kibrik
Publisher : Oxford Studies in Typology and
Page : 683 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2011-09
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780199215805

Get Book

Reference in Discourse by A. A. Kibrik Pdf

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.

Author : Nicholas Asher
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 468 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2012-12-06
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9789401117159

Get Book

Reference to Abstract Objects in Discourse by Nicholas Asher Pdf

Reference to Abstract Objects in Discourse presents a novel framework and analysis of the ways we refer to abstract objects in natural language discourse. The book begins with a typology of abstract objects and related entities like eventualities. After an introduction to `bottom up, compositional' discourse representation theory (DRT) and to previous work on abstract objects in DRT (notably work on the semantics of the attitudes), the book turns to a semantic analysis of eventuality and abstract object denoting nominals in English. The book then substantially revises and extends the dynamic semantic framework of DRT to develop an analysis of anaphoric reference to abstract objects and eventualities that exploits discourse structure and the discourse relations that obtain between elements of the structure. A dynamic, semantically based theory of discourse structure (SDRT) is proposed, along with many illustrative examples. Two further chapters then provide the analysis of anaphoric reference to propositions VP ellipsis. The abstract entity anaphoric antecedents are elements of the discourse structures that SDRT develops. The final chapter discusses some logical and philosophical difficulties for a semantic analysis of reference to abstract objects. For semanticists, philosophers of language, computer scientists interested in natural language applications and discourse, philosophical logicians, graduate students in linguistics, philosophy, cognitive science and artificial intelligence.

Author : Lesley Stirling
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 372 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 1993-03-11
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780521402293

Get Book

Switch-Reference and Discourse Representation by Lesley Stirling Pdf

This book argues that types of anaphoric linkage across clause boundaries cannot be adequately accounted for by Binding Theory, proposing instead an account for them which is formalised in Discourse Representation Theory.

Author : Cornelia Zelinsky-Wibbelt
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
Page : 369 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2011-09-06
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783110808698

Get Book

Discourse and the Continuity of Reference by Cornelia Zelinsky-Wibbelt Pdf

Author : Nelson Phillips,Cynthia Hardy
Publisher : SAGE Publications
Page : 104 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2002-06-12
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781506319681

Get Book

Discourse Analysis by Nelson Phillips,Cynthia Hardy Pdf

Discourse Analysis: Investigating Processes of Social Construction is the first book to provide a concise, straightforward guide for students and researchers who are interested in understanding and using discourse analysis. The authors reflect on the practice of analyzing discourse and the potential for revealing the processes of social construction that constitute social and organizational life. Addressed to graduate students, academics, and experienced researchers, this book is a comprehensive guide for those new to discourse analysis as well as for researchers in need of a complement to other modes of inquiry.

Author : Gillian Brown,George Yule
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 306 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 1983-07-28
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 0521284759

Get Book

Discourse Analysis by Gillian Brown,George Yule Pdf

An exploration of how any language produced by man, spoken or written, is used to communicate for a purpose and within a context.

Author : H.K. von Heusinger,U. Egli
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 347 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2012-12-06
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9789401139472

Get Book

Reference and Anaphoric Relations by H.K. von Heusinger,U. Egli Pdf

This book is a collection of original research articles on the representation and in terpretation of indefinite and definite noun phrases, anaphoric pronouns, and closely related issues such as reference, scope and quantifier movement. A variety of frame works for the formal analysis of discourse semantics are represented, including dis course representation theory, file change semantics, dynamic Logic, E-type theories, and choice function approaches, which was one of the main issues the Konstanz project were concerned with. All of these frameworks are couched in the tradition of Montague Grammar, even though they extend the classical formalism in different directions. The developments emerged from the modern discussion of problems for the representation of cross-sentential anaphoric relations involving pronouns, and the interpretation of definite and indefinite noun phrases. After a decade of controversy, these approaches are merging together, enriching each other's formal mechanisms rather than expressing opposition. Thus, the articles in this volume concentrate on fundamental semantic questions, and also extend the current formalisms in order to capture more data. The roots of this book lie in the workshop "Reference and Anaphoric Relations", which was held at the University of Konstanz in June 1996. Five main issues were discussed: (i) the Stoic and scholastic treatment of reference and anaphora; (ii) quan tification and scope, (iii) anaphoric reference; (iv) the representation of indefinite NPs with choice functions; and (v) the relation between linguistic expressions, their rep resentations and their meanings.

