Mark Tatham and Katherine Morton
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199250677
- eISBN:
- 9780191719462
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199250677.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology
This book is about the nature of expression in speech. It is a comprehensive exploration of how such expression is produced and understood, and of how the emotional content of spoken words may be ...
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This book is about the nature of expression in speech. It is a comprehensive exploration of how such expression is produced and understood, and of how the emotional content of spoken words may be analysed, modelled, tested, and synthesized. Listeners can interpret tone-of-voice, assess emotional pitch, and effortlessly detect the finest modulations of speaker attitude; yet these processes present almost intractable difficulties to the researchers seeking to identify and understand them. In seeking to explain the production and perception of emotive content, the book reviews the potential of biological and cognitive models. It examines how the features that make up the speech production and perception systems have been studied by biologists, psychologists, and linguists, and assesses how far biological, behavioural, and linguistic models generate hypotheses that provide insights into the nature of expressive speech.Less
This book is about the nature of expression in speech. It is a comprehensive exploration of how such expression is produced and understood, and of how the emotional content of spoken words may be analysed, modelled, tested, and synthesized. Listeners can interpret tone-of-voice, assess emotional pitch, and effortlessly detect the finest modulations of speaker attitude; yet these processes present almost intractable difficulties to the researchers seeking to identify and understand them. In seeking to explain the production and perception of emotive content, the book reviews the potential of biological and cognitive models. It examines how the features that make up the speech production and perception systems have been studied by biologists, psychologists, and linguists, and assesses how far biological, behavioural, and linguistic models generate hypotheses that provide insights into the nature of expressive speech.
Mitchell S. Green
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199283781
- eISBN:
- 9780191712548
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199283781.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language
This book offers a general theory of expressive behavior, including but not limited to such behavior as it occurs in our own species. At the core of the project is the thesis that self-expression is ...
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This book offers a general theory of expressive behavior, including but not limited to such behavior as it occurs in our own species. At the core of the project is the thesis that self-expression is a matter of showing a cognitive, affective, or qualitative state in such a way that the showing is a product of design. Design may be the result of conscious intention, natural selection, artificial selection, or convention. Showing comes in three forms: showing that something is so, showing something in such a way as to make it perceptible, and showing how an object appears or how an experience or affect feels. This elucidation of self-expression as designed showing of something inner sheds light on such issues as the distinction between saying and showing, the nature of speaker meaning, speech acts, the problem of other minds, implicature, the psychology and evolutionary biology of facial expression, idiosyncratic and conventional aspects of expressive behavior, empathy, qualia, and artistic expression, particularly expression in music. The work blends insights from evolutionary game theory, ethology, experimental psychology, neuroscience, pragmatics, and the philosophies of mind and language.Less
This book offers a general theory of expressive behavior, including but not limited to such behavior as it occurs in our own species. At the core of the project is the thesis that self-expression is a matter of showing a cognitive, affective, or qualitative state in such a way that the showing is a product of design. Design may be the result of conscious intention, natural selection, artificial selection, or convention. Showing comes in three forms: showing that something is so, showing something in such a way as to make it perceptible, and showing how an object appears or how an experience or affect feels. This elucidation of self-expression as designed showing of something inner sheds light on such issues as the distinction between saying and showing, the nature of speaker meaning, speech acts, the problem of other minds, implicature, the psychology and evolutionary biology of facial expression, idiosyncratic and conventional aspects of expressive behavior, empathy, qualia, and artistic expression, particularly expression in music. The work blends insights from evolutionary game theory, ethology, experimental psychology, neuroscience, pragmatics, and the philosophies of mind and language.
Emma Borg
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199588374
- eISBN:
- 9780191741487
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199588374.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Mind
This book examines some recent answers to the questions of how and where to draw the divide between semantics (roughly, features of the literal meaning of linguistic items) and pragmatics (roughly, ...
