Full Description
Linguistic imitation is not mere repetition, but is instead a foundational mechanism of language use. It underpins the engagement and categorisation of meaning as a conceptual pact among speakers. This book redefines imitation as the creative engine of human communication, showing how language evolves through our engagement with what others say. It discusses dialogic resonance - the reuse and reshaping of communicative constructions - as a unifying framework that bridges pragmatics and construction grammar. Combining evidence from first and second language acquisition, intercultural communication and neurodiverse interaction, the book highlights the crucial role of imitation in shaping social conformity, engagement, categorisation and innovation. It combines detailed qualitative case studies with innovative corpus-based and statistical analyses to provide new theoretical insights and methodological tools. It is essential reading for scholars and students of linguistics, psychology, education and sociology, and for anyone interested in how language emerges from the creative interplay of human voices.
Contents
Preface; Introduction; 1. Imitation in cognitive science and language; 2. Resonance, engagement and creativity at work: the dialogic categorisation model (DEM); 3. Resonance in cross-cultural pragmatics: (dis-)agreements in Mandarin and American English interaction; 4. Resonance in first language acquisition: how children's imitation becomes creative; 5. Resonance in neurodiversity: creativity competing with engagement in Autism Spectrum Disorder; 6. Resonance in sociopragmatics: variation of verbal engagement among British speakers; 7. Resonance in health communication: doctor-patient interaction in traditional Chinese and Western medicine; 8. Conclusions; Bibliography; Index.
