John Benjamins Publishing Company
Talk into vs convince to
Abstract
This paper explores the causative constructions ‘talk NP into + ‑ing’ vs ‘convince NP to + infinitive’ by means of a collection of attested occurrences. It shows the connection between the characteristics described by Wierzbicka (1998), Gries & Stefanowitsch (2004) and Rudanko (2006) and the linguistically-signified semantic content involved in these structures. Wierzbicka’s account and the related Construction Grammar approach are shown to be wanting on both the descriptive and explanatory levels due to a distancing from the level on which a stable relation exists between meaning and linguistic form. An explanation of the distribution and semantics of the two constructions is proposed based on Langacker’s (1987) semiological principle, i.e. on the semantic content associated with each of the linguistic signs involved in these sequences.
Abstract
This paper explores the causative constructions ‘talk NP into + ‑ing’ vs ‘convince NP to + infinitive’ by means of a collection of attested occurrences. It shows the connection between the characteristics described by Wierzbicka (1998), Gries & Stefanowitsch (2004) and Rudanko (2006) and the linguistically-signified semantic content involved in these structures. Wierzbicka’s account and the related Construction Grammar approach are shown to be wanting on both the descriptive and explanatory levels due to a distancing from the level on which a stable relation exists between meaning and linguistic form. An explanation of the distribution and semantics of the two constructions is proposed based on Langacker’s (1987) semiological principle, i.e. on the semantic content associated with each of the linguistic signs involved in these sequences.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Structures, patterns, constructions – studying variation and change in lexico-grammar 1
-
Part 1. Semantic description of constructions
- Talk into vs convince to 15
- Passive permissives 31
- Goldberg’s Rely On construction 55
-
Part 2. Variation and change in complementation patterns
- Aspects of the use of the transitive into -ing pattern in New Zealand English 71
- Complementation of ashamed – diachrony and determinants of variation 89
- Sentential complementation of propose in recent British English 109
- The use of optional complement markers in present-day English 129
- Patterns of direct transitivization and differences between British and American English 151
-
Part 3. The emergence of new patterns
- I would like to request for your attention 171
- The development of infinitival complementation with or without language contact 197
- Anglicising Finnish complementation? Examining the rakastan puhua (‘I love to speak’) structure in present-day Finnish 215
- Author index 233
- Subject index 235
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Structures, patterns, constructions – studying variation and change in lexico-grammar 1
-
Part 1. Semantic description of constructions
- Talk into vs convince to 15
- Passive permissives 31
- Goldberg’s Rely On construction 55
-
Part 2. Variation and change in complementation patterns
- Aspects of the use of the transitive into -ing pattern in New Zealand English 71
- Complementation of ashamed – diachrony and determinants of variation 89
- Sentential complementation of propose in recent British English 109
- The use of optional complement markers in present-day English 129
- Patterns of direct transitivization and differences between British and American English 151
-
Part 3. The emergence of new patterns
- I would like to request for your attention 171
- The development of infinitival complementation with or without language contact 197
- Anglicising Finnish complementation? Examining the rakastan puhua (‘I love to speak’) structure in present-day Finnish 215
- Author index 233
- Subject index 235
