One of the most basic themes in the philosophy of language is referential uptake, viz., the question of what counts as properly understanding' a referring act in communication. In this inquiry, the particular line pursued goes back to Strawson's work on re-identification, but the immediate influence is that of Gareth Evans. It is argued that traditional and recent proposals fail to account for success in referential communication. A novel account is developed, resembling Evans' account in combining an external success condition with a Fregean one. But, in contrast to Evans, greater emphasis is placed on the action-enabling side of communication. Further topics discussed include the role of mental states in accounting for communication, the impact of re-identification on the understanding of referring acts, and Donnellan's referential/attributive distinction. Readership: Philosophers, cognitive scientists and semanticists.

Hdi is a hitherto undescribed language spoken in northern Cameroon. The language belongs to the Central Branch of Chadic. The aim of the book is to provide a fairly complete description of the grammar of this language. Consequently, the grammar describes the phonology, morphology and syntax of Hdi and the semantic and discourse functions coded in this language. Most clauses in Hdi are verb-initial, with the subject directly following the verb. The object is often marked by a preposition. What makes Hdi unusual is that the object-marking preposition is unique and does not function elsewhere as a locative preposition. Another interesting feature of Hdi is that there are two types of clauses, pragmatically independent and pragmatically dependent, and that the difference between these is coded by different tense and aspectual systems. In addition, there are two clausal orders for complex sentences: The order embedded clause-matrix clause codes one type of modality, while the order matrix clause-embedded clause codes another. The language also has a rich system of verbal extensions coding the semantic roles of arguments and adjuncts and the direction of movement. The grammar is of interest not only to linguists working in African, Chadic and Afroasiatic linguistics, but also to general linguists, since it describes phenomena rarely seen in other languages of the world. The grammar is described in terms accessible to linguists working within various theoretical frameworks.

This book provides an in-depth view of the current issues, problems and approaches in the computation of meaning as expressed in language. Aimed at linguists, computer scientists, and logicians with an interest in the computation of meaning, this book focuses on two main topics in recent research in computational semantics. The first topic is the definition and use of underspecified semantic representations, i.e. formal structures that represent part of the meaning of a linguistic object while leaving other parts unspecified. The second topic discussed is semantic annotation. Annotated corpora have become an indispensable resource both for linguists and for developers of language and speech technology, especially when used in combination with machine learning methods. The annotation in corpora has only marginally addressed semantic information, however, since semantic annotation methodologies are still in their infancy. This book discusses the development and application of such methodologies.

The present work proposes a novel analysis of Complement Clauses in Earlier Egyptian language. Contrary to previous assumptions, the grammatical organisation of these constructions is shown to be based on differentiation between Realis and Irrealis modality. The different types of complement clauses attested in Earlier Egyptian are surveyed utilising recent linguistic research on modality and pragmatics. The discussion is based on numerous examples from the ancient texts and on comparisons with many other languages. Emerging from this investigation is a coherent and principled system for expressing Realis and Irrealis meaning in this most ancient of written languages. This book is of notable value to Egyptologists working with texts and to all those interested in modality, grammar, and cognition.

Grammar and Meaning is an introduction to the study of grammar of contemporary English. It provides an impressive survey of all the main areas of English grammar, from words through to sentences and texts. It introduces and explains the linguistic terms needed to talk about the ways in which language works, from simple terms like adjective to more complex terms like non-finite clause. To meet the needs of both students and scholars, Howard Jackson has produced an innovative approach to the study of English grammar. Instead of concentrating on the formal and theoretical discussion of grammar, as many introductions do, this original analysis examines the 'meanings' we want to express when we use language. Beginning with the question, "What do we talk about?", it goes on to investigate how these meanings are structured in the grammar of English. These notions are closer to our ordinary understanding of what language is doing, and therefore the forms and structures of grammar are more easily grasped. The book is extensively illustrated with examples from real English. With analytical exercises in each chapter and a comprehensive glossary of terms, the book will prove and invaluable aid to students of English language, linguistics and English as a Foreign Language, whilst also being accessible to anyone who studies English grammar as part of their course.

This volume provides a critical roadmap through the major historical sources of legal semiotics as we know them today. The history of legal semiotics, now at least a century old, has never been written (a non-event itself pregnant with semiotic possibility). As a consequence, its sources are seldom clearly exposed and, as word, object and meaning change, are sometimes lost. They reach from an English translation of the 1916 inaugural lecture of the first Chair in Legal Significs at the Amsterdam University, via mid 20th century studies on "property" or "contract," to equally fascinating essays on contemporary semiotic problems produced by former students of the Roberta Kevelson Semiotics Roundtable Seminar at Penn State University 2012 and 2013. Together, the materials in this book weave the fabric of semiotics and significs, two names for the unfolding of semiotics in law and legal discourse at least until the second half of the 20th century, and both of which covered a lawyer's focus on sign and meaning in law. The latter is embedded within the cultural imperatives of the civilization that gave these terms meaning and made them an effective tool for the dissection of law, its reconstitution as an instrument to be used by the lawyer to advance the interests of her clients, and for judges as a means to restructure language as a narrative of law whose power could bend behavior to its strictures. Legal semiotics has become an indispensible part of the elite lawyer's toolkit and a fundamental approach to analysis of legal texts. Two previous volumes published in 2011 and 2012 explored the conceptual, methodological and epistemological progress in the field of legal semiotics, the modern forms of semiotics study, and the mechanics of meaning making processes by lawyers. Yet the great lessons of semiotics requires a focus on the origins of the concepts and frameworks that would become contemporary legal semiotics, its origins as an object of the consciousness of meaning making-one whose roots, as lessons for the oracular conversations of law, are expanded in this volume.

