Point of View and Grammar: Structural Patterns of Subjectivity in American English Conversation
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Description
This book proposes that subjective expression shapes grammatical and lexical patterning in American English conversation. Analyses of structural and functional properties of English conversational utterances indicate that the most frequent combinations of subject, tense, and verb type are those that are used by speakers to personalize their contributions, not to present unmediated descriptions of the world. These findings are informed by current research and practices in linguistics which argue that the emergence, or conventionalization, of linguistic structure is related to the frequency with which speakers use expressions in discourse. The use of conversational data in grammatical analysis illustrates the local and contingent nature of grammar in use and also raises theoretical questions concerning the coherence of linguistic categories, the viability of maintaining a distinction between semantic and pragmatic meaning in analytical practice, and the structural and social interplay of speaker point of view and participant interaction in discourse. [Amazon.com]
ISBN
9781588112323
Publication Date
2002
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing
City
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Keywords
English language, American English dialect, Grammar, Interpersonal relations, Conversation, Predicate, Syntax
Disciplines
Language Description and Documentation | Syntax
Recommended Citation
Scheibman, Joanne, "Point of View and Grammar: Structural Patterns of Subjectivity in American English Conversation" (2002). English Faculty Bookshelf. 5.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/english_books/5