Spatial demonstratives in English and Chinese : text and cognition / / Yian Wu

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910815186303321
• Autore: Wu Yi'an
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Philadelphia, Pa., : John Benjamins Pub., c2004
• ISBN: 1-282-16027-3; 9786612160271; 90-272-9519-0
• Edizione: [1st ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (254 p.)
• Collana: Pragmatics & beyond, , 0922-842X ; ; new ser. v. 126
• Disciplina: 425/.5
• Soggetti: English language - Demonstratives; English language - Grammar, Comparative - Chinese; Chinese language - Grammar, Comparative - English; Chinese language - Demonstratives; English language - Article; Chinese language - Article
• 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. [211]-224) and indexes.
• Nota di contenuto: Spatial Demonstratives in English and Chinese -- Editorial page -- Title page -- LCC page -- Dedication page -- Table of contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- Acknowledgements -- List of tables -- Conventions and abbreviations -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The nature of spatial demonstratives -- 3. Spatial demonstratives in real space -- 4. Spatial demonstratives in displaced contexts: Similar trends of extension -- 5. Spatial demonstratives in displaced contexts: Structural constraints on the similar trends of extension -- Concluding remarks -- Notes -- References -- Appendix -- Name index -- Subject index -- The Pragmatics &amp -- Beyond New Series.
• Sommario/riassunto: As a subject of universal appeal, spatial demonstratives have been studied extensively from a variety of disciplines. What marks the present study as distinct is that it is an English-Chinese comparative study set in a cognitive-linguistic framework and that the methodology features a parallel corpora-based, discourse analysis approach. The framework illuminates the nature of the demonstratives' basic and ; extended meaning and use, the connections between them, and the mechanisms that govern and constrain their trends of extension. The corpora place the English and Chinese demonstratives in comparable discourse contexts and processes, providing an "ecological" environment for the observation of how their behavior fits into the respective structural and discourse systems of the two languages. The study also illuminates important issues such as the subjectivity of language, language as a representational system and a vehicle of communication, the interface between form and function, and the role of context in discourse comprehension.