Communicative organization in natural language : the semantic-communicative structure of sentences / / Igor Melcuk

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910971011903321
• Autore: Melcuk Igor A (Igor Aleksandrovic), <1932->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Amsterdam ; ; Philadelphia, : J. Benjamins, c2001
• ISBN: 9786612160011; 9781282160019; 128216001X; 9789027294838; 9027294836
• Edizione: [1st ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (408 p.)
• Collana: Studies in language companion series, , 0165-7763 ; ; v. 57
• Disciplina: 401/.43
• Soggetti: Grammar, Comparative and general - Sentences; Semantics
• 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. [366]-380) and indexes.
• Nota di contenuto: Communicative Organization in Natural Language -- Editorial page -- Title page -- LCC data -- Contents -- Introduction: Six Basic Questions Answered -- Chapter I. General Characterization of the Semantic-Communicative Structure of Sentences -- Chapter II. Basic Categories of Semantic-Communicative Structure -- Chapter III. Sem-Comm-Oppositions: Linguistic Comments and Illustrations -- Bibliography -- Subject Index -- Name Index -- Language Index -- The STUDIES IN LANGUAGE COMPANION SERIES (SLCS).
• Sommario/riassunto: The book defines the concept of Semantic-Communicative Structure [= Sem-CommS]-a formal object that is imposed on the starting Semantic Structure [= SemS] of a sentence (under text synthesis) in order to turn the selected meaning into a linguistic message. The Sem-CommS is a system of eight logically independent oppositions: 1. Thematicity (Rheme vs. Theme), 2. Givenness (Given vs. Old), 3. Focalization (Focalized vs. Non-Focalized), 4. Perspective (Foregrounded vs. Backgrounded), 5. Emphasis (Emphasized vs. Non-Emphasized), 6. Presupposedness (Presupposed vs. Non-Presupposed), 7. Unitariness (Unitary vs. Articulated), 8. Locutionality (Communicated vs. Signaled). ; The values of these oppositions mark particular subnetworks of the starting SemS and thus allow for the distinction between sentences such as (a) A man killed a dog vs. The dog was killed by a man, (b) John washed the window vs. It was John who washed the window or (c) It hurts! vs. Ouch! The proposed Sem-Comm-oppositions are conceived as an attempt at sharpening the well-known notions of Topic ~ Comment, Focus, etc. Possible linguistic strategies for expressing the values of the Sem-Comm-oppositions in different languages are discussed at some length, with linguistic illustrations.