Silence as language : verbal silence as a means of expression / Michal Ephratt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ephratt, Michal, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Silence.

Nonverbal communication.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 369 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2022.

Summary:

Verbal silence touches on every possible aspect of daily life. This book provides a full linguistic analysis of the role of silence in language, exploring perspectives from semantics, semiotics, pragmatics, phonetics, syntax, grammar and poetics, and taking into account a range of spoken and written contexts. The author argues that silence is just as communicative in language as speech, as it results from the deliberate choice of the speaker, and serves functions such as informing, conveying emotion, signalling turn switching, and activating the addresser. Verbal silence is used, alongside speech, to serve linguistic functions in all areas of life, as well as being employed in a wide variety of written texts. The forms and functions of silence are explained, detailed and illustrated with examples taken from both written texts and real-life interactions. Engaging and comprehensive, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in this fascinating linguistic phenomenon.

Contents:

The different sorts of silence. External to interaction: stillness

Within interaction

Scheme: silences in interaction

Verbal silence: forms. Verbal silence: an intuitive glance

The forms of verbal silence

Verbal silence: functions. The referential function

The emotive function

The conative function

The phatic function

The poetic function

The metalinguistic function

The circumstantial function.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 18 Aug 2022).

Other Format:

Print version: Ephratt, Michal. Silence as language

ISBN:

1-108-59219-8

1-108-57367-3

1-108-65077-5