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This book examines some recent answers to the questions of how and where to draw the divide between semantics (roughly, features of the literal meaning of linguistic items) and pragmatics (roughly, features emerging from the context within which such items are being used). In particular, the book defends what is commonly known as ‘minimal semantics’ (aka ‘semantic invariantism’ or ‘insensitive semantics’). Minimal semantics, as the name suggests, offers a pretty minimal account of the inter-relation between semantics and pragmatics. Specifically, it holds that while context can affect literal semantic content in the case of genuine (i.e. lexically or syntactically marked) context-sensitive items (e.g. indexicals, demonstratives, tense markers), this is the extent of pragmatic influence within the semantic realm. Minimalism, then, prohibits what are here called ‘free pragmatic effects’: putative effects on semantic content which are not required by any lexico‐syntactic item in a sentence. The book opens with an exploration of the current positions in this debate, introducing the main approaches of minimalism, indexicalism, contextualism, relativism, and occasionalism and offers some initial reasons for being concerned about many of the positions opposing minimalism. The main arguments against minimalism are then explored, looking at the argument that minimal contents are explanatorily irrelevant, the argument that at least some sentences fail to express minimal contents, and the argument that the kinds of word meanings which minimalism requires are either impossible or explanatorily inadequate. The ultimate conclusion of the book is that none of these arguments are compelling and that minimalism in fact provides an attractive and plausible account of the literal meanings of natural language sentences.Less
This book examines some recent answers to the questions of how and where to draw the divide between semantics (roughly, features of the literal meaning of linguistic items) and pragmatics (roughly, features emerging from the context within which such items are being used). In particular, the book defends what is commonly known as ‘minimal semantics’ (aka ‘semantic invariantism’ or ‘insensitive semantics’). Minimal semantics, as the name suggests, offers a pretty minimal account of the inter-relation between semantics and pragmatics. Specifically, it holds that while context can affect literal semantic content in the case of genuine (i.e. lexically or syntactically marked) context-sensitive items (e.g. indexicals, demonstratives, tense markers), this is the extent of pragmatic influence within the semantic realm. Minimalism, then, prohibits what are here called ‘free pragmatic effects’: putative effects on semantic content which are not required by any lexico‐syntactic item in a sentence. The book opens with an exploration of the current positions in this debate, introducing the main approaches of minimalism, indexicalism, contextualism, relativism, and occasionalism and offers some initial reasons for being concerned about many of the positions opposing minimalism. The main arguments against minimalism are then explored, looking at the argument that minimal contents are explanatorily irrelevant, the argument that at least some sentences fail to express minimal contents, and the argument that the kinds of word meanings which minimalism requires are either impossible or explanatorily inadequate. The ultimate conclusion of the book is that none of these arguments are compelling and that minimalism in fact provides an attractive and plausible account of the literal meanings of natural language sentences.
Alessandra Giorgi
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199571895
- eISBN:
- 9780191722073
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199571895.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics, Syntax and Morphology
This book considers the syntax of the left periphery of clauses in relation to the extra‐sentential context. The prevailing point of view, in the literature in this field is that the external context ...
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This book considers the syntax of the left periphery of clauses in relation to the extra‐sentential context. The prevailing point of view, in the literature in this field is that the external context does not intervene at all in the syntax of the sentence, and that the interaction between sentence and context takes place post‐syntactically. This monograph challenges this view and proposes that reference to indexicality is syntactically encoded in the left‐most position of the clause, where the speaker's temporal and spatial location is represented. To support this hypothesis, it analyses various kinds of temporal dependencies in embedded clauses, such as indicative versus subjunctive, and proposes a new analysis of the imperfect and the future‐in‐the‐past. The book also compares languages such as Italian and English with languages which have different properties of temporal interpretation, such as Chinese. Finally, analysis of the literary style known as Free Indirect Discourse also supports the hypothesis, showing that it may have a wide range of consequences.Less
This book considers the syntax of the left periphery of clauses in relation to the extra‐sentential context. The prevailing point of view, in the literature in this field is that the external context does not intervene at all in the syntax of the sentence, and that the interaction between sentence and context takes place post‐syntactically. This monograph challenges this view and proposes that reference to indexicality is syntactically encoded in the left‐most position of the clause, where the speaker's temporal and spatial location is represented. To support this hypothesis, it analyses various kinds of temporal dependencies in embedded clauses, such as indicative versus subjunctive, and proposes a new analysis of the imperfect and the future‐in‐the‐past. The book also compares languages such as Italian and English with languages which have different properties of temporal interpretation, such as Chinese. Finally, analysis of the literary style known as Free Indirect Discourse also supports the hypothesis, showing that it may have a wide range of consequences.
François Recanati
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199226993
- eISBN:
- 9780191710223
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226993.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language, General
This book argues against the traditional understanding of the semantics/pragmatics divide and puts forward a radical alternative. Through half a dozen case studies, it shows that what an utterance ...
