Metonymies and Metaphors for Death Around the World

2021-11-30
Metonymies and Metaphors for Death Around the World

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  • Author: Wojciech Wachowski
  • Publisher: Routledge
  • ISBN: 1000469948
  • Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 178

This book reflects on the ways in which metaphor and metonymy are used conceptually and linguistically to mitigate the more difficult dimensions of death and dying, setting out a unique line of research within Conceptual Metaphor Theory.// The volume argues that metaphor and metonymic descriptions of death and dying reflect taboos, concealment, and other considerations not found in figurative descriptions of life, producing distinct forms of euphemism, frames, and mental spaces particular to conceptualisations of death. The first part focuses on the more palatable concepts which metaphorically structure and help to better understand death. The second section takes a closer look at metonymy to illuminate the ways in which it allows a person to zoom in on death’s more inoffensive dimensions or zoom out on its more troubling aspects. A wide range of classical and modern examples from European, Asian, Australian Aboriginal, and African languages and cultures showcase points of overlap and divergence. // Opening up new lines of inquiry into research on death and dying and offering a linguistically-focused complement to anthropological and religious studies on the topic, this book will be of interest to scholars in cognitive linguistics, sociolinguistics, cross-cultural communication, and cultural studies.

Two Dimensions of Meaning

2022-09-30
Two Dimensions of Meaning

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  • Author: Andrew Goatly
  • Publisher: Taylor & Francis
  • ISBN: 1000600181
  • Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 405

The book takes as its point of departure the notion that similarity and contiguity are fundamental to meaning. It shows how they manifest in oral, literate, print, and internet cultures, in language acquisition, pragmatics, dialogism, classification, the semantics of grammar, literature, and, most centrally, metaphor and metonymy. The book situates these reflections on similarity and contiguity in the interplay of language, cognition, culture, and ideology, and within broader debates around such issues as capitalism, biodiversity, and human control over nature. Positing that while similarity-focused systems can be reductive, and have therefore been contested in social science, philosophy, and poetry, and contiguity-based ones might disregard useful statistical and scientific evidence, Andrew Goatly argues for the need for humans to entertain diverse metaphors, models, and languages as ways of understanding and acting on our world. The volume also considers the cognitive connections between the similarity-contiguity duality and the noun-verb distinction. This innovative volume will appeal to scholars involved in wider debates on meaning, within the fields of cognitive semantics, pragmatics, metaphor and metonymy theory, critical discourse analysis, and the philosophy of language. Equally, the motivated and intelligent general reader, interested in language, philosophy, culture, and ecology, should find the later chapters of the book fascinating, and the earlier technical chapters accessible.

The Referential Mechanism of Proper Names

2022-09-30
The Referential Mechanism of Proper Names

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  • Author: Jincai Li
  • Publisher: Taylor & Francis
  • ISBN: 1000648621
  • Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 184

Each of us bears a unique name given to us at birth. When people use your name, they typically refer to you. But what is the linkage that ties a name to a person and hence allows it to refer? Li’s book approaches this question of reference empirically through the medium of referential intuitions. Building on the literature on philosophical and linguistic intuitions, she proposes a linguistic-competence-based account of referential intuitions. Subsequently, using a series of novel experiments, she investigates the variation of referential intuitions across different cultures, as well as the developmental trajectory and the underlying causes of the observed cultural differences. What she finds is that the cultural patterns of referential intuitions are already in place around age seven, and the differences are largely attributable to the distinct perspective-taking strategies favoured by easterners and westerners, rather than the moral valence of actions involved in the experimental materials. These results are taken to better support referential pluralism (in particular, the ambiguous view) than referential monism. By undertaking this fascinating research, Li’s book provides new insights into the cognitive mechanism underlying people’s referential usage of names. It will be valuable to students and scholars of linguistics, philosophy of language and experimental philosophy, and in particular, to those who research into semantic intuitions and theories of reference.