Author : Pekka Posio,Peter Herbeck
Publisher : Language Science Press
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2023-09-29
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : 9783961104161

Get Book

Referring to discourse participants in Ibero-Romance languages by Pekka Posio,Peter Herbeck Pdf

This volume brings together contributions by researchers focusing on personal pronouns in Ibero-Romance languages, going beyond the well-established variable of expressed vs. non-expressed subjects. While factors such as agreement morphology, topic shift and contrast or emphasis have been argued to account for variable subject expression, several corpus studies on Ibero-Romance languages have shown that the expression of subject pronouns goes beyond these traditionally established factors and is also subject to considerable dialectal variation. One of the factors affecting choice and expression of personal pronouns or other referential devices is whether the construction is used personally or impersonally. The use and emergence of new impersonal constructions, eventually also new (im)personal pronouns, as well as the variation found in the expression of human impersonality in different Ibero-Romance language varieties is another interesting research area that has gained ground in the recent years. In addition to variable subject expression, similar methods and theoretical approaches have been applied to study the expression of objects. Finally, the reference to the addressee(s) using different address pronouns and other address forms is an important field of study that is closely connected to the variable expression of pronouns. The present book sheds light on all these aspects of reference to discourse participants. The volume contains contributions with a strong empirical background and various methods and both written and spoken corpus data from Ibero-Romance languages. The focus on discourse participants highlights the special properties of first and second person referents and the factors affecting them that are often different from the anaphoric third person. The chapters are organized into three thematic sections: (i) Variable expression of subjects and objects, (ii) Between personal and impersonal, and (iii) Reference to the addressee.

Author : Dominika Skrzypek,Alicja Piotrowska,Rafał Jaworski
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 274 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2021-05-25
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9789004463684

Get Book

The Diachrony of Definiteness in North Germanic by Dominika Skrzypek,Alicja Piotrowska,Rafał Jaworski Pdf

This book is an account of the rise of definite and indefinite articles in Danish, Swedish and Icelandic, as documented in a choice of extant texts from 1200-1550. These three North Germanic languages show different development patterns in the rise of articles, despite the common origin, but each reveals interdependencies between the two processes. The matter is approached from both a quantitative and a qualitative perspective. The statistical analysis provides an improved overview on article grammaticalization, focusing on the factors at the basis of such process. The in-depth qualitative analysis of longer text passages places the crucial stage of the definite article grammaticalization with the so-called indirect anaphoric reference.

Author : Glyn Williams
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 356 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2014-04-04
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781317853992

Get Book

French Discourse Analysis by Glyn Williams Pdf

For the first time in English, Glyn Williams draws together current debates in linguistics and social theory, and provides the first study in English of the principles and theories of French discourse analysis.

Author : James Fisher Solomon
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 298 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 1988
Category : Civilization, Modern
ISBN : 0585198780

Get Book

Discourse and Reference in the Nuclear Age by James Fisher Solomon Pdf

Author : Minna Nevala,Minna Palander-Collin
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing Company
Page : 203 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2024-03-15
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9789027247094

Get Book

Self- and Other-Reference in Social Contexts by Minna Nevala,Minna Palander-Collin Pdf

The chapters in this volume study the construction, representation and negotiation of a variety of social roles through self- and other-reference markers or the discussion of reference as a tool for identification. The chapters uncover new insights both from a historical and present-day perspective and show how positioning the self and other varies, what kind of reference choices language users make and what follows from these choices. The data come from a variety of public texts, private encounters and questionnaires, and the methodologies range from macro to micro perspectives, including combinations of qualitative close-reading and quantitative corpus methods, and synchronic and diachronic perspectives. The findings enhance our understanding and use of reference practices in the context of global, institutional, political and multicultural, as well as media texts.

