The construction of vagueness
-
Wiltrud Mihatsch
Abstract
The aim of this contribution is to study the stages involved in the emergence of Romance (and some Germanic) approximators such as French espèce de or genre de based on taxonomic nouns such as French genre ‘genus’ and espèce ‘species’ and to demonstrate which implicatures trigger the emergence of the discursive function which consists in signalling loose talk. Particularly the first steps leading from taxonomic nouns to approximators are still unknown, while the emergence of further pragmatic functions such as mitigation, quotation or focus marking on the basis of approximative functions are relatively well-studied. Corpus data complemented by lexicographical data will help to reveal the implicatures arising and becoming entrenched in specific communicative tasks where expressions containing taxonomic nouns are used in order to achieve certain communicative goals related to loose meaning construction.
Abstract
The aim of this contribution is to study the stages involved in the emergence of Romance (and some Germanic) approximators such as French espèce de or genre de based on taxonomic nouns such as French genre ‘genus’ and espèce ‘species’ and to demonstrate which implicatures trigger the emergence of the discursive function which consists in signalling loose talk. Particularly the first steps leading from taxonomic nouns to approximators are still unknown, while the emergence of further pragmatic functions such as mitigation, quotation or focus marking on the basis of approximative functions are relatively well-studied. Corpus data complemented by lexicographical data will help to reveal the implicatures arising and becoming entrenched in specific communicative tasks where expressions containing taxonomic nouns are used in order to achieve certain communicative goals related to loose meaning construction.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction. The construction of meaning in language 1
-
Part I: Metonymy and metaphor
- Experiential tests of figurative meaning construction 19
- High-level metaphor and metonymy in meaning construction 33
- The role of metonymy in meaning construction at discourse level 51
- Chained metonymies in lexicon and grammar 77
- Arguing the case against coercion 99
- When Zidane is not simply Zidane, and Bill Gates is not just Bill Gates 125
- Collocational overlap can guide metaphor interpretation 143
-
Part II: Mental spaces and conceptual blending
- Constructing the meanings of personal pronouns 171
- The construction of meaning in relative clauses 189
- Constraints on inferential constructions 207
- The construction of vagueness 225
- Communication or memory mismatch? 247
- Brutal Brits and persuasive Americans 265
- Index of authors 283
- Index of subjects 285
- Index of metonymies and metaphors 289
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction. The construction of meaning in language 1
-
Part I: Metonymy and metaphor
- Experiential tests of figurative meaning construction 19
- High-level metaphor and metonymy in meaning construction 33
- The role of metonymy in meaning construction at discourse level 51
- Chained metonymies in lexicon and grammar 77
- Arguing the case against coercion 99
- When Zidane is not simply Zidane, and Bill Gates is not just Bill Gates 125
- Collocational overlap can guide metaphor interpretation 143
-
Part II: Mental spaces and conceptual blending
- Constructing the meanings of personal pronouns 171
- The construction of meaning in relative clauses 189
- Constraints on inferential constructions 207
- The construction of vagueness 225
- Communication or memory mismatch? 247
- Brutal Brits and persuasive Americans 265
- Index of authors 283
- Index of subjects 285
- Index of metonymies and metaphors 289
