xxiii, 416 p. Series: North-Holland linguistic series ; 57. Binding fresh, corners sharp, scuffing to upper fore=corner of front panel and to rear panel; contents as new. 840 grams.

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Bibliographic Details

Title: Discourse and pragmatic constraints on grammatical choices : a grammar of surprises
Publisher: Elsevier, Amsterdam; New York
Publication Date: 1994
Language: English
ISBN 10: 0444820434
ISBN 13: 9780444820433
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Near Fine
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
Weight: 840 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This book constitutes a quest for discourse and pragmatic features responsible for so-called optional grammatical choices. In an attempt to adduce new evidence for the assumption that, in order to capture adequately the reasons for the choice of various grammatical devices, a multi-variable model is necessary which could account for the development and the functioning of grammaticalized ethno-linguistic features in a variety of languages. The main hypothesis put forward is that, limited as they are by the possibilities of a given language, the choices open to speakers when reconstructing linguistically the state of affairs are determined first and foremost by their foci of attention. Orality is one the most salient features of Romanian, but the profound consequences of such a feature for Romanian grammar have not been fully explored. The most frequently invoked characteristic of this orality has been labeled 'redundancy', as is manifest in the proliferation of clitics. But, as shown by the data analyzed in this book, the impact of orality on Romanian grammar is much more far-reaching, encompassing such phenomena as: the preference for specific syntactic constructions as markers of the central discourse entity around which the event is reconstructed linguistically; the grammaticalization of the means for marking differences in the degree of discourse prominence (the degree of discourse-activated knowledge); the extensive use of markers of discourse continuity; the means by which the story is 'visualized'; the grammaticalization of various means used for marking stage distance (backgrounding versus foregrounding the event); and, diversified means for marking differences between speakers' expectations. The book highlights those features of Romanian grammar which can be most satisfactorily explained by the interaction between grammar and various discourse and pragmatic strategies.

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Carothers and Carothers is an independent bookselling firm specializing in the scholarly out-of-print and antiquarian market. Frank Carothers, the elder partner, has retired from the Library of the University of California at Berkeley after more than thirty years of collection management related work. Sara Carothers, the younger partner, is a recent graduate of the University of San Francisco, where she studied Japanese and French.

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