Discourse Particles in Asian Languages Volume II

2023-08-29
Discourse Particles in Asian Languages Volume II

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  • Author: Hiroki Nomoto
  • Publisher: Taylor & Francis
  • ISBN: 1351057731
  • Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 298

This volume is the second in a two-part collection of research on discourse particles focusing exclusively on the languages of Asia from the perspective of formal as well as non-formal semantics and pragmatics. Despite increasing interest in discourse particles, most research in the area (particularly within formal semantics and pragmatics) focuses on a restricted set of languages, and there has been little consensus on the proper formal treatment of particles. The term "discourse particles" has been used to cover a broad range of phenomena, including such things as "sentence-final particles," "discourse adverbs," and other related phenomena. In recent years, there has been extensive development of the formal approach to discourse particles, which often treats these words as devices for marking information updates. It is vital however, to extend this data to non-Western languages, like Malay, Thai, or Vietnamese. These two volumes are the first to give an exclusive focus on particles in non-European languages (in this case, Asian languages), from the perspective of formal and non-formal semantics and pragmatics. This second volume includes chapters on Tagalog, Kimaragang Dusun (Malaysia), Malay, Singlish (Colloquial Singapore English), Thai, and Vietnamese. The chapters are informed by recent theoretical work in formal and non-formal semantics and pragmatics relating to the meaning of particles. The collection contributes to our theoretical understanding of the meaning of discourse particles and to empirical knowledge of discourse particles in the languages of Asia. It will be of interest to postgraduate students and scholars of semantics and pragmatics.

Linguistic Worldview(s)

2021-10-01
Linguistic Worldview(s)

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  • Author: Adam Głaz
  • Publisher: Routledge
  • ISBN: 1000452034
  • Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 223

This book explores the concept of linguistic worldview, which is underpinned by the underlying idea that languages, in their lexicogrammatical structures and patterns of usage, encode interpretations of reality that symbolize, shape, and construct speakers’ cultural experience. The volume traces the development of the linguistic worldview conception from its origins in ancient Greece to 20th-century linguistic relativity, Western ethnosemantics, parallel movements in eastern Europe, and contemporary inquiry into languacultures. It outlines the important theoretical issues, surveys the major approaches, and identifies areas of both convergence and discrepancy between them. By proposing three sample analyses, the book highlights the relevant questions addressed in different but compatible models, as well as identifies possible avenues of their further development. Finally, it considers several domains of potential interest to the linguistic worldview agenda. Because inquiry into linguistic worldviews concerns the sphere of the symbolic and the cultural, it touches upon the very essence of human lives. This book will be of interest to scholars working in cultural linguistics, ethnolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, comparative semantics, and translation studies.

Cross-cultural Genre Analysis

2021-12-15
Cross-cultural Genre Analysis

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  • Author: Danni Yu
  • Publisher: Routledge
  • ISBN: 1000509427
  • Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 289

This unique monograph provides a theoretical and methodological account on how to do cross-cultural genre analysis with the aids of corpus tools. Cross-cultural genre analysis investigates how discourse communities from different cultural backgrounds use language to realize a particular genre. It can shed light on genre nature as well as cultural specificities. The book suggests five specific approaches in doing cross-cultural genre analysis: Investigating genre context; Approaching genre complexity; Exploring genre nature; Exploring culture specificity; and Focusing on specific communicative functions. Each of these approaches is illustrated and demonstrated in a specific chapter with practical analyses of the genre of CSR reports. Covering linguistic analysis of CSR reports in three languages: Chinese, English and Italian, Yu provides insights into implications for both genre theories and CSR communication practice. By applying the cross-cultural perspective in corporate discourse analysis, her book demonstrates how the approach of cross-cultural genre analysis is fruitful and valuable in providing practical insights into the textual practice of CSR reporting in a globalized context. Moreover, in the final parts of the book, Yu illustrates how cross-cultural genre analysis can be applied in the didactic field of writing, translation and cross-cultural studies. This volume is a valuable reference to scholars of genre analysis, corpus-based studies, cross-cultural studies and corporate communication. Moreover, it is also useful for professionals involved in compiling CSR reports. Armed with the knowledge imparted in this book, the reader should be able to analyze other genres from a cross-cultural perspective. In particular, instructions on how to use specific corpus tools are provided in the appendices, which can give scholars basic technical knowledge to approach the field of cross-cultural genre analysis.

