Teyuuka and I mean as pragmatic parentheticals in Japanese and English
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Ritva Laury
Abstract
The English I mean and the Japanese teyuuka differ syntactically and semantically, but they have similar pragmatized uses. Both verbs, mean and yuu, function as regular verbs in main clauses and also as part of formulaic expressions which indicate a modal meaning with respect to an utterance, or project back to an earlier utterance and index it as inadequate or in need of modification. Both constructions can also frame another expression as a modification of the earlier utterance. They also function metacommunicatively to manage the interaction on a strategic level. The article compares the structure and functions of these two constructions in conversation and shows how structurally different expressions used in certain kinds of discourse and interactional contexts have come to serve similar but not identical pragmatic needs.
Abstract
The English I mean and the Japanese teyuuka differ syntactically and semantically, but they have similar pragmatized uses. Both verbs, mean and yuu, function as regular verbs in main clauses and also as part of formulaic expressions which indicate a modal meaning with respect to an utterance, or project back to an earlier utterance and index it as inadequate or in need of modification. Both constructions can also frame another expression as a modification of the earlier utterance. They also function metacommunicatively to manage the interaction on a strategic level. The article compares the structure and functions of these two constructions in conversation and shows how structurally different expressions used in certain kinds of discourse and interactional contexts have come to serve similar but not identical pragmatic needs.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction 1
- N be that -constructions in everyday German conversation 11
- Interrogative “complements” and question design in Estonian 37
- Syntactic and actional characteristics of Finnish että -clauses 69
- Clause-combining and the sequencing of actions 103
- A note on the emergence of quotative constructions in Japanese conversation 149
- Clines of subordination – constructions with the German ‘complement-taking predicate’ glauben 165
- Are kara ‘because’-clauses causal subordinate clauses in present-day Japanese? 191
- Teyuuka and I mean as pragmatic parentheticals in Japanese and English 209
- Name index 239
- Subject index 243
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction 1
- N be that -constructions in everyday German conversation 11
- Interrogative “complements” and question design in Estonian 37
- Syntactic and actional characteristics of Finnish että -clauses 69
- Clause-combining and the sequencing of actions 103
- A note on the emergence of quotative constructions in Japanese conversation 149
- Clines of subordination – constructions with the German ‘complement-taking predicate’ glauben 165
- Are kara ‘because’-clauses causal subordinate clauses in present-day Japanese? 191
- Teyuuka and I mean as pragmatic parentheticals in Japanese and English 209
- Name index 239
- Subject index 243