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This book argues against the traditional understanding of the semantics/pragmatics divide and puts forward a radical alternative. Through half a dozen case studies, it shows that what an utterance says cannot be neatly separated from what the speaker means. In particular, the speaker's meaning endows words with senses that are tailored to the situation of utterance and depart from the conventional meanings carried by the words in isolation. This phenomenon of ‘pragmatic modulation’ must be taken into account in theorizing about semantic content, for it interacts with the grammar-driven process of semantic composition. Because of that interaction, the book argues, the content of a sentence always depends upon the context in which it is used. This claim defines Contextualism, a view which has attracted considerable attention in recent years, and of which the author of this book is one of the main proponents.Less
This book argues against the traditional understanding of the semantics/pragmatics divide and puts forward a radical alternative. Through half a dozen case studies, it shows that what an utterance says cannot be neatly separated from what the speaker means. In particular, the speaker's meaning endows words with senses that are tailored to the situation of utterance and depart from the conventional meanings carried by the words in isolation. This phenomenon of ‘pragmatic modulation’ must be taken into account in theorizing about semantic content, for it interacts with the grammar-driven process of semantic composition. Because of that interaction, the book argues, the content of a sentence always depends upon the context in which it is used. This claim defines Contextualism, a view which has attracted considerable attention in recent years, and of which the author of this book is one of the main proponents.
Sydney D. Bailey and Sam Daws
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198280736
- eISBN:
- 9780191598746
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198280734.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Looks at diplomacy and debate at the UN Security Council, and the role of procedural rules and practice in these activities. The first four sections of the chapter describe the rules for: the order ...
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Looks at diplomacy and debate at the UN Security Council, and the role of procedural rules and practice in these activities. The first four sections of the chapter describe the rules for: the order of speakers; interrupting the speaker; the right of reply; and motions, proposals and suggestions — the various types of these are all defined. The next section discusses precedence motions (Rule 33), which are techniques available to the Council by which debate can be suspended or terminated, either to facilitate positive purposes, or to frustrate negative ones (such as filibustering); these include: suspension of the meeting; adjournment of the meeting either sine die or to a certain day or hour; reference of any matter to a committee, the Secretary‐General of the UN, or a rapporteur; postponement of the discussion to a certain day, or indefinitely; and introduction of an amendment; all of these are described separately. The remaining sections of the chapter discuss amendments, and statements before or after the vote.Less
Looks at diplomacy and debate at the UN Security Council, and the role of procedural rules and practice in these activities. The first four sections of the chapter describe the rules for: the order of speakers; interrupting the speaker; the right of reply; and motions, proposals and suggestions — the various types of these are all defined. The next section discusses precedence motions (Rule 33), which are techniques available to the Council by which debate can be suspended or terminated, either to facilitate positive purposes, or to frustrate negative ones (such as filibustering); these include: suspension of the meeting; adjournment of the meeting either sine die or to a certain day or hour; reference of any matter to a committee, the Secretary‐General of the UN, or a rapporteur; postponement of the discussion to a certain day, or indefinitely; and introduction of an amendment; all of these are described separately. The remaining sections of the chapter discuss amendments, and statements before or after the vote.
Edward Brech, Andrew Thomson, and John F. Wilson
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199541966
- eISBN:
- 9780191715433
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199541966.003.0009
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History, Strategy
The ‘Mission at Large’ covers the wide range of activities Urwick undertook to promote management. Essentially he saw the need to take the concept of management to the managers and the people, giving ...
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The ‘Mission at Large’ covers the wide range of activities Urwick undertook to promote management. Essentially he saw the need to take the concept of management to the managers and the people, giving large numbers of talks and seminars as a charismatic speaker, many of which were reformulated as articles or pamphlets in his lucid writing. Although his main focus was in Britain, in fact he took the world as his oyster and was happy to give talks wherever he was invited. He was particularly appreciated in North America and became the best‐known foreign expert on management, almost becoming an honorary American and receiving several American awards. He also did a great deal in Australia after he emigrated there in 1961. He kept going in both writing and speaking until well into his eighties.Less
The ‘Mission at Large’ covers the wide range of activities Urwick undertook to promote management. Essentially he saw the need to take the concept of management to the managers and the people, giving large numbers of talks and seminars as a charismatic speaker, many of which were reformulated as articles or pamphlets in his lucid writing. Although his main focus was in Britain, in fact he took the world as his oyster and was happy to give talks wherever he was invited. He was particularly appreciated in North America and became the best‐known foreign expert on management, almost becoming an honorary American and receiving several American awards. He also did a great deal in Australia after he emigrated there in 1961. He kept going in both writing and speaking until well into his eighties.