Smith examines the major canons of classical rhetorical theory by demonstrating their influence on Christian speakers. He begins by explaining why charisma has become a misused term. He then explores why writing about charisma has been so difficult in terms of the academic prejudice in favor of objectivity and reason. He then constructs a three- level definition of charisma to replace the current one.

After analyzing the charisma of Jesus in terms of the three personae he developed as teacher, human, and messiah, Smith argues that his power arose from this rich development of character. The textual charisma of the Gospel narrators is explored in terms of their narrative techniques, and Smith then examines the concept of "ethos," the use of emotion in persuasion, and explicates the theories of leading existential thinkers to develop advanced notions of human responsibility and transcendent spirituality. These two notions are used to refine and improve previous definitions of charisma. Smith then establishes a matrix that crosses levels of charisma with different types of identification. This work will be of particular interest to scholars, students, and researchers involved with Christianity, philosophy, and persuasion.

Adding a new introduction and two previously unpublished papers, Discourse and Practice: New Tools for Critical Discourse Analysis brings together van Leeuwen's methodological work on discourse analysis of the last 15 years. Discourse, van Leeuwen argues, is a resource for representation, a knowledge about some aspect of reality which can be drawn upon when that aspect of reality has to be represented, a framework for making sense of things. And they are plural. There can be different discourses, different ways of making sense of the same aspect of reality that serve different interests and will therefore be used in different social contexts.
However abstract some discourses are, discourses ultimately always represent doings, van Leeuwen argues. Doing is the foundation of knowing, and social practices are the foundation of discourses. Studying children's books, newspaper reports, brochures and other texts, as well as photographs and children's toys, van Leeuwen investigates what can happen when practices are transformed into discourses and provides analytical tools for reconstructing discourses from texts.
Throughout the book, van Leeuwen makes connections between sociological and linguistic or semiotic concepts and methods to ensure the social and critical relevance of his analytical categories. van Leeuwen's work has already been widely used by critical discourse analysts across the world. This volume will be a welcome guide for anyone looking for a form of discourse analysis that is both explicit and methodical, and critically incisive.

This reference is the only book-length work to analyze all of the major speeches of one of the most significant politicians of the first part of the twentieth century, Robert La Follette, Sr. His speeches offer historic snapshots into the Progressive era and of the thinking of an outstanding governor of Wisconsin, U.S. senator, and social agitator. This rhetorical biography analyzes key speeches and provides texts demonstrating how Senator La Follette used melodramatic scenarios to enlist citizens in his reform crusade against the gravest danger that he saw in this country. This reference also provides texts of his most important speeches, a chronology of his major orations, and a lengthy bibliography. This unique volume is designed for students and specialists in political communication, rhetorical criticism, and American studies. This systematical analysis of Senator La Follette's public speeches is a short and highly readable history of the Progressive era, World War I and its aftermath, and the early 1920s from the perspective of a leading political figure of the times. The analysis of La Follette's rhetorical strategy illuminates his use of confrontational tactics, such as the filibuster in Congress to educate the voter and to plead for reforms that he considered essential. This reference provides the texts of five seminal orations and the most complete bibliography of speeches available to date.

What is the role of rhetoric in a civil society? In this thought-provoking book, James L. Kastely examines works by writers from Plato to Jane Austen and locates a line of thinking that values rhetoric but also raises questions about the viability of rhetorical practice. While dealing principally with literary theory, rhetoric, and philosophy, the author's arguments extend to practical concerns and open up the way to deeper thinking about individual responsibility for existing injustices, for inadvertently injuring others, and for silencing those without power.

Challenging the traditional claim that Plato is the chief opponent of rhetoric, Kastely contends that he was its most sophisticated theorist. Plato, Sophocles, and Euripides, the author asserts, recognized an essential paradox: while urgently believing in the need for rhetoric in a world where injustice cannot be eliminated, they nevertheless regarded the possibilities of rhetoric with skepticism. Tracing the modern recovery of a skeptical rhetorical tradition to Jane Austen, the author argues that Sartre's work displays the incoherence within modernist thought on discourse and reveals the tensions between two strains of postmodern thought -- deconstructionism and Marxism. Kastely concludes by showing how the rhetorical theorist Kenneth Burke has returned to the insights of classical rhetoric in order to balance a skeptical stance toward persuasion with a commitment to act in a world with persistent injustice.

