Full Description
A classic introduction to the study of meaning, revitalised for a new generation of linguistsIdeal for undergraduate students exploring English linguistics for the first time, the new edition of this successful textbook is compact and self-contained, offering:
Expanded coverage of topic areas such as figurative language, compositional meaning and quantification
Up-to-date, real-life examples drawn from a wide range of sources to clearly illustrate key concepts, such as how speakers use novel metaphors and metonyms
Additional exercises to further reinforce and develop key concepts
Thorough signposting to contemporary research publications in semantics and pragmatics
This clear and accessible textbook introduces the crucial concepts essential to your study of the semantics and pragmatics of English. Coverage is wide-ranging, taking you from word meaning to the level of discourse, and explaining how these topics are treated in contemporary linguistic research. Chapters cover adjective, noun and verb meanings, situation types, figurative language, tense, aspect, modality, quantification, topic and focus. Explanations of entailment, compositionality and scope provide a foundation for subsequent study of formal semantics.Supported by chapter summaries and with plenty of usage examples, exercises and discussion questions, you will not only gain a systematic overview of meaning in English but be equipped with the tools to argue for specific analyses as well.
Contents
CONTENTS
Preface
Preface to the third edition
1. Studying meaning
Overview
1.1 Sentences and utterances
1.2 Types of meaning
1.2.1 Denotation, sense, reference and deixis
1.3 Semantics vs. pragmatics
1.3.1 A first outline of semantics
1.3.2 A first outline of pragmatics
Summary
Exercises
2. Sense relations
Overview
2.1 Propositions and entailment
2.2 Compositionality
2.3 Synonymy
2.4 Complementarity, antonymy, converseness and incompatibility
2.5 Hyponymy
2.5.1 Hierarchies of hyponyms
Summary
Exercises
Recommendations for reading
Notes
3. Nouns
Overview
3.1 The has-relation
3.1.1 Inferring existence from the has-relation
3.1.2 Hyponymy, prototypes, and the has-relation
3.1.3 Parts can have parts
3.1.4 Spatial parts
3.1.5 Ends and beginnings
3.1.6 Body part terms, metaphor and has-relations
3.2 Count nouns and mass nouns
Summary
Exercises
Recommendations for reading
4. Adjectives
Overview
4.1 Gradability
4.1.1 Non-gradable adjectives
4.2 Combining adjective meanings with noun meanings
4.2.1 Non-intersective adjectives with broader denotations
4.2.2 Privative adjectives
4.2.3 Relative adjective meanings
Summary
Exercises
Recommendations for reading
5. Verbs
Overview
5.1 Verb types and arguments
5.1.1 Other kinds of arguments
5.2 Causative verbs
5.2.1 Identifying embedded situations
5.3 Thematic relations
Summary
Exercises
Recommendations for reading
Notes
6. Tense and aspect
Overview
6.1 Talking about events in time
6.2 Tense
6.2.1 Preliminaries
6.2.2 Present, Past and Future
6.2.3 Tense and adverbials
6.3 Aspect
6.3.1 Habituality and simple aspect
6.3.2 Progressive aspect
6.3.3 Perfect aspect
6.3.4 Perfect aspect or tense?
Summary
Exercises
Recommendations for reading
7. Modality, scope and quantification
Overview
7.1 Modality
7.1.1 Modal verbs and tense
7.1.2 Epistemic and deontic modality
7.2 Semantic scope
7.3 Quantification
7.3.1 Some basics about sets
7.3.2 Simple quantifiers in terms of sets
7.3.3 Proportional quantifiers
7.3.4 Distributivity and collectivity
7.3.5 Quantifier scope
Summary
Exercises
Recommendations for reading
8. Pragmatic inference
Overview
8.1 Some ways of conveying additional meanings
8.2 The Gricean maxims
8.2.1 Quantity implicatures
8.2.2 Scalar implicatures
8.2.3 Relevance implicatures
8.2.4 Manner implicatures
8.3 Relevance Theory
8.4 Presuppositions
Summary
Exercises
Recommendations for reading
9. Figurative language
Overview
9.1 Literal and figurative usage
9.2 Metaphor
9.3 Metonymy
9.4 Simile
9.5 Irony
9.6 Hyperbole
Summary
Exercises
Recommendations for reading
10. Utterances in context
Overview
10.1 Tailoring utterances to the audience
10.2 Definiteness
10.3 Given and new material
10.3.1 Pseudo-clefts
10.3.2 It-clefts
10.3.3 Passives
10.3.4 Lexical and syntactic converses
10.3.5 Focal stress
10.4 The Question Under Discussion
Summary
Exercises
Recommendations for reading
11. Doing things with words
Overview
11.1 Speech acts
11.2 Indicators of speech acts
11.2.1 Syntactic cues and indirect speech acts
11.2.2 Lexical cues
11.2.3 Cues based on conversation structure
11.2.4 Integrating the information
Summary
Exercises
Recommendations for reading
Suggested answers to the exercises
Bibliography
Index