Maximilian de Gaynesford
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199287826
- eISBN:
- 9780191603570
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199287821.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
I satisfies its expressive use in the deictic mode. It is the expressive use of any singular term to express thoughts. This requires that the speaker know the positive answer to ...
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I satisfies its expressive use in the deictic mode. It is the expressive use of any singular term to express thoughts. This requires that the speaker know the positive answer to the question: ‘which individual is being spoken of?’, that is, the term must achieve discriminability of reference for the speaker. Deictic terms require salience if they are to achieve discriminability of reference for the speaker, i.e., it is as the individual made salient that one must identify the referent of a use of a deictic term. It is as the individual made salient that one must identify the referent of a use of I.Less
I satisfies its expressive use in the deictic mode. It is the expressive use of any singular term to express thoughts. This requires that the speaker know the positive answer to the question: ‘which individual is being spoken of?’, that is, the term must achieve discriminability of reference for the speaker. Deictic terms require salience if they are to achieve discriminability of reference for the speaker, i.e., it is as the individual made salient that one must identify the referent of a use of a deictic term. It is as the individual made salient that one must identify the referent of a use of I.
Jeffery A. Jenkins and Charles Stewart
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691118123
- eISBN:
- 9781400845460
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691118123.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the most powerful partisan figure in the contemporary U.S. Congress. How this came to be, and how the majority party in the House has made control of ...
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The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the most powerful partisan figure in the contemporary U.S. Congress. How this came to be, and how the majority party in the House has made control of the speakership a routine matter, is far from straightforward. This book provides a comprehensive history of how speakers have been elected in the U.S. House since 1789, arguing that the organizational politics of these elections were critical to the construction of mass political parties in America and laid the groundwork for the role they play in setting the agenda of Congress today. The book shows how the speakership began as a relatively weak office, and how votes for Speaker prior to the Civil War often favored regional interests over party loyalty. While struggle, contention, and deadlock over House organization were common in the antebellum era, such instability vanished with the outbreak of war, as the majority party became an “organizational cartel” capable of controlling with certainty the selection of the Speaker and other key House officers. This organizational cartel has survived Gilded Age partisan strife, Progressive Era challenge, and conservative coalition politics to guide speakership elections through the present day. This book reveals how struggles over House organization prior to the Civil War were among the most consequential turning points in American political history.Less
The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the most powerful partisan figure in the contemporary U.S. Congress. How this came to be, and how the majority party in the House has made control of the speakership a routine matter, is far from straightforward. This book provides a comprehensive history of how speakers have been elected in the U.S. House since 1789, arguing that the organizational politics of these elections were critical to the construction of mass political parties in America and laid the groundwork for the role they play in setting the agenda of Congress today. The book shows how the speakership began as a relatively weak office, and how votes for Speaker prior to the Civil War often favored regional interests over party loyalty. While struggle, contention, and deadlock over House organization were common in the antebellum era, such instability vanished with the outbreak of war, as the majority party became an “organizational cartel” capable of controlling with certainty the selection of the Speaker and other key House officers. This organizational cartel has survived Gilded Age partisan strife, Progressive Era challenge, and conservative coalition politics to guide speakership elections through the present day. This book reveals how struggles over House organization prior to the Civil War were among the most consequential turning points in American political history.
Neil Weinstock Netanel
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195137620
- eISBN:
- 9780199871629
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195137620.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter examines more precisely when and how copyright does—and does not—burden speech. We can divide copyright's speech burdens into three distinct, yet interrelated categories. First, ...
