Layered Structure and Reference in a Functional Perspective: Papers from the Functional Grammar Conference in Copenhagen 1990 (Pragmatics & Beyond New Series)

Hardcover, xiv + 444 pages, NOT ex-library. Book is clean and bright with unmarked text, free of inscriptions and stamps, firmly bound. Issued without a dust jacket. -- This volume focuses on the evolution of the layered model of the clause, originally proposed by Simon C. Dik, and explores how this structure handles referentiality and pragmatic function. -- The primary concern of the book is the layered structure of the clause, which distinguishes between different levels of linguistic organisation: - The Predicate and Terms: The core semantic building blocks; - The Propositional Level: Dealing with the speaker's knowledge or mental representation; - The Illocutionary Level: Addressing the speech act and the interaction between speaker and addressee. The contributors examine how these layers interact with reference - the way language points to entities in the real or imagined world - and how grammatical operators function at different levels of this hierarchy. Key Thematic Sections: The book is organised into several areas of functional research: - Refining the Layered Model: Papers by scholars like Kees Hengeveld and Jan Nuyts propose modifications to the standard FG model, particularly concerning the distinction between semantic and pragmatic layers; - Reference and Term Structure: Discussions on how "terms" (noun phrases) refer to entities and the role of classifiers and definite articles within a functional framework; - Cross-Linguistic Perspectives: The volume includes analyses of diverse languages, including Danish, West Greenlandic, and Spanish, to test the universal applicability of the layered model; - Pragmatics and Discourse: Several essays explore how the layered structure accounts for focus, topic, and the speaker's subjective attitude. Published by John Benjamins, this collection is considered a milestone in the development of Functional Discourse Grammar. It moved the field beyond simple sentence analysis towards a more sophisticated understanding of how grammar reflects the "communicative intentions" of the speaker. …