The lexical clone: Pragmatics, prototypes, productivity
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Laurence R. Horn
Abstract
The lexical clone construction in English - a.k.a. the double (Dray 1987), contrastive focus reduplication (Ghomeshi et al. 2004), or identical constituent compounding (Hohenhaus 2004) - involves the full reduplication of a lexical item or phrase to form a modifier-head construction with focal stress on the first (modifying) element. Recent examples include “Saying slavery was the cause of secession isn’t politically correct, it’s CORRECT correct” (Larry Wilmore on “The Daily Show”, 9 Dec. 2010), “She’s not a DOCTOR doctor, more of a dead person doctor, but a doctor nonetheless” (Dr. Brennan on TV show “Bones”, 9 Sept. 2014), “Do you love it? Or do you LOVE it love it?” (2007 Cold Stone Creamery ice cream commercial), “You mean ‘HERE here’? Or here more generally” (from Meg Wolitzer’s 2013 novel The Interestings). While varying across categories (adjective, noun, VP, adverb) and illocutionary force (affirmation, negation, question), these cases all illustrate the prototype use of clones on which I will focus; elsewhere, clones can also be used for scalar strengthening as in TALL tall or DEAD dead. Clones typically function as pragmatic slack regulators (Lasersohn 1999), inducing a partition of the relevant set and picking out the subset corresponding to what (given the context and/or common ground) count as core, salient, or literal category members. This study surveys the semantic and pragmatic motivations for - and effects of - cloning, addressing the role played by discourse priming (the tendency for an XX clone to be triggered by an earlier occurrence of X), the relation of cloning to lexicalization and compounding, the role of discourse and grammatical context in coercing a given interpretation, the role of prosodic focus, and the sociolinguistic variables influencing which groups of speakers are (or are perceived to be) more likely to use clones and when. I also touch on the relationship of cloning to non-reduplicated focus contrasts (e.g. “It’s not hot, it’s HOT”; “Was it a kiss or a KISS?”) and related constructions cross-linguistically.
Abstract
The lexical clone construction in English - a.k.a. the double (Dray 1987), contrastive focus reduplication (Ghomeshi et al. 2004), or identical constituent compounding (Hohenhaus 2004) - involves the full reduplication of a lexical item or phrase to form a modifier-head construction with focal stress on the first (modifying) element. Recent examples include “Saying slavery was the cause of secession isn’t politically correct, it’s CORRECT correct” (Larry Wilmore on “The Daily Show”, 9 Dec. 2010), “She’s not a DOCTOR doctor, more of a dead person doctor, but a doctor nonetheless” (Dr. Brennan on TV show “Bones”, 9 Sept. 2014), “Do you love it? Or do you LOVE it love it?” (2007 Cold Stone Creamery ice cream commercial), “You mean ‘HERE here’? Or here more generally” (from Meg Wolitzer’s 2013 novel The Interestings). While varying across categories (adjective, noun, VP, adverb) and illocutionary force (affirmation, negation, question), these cases all illustrate the prototype use of clones on which I will focus; elsewhere, clones can also be used for scalar strengthening as in TALL tall or DEAD dead. Clones typically function as pragmatic slack regulators (Lasersohn 1999), inducing a partition of the relevant set and picking out the subset corresponding to what (given the context and/or common ground) count as core, salient, or literal category members. This study surveys the semantic and pragmatic motivations for - and effects of - cloning, addressing the role played by discourse priming (the tendency for an XX clone to be triggered by an earlier occurrence of X), the relation of cloning to lexicalization and compounding, the role of discourse and grammatical context in coercing a given interpretation, the role of prosodic focus, and the sociolinguistic variables influencing which groups of speakers are (or are perceived to be) more likely to use clones and when. I also touch on the relationship of cloning to non-reduplicated focus contrasts (e.g. “It’s not hot, it’s HOT”; “Was it a kiss or a KISS?”) and related constructions cross-linguistically.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- List of Contributors VII
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Part I: Setting the Scene: Forms and Functions of Repetition
- Exact repetition or total reduplication? Exploring their boundaries in discourse and grammar 3
- Function vs form – On ways of telling repetition and reduplication apart 29
- The derivational nature of reduplication and its relation to boundary phenomena 67
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Part II: Exact Repetition in Grammar
- Reduplication and repetition in Russian Sign Language 91
- A brief overview of total reduplication in Modern Japanese 110
- Affixation or compounding? Reduplication in Standard Chinese 127
- Fixer-uppers. Reduplication in the derivation of phrasal verbs 158
- Turkish doubled verbs as doubled TPs 182
- Cognate objects in language variation and change 200
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Part III: Exact Repetition in (Discourse) Pragmatics
- The lexical clone: Pragmatics, prototypes, productivity 233
- Sentence-peripheral Coordinative Reduplication in German: A pragmatic view 265
- Focus on repetition: On the role of focus and repetition in echo questions 295
- Repetition versus implicatures and presuppositions 329
- Exact Repetition in Tojol-ab’al Maya 350
- An analysis of two forms of verbal mimicry in troubles talk conversations between strangers and friends 366
- Language Index 389
- Subject Index 391
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- List of Contributors VII
-
Part I: Setting the Scene: Forms and Functions of Repetition
- Exact repetition or total reduplication? Exploring their boundaries in discourse and grammar 3
- Function vs form – On ways of telling repetition and reduplication apart 29
- The derivational nature of reduplication and its relation to boundary phenomena 67
-
Part II: Exact Repetition in Grammar
- Reduplication and repetition in Russian Sign Language 91
- A brief overview of total reduplication in Modern Japanese 110
- Affixation or compounding? Reduplication in Standard Chinese 127
- Fixer-uppers. Reduplication in the derivation of phrasal verbs 158
- Turkish doubled verbs as doubled TPs 182
- Cognate objects in language variation and change 200
-
Part III: Exact Repetition in (Discourse) Pragmatics
- The lexical clone: Pragmatics, prototypes, productivity 233
- Sentence-peripheral Coordinative Reduplication in German: A pragmatic view 265
- Focus on repetition: On the role of focus and repetition in echo questions 295
- Repetition versus implicatures and presuppositions 329
- Exact Repetition in Tojol-ab’al Maya 350
- An analysis of two forms of verbal mimicry in troubles talk conversations between strangers and friends 366
- Language Index 389
- Subject Index 391
