John Benjamins Publishing Company
Instructional meanings, iconicity, and l’arbitraire du signe in the analysis of the Afrikaans demonstratives
Abstract
Unlike the Dutch demonstratives deze (dit) and, die (dat), which can be characterized in terms of definiteness and location, Afrikaans hierdie, daardie and dié must be analyzed as signaling the meaning deixis: an instruction to the hearer to seek out and attend to some referent. Accordingly, the Afrikaans demonstratives present a clear counter-example to Langacker’s (1997) objection to instructional meanings. We support our Columbia School analysis of hierdie, daardie and dié with both qualitative and quantitative data and reject alternative ones, including Kirsner (2007). The system of Deixis postulated here is congruent with Diessel (1999, 2006), who argues that demonstratives do not always indicate location relative to the speaker but rather function to coordinate the interlocutors’ joint focus of attention.
Abstract
Unlike the Dutch demonstratives deze (dit) and, die (dat), which can be characterized in terms of definiteness and location, Afrikaans hierdie, daardie and dié must be analyzed as signaling the meaning deixis: an instruction to the hearer to seek out and attend to some referent. Accordingly, the Afrikaans demonstratives present a clear counter-example to Langacker’s (1997) objection to instructional meanings. We support our Columbia School analysis of hierdie, daardie and dié with both qualitative and quantitative data and reject alternative ones, including Kirsner (2007). The system of Deixis postulated here is congruent with Diessel (1999, 2006), who argues that demonstratives do not always indicate location relative to the speaker but rather function to coordinate the interlocutors’ joint focus of attention.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Part 1. Independent evidence in grammar
- The distribution of linguistic forms and textual structure 17
- Semantic regularities of the so-called irregular Internal Vowel Alternation (IVA) Nominal ( umlaut ) and Verbal ( ablaut ) forms in Old and Modern English 45
- Al hablar, se alterna hablando 83
- Instructional meanings, iconicity, and l’arbitraire du signe in the analysis of the Afrikaans demonstratives 97
- Focus system of the Japanese benefactive auxiliaries kureru and morau 139
-
Part 2. Phonology as human behavior
- Phonology as human behavior from an evolutionary point of view 169
- Phonology as human behavior 197
- Phonology as human behavior 219
- Phonology as human behavior 245
- A phonological analysis of the lexicon of a literary work 267
- Name index 293
- Subject index 295
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Part 1. Independent evidence in grammar
- The distribution of linguistic forms and textual structure 17
- Semantic regularities of the so-called irregular Internal Vowel Alternation (IVA) Nominal ( umlaut ) and Verbal ( ablaut ) forms in Old and Modern English 45
- Al hablar, se alterna hablando 83
- Instructional meanings, iconicity, and l’arbitraire du signe in the analysis of the Afrikaans demonstratives 97
- Focus system of the Japanese benefactive auxiliaries kureru and morau 139
-
Part 2. Phonology as human behavior
- Phonology as human behavior from an evolutionary point of view 169
- Phonology as human behavior 197
- Phonology as human behavior 219
- Phonology as human behavior 245
- A phonological analysis of the lexicon of a literary work 267
- Name index 293
- Subject index 295
