Intensification for discursive evaluation: a corpus-pragmatic view

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Pan
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Meaning Construction ◽  
Semantic Relationship ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Part Of Speech ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Evaluative Meaning ◽  
Semantic Dimension

Abstract The phenomenon of intensification is pervasive in natural language use. Previous research has extensively discussed what intensifiers are and how they are associated with semantic developments. Corpora prove to be a useful tool to examine the semantic dimension of intensifiers. What has been overlooked, however, is the internal structure(s) of meaning conveyed by “intensifier + adjective” constructions in naturally occurring text and speech. The semantic relationship between the intensifier and the modified adjective needs to be made more explicit to address the pragmatics of intensification. Using BNC Sampler (a part-of-speech tagged corpus of general English) this study examines the most frequently used adjective intensifiers in both written and spoken discourse. Concordance lines generated for the adjective intensifiers are used to illustrate evaluative expressions in context. The observation contributes to debates on the pragmatics of intensifiers for evaluative meaning construction and transmission.

Temporal-magnitudinal construal coding

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-151
Author(s):  
Mikołaj Deckert ◽  
Marek Molenda
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Meaning Construction ◽  
Major Objective ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Coding Variants ◽  
Linguistic Coding ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract This article looks into the interface of temporality and quantification. Drawing on the principles of Cognitive Linguistics, we use experimental as well as corpus methods to provide evidence on how the conceptual organisation and linguistic coding of content can play a role in meaning construction. With that broad agenda in mind, a major objective is to shed light on the construct of conventionalisation. For that purpose, construal coding variants are examined with a focus on nominal phrases that express time quantities. The examination involves two construal types (termed “cumulative” and “fractional”) that differ primarily in their prominence configurations, across three granularity levels of time conceptualisation. Our main finding – that the fractional and cumulative constructions are asymmetrically conventionalised – is contextualised through a qualitative analysis of naturally-occurring data to identify additional language use patterns and offer explanatory hypotheses.

Accounting for ELF

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 372-395
Author(s):  
Ruth Osimk-Teasdale ◽  
Nora Dorn
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Linguistic Resources ◽  
Pos Tagging ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Different Types

This paper reports on some issues encountered when using various ‘external points of reference’ in the development of POS-tagging guidelines for the Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English (VOICE). VOICE is a corpus of spoken English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) containing naturally occurring, plurilingual data. As in all kinds of natural language use, speakers recorded in VOICE exploit available linguistic resources, often resulting in non-codified language use and language which is difficult to classify unambiguously. However, detailed tagging solutions for such phenomena are rarely reported. We discuss usefulness and limitations of external points of reference with regard to their suitability for POS-tagging VOICE and address methodological as well as practical issues, especially the handling of non-codified language use and different types of ambiguities. We suggest that the solutions found, and the theoretical approach adopted, could be relevant for the tagging of other spoken corpora.

Peter Auer, Elizabeth Couper-Kuhlen, and Frank Müller. Language in time: The rhythm and tempo of spoken interaction. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Pp. xi, 236. Hb $65.00.

2001 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 298-301
Author(s):  
Cecilia E. Ford
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Complex Signals ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Spoken Interaction

To understand prosody in naturally occurring language requires an exceptional constellation of skills. One must have not only expertise in the analysis of pitch patterns and the complex signals that make up our perception of stress, but also a rich and informed perspective on how talk works. Although some phonologists are highly sophisticated in their approaches to prosody, empirical research in this area is both heavily based on laboratory-produced data (when it is empirical in that sense), and highly abstract in its descriptive procedures. For their part, analysts of spoken discourse, though basing their descriptions on naturally occurring language, often lack fundamental expertise in the close analysis of sound production and perception. The authors of Language in time are exceptional in the individual and collective skill they bring to their project. In this carefully crafted volume, Peter Auer, Elizabeth Couper-Kuhlen, and Frank Müller offer an empirically grounded and innovative view of the interplay of prosody and action in spoken language use. The volume focuses on the functions of rhythm in spoken interaction, drawing data from English, Italian, and German, and concentrating on “conversational organization and verbal performance” (p. 33). The work provides a counterbalance to the prevailing dualism in linguistic studies, by which language is first and foremost understood as a system separated from time.