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This chapter examines more precisely when and how copyright does—and does not—burden speech. We can divide copyright's speech burdens into three distinct, yet interrelated categories. First, copyright imposes a “censorial” speech burden. Because of copyright, speakers are often unable to convey their message effectively and audiences unable to obtain access to certain expressive works. Second, copyright imposes a “prohibitive cost” speech burden. Even a copyright owner who is willing to license sometimes insists on a license fee a particular speaker can ill afford. Third, copyright results in a “distributive” speech burden. The copyright regime as a whole imposes differential burdens on different types of speakers. Highly concentrated copyright industries controlling vast inventories of copyrighted works enjoy the preponderance of copyright's benefits. And copyright's free speech burdens fall most heavily on individuals and independent speakers. While some aspects of copyright's speech burdens are quite straightforward, others are surprisingly complex.Less
This chapter examines more precisely when and how copyright does—and does not—burden speech. We can divide copyright's speech burdens into three distinct, yet interrelated categories. First, copyright imposes a “censorial” speech burden. Because of copyright, speakers are often unable to convey their message effectively and audiences unable to obtain access to certain expressive works. Second, copyright imposes a “prohibitive cost” speech burden. Even a copyright owner who is willing to license sometimes insists on a license fee a particular speaker can ill afford. Third, copyright results in a “distributive” speech burden. The copyright regime as a whole imposes differential burdens on different types of speakers. Highly concentrated copyright industries controlling vast inventories of copyrighted works enjoy the preponderance of copyright's benefits. And copyright's free speech burdens fall most heavily on individuals and independent speakers. While some aspects of copyright's speech burdens are quite straightforward, others are surprisingly complex.
Christopher Potts
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199273829
- eISBN:
- 9780191706653
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199273829.003.0007
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics
Grice’s definition of conventional implicatures, employed throughout this book, has four primary components: conventionality, speaker commitment, speaker orientation, and semantic independence. This ...
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Grice’s definition of conventional implicatures, employed throughout this book, has four primary components: conventionality, speaker commitment, speaker orientation, and semantic independence. This closing chapter explores the regions around the core cases of conventional implicature by asking, for each of these central properties, what happens if we remove it from the definition. Some of these alterations characterize rich areas of natural language meaning, whereas others seem unattested.Less
Grice’s definition of conventional implicatures, employed throughout this book, has four primary components: conventionality, speaker commitment, speaker orientation, and semantic independence. This closing chapter explores the regions around the core cases of conventional implicature by asking, for each of these central properties, what happens if we remove it from the definition. Some of these alterations characterize rich areas of natural language meaning, whereas others seem unattested.
Bjorn Hammarberg
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748635115
- eISBN:
- 9780748651504
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748635115.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Applied Linguistics and Pedagogy
This book brings together six case studies of an adult multilingual speaker who acquires a new language through social interaction. It deals especially with the multilingual situation, the learner's ...
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This book brings together six case studies of an adult multilingual speaker who acquires a new language through social interaction. It deals especially with the multilingual situation, the learner's acquisitional activities, and the involvement of background languages in the process of speaking. The book offers a coherent study of various linguistic phenomena in one individual, including patterns and functions of language switching, word search in interaction, hypothetical construction of words, and articulatory settings in speaking. The main languages involved are English (L1), German (L2), and Swedish (L3). The activation of these languages in the learner's speech is examined in a cognitive perspective in relation to current models of the speaking process. A longitudinal corpus of NNS-NS conversations covering 21 months from the beginner stage provides the main data for these studies. The book highlights the significance of prior L2 knowledge in L3 performance.Less
This book brings together six case studies of an adult multilingual speaker who acquires a new language through social interaction. It deals especially with the multilingual situation, the learner's acquisitional activities, and the involvement of background languages in the process of speaking. The book offers a coherent study of various linguistic phenomena in one individual, including patterns and functions of language switching, word search in interaction, hypothetical construction of words, and articulatory settings in speaking. The main languages involved are English (L1), German (L2), and Swedish (L3). The activation of these languages in the learner's speech is examined in a cognitive perspective in relation to current models of the speaking process. A longitudinal corpus of NNS-NS conversations covering 21 months from the beginner stage provides the main data for these studies. The book highlights the significance of prior L2 knowledge in L3 performance.
Nancy C. Dorian
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195385939
- eISBN:
- 9780199870141
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195385939.003.0007
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
Strong social responses to divergent language choice and divergent inter‐village variant choices are contrasted with weak or non‐existent social responses to divergent intra‐village variant choices. ...
