Chapter 5. Revisiting the functional typology of insubordination
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Pedro Gras
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to discuss the functional typology of insubordination in the light of Spanish data. The empirical focus is on the functional load of que-initial sentences, which are the most frequent insubordinate constructions in Peninsular Spanish. Que-initial sentences can display several functions in interaction: third person imperatives, optatives, evaluative modality, echo-sentences, self-repetition, signalling relevant information, among others. Considering their high polyfunctionality, I address two interrelated questions. Firstly, I examine whether que-initial sentences can be considered instances of a single polysemous construction or whether they are different form-meaning pairings with their own grammatical and/or discursive features. A corpus-based constructional analysis allows the identification of two insubordinate que-constructions that differ not only in their meaning, but also in their formal and discourse properties. Secondly, I examine to what extent the functional typology of insubordination proposed in Evans (2007) can account for the wide array of functions displayed by que-initial sentences and I propose a typology of insubordination which considers two main macrofunctions: (i) non-declarative sentence modality and (ii) context dependency.
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to discuss the functional typology of insubordination in the light of Spanish data. The empirical focus is on the functional load of que-initial sentences, which are the most frequent insubordinate constructions in Peninsular Spanish. Que-initial sentences can display several functions in interaction: third person imperatives, optatives, evaluative modality, echo-sentences, self-repetition, signalling relevant information, among others. Considering their high polyfunctionality, I address two interrelated questions. Firstly, I examine whether que-initial sentences can be considered instances of a single polysemous construction or whether they are different form-meaning pairings with their own grammatical and/or discursive features. A corpus-based constructional analysis allows the identification of two insubordinate que-constructions that differ not only in their meaning, but also in their formal and discourse properties. Secondly, I examine to what extent the functional typology of insubordination proposed in Evans (2007) can account for the wide array of functions displayed by que-initial sentences and I propose a typology of insubordination which considers two main macrofunctions: (i) non-declarative sentence modality and (ii) context dependency.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Map ix
- Author affiliations xi
- Chapter 1. The dynamics of insubordination 1
- Chapter 2. On insubordination and cooptation 39
- Chapter 3. Running in the family 65
- Chapter 4. Independent si -clauses in Spanish 89
- Chapter 5. Revisiting the functional typology of insubordination 113
- Chapter 6. Insubordinated conditionals in spoken and non-spoken Italian 145
- Chapter 7. Insubordination in the Tsezic Languages 171
- Chapter 8. Ordinary insubordination as transient discourse 183
- Chapter 9. Insubordination and the establishment of genealogical relationship across Eurasia 209
- Chapter 10. Insubordination in Japanese diachronically 247
- Chapter 11. Insubordination in Aleut 283
- Chapter 12. Insubordination in Sliammon Salish 309
- Chapter 13. Insubordination in interaction 341
- Chapter 14. How fascinating! Insubordinate exclamations 367
- Chapter 15. Routes to insubordination 393
- Language Index 423
- Author Index 425
- Subject Index 429
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Map ix
- Author affiliations xi
- Chapter 1. The dynamics of insubordination 1
- Chapter 2. On insubordination and cooptation 39
- Chapter 3. Running in the family 65
- Chapter 4. Independent si -clauses in Spanish 89
- Chapter 5. Revisiting the functional typology of insubordination 113
- Chapter 6. Insubordinated conditionals in spoken and non-spoken Italian 145
- Chapter 7. Insubordination in the Tsezic Languages 171
- Chapter 8. Ordinary insubordination as transient discourse 183
- Chapter 9. Insubordination and the establishment of genealogical relationship across Eurasia 209
- Chapter 10. Insubordination in Japanese diachronically 247
- Chapter 11. Insubordination in Aleut 283
- Chapter 12. Insubordination in Sliammon Salish 309
- Chapter 13. Insubordination in interaction 341
- Chapter 14. How fascinating! Insubordinate exclamations 367
- Chapter 15. Routes to insubordination 393
- Language Index 423
- Author Index 425
- Subject Index 429