Author : Jeanette K. Gundel,Nancy Hedberg
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2008-01-29
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780190450250

Get Book

Reference by Jeanette K. Gundel,Nancy Hedberg Pdf

The ability to produce and understand referring expressions is basic to human language use and human cognition. Reference comprises the ability to think of and represent objects (both real and imagined/fictional), to indicate to others which of these objects we are talking about, and to determine what others are talking about when they use a nominal expression. The articles in this volume are concerned with some of the central themes and challenges in research on reference within the cognitive sciences - philosophy (including philosophy of language and mind, logic, and formal semantics), theoretical and computational linguistics, and cognitive psychology. The papers address four basic questions: What is reference? What is the appropriate analysis of different referring forms, such as definite descriptions? How is reference resolved? and How do speaker/writers select appropriate referring forms, such as pronouns vs. full noun phrases, demonstrative vs. personal pronouns, and overt vs. null/zero pronominal forms? Some of the papers assume and build on existing theories, such as Centering Theory and the Givenness Hierarchy framework; others propose their own models of reference understanding or production. The essays examine reference from a number of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives, informed by different research traditions and employing different methodologies. While the contributors to the volume were primarily trained in one of the four represented disciplines-computer science, linguistics, philosophy and psychology, and use methodologies typical of that discipline, each of them bridges more than one discipline in their methodology and/or their approach.

Author : Maj-Britt Mosegaard Hansen
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing
Page : 431 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 1998-03-15
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9789027282590

Get Book

The Function of Discourse Particles by Maj-Britt Mosegaard Hansen Pdf

This monograph aims to contribute to linguistic knowledge about the distribution and function of discourse particles, particularly with respect to a small group of particles which are highly frequent in contemporary spoken standard French. The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 (Theory) defines discourse particles as such, and gives a dynamic global approach to their description. Matters such as previous research on discourse particles, related categories of particles, instructional semantics, the difference between speech and writing, the delimitation of discourse units, competing approaches to discourse structure and to coherence, and methodology are discussed extensively. Part 2 (Description) offers in-depth corpus-based analyses of six French discourse particles, namely bon, ben, eh bien, puis, donc, and alors, as used in non-elicted native-speaker interaction. The book is of interest to linguists doing research in semantics, pragmatics and discourse studies.

Author : Stefan Titscher,Michael Meyer,Ruth Wodak,Eva Vetter
Publisher : SAGE
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2000-07-26
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781446232842

Get Book

Methods of Text and Discourse Analysis by Stefan Titscher,Michael Meyer,Ruth Wodak,Eva Vetter Pdf

′This volume is the most comprehensive overview to date of sociologically orientated approaches to text and discourse analysis and is worth reading even for those who are interested only in purely linguistiv approaches to text and discourse. Its main merit, I think, is that it intorduces approaches which up to now have hardley been admitted into the universe of scientific discourse′ - Discourse Studies Methods of Text and Discourse Analysis provides the most comprehensive overview currently available of linguistic and sociological approaches to text and discourse analysis. Among the 10 linguistic and sociological models surveyed in this book some of the more important are Grounded Theory, Content Analysis, Conversation Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis. The book presents each approach according to a standardised format, which allows for direct systematic comparisons. The fully annotated lists of sources provide readers with an additional means of evaluation of the competing analytical methods. Interdisciplinary and international in its aims, Methods of Text and Discourse Analysis suggests the benefits both linguists and sociologists will derive from a more intimate knowledge of each others′ methods and procedures.