Chapter 15. In a manner of speaking
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Luisa Corona
Abstract
We provide a functional, corpus-driven definition of the category of Manner and we observe its (co)-construction in interactional discourse. In the linguistic literature, Manner has been traditionally approached as a basic cognitive prime, expressing the way in which an action is performed. It has been traditionally considered as a category fulfilling a basically descriptive function, necessarily realized by a limited inventory of means essentially encoded either at the lexical level, on verbal roots, or at the syntactic level, on verbal adjuncts. In this paper, we propose a functional definition of Manner that allows identifying Manner constructions without prejudging their morphosyntactic realization. We present an annotation scheme of Manner constructions that allows for an exploration of the realizations of this category in a corpus of spoken interactional data. The analysis of 514 occurrences of Manner constructions shows that, far from being a static descriptive monological category, Manner can be regarded as an interactional, gradable category co-constructed by participants in discourse. Manner is used by speakers not only to describe reality but also to reach, in discourse and through discourse, a shared perception of reality.
Abstract
We provide a functional, corpus-driven definition of the category of Manner and we observe its (co)-construction in interactional discourse. In the linguistic literature, Manner has been traditionally approached as a basic cognitive prime, expressing the way in which an action is performed. It has been traditionally considered as a category fulfilling a basically descriptive function, necessarily realized by a limited inventory of means essentially encoded either at the lexical level, on verbal roots, or at the syntactic level, on verbal adjuncts. In this paper, we propose a functional definition of Manner that allows identifying Manner constructions without prejudging their morphosyntactic realization. We present an annotation scheme of Manner constructions that allows for an exploration of the realizations of this category in a corpus of spoken interactional data. The analysis of 514 occurrences of Manner constructions shows that, far from being a static descriptive monological category, Manner can be regarded as an interactional, gradable category co-constructed by participants in discourse. Manner is used by speakers not only to describe reality but also to reach, in discourse and through discourse, a shared perception of reality.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Building categories in interaction 1
- Chapter 2. Ad hoc categorization in linguistic interaction 9
- Chapter 3. Categories at the interface of cognition and action 35
- Chapter 4. Category-building lists between grammar and interaction 73
- Chapter 5. Are new words predictable? 111
- Chapter 6. The Camel Humps prosodic pattern 155
- Chapter 7. Making the implicit explicit 187
- Chapter 8. Online text mapping 211
- Chapter 9. Exemplification in interaction 239
- Chapter 10. The on-line construction of meaning in Mandarin Chinese 271
- Chapter 11. Et cetera, eccetera, etc. The development of a general extender from Latin to Italian 295
- Chapter 12. Morphopragmatics of rhyming and imitative co-compounds in Russian 317
- Chapter 13. Encoding ad hoc categories in Georgian 355
- Chapter 14. French type-noun constructions based on genre 373
- Chapter 15. In a manner of speaking 415
- Chapter 16. Why it’s hard to construct ad hoc number concepts 439
- Index 463
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Building categories in interaction 1
- Chapter 2. Ad hoc categorization in linguistic interaction 9
- Chapter 3. Categories at the interface of cognition and action 35
- Chapter 4. Category-building lists between grammar and interaction 73
- Chapter 5. Are new words predictable? 111
- Chapter 6. The Camel Humps prosodic pattern 155
- Chapter 7. Making the implicit explicit 187
- Chapter 8. Online text mapping 211
- Chapter 9. Exemplification in interaction 239
- Chapter 10. The on-line construction of meaning in Mandarin Chinese 271
- Chapter 11. Et cetera, eccetera, etc. The development of a general extender from Latin to Italian 295
- Chapter 12. Morphopragmatics of rhyming and imitative co-compounds in Russian 317
- Chapter 13. Encoding ad hoc categories in Georgian 355
- Chapter 14. French type-noun constructions based on genre 373
- Chapter 15. In a manner of speaking 415
- Chapter 16. Why it’s hard to construct ad hoc number concepts 439
- Index 463
