The Ellipsis and the Dash in Italian and English: A Contrastive Perspective
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Filippo Pecorari
Abstract
The paper offers a contrastive analysis of the ellipsis ‹...› and the single dash ‹-› in Italian and English, framedwithin a multidimensional model of punctuation (cf. Ferrari et al. 2018). The analysis is conducted through a brief review of the normative literature and a qualitative study of corpus data. For both languages, the analysis shows some degree of mismatch between codification and usage. On the normative side, the ellipsis is well codified in Italian but not in English, while for the dash the opposite holds true. Empirical evidence conveys a different picture, since bothmarks display a similar set of functions in Italian and English. The adoption of a layered model for the analysis of punctuation allows for a clear-cut distinction among communicative, prosodic and graphic functions. A functional overlapping between the ellipsis and the dash arises in the field of prosodic functions, since both are used with the function of reproducing disfluencies in reported speech. The communicative functions of the twomarksmay be clearly distinguished, as the ellipsis has the interactive function of triggering inferentialmeanings, while the dash has the segmentational function of signaling a strong relational or referential connection between two utterances. Graphic functions are only relevant for the ellipsis, which may be used to indicate an omission within a quotation.
Abstract
The paper offers a contrastive analysis of the ellipsis ‹...› and the single dash ‹-› in Italian and English, framedwithin a multidimensional model of punctuation (cf. Ferrari et al. 2018). The analysis is conducted through a brief review of the normative literature and a qualitative study of corpus data. For both languages, the analysis shows some degree of mismatch between codification and usage. On the normative side, the ellipsis is well codified in Italian but not in English, while for the dash the opposite holds true. Empirical evidence conveys a different picture, since bothmarks display a similar set of functions in Italian and English. The adoption of a layered model for the analysis of punctuation allows for a clear-cut distinction among communicative, prosodic and graphic functions. A functional overlapping between the ellipsis and the dash arises in the field of prosodic functions, since both are used with the function of reproducing disfluencies in reported speech. The communicative functions of the twomarksmay be clearly distinguished, as the ellipsis has the interactive function of triggering inferentialmeanings, while the dash has the segmentational function of signaling a strong relational or referential connection between two utterances. Graphic functions are only relevant for the ellipsis, which may be used to indicate an omission within a quotation.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Vorwort V
- Preface VII
- Inhaltsverzeichnis/Contents IX
- Einleitung XIII
- Introduction XXIII
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System
- Zur Kommasetzung im Deutschen 3
- ‹/›, ‹,› und ‹,› – Variation und Wandel in der Entwicklung der Kommas im 17. und 18. Jh. aus graph(emat)ischer Perspektive 25
- Das Komma in kontrastiver Perspektive Italienisch–Deutsch 57
- Punctuation Principles in the Glagolitic and Cyrillic Printed Works of the Croatian Protestant Printing Press in Urach (1561–1564) 73
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Norm
- Isolating the Syntactic Factor in Non-Standard Punctuation 91
- Vom genormten Satzbau zur genormten Interpunktion 109
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Gebrauch/Use
- Textsegmentierung in Handschrift und Frühdruck 137
- Interpunktion in historischen Patientenbriefen 163
- Japanische Interpunktion im Wandel der Zeit 187
- An Investigation of the Factors Influencing Chinese Readers’ Perception of Sentence Boundaries in Mandarin 215
- The Colon in English, German and Swedish: A Contrastive Corpus-Based Study 237
- Comparing Word Marks 263
- The Ellipsis and the Dash in Italian and English: A Contrastive Perspective 289
-
Erwerb/Acquisition
- Interpunktion – (K)ein Thema für Deutsch als Fremdsprache? 317
- Deutsch und Dänisch im Vergleich: Die Verwendung des Ausrufezeichens 343
- Zur Kommasetzung italienischer DaF-Lernender 369
- Sachregister/Index 397
- Interpunktionszeichenregister/Index of Punctuation Marks 407
- Adressen/Addresses 413
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Vorwort V
- Preface VII
- Inhaltsverzeichnis/Contents IX
- Einleitung XIII
- Introduction XXIII
-
System
- Zur Kommasetzung im Deutschen 3
- ‹/›, ‹,› und ‹,› – Variation und Wandel in der Entwicklung der Kommas im 17. und 18. Jh. aus graph(emat)ischer Perspektive 25
- Das Komma in kontrastiver Perspektive Italienisch–Deutsch 57
- Punctuation Principles in the Glagolitic and Cyrillic Printed Works of the Croatian Protestant Printing Press in Urach (1561–1564) 73
-
Norm
- Isolating the Syntactic Factor in Non-Standard Punctuation 91
- Vom genormten Satzbau zur genormten Interpunktion 109
-
Gebrauch/Use
- Textsegmentierung in Handschrift und Frühdruck 137
- Interpunktion in historischen Patientenbriefen 163
- Japanische Interpunktion im Wandel der Zeit 187
- An Investigation of the Factors Influencing Chinese Readers’ Perception of Sentence Boundaries in Mandarin 215
- The Colon in English, German and Swedish: A Contrastive Corpus-Based Study 237
- Comparing Word Marks 263
- The Ellipsis and the Dash in Italian and English: A Contrastive Perspective 289
-
Erwerb/Acquisition
- Interpunktion – (K)ein Thema für Deutsch als Fremdsprache? 317
- Deutsch und Dänisch im Vergleich: Die Verwendung des Ausrufezeichens 343
- Zur Kommasetzung italienischer DaF-Lernender 369
- Sachregister/Index 397
- Interpunktionszeichenregister/Index of Punctuation Marks 407
- Adressen/Addresses 413
