Communicative organization in natural language. The semantic-communicative structure of sentences.

Melcuk, Igor A.:

ISBN 10: 9027230609 / ISBN 13: 9789027230607

Published by Amsterdam, J. Benjamins, 2001

About this Item

XII, 393 Ehem. Bibliotheksexemplar mit Signatur und Stempel. GUTER Zustand, ein paar Gebrauchsspuren. Ex-library with stamp and library-signature. GOOD condition, some traces of use. C-05953 9027230609 Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 550.

Seller Inventory # 2492221

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Communicative organization in natural language. The semantic-communicative structure of sentences.
• Publisher: Amsterdam, J. Benjamins
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9027230609
• ISBN 13: 9789027230607
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Gut
• Weight: 550 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • E Sprachwissenschaft - Allgemein

About this title

Synopsis

The book defines the concept of Semantic-Communicative Structure [= Sem-CommS]-a formal object that is imposed on the starting Semantic Structure [= SemS] of a sentence (under text synthesis) in order to turn the selected meaning into a linguistic message. The Sem-CommS is a system of eight logically independent oppositions: 1. Thematicity (Rheme vs. Theme), 2. Givenness (Given vs. Old), 3. Focalization (Focalized vs. Non-Focalized), 4. Perspective (Foregrounded vs. Backgrounded), 5. Emphasis (Emphasized vs. Non-Emphasized), 6. Presupposedness (Presupposed vs. Non-Presupposed), 7. Unitariness (Unitary vs. Articulated), 8. Locutionality (Communicated vs. Signaled). The values of these oppositions mark particular subnetworks of the starting SemS and thus allow for the distinction between sentences such as (a) A man killed a dog vs. The dog was killed by a man, (b) John washed the window vs. It was John who washed the window or (c) It hurts! vs. Ouch! The proposed Sem-Comm-oppositions are conceived as an attempt at sharpening the well-known notions of Topic ~ Comment, Focus, etc. Possible linguistic strategies for expressing the values of the Sem-Comm-oppositions in different languages are discussed at some length, with linguistic illustrations.