Meaning in the history of English : words and texts in context / edited by Andreas H. Jucker [and three others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Jucker, Andreas H.

Series:

Studies in language companion series

Studies in Language Companion Series ; 148

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English language--History.

English language.

Historical linguistics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (356 pages) : illustrations.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This article explores the use of evidentials, or markers of source of information in witness depositions from England in the period 1680-1710. By comparing the results with those from a previous study on the Salem witch trials (Grund 2012), I point to significant similarities in the linguistic forms and deployment of markers signaling sensory evidence, inference, assumption, and quotatives (i.e. information based on what other people have said). I also demonstrate the importance of considering the socio-historical and situational context in the interpretation of the evidentials: the legal setting and concerns such as appearing reliable and credible or not providing potentially questionable evidence probably significantly influenced deponents' choices of evidential strategies.

Contents:

Uncovering layers of meaning in the history of the English language / Andreas H. Jucker, Daniela Landert, Annina Seiler and Nicole Studer-Joho

Layers of reading in the Old English Bede : the case of Oxford Corpus Christi College 279B / Christine Wallis

Unlikely-looking Old English verb forms / Eric Stanley

On the importance of noting uncertainty in etymological research : some implications of a re-examination of the etymology of road / Philip Durkin

"A Wiltshire word, according to Kennett" : the contribution of MS Lansd. 1033 to Halliwell's Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words (1847) / Javier Ruano-García

Enforcing or effacing useful distinctions? : imply vs. infer / Don Chapman

The role of context in the meaning specification of cant and slang words in eighteenth-century English / Roxanne But

Let's talk about uton / Linda van Bergen

Exploring part-of-speech profiles and authorship attribution in Early Modern medical texts / Jukka Tyrkkö

The positioning of adverbial clauses in the Paston letters / Yoko Iyeiri

Complexity and genre conventions : text structure and coordination in Early Modern English proclamations / Anu Lehto

Formulaic discourse across Early Modern English medical genres : investigating shared lexical bundles / Joanna Kopaczyk

"Treasure of pore men", "countrymans friend" or "gentlewomans companion"? On the use of interpersonal strategies in the titles of Early Modern English medical texts / Marta Sylwanowicz

"I saw ye Child burning in ye fire" : evidentiality in Early Modern English witness depositions / Peter Grund.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed December 11, 2013).

ISBN:

9789027270894

9027270899

OCLC:

863157240