John Benjamins Publishing Company
Context in constructions
Abstract
This paper illustrates the importance of context for grammar by examining discourse data of the nonsubject honorific construction o – Verb (stem) – suru. Building upon previous studies that argued that non-subject honorifics are subject to a pragmatic condition of benefit transfer between the subject and nonsubject referents, I argue that the targeted referents of nonsubject honorification are reorganized to the two participants of the discourse: the speaker and the addressee. The variations in the o-Verb (stem) – suru form are explained from the constructional and frame semantics perspectives as a process of cognitive and intersubjective (e.g., Traugott and Dasher 2002) reorganization of grammatical constructions motivated by contextual conditions of use and the speaker’s intention with respect to the addressee.
Abstract
This paper illustrates the importance of context for grammar by examining discourse data of the nonsubject honorific construction o – Verb (stem) – suru. Building upon previous studies that argued that non-subject honorifics are subject to a pragmatic condition of benefit transfer between the subject and nonsubject referents, I argue that the targeted referents of nonsubject honorification are reorganized to the two participants of the discourse: the speaker and the addressee. The variations in the o-Verb (stem) – suru form are explained from the constructional and frame semantics perspectives as a process of cognitive and intersubjective (e.g., Traugott and Dasher 2002) reorganization of grammatical constructions motivated by contextual conditions of use and the speaker’s intention with respect to the addressee.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgement vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction: Situating usage-based (Japanese) linguistics 1
-
Part 1. Cognition and language use
- Subordination and information status 13
- On state of mind and grammatical forms from functional perspectives 37
- Grammar of the internal expressive sentences in Japanese 55
- Subjectivity, intersubjectivity and Japanese grammar 85
- What typology reveals about modality in Japanese 109
-
Part 2. Frequency, interaction and language use
- If rendaku isn’t a rule, what in the world is it? 137
- The semantic basis of grammatical development 153
- Interchangeability of so-called interchangeable particles 171
- The re-examination of so-called ‘clefts’ 193
- Activity, participation, and joint turn construction 223
-
Part 3. Language change and variation
- Context in constructions 261
- The use and interpretation of “regional” and “standard” variants in Japanese conversation 279
- Index 305
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgement vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction: Situating usage-based (Japanese) linguistics 1
-
Part 1. Cognition and language use
- Subordination and information status 13
- On state of mind and grammatical forms from functional perspectives 37
- Grammar of the internal expressive sentences in Japanese 55
- Subjectivity, intersubjectivity and Japanese grammar 85
- What typology reveals about modality in Japanese 109
-
Part 2. Frequency, interaction and language use
- If rendaku isn’t a rule, what in the world is it? 137
- The semantic basis of grammatical development 153
- Interchangeability of so-called interchangeable particles 171
- The re-examination of so-called ‘clefts’ 193
- Activity, participation, and joint turn construction 223
-
Part 3. Language change and variation
- Context in constructions 261
- The use and interpretation of “regional” and “standard” variants in Japanese conversation 279
- Index 305