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Strong social responses to divergent language choice and divergent inter‐village variant choices are contrasted with weak or non‐existent social responses to divergent intra‐village variant choices. A sole exception to the social neutrality of intra‐village variation constitutes a further contrasting case. Absence of accommodation is shown to characterize interchanges among community members, between community members and speakers of other Gaelic dialects, and between community members and a non‐local speaker of the local dialect. The criteria establishing a reputation for speaking the unwritten local vernacular well are identified for Embo village and compared with the criteria Bloomfield identified among Menomini speakers. Linguists' attention to grammatical conservatism in assessing speaker skills is contrasted with community members' attention to verbal skill and language loyalty in assessing the ability to speak well. Difficulties in making realistic assessments of speaker skills at the lower end of the proficiency continuum make cautious deployment of speaker typologies advisable.Less
Strong social responses to divergent language choice and divergent inter‐village variant choices are contrasted with weak or non‐existent social responses to divergent intra‐village variant choices. A sole exception to the social neutrality of intra‐village variation constitutes a further contrasting case. Absence of accommodation is shown to characterize interchanges among community members, between community members and speakers of other Gaelic dialects, and between community members and a non‐local speaker of the local dialect. The criteria establishing a reputation for speaking the unwritten local vernacular well are identified for Embo village and compared with the criteria Bloomfield identified among Menomini speakers. Linguists' attention to grammatical conservatism in assessing speaker skills is contrasted with community members' attention to verbal skill and language loyalty in assessing the ability to speak well. Difficulties in making realistic assessments of speaker skills at the lower end of the proficiency continuum make cautious deployment of speaker typologies advisable.
Anthony Corbeill
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691163222
- eISBN:
- 9781400852468
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691163222.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
From the moment a child in ancient Rome began to speak Latin, the surrounding world became populated with objects possessing grammatical gender—masculine eyes (oculi), feminine trees (arbores), ...
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From the moment a child in ancient Rome began to speak Latin, the surrounding world became populated with objects possessing grammatical gender—masculine eyes (oculi), feminine trees (arbores), neuter bodies (corpora). This book surveys the many ways in which grammatical gender enabled Latin speakers to organize aspects of their society into sexual categories, and how this identification of grammatical gender with biological sex affected Roman perceptions of Latin poetry, divine power, and human hermaphrodites. Beginning with the ancient grammarians, the book examines how these scholars used the gender of nouns to identify the sex of the object being signified, regardless of whether that object was animate or inanimate. This informed the Roman poets who, for a time, changed at whim the grammatical gender for words as seemingly lifeless as “dust” (pulvis) or “tree bark” (cortex). The book then applies the idea of fluid grammatical gender to the basic tenets of Roman religion and state politics. It looks at how the ancients tended to construct Rome's earliest divinities as related male and female pairs, a tendency that waned in later periods. An analogous change characterized the dual-sexed hermaphrodite, whose sacred and political significance declined as the republican government became an autocracy. The book shows that the fluid boundaries of sex and gender became increasingly fixed into opposing and exclusive categories.Less
From the moment a child in ancient Rome began to speak Latin, the surrounding world became populated with objects possessing grammatical gender—masculine eyes (oculi), feminine trees (arbores), neuter bodies (corpora). This book surveys the many ways in which grammatical gender enabled Latin speakers to organize aspects of their society into sexual categories, and how this identification of grammatical gender with biological sex affected Roman perceptions of Latin poetry, divine power, and human hermaphrodites. Beginning with the ancient grammarians, the book examines how these scholars used the gender of nouns to identify the sex of the object being signified, regardless of whether that object was animate or inanimate. This informed the Roman poets who, for a time, changed at whim the grammatical gender for words as seemingly lifeless as “dust” (pulvis) or “tree bark” (cortex). The book then applies the idea of fluid grammatical gender to the basic tenets of Roman religion and state politics. It looks at how the ancients tended to construct Rome's earliest divinities as related male and female pairs, a tendency that waned in later periods. An analogous change characterized the dual-sexed hermaphrodite, whose sacred and political significance declined as the republican government became an autocracy. The book shows that the fluid boundaries of sex and gender became increasingly fixed into opposing and exclusive categories.
Nathan Salmon
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199284726
- eISBN:
- 9780191713774
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199284726.003.0019
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
This chapter distinguishes two conceptions of semantics. On the ‘expression centered’ conception, semantic attributes (designation, content, truth value, meaning) are attributed to expression types ...
