LINGUIST List 12.475

Wed Feb 21 2001

Books: Semantics/Pragmatics

Editor for this issue: Karen Milligan <karenlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Chipperfield, Leighton (ELS), Modality: Issues in the Semantics-Pragmatics Interface, Papafragou

MODALITY: ISSUES IN THE SEMANTICS-PRAGMATICS INTERFACE
By Anna Papafragou

 Volume 6 in the Current Research in the Semantics/Pragmatics Interface
 Book Series: http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/series/crispi
 Edited by K.M. Jaszczolt, University of Cambridge and K. Turner,
 University of Brighton, UK
 
 ISBN: 0-08-043634X * Hardbound * 241 pages * NLG 170 (euro 77.14) USD 89 
 
"This innovative treatment of modality in natural language blends insights
from linguistics, philosophy and psychology to give a new overview of a
complex phenomenon. Papafragou develops a largely relevance-theoretic
account of the modals, which claims that they are not ambiguous but that
their interpretation depends crucially on the notation of
metarepresentation. A core part of the book is an elegant explanation for
the order of emergence of the modals in first language acquisition. It will
be essential reading for all future work in the area."

Neil Smith, University College London

CONTENTS:
Preface.
Introduction:
The issuesl; Theoretical commitments: relevance theory.
The Semantics and Pragmatics of English Modal Verbs:
Introductory remarks; Previous analyses; A semantic proposal; The pragmatics
of root modality; The pragmatics of epistemic modality; Concluding remarks.
Removing Objections to a Unitary Semantic Analysis.
Introductory remarks; Syntax and interpretation; Truth-conditional
behaviour; Speech-act' modality; Concluding remarks.
The Acquisition of Modality.
Introductory remarks; Psycholinguistic evidence: a review; A developmental
proposal; A note on autism and mindblindness; Concluding remarks.
Implications for the Semantics-Pragmatics Interface.
Introductory remarks; Options for lexical semantics: monosemy, ambiguity,
polysemy; Inference and the plasticity of lexical concepts; Historical and
developmental perspectives; Concluding remarks.
Conclusion.
Bibliography. 

 For further information and full contents listings for all volumes in the
 series visit the website at:
 
 http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/series/crispi
 
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