This volume offers a current reading of the Italian writer, Pirandello. The author examines the representation of gender relations in Pirandello's writing in the light of recent developments in textual analysis. She reassesses Pirandello's status as an innovative, avant-garde writer, arguing that whilst on the level of dramatic form he is certainly avant-garde, he is not so on the more covert level of gender relations. The author uses contemporary feminist theory to show how textual analysis can expose the covert reinforcement of patriarchal values. The study provides an illustration of a variety of methods which could be applied to texts other than those of Pirandello's.

"Metaphor Networks" focuses on the historical evolution of metaphor and proposes new theories on language change based on substantial empirical data. It explores how the metaphors of today are very often linked to images existing in the past and traces metaphor paths back to the Middle Ages and Antiquity. The findings reveal that regular patters of evolution emerge and the aims of the book are to find out what lies behind these patterns.

Traditional grammar instruction often focuses too much on what's right or what's wrong, hiding the true power of conventions—the creation of meaning, purpose, and effect. Instead of hammering high school students with the mistakes they should avoid, Jeff Anderson, Travis Leech, and Holly Durham suggest exploring grammar through the celebration of author's purpose and craft. In Patterns of Power: Teaching Grammar Through Reading and Writing, Grades 9–12, they invite you to create an environment in which writers thrive while studying and appreciating the beauty, effects, and meaning of grammar. Inside this book, teachers will find a comprehensive explanation of the brain-based Patterns of Power invitational process, as well as: 35 standards-aligned lesson sets built around practical, engaging, inquiry-based methods that take deeper dives into grammar and craft than any worksheet, quiz, or editing exercise ever could A variety of high-interest model texts from authentic and diverse sources, including excerpts from classic and current novels, memoirs, plays, graphic novels, poems, and media Real-life classroom examples and tips with suggestions for scaffolding new learning and ideas for how to use the lessons in AP courses Templates for extended application, easy to locate printables, and ready-to-go visuals Additional Models for Further Study for extension opportunities in every lesson set An entire chapter devoted to helping high school writers master citations in research With hundreds of teach-tomorrow resources and implementation supports such as quick-reference guides, specific applications to reading instruction, and soundtrack suggestions to infuse the joy of music into grammar instruction, Patterns of Power gives you everything you need to inspire your high school writers to move beyond limitation and into the endless possibilities of what they can do as writers. The Patterns of Power series also includes Patterns of Power: Inviting Adolescent Writers into the Conventions of Language, Grades 6-8, Patterns of Power: Inviting Young Writers into the Conventions of Language, Grades 1-5, Patterns of Wonder: Inviting Emergent Writers to Play with the Conventions of Language, PreK-1, and Patterns of Power en Español: Inviting Bilingual Writers into the Conventions of Spanish, Grades 1-5.

Since we need words with new meanings to discover what is true, it follows that without those words there could be no truth as we know it. Without just those words that we create there would be no knowledge for us. In that case knowledge is found embedded in the very words that we formulate. Interpretation and definition as rhetorical and logical modes are interactive in determining and precising meaning that transcends our repertoire of literal usage. "Language use" by abandoning old trails of usage and by refining usage gives us the opportunity and freedom to explore and discover what never has been thought about, used, or expressed before.

What is the connection between what is said on TV and how it is said? Structured around four key features of the current broadcast landscape (storytelling, closeness, conflict and persuasion), "Television Discourse" examines the specific forms and structures of talk across media genres as varied as exploitative shows and political interviews.

The future of English linguistics as envisaged by the editors of Topics in English Linguistics lies in empirical studies which integrate work in English linguistics into general and theoretical linguistics on the one hand, and comparative linguistics on the other. The TiEL series features volumes that present interesting new data and analyses, and above all fresh approaches that contribute to the overall aim of the series, which is to further outstanding research in English linguistics.

The volume brings together the papers read at the international conference on Romance Objects organized by the Linguistics Department of the Roma Tre University. It is characterized by a striking uniformity of approach, which is functional, and of methodology. The various case studies regarding the object focus on the syntax/semantics and syntax/pragmatics interfaces. The common denominator of the ten enquiries is the identification of the object category, the DO in particular, in Romance languages; at the same time some of the contributors relate the specific topic to more general questions of linguistic typology. Some of the essays are based on the analysis of data from a corpus and present a diachronic picture of the evolution of the specific topic investigated. Thus this volume is addressed not only to scholars interested in the Romance languages but also all those who study the object category in a cross-linguistic perspective. Michela Cennamo: (In)transitivity and object marking: some current issues.

The area of research on printed word recognition has been one of the most active in the field of experimental psychology for well over a decade. However, notwithstanding the energetic research effort and despite the fact that there are many points of consensus, major controversies still exist.

This volume is particularly concerned with the putative relationship between language and reading. It explores the ways by which orthography, phonology, morphology and meaning are interrelated in the reading process. Included are theoretical discussions as well as reviews of experimental evidence by leading researchers in the area of experimental reading studies. The book takes as its primary issue the question of the degree to which basic processes in reading reflect the structural characteristics of language such as phonology and morphology. It discusses how those characteristics can shape a language's orthography and affect the process of reading from word recognition to comprehension.

Contributed by specialists, the broad-ranging mix of articles and papers not only gives a picture of current theory and data but a view of the directions in which this research area is vigorously moving.