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This chapter distinguishes two conceptions of semantics. On the ‘expression centered’ conception, semantic attributes (designation, content, truth value, meaning) are attributed to expression types (relative to such parameters as contexts, times, and/or possible worlds). On the ‘speech-act centered’ conception (evidently the currently favored), semantic attributes are attributed instead to such things as utterances or tokens. The former conception allows for the possibility of widespread and even systematic deviation between what a speaker means or designates (etc.) and what his/her words mean or designate. The latter conception is more reductionist in spirit. The expression centered conception is defended against the alternative conception.Less
This chapter distinguishes two conceptions of semantics. On the ‘expression centered’ conception, semantic attributes (designation, content, truth value, meaning) are attributed to expression types (relative to such parameters as contexts, times, and/or possible worlds). On the ‘speech-act centered’ conception (evidently the currently favored), semantic attributes are attributed instead to such things as utterances or tokens. The former conception allows for the possibility of widespread and even systematic deviation between what a speaker means or designates (etc.) and what his/her words mean or designate. The latter conception is more reductionist in spirit. The expression centered conception is defended against the alternative conception.
Rosina Marquez Reiter
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748637201
- eISBN:
- 9780748651559
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748637201.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, English Language
This book examines mediated business interaction in Spanish. It focuses on communication between native speakers of Spanish from different Spanish-speaking countries with a view to informing our ...
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This book examines mediated business interaction in Spanish. It focuses on communication between native speakers of Spanish from different Spanish-speaking countries with a view to informing our understanding of intercultural communication in a contemporary business environment. Using elements of pragmatics with tools from conversation analysis, the book examines the various activities that telephone conversationalists engage in to supply and demand a service over the phone through the mediational means of Spanish by addressing the following questions: Do speakers of Spanish display similar communicative practices as those observed in other languages when requesting and being offered a service over the phone? Do specifically located activities such as the call openings and closings display similar coordination and ritualisation as that observed in other languages? Does the language seen as a cultural tool reflect a different orientation towards such activities? What strategies do telephone agents and (prospective) clients employ to obtain a sale, and either procure the best value for money or obviate it, respectively? And, what role does intercultural communication play in the construction of these practices?Less
This book examines mediated business interaction in Spanish. It focuses on communication between native speakers of Spanish from different Spanish-speaking countries with a view to informing our understanding of intercultural communication in a contemporary business environment. Using elements of pragmatics with tools from conversation analysis, the book examines the various activities that telephone conversationalists engage in to supply and demand a service over the phone through the mediational means of Spanish by addressing the following questions: Do speakers of Spanish display similar communicative practices as those observed in other languages when requesting and being offered a service over the phone? Do specifically located activities such as the call openings and closings display similar coordination and ritualisation as that observed in other languages? Does the language seen as a cultural tool reflect a different orientation towards such activities? What strategies do telephone agents and (prospective) clients employ to obtain a sale, and either procure the best value for money or obviate it, respectively? And, what role does intercultural communication play in the construction of these practices?
Wayne A. Davis
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199261659
- eISBN:
- 9780191603099
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199261652.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
This chapter examines what it is for a speaker to refer to something. It defines speaker reference as the verbal expression of ideas, and relates referring to meaning, mentioning, and the inclusive ...
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This chapter examines what it is for a speaker to refer to something. It defines speaker reference as the verbal expression of ideas, and relates referring to meaning, mentioning, and the inclusive sense of cogitative speaker meaning. A number of ambiguities are identified, including the opaque, transparent, and referential-attributive distinctions.Less
This chapter examines what it is for a speaker to refer to something. It defines speaker reference as the verbal expression of ideas, and relates referring to meaning, mentioning, and the inclusive sense of cogitative speaker meaning. A number of ambiguities are identified, including the opaque, transparent, and referential-attributive distinctions.
Christopher F. Karpowitz and Tali Mendelberg
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691159751
- eISBN:
- 9781400852697
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691159751.003.0009
- Subject:
- Sociology, Gender and Sexuality
This chapter analyzes one more way that a person can instantiate power through speech—interruptions of other speakers and the responses to those interruptions. The way in which participants interact ...
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This chapter analyzes one more way that a person can instantiate power through speech—interruptions of other speakers and the responses to those interruptions. The way in which participants interact while speaking may enhance or undermine women's status in deliberation. Gendered roles and expectations construct women's speech as less authoritative to begin with. The chapter presents the nature of interaction between speakers to illuminate how gender affects women's relative authority—that is, their symbolic representation in discussion. However, women's authority may derive not only from power but also from warmth. Speech is not only a means to power, it can also establish social connection and solidarity. Social interaction is a crucial means for creating a sense of warmth and personal acceptance.Less
This chapter analyzes one more way that a person can instantiate power through speech—interruptions of other speakers and the responses to those interruptions. The way in which participants interact while speaking may enhance or undermine women's status in deliberation. Gendered roles and expectations construct women's speech as less authoritative to begin with. The chapter presents the nature of interaction between speakers to illuminate how gender affects women's relative authority—that is, their symbolic representation in discussion. However, women's authority may derive not only from power but also from warmth. Speech is not only a means to power, it can also establish social connection and solidarity. Social interaction is a crucial means for creating a sense of warmth and personal acceptance.
