When referents are seen and heard
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Sébastien Vandenitte
Abstract
Constructed action is a referential strategy whereby signers and speakers use their bodies and/or voices to depict referents and their actions. Using a corpus-based study, this chapter compares constructed action in LSFB and Belgian French. It shows both that LSFB signers use constructed action to denote referents more frequently than Belgian French speakers do and that the two language communities use an overlapping set of articulators to enact referents. However, it also sheds light on differences in the use of these articulators, notably facial expression and the use of hand and arm movements, across LSFB and Belgian French. By documenting this referential strategy in a signed and a spoken language, this study informs the field of comparative semiotics.
Abstract
Constructed action is a referential strategy whereby signers and speakers use their bodies and/or voices to depict referents and their actions. Using a corpus-based study, this chapter compares constructed action in LSFB and Belgian French. It shows both that LSFB signers use constructed action to denote referents more frequently than Belgian French speakers do and that the two language communities use an overlapping set of articulators to enact referents. However, it also sheds light on differences in the use of these articulators, notably facial expression and the use of hand and arm movements, across LSFB and Belgian French. By documenting this referential strategy in a signed and a spoken language, this study informs the field of comparative semiotics.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Speakers, addressees and the referential process 1
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Part I. New insights into referential conventions
- Anaphoric potential of bare nominals, incorporated objects and weak definites in German 27
- Is ambient it truly non-referential? 53
- Lions, flowers and the Romans 71
- Genre and reference chains 89
- A linear approach of chain composition 107
- When referents are seen and heard 127
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Part II. From conventions to pragmatics
- Human collective nouns and plural definite noun phrases 153
- Electric vehicles in the press 171
- Referring to the self and the addressee overtly 185
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Part III. From conventions to pragmatics
- Leaving this unsaid 213
- Referential conventions as compromise 233
- Referring to an avenue as an ‘artery’ ( artère ) in French 249
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Part IV. From conventions to pragmatics
- Who creates reference? 269
- “ peut-être on peut improviser un peu ” 287
- Temporal reference in oral narratives produced by French learners of English as a second language 305
- The choice of referring expressions in adult-child dialogues 323
- Index 347
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Speakers, addressees and the referential process 1
-
Part I. New insights into referential conventions
- Anaphoric potential of bare nominals, incorporated objects and weak definites in German 27
- Is ambient it truly non-referential? 53
- Lions, flowers and the Romans 71
- Genre and reference chains 89
- A linear approach of chain composition 107
- When referents are seen and heard 127
-
Part II. From conventions to pragmatics
- Human collective nouns and plural definite noun phrases 153
- Electric vehicles in the press 171
- Referring to the self and the addressee overtly 185
-
Part III. From conventions to pragmatics
- Leaving this unsaid 213
- Referential conventions as compromise 233
- Referring to an avenue as an ‘artery’ ( artère ) in French 249
-
Part IV. From conventions to pragmatics
- Who creates reference? 269
- “ peut-être on peut improviser un peu ” 287
- Temporal reference in oral narratives produced by French learners of English as a second language 305
- The choice of referring expressions in adult-child dialogues 323
- Index 347
