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LINGUIST List 17.3056

Wed Oct 18 2006

Books: Semantics/Syntax: Yamamoto

Editor for this issue: Maria Moreno-Rollins <marialinguistlist.org>

Links to the websites of all LINGUIST's supporting publishers are available at the end of this issue.
Directory
        1.    Paul Peranteau, Agency and Impersonality: Yamamoto
Message 1: Agency and Impersonality: Yamamoto
Date: 17-Oct-2006
From: Paul Peranteau <paulbenjamins.com>
Subject: Agency and Impersonality: Yamamoto


Title: Agency and Impersonality
Subtitle: Their Linguistic and Cultural Manifestations
Series Title: Studies in Language Companion Series 78
Published: 2006
Publisher: John Benjamins
                http://www.benjamins.com/

Book URL: http://www.benjamins.com/cgi-bin/t_bookview.cgi?bookid=SLCS%2078

Author: Mitsumi Yamamoto
Hardback: ISBN: 9027230889 Pages: 152 Price: U.S. $ 119.00
Hardback: ISBN: 9027230889 Pages: 152 Price: Europe EURO 99.00
Abstract:

In this monograph the author probes the fundamental nature of the concept
of agency and its importance to human language and cognition. Whereas
previous studies focused on grammatical manifestations this original work
addresses such issues as the strong relationship between agency and
responsibility, a philosophical interpretation of the concept of agency and
a variety of epistemic attitudes towards agency that strongly influence our
view of the world. Different cultures and languages process and express
agency differently. To illustrate the co-relation between the linguistic
expressions of agency and cultural stereotypes that lurk behind individual
natural languages, the author analyses Japanese and English parallel
corpora. It is shown that English tends to highlight agency in expressing
actions and events, whereas Japanese largely obfuscates agency through
impersonalising potential agents. Through the case studies on these
languages this book sheds light on the close connection between language,
thought and culture and contributes to the resurging interest in linguistic
relativity.


Table of contents

Acknowledgements ix
List of Abbreviations xi
1. Introduction 1-9
2. What is agency? 11-37
3. Linguistic treatment of agency and its manifestations in Japanese and
English: With reference to the concept of 'impersonality' 39-69
4. Agency, impersonality and world-view: With reference to linguistic and
socio-cultural relativity 71-117
5. Some enigmas concerning agency, impersonality and 'reality' 119-130
Notes 131-136
References 137-144
Index 145-151

Linguistic Field(s): Semantics
                            Syntax

Subject Language(s): English (eng)
                            Japanese (jpn)

Written In: English (eng )

See this book announcement on our website:
http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=21843


-------------------------- Major Supporters --------------------------
Blackwell Publishing http://www.blackwellpublishing.com
Cambridge University Press http://us.cambridge.org
Cascadilla Press http://www.cascadilla.com/
Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd http://www.continuumbooks.com
Edinburgh University Press http://www.eup.ed.ac.uk/
Equinox Publishing Ltd. http://www.equinoxpub.com/
European Language Resources Association http://www.elda.org/sommaire.php
Georgetown University Press http://www.press.georgetown.edu
Hodder Arnold http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk
John Benjamins http://www.benjamins.com/
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates http://www.erlbaum.com/
Lincom GmbH http://www.lincom.at
MIT Press http://mitpress.mit.edu/
Mouton de Gruyter http://www.mouton-publishers.com
Multilingual Matters http://www.multilingual-matters.com/
Oxford University Press http://www.oup.com/us
Palgrave Macmillan http://www.palgrave.com
Rodopi http://www.rodopi.nl/
Routledge (Taylor and Francis) http://www.routledge.com/
Springer http://www.springer.com

---------------------- Other Supporting Publishers ----------------------
Anthropological Linguistics http://www.indiana.edu/~anthling/
CSLI Publications http://cslipublications.stanford.edu/
Graduate Linguistic Students' Assoc. Umass http://glsa.hypermart.net/
International Pragmatics Assoc. http://www.ipra.be
Kingston Press Ltd http://www.kingstonpress.com/
Linguistic Assoc. of Finland http://www.ling.helsinki.fi/sky/
MIT Working Papers in Linguistics http://web.mit.edu/mitwpl/
Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke http://www.lotpublications.nl/
Pacific Linguistics http://pacling.anu.edu.au/
SIL International http://www.ethnologue.com/bookstore.asp
St. Jerome Publishing Ltd. http://www.stjerome.co.uk
Utrecht institute of Linguistics http://www-uilots.let.uu.nl/

 



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