B. S. Rosner and J. B. Pickering
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198521389
- eISBN:
- 9780191706622
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198521389.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
Vowels are an important feature of the world's languages. Languages, however, differ in the number and the acoustic properties of their vowels. The two main problems of vowel perception needing ...
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Vowels are an important feature of the world's languages. Languages, however, differ in the number and the acoustic properties of their vowels. The two main problems of vowel perception needing explanation are vowel categorization (identification) and vowel constancy. Categorization concerns how listeners know which of the different vowels of their language has been spoken. Constancy concerns how listeners do this despite wide variations in the realization of any particular vowel. This book opens with a brief consideration of the articulation and acoustics of vowels. It shows how differences in vowels arise across languages. Succeeding chapters cover auditory processing of vowels, concentrating on perceptual determination of formant peaks. Auditory processing includes identification and discrimination, normalization across speakers, and compensating perceptually for coarticulation and effects of rate and stress. The extensive literature on these topics is reviewed and integrated. A theory of vowel perception is proposed, based on fundamental psychoacoustic results and covering a wide variety of experimental findings on vowel identification and discrimination. The theory includes a pitch transform, spectral integration and suppression effects, specification of peaks in a phonetic loudness density function, and a nearest neighbour decision procedure. The theory tries to explain both vowel categorization and vowel constancy. The book ends with a general consideration of modern theories of vowel perception.Less
Vowels are an important feature of the world's languages. Languages, however, differ in the number and the acoustic properties of their vowels. The two main problems of vowel perception needing explanation are vowel categorization (identification) and vowel constancy. Categorization concerns how listeners know which of the different vowels of their language has been spoken. Constancy concerns how listeners do this despite wide variations in the realization of any particular vowel. This book opens with a brief consideration of the articulation and acoustics of vowels. It shows how differences in vowels arise across languages. Succeeding chapters cover auditory processing of vowels, concentrating on perceptual determination of formant peaks. Auditory processing includes identification and discrimination, normalization across speakers, and compensating perceptually for coarticulation and effects of rate and stress. The extensive literature on these topics is reviewed and integrated. A theory of vowel perception is proposed, based on fundamental psychoacoustic results and covering a wide variety of experimental findings on vowel identification and discrimination. The theory includes a pitch transform, spectral integration and suppression effects, specification of peaks in a phonetic loudness density function, and a nearest neighbour decision procedure. The theory tries to explain both vowel categorization and vowel constancy. The book ends with a general consideration of modern theories of vowel perception.
Kent Bach
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195331639
- eISBN:
- 9780199867981
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331639.003.0002
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics
The notions of linguistic reference and speaker reference are commonly used very loosely. In many cases what passes for reference falls short of it, and in many other cases a speaker uses an ...
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The notions of linguistic reference and speaker reference are commonly used very loosely. In many cases what passes for reference falls short of it, and in many other cases a speaker uses an expression to refer without the expression itself referring. Indexicals, demonstratives, proper names, and definite descriptions (and even indefinites) can all be used to refer, but they can all be used non-referentially as well. This chapter sets out criteria on the topic of what it takes for an expression to refer and for a speaker to refer in using an expression. It sketches out what is involved in conveying a reference and in understanding one, by explaining the roles of the speaker's intention, the hearer's inference, and the context of utterance.Less
The notions of linguistic reference and speaker reference are commonly used very loosely. In many cases what passes for reference falls short of it, and in many other cases a speaker uses an expression to refer without the expression itself referring. Indexicals, demonstratives, proper names, and definite descriptions (and even indefinites) can all be used to refer, but they can all be used non-referentially as well. This chapter sets out criteria on the topic of what it takes for an expression to refer and for a speaker to refer in using an expression. It sketches out what is involved in conveying a reference and in understanding one, by explaining the roles of the speaker's intention, the hearer's inference, and the context of utterance.
