Modality in syntax, semantics and pragmatics / Werner Abraham.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Abraham, Werner, author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in linguistics ; v. 165.

Cambridge studies in linguistics ; volume 165

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Modality (Linguistics).

Grammar, Comparative and general--Syntax.

Grammar, Comparative and general.

Pragmatics.

Semantics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxx, 424 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2020.

Summary:

What do we mean when we say things like 'If only we knew what he was up to!' Clearly this is more than just a message, or a question to our addressee. We are expressing simultaneously that we don't know, and also that we wish to know. Several modes of encoding contribute to such modalities of expression: word order, subordinating subjunctions, sentences that are subordinated but nevertheless occur autonomously, and attitudinal discourse adverbs which, far beyond lexical adverbials of modality, allow the speaker and the listener to presuppose full agreement, partial agreement under presupposed conditions, or negotiation of common ground. This state of the art survey proposes a new model of modality, drawing on data from a variety of Germanic and Slavic languages to find out what is cross-linguistically universal about modality, and to argue that it is a constitutive part of human cognition.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 08 Feb 2021).

ISBN:

1-108-86108-3

1-108-86392-2

1-139-10867-0