scholarly journals Indirectness, inexplicitness and vagueness made clearer

Pragmatics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winnie Cheng ◽  
Martin Warren
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Hong Kong Chinese ◽  
Widespread Occurrence ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

The ability to do indirectness, inexplicitness and vagueness is a key component in the repertoire of all competent discoursers and these are commonplace phenomena in written and spoken discourses, particularly in conversations. The study reported in the paper seeks to delineate and exemplify these three terms which are used frequently in the literature, but which are potentially confusing as they are not always unambiguously defined and consistently applied. The purpose of the study is to describe the differences between the three terms in terms of their pragmatic usage and functions, drawing upon a corpus of naturally-occurring conversational data between Hong Kong Chinese and native speakers of English. In so doing, this study underlines the widespread occurrence of these forms of language use and the ways in which participants in spoken discourse employ them to jointly construct both context and meaning.

scholarly journals Reference without anaphora: on agency through grammar

Linguistics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chase Wesley Raymond ◽  
Rebecca Clift ◽  
John Heritage
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language Processing ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Subsequent Reference ◽  
Normative Dimension ◽  
Referential Expressions ◽  
Deontic Authority

Abstract In this article, we investigate a puzzle for standard accounts of reference in natural language processing, psycholinguistics and pragmatics: occasions where, following an initial reference (e.g., the ice), a subsequent reference is achieved using the same noun phrase (i.e., the ice), as opposed to an anaphoric form (i.e., it). We argue that such non-anaphoric reference can be understood as motivated by a central principle: the expression of agency in interaction. In developing this claim, we draw upon research in what may initially appear a wholly unconnected domain: the marking of epistemic and deontic stance, standardly investigated in linguistics as turn-level grammatical phenomena. Examination of naturally-occurring talk reveals that to analyze such stances solely though the lens of turn-level resources (e.g., modals) is to address only partially the means by which participants make epistemic and deontic claims in everyday discourse. Speakers’ use of referential expressions illustrates a normative dimension of grammar that incorporates both form and position, thereby affording speakers the ability to actively depart from this form-position norm through the use of a repeated NP, a grammatical practice that we show is associated with the expression of epistemic and deontic authority. It is argued that interactants can thus be seen to be agentively mobilizing the resources of grammar to accommodate the inescapable temporality of interaction.

On thetical grammar

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 852-897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunther Kaltenböck ◽  
Bernd Heine ◽  
Tania Kuteva
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Word Structure ◽  
Language Knowledge

Most frameworks of linguistic analysis tend to highlight phenomena of language use and/or language knowledge such as sentence and word structure, while backgrounding or ignoring other phenomena that are interpreted as being of more marginal interest for the linguist. The main goal of this paper is to argue that some phenomena that have previously been treated as being more peripheral play an important role in the organization of linguistic discourse, and that the latter operates in at least two different domains, namely that of sentence grammar and of thetical grammar. Each of the two domains has its own internal structure, and the two tend to be separated from one another syntactically, prosodically, and semantically. Building on recent research, the paper aims at defining the main characteristics of thetical grammar.

Vi snakker sådan: An analysis of the Danish discourse-pragmatic marker sådan

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-37
Author(s):  
Christian Schoning ◽  
Jørn Helder ◽  
Chloé Diskin-Holdaway
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Analytic Approach ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Pragmatic Markers ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Self Repair ◽  
Interactional Discourse

Abstract The last three decades have witnessed increasing interest in discourse-pragmatic markers (DPMs), both with regards to their high frequency in spoken discourse and their multifunctionality in interaction. Most studies have centered on English, with studies on Danish restricted to a handful of previous interactional discourse analyses. This paper is a preliminary investigation of the Danish word sådan (commonly glossed as ‘such’ or ‘like this/that’). A qualitative, form-based, discourse analytic approach is undertaken on over 40 minutes of naturally occurring Danish talk to argue that sådan qualifies as a DPM. In service of textual, subjective, and intersubjective macro-functions, sådan illustrates; exemplifies; marks hesitation; approximates a quantity; mitigates, hedges, or softens; and allows self-correction or self-repair. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for sådan’s place in the Danish DPM system and our understanding of DPMs across languages.

