LINGUIST List 21.1891
Tue Apr 20 2010
Diss: Pragmatics/Typology: Smit : 'FYI: Theory and typology in info...'
Editor for this issue: Mfon Udoinyang
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1. Niels
Smit,
Dissertation Abstract
Message 1: Dissertation Abstract
Date: 18-Apr-2010
From: Niels Smit <nlssmtgmail.com>
Subject: Dissertation Abstract
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Institution: Universiteit van Amsterdam
Program: Institute of General Linguistics
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2010
Author: Niels Smit
Dissertation Title: FYI: Theory and typology of information packaging
Dissertation URL: http://books.google.com/books?id=Ib-WmFpBG9IC
Linguistic Field(s):
Pragmatics
Typology
Dissertation Director:
Enoch Oladé Aboh
Kees Hengeveld
Dissertation Abstract:
Linguistic expressions are shaped by what they mean and the contextin which they are used. Part of this context concerns the assumptions thatlanguage users entertain about their interlocutors' state of knowledge.The project explores to what extent these assumptions - operationalised as'informational articulations' - impact surface structure, and whether theircross-linguistic distribution can shed some light on the mutual orientationof these articulations in conceptual space. To this end, a typologicalanalysis is conducted on fifteen genetically unrelated languages.Articulations are identified on the basis of context, and the correspondingexpression strategies are rated for their informational multifunctionalityor lack thereof. On the basis of these data, the form-function interactionsare classified in terms of 'informational alignment' and are comparedcross-linguistically. It appears that the clustering of articulations insurface structure reveals the relevance of three cross-linguistically validorganisational dimensions in the domain of information structuring.
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