Speech Acts and Clause Types

English in a Cross-Linguistic Context

Peter Siemund author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Oxford University Press

Published:1st Mar '18

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Speech Acts and Clause Types cover

This book is an introduction to the relationship between the morphosyntactic properties of sentences and their associated illocutionary forces or force potentials. The volume begins with several chapters dedicated to important theoretical and methodological issues, such as sentence and utterance meaning, illocutionary force, clause types, and cross-linguistic comparison. The bulk of the book is then composed of chapter-length case studies that systematically investigate typologically prominent clause types and their forces, such as declaratives and assertions, interrogatives and questions, and imperatives and commands. These case studies begin with an overview of the necessary theoretical foundations, followed by a discussion of the grammatical structures of English, and an assessment of the relevant cross-linguistic facts. Each chapter ends with a succinct summary of the most important findings, practice exercises, and recommendations for further reading and research. Overall, the book works towards developing a gradient model of clause types that goes substantially beyond the traditional distinction between major and minor clause types. It draws on insights from linguistics, philosophy, and sociology, and may be used as a textbook for undergraduate or graduate courses in semantics, pragmatics, and morphosyntax.

thought-provoking and as such would inspire future research ... a valuable contribution to research on speech acts and clause types in English ... I am, therefore, happy to highly recommend the book to researchers of English and general linguistics, in particular to those interested in semantics, pragmatics and the interface between syntax, semantics and pragmatics. * Hang Su, Discourse Studies *

ISBN: 9780198718147

Dimensions: 248mm x 172mm x 24mm

Weight: 812g

452 pages