LINGUIST List 14.1942

Wed Jul 16 2003

Books: Cognitive Science, English: Chen

Editor for this issue: Marisa Ferrara <marisalinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. julia.ulrich, English Inversion: Chen

Title: English Inversion
Subtitle: A Ground-before-Figure Construction
Series Title: Cognitive Linguistics Research
			
Publication Year: 2003
Publisher: Mouton de Gruyter 
 http://www.mouton-publishers.com		 
			
Author: Rong Chen, California State University, San Bernardino, USA

Hardback: ISBN: 3110178109, Pages: xi, 333, Price: Euro 78.00 /
	 approx. US$ 86.00
			
Abstract:

The author provides an account of English inversion, a construction
that displays perplexing idiosyncrasies at the level of semantics,
phonology, syntax, and pragmatics. Basing his central argument on the
claim that inversion is a linguistic representation of a
Ground-before-Figure model, the author develops an elegant solution to
a hitherto unsolved multidimensional linguistic puzzle and, in the
process, supports the theoretical position that a cognitive approach
best suits the multidimensionality of language itself. Engagingly
written, the book appeals to linguists of all persuasions and to any
reader curious about the relationship between language and cognition.

FROM THE CONTENTS: 

Chapter 1: Preliminaries
1. Issues of inversion
2. Previous research 
3. Relevant tenets of cognitive linguistics 
4. Other issues

Chapter 2: Inversion as GbF instantiation
1. The GbF model
2. LOC BE: The prototype
3. PATH Vm: From existence to motion 
4. NSPAT BE: From spatiality to nonspatiality
5. A radial classification
6. The phonology of inversion: A matter of focus
7. GbF and information packaging: A comparison

Chapter 3: Syntactic constraints
1. Polarity
2. Transitivity
3. Embeddedness
4. Auxiliaries
5. Weight
6. Summary

Chapter 4: Inversion in discourse
1. Discourse types: A tripartite
2. Inversion in description
3. Inversion in narration
4. Inversion in exposition
5. Summary
6. Inversion in parody

Chapter 5: Conclusion
1. Summary
2. GbF representation in other languages

To sign up for our FREE ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER, please visit our
website at www.degruyter.de/newsletter

To order, please contact 
SFG-Servicecenter-Fachverlage GmbH
Postfach 4343
72774 Reutlingen, Germany
Fax: +49 (0)7071 - 93 53 - 33
E-mail: deGruyters-f-g.com 

For USA, Canada and Mexico:
Walter de Gruyter, Inc.
200 Saw Mill River Road
Hawthorne, NY 10532, USA
Fax: +1 (914) 747-1326
E-mail: csdegruyterny.com

Lingfield(s): Cognitive Science
			 
Subject Language(s): English (Language code: ENG)
			 
Written In: English (Language Code: ENG)


 See this book announcement on our website: 
 http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=6649.