Diachronic pragmatics : seven case studies in English illocutionary development / / Leslie K. Arnovick

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910813140403321
• Autore: Arnovick Leslie K. <1957->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Amsterdam ; ; Philadelphia, : John Benjamins Pub., 1999
• ISBN: 1-282-16322-1; 9786612163227; 90-272-9902-1
• Edizione: [1st ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (208 p.)
• Collana: Pragmatics & beyond, , 0922-842X ; ; new ser. 68
• Disciplina: 420/.1/41
• Soggetti: English language - Discourse analysis; English language - Grammar, Historical; English language - Spoken English; Speech acts (Linguistics); Pragmatics
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-181) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: DIACHRONIC PRAGMATICS -- Editorial page -- Title page -- LCC data -- Dedication -- Acknowledgments -- Table of contents -- Chapter 1. English Illocutionary History: A Methodological Introduction -- Chapter 2. Flyting and Sounding the Agonistic Insult -- Chapter 3. Rationalist Prescriptions for Shall and Will -- Chapter 4. The Expanding Discourse of the English Promise -- Chapter 5. Subjectification in the Common Curse -- Chapter 6. Good-bye: The Pragmatic Reanalysis of the Close -- Chapter 7. It's Nothing to be Sneezed At: Discursization in the Polite Bless You! -- Chapter 8. Extra-Linguistic Contexts for Illocutionary Change -- Notes -- References -- Index -- PRAGMATICS AND BEYOND NEW SERIES.
• Sommario/riassunto: The purpose of Diachronic Pragmatics is to exemplify historical pragmatics in its twofold sense of constituting both a subject matter and a methodology. This book demonstrates how diachronic pragmatics, with its complementary diachronic function-to-form mapping and diachronic form-to-function mapping, can be used to trace pragmatic developments within the English language. Through a ; set of case studies it explores the evolution of such speech acts as promises, curses, blessings, and greetings and such speech events as flyting and sounding. Collectively these "illocutionary biographies" manifest the workings of several important pragmatic processes and trends: increased epistemicity, subjectification, and discursization (a special kind of pragmaticalization). It also establishes the centrality of cultural traditions in diachronic reconstruction, examining various de-institutionalizations of extra-linguistic context and their affect on speech act performance. Taken together, the case studies presented in Diachronic Pragmatics highlight the complex interactions of formal, semantic, and pragmatic processes over time. Illustrating the possibilities of historical pragmatic pursuit, this book stands as an invitation to further research in a new and important discipline.