Restrictiveness, exclusivity, adversativity, and mirativity

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Fang Wang ◽  
Mei-Chi Tsai ◽  
Wayne Schams ◽  
Chi-Ming Yang
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Interactional Linguistics ◽  
English Only ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Turn Taking

Mandarin Chinese zhishi (similar to English ‘only’), comprised of the adverb zhi and the copula shi, can act as an adverb (ADV) or a discourse marker (DM). This study analyzes the role of zhishi in spoken discourse, based on the methodological and theoretical principles of interactional linguistics and conversation analysis. The corpus used in this study consists of three sets of data: 1) naturally-occurring daily conversations; 2) radio/TV interviews; and 3) TV panel discussions on current political affairs. As a whole, this study reveals that the notions of restrictiveness, exclusivity, and adversativity are closely associated with ADV zhishi and DM zhishi. In addition, the present data show that since zhishi is often used to express a ‘less than expected’ feeling, it can be used to indicate mirativity (i.e. language indicating that an utterance conveys the speaker’s surprise). The data also show that the distribution of zhishi as an adverb or discourse marker depends on turn taking systems and speech situations in spoken discourse. Specifically, the ADV zhishi tends to occur in radio/TV interviews and TV panel news discussions, while the DM zhishi occurs more often in casual conversations.

scholarly journals Negation of Conditionals in Natural Language and Thought

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-63
Author(s):  
Gilberto Gomes
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Human Reasoning ◽  
Truth Conditions ◽  
Language And Thought ◽  
Pragmatic Truth ◽  
Natural Language Pragmatics ◽  
Excluded Middle

External negation of conditionals occurs in sentences beginning with ‘It is not true that if’ or similar phrases, and it is not rare in natural language. A conditional may also be denied by another with the same antecedent and opposite consequent. Most often, when the denied conditional is implicative, the denying one is concessive, and vice versa. Here I argue that, in natural language pragmatics, ‘If $A$, $\sim B$’ entails ‘$\sim$(if $A, B$)’, but ‘$\sim$(if $A, B$)’ does not entail ‘If $A$, $\sim B$’. ‘If $A, B$’ and ‘If $A$, $\sim B$’ deny each other, but are contraries, not contradictories. Truth conditions that are relevant in human reasoning and discourse often depend not only on semantic but also on pragmatic factors. Examples are provided showing that sentences having the forms ‘$\sim$(if $A, B$)’ and ‘If $A$, $\sim B$’ may have different pragmatic truth conditions. The principle of Conditional Excluded Middle, therefore, does not apply to natural language use of conditionals. Three squares of opposition provide a representation the aforementioned relations.

scholarly journals Hyperbolic markers in modeling hyperbole: a scenario-based account

2021 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 61-71
Author(s):  
Carla Ovejas Ramírez
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Meaning Construction ◽  
The Other ◽  
Target Domain ◽  
Real Situation ◽  
Source Domain ◽  
The Real ◽  
Theoretical Context ◽  
Hypothetical Scenario

This article discusses hyperbolic markers in modeling hyperbole from the perspective of a scenario-based account of language use within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics. In this view, hyperbole is seen as a mapping across two conceptual domains (Peña y Ruiz de Mendoza, 2017), a source domain, here relabeled as the magnified scenario, which contains a hypothetical unrealistic situation based on exaggeration, and a target domain or observable scenario which depicts the real situation addressed by the hyperbolic expression. Since the hypothetical scenario is a magnified version of the observable scenario, the mapping contains source-target matches in varying degrees of resemblance. Within this theoretical context, the article explores resources available to speakers for the construction of magnified scenarios leading to hyperbolic interpretation. Among such resources, we find hyperbole markers and the setting up of domains of reference. Finally, the article also discusses hyperbole blockers, which cancel out the activity of the other hyperbolic meaning construction mechanisms.

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