Chapter 14. How fascinating! Insubordinate exclamations
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Marianne Mithun
Abstract
It has been noticed that in language after language, exclamatives resemble some other sentence type, usually interrogatives: How cute she is! How cute is she? Explanations for the similarities have generally been couched in terms of shared abstract syntactic or semantic structure. Here another kind of explanation is offered: intersecting histories of development through time. Previous work on the issue is surveyed, and the emerging consensus summarized: exclamative constructions (i) tend to be expressive rather than informative, (ii) convey a subjective judgment of the speaker, (iii) describe a scalable property, and (iv) assert an unexpectedly high degree of that property. Not all exclamatives resemble questions in form, however. In Mohawk, an Iroquoian language of Northeastern North America, exclamatives show these four characteristics, but they resemble complements of declarative sentences. Exclamatives that resemble interrogatives and those that resemble declarative complements can be seen to originate in different source constructions, but they converge in the final steps of their development: a matrix clause expressing surprise or an unexpectedly high degree of some property expressed in the complement disappears (insubordination), but its meaning remains a part of the construction.
Abstract
It has been noticed that in language after language, exclamatives resemble some other sentence type, usually interrogatives: How cute she is! How cute is she? Explanations for the similarities have generally been couched in terms of shared abstract syntactic or semantic structure. Here another kind of explanation is offered: intersecting histories of development through time. Previous work on the issue is surveyed, and the emerging consensus summarized: exclamative constructions (i) tend to be expressive rather than informative, (ii) convey a subjective judgment of the speaker, (iii) describe a scalable property, and (iv) assert an unexpectedly high degree of that property. Not all exclamatives resemble questions in form, however. In Mohawk, an Iroquoian language of Northeastern North America, exclamatives show these four characteristics, but they resemble complements of declarative sentences. Exclamatives that resemble interrogatives and those that resemble declarative complements can be seen to originate in different source constructions, but they converge in the final steps of their development: a matrix clause expressing surprise or an unexpectedly high degree of some property expressed in the complement disappears (insubordination), but its meaning remains a part of the construction.
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