The Discourse of Protest, Resistance and Social Commentary in Reggae Music

2021-09-30
The Discourse of Protest, Resistance and Social Commentary in Reggae Music

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  • Author: Elizabeth Turner
  • Publisher: Routledge
  • ISBN: 1000465713
  • Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 154

A comprehensive, engaging and timely Bakhtinian examination of the ways in which the music and lyrics of Pacific reggae, aspects of performance, a record album cover and the social and political context construct social commentary, resistance and protest. Framed predominantly by the theory and philosophy of Russian literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin, this innovative investigation of the discourse of Pacific reggae in New Zealand produces a multi-faceted analysis of the dialogic relationships that create meaning in this genre of popular music. It focuses on the award-winning EP What’s Be Happen? by the band Herbs, which has been recognised for its ground-breaking music and social commentary in the early 1980s. Herbs’ songs address the racism and ideology of the apartheid regime in South Africa and the relationship between sport and politics, as well as universally relevant conflicts over race relations, the experiences of migrants, and the historic and ongoing loss of indigenous people’s lands. The book demonstrates the striking compatibility between Bakhtin’s theorisation of utterances as ethical acts and reggae music, along with the Rastafari philosophy that underpins it, which speaks of resistance to social injustice, of ethical values and the kind of society people seek to achieve. It will appeal to a cross-disciplinary audience of scholars in Bakhtin studies; discourse analysis; popular cultural studies; the literary analysis of popular music and lyrics, and those with an interest in the culture and politics of Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific region. Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Significance in Language

2022-01-19
Significance in Language

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  • Author: Jim Feist
  • Publisher: Routledge
  • ISBN: 1000555224
  • Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 328

This book offers a unique perspective on meaning in language, broadening the scope of existing understanding of meaning by introducing a comprehensive and cohesive account of meaning that draws on a wide range of linguistic approaches. The volume seeks to build up a complete picture of what meaning is, different types of meaning, and different ways of structuring the same meaning across myriad forms and varieties of language across such domains, such as everyday speech, advertising, humour, and academic writing. Supported by data from psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic research, the book combines different approaches from scholarship in semantics, including formalist, structuralist, cognitive, functionalist, and semiotics to demonstrate the ways in which meaning is expressed in words but also in word order and intonation. The book argues for a revised conceptualisation of meaning toward presenting a new perspective on semantics and its wider study in language and linguistic research. This book will appeal to scholars interested in meaning in language in such fields as linguistics, semantics, and semiotics. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Rehabilitating Literary Theory

2011
Rehabilitating Literary Theory

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  • Author: Khaled Besbes
  • Publisher: Universal-Publishers
  • ISBN: 1612335071
  • Category : Literary Criticism
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 350

The present work seeks to bring literary theory in line with the most recent practical turn the humanities are witnessing. When simplified, succinctly presented, and skillfully used in multi-coded interpretation within a semiocritical framework, literary theories become practical exercises in criticism, not only facilitating the interpretation of literature, but also making it more enjoyable and more rewarding. This book is different from its counterparts in the sense that it includes an exceptionally expanded model of the practice of literary theories, and replaces long and theoretical discussions with brief synopses of the examined theories. It relies on less-overused texts for illustration as it compiles and organizes the terms and phrases that are often used by the proponents of the discussed theories. The most influential literary theories that have so far been developed in academia are included: the New Criticism, reader-response criticism, structuralism, deconstruction, feminism, Marxism, psychoanalytic criticism, linguistic criticism, cultural materialism, new historicism, postcolonialism, and semiotics. Through eliminating the excesses made in the name of theory, this book will restore the faith of students, teachers, and practitioners in the useful and enduring nature of literary theory for the analysis and appreciation of literature.

In the Mind, in the Body, in the World

2024-02-11
In the Mind, in the Body, in the World

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  • Author: Douglas Cairns
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press
  • ISBN: 0197681808
  • Category : History
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 329

"This volume is the result of a three-year collaboration (funded by the American Council of Learned Societies and the British Academy) between scholars of early China and of ancient/Hellenistic Greece to investigate the emergent discourses of emotions in philosophy, medicine, and literature from around the fifth century BCE to the second century CE. It brings together scholars working on the history and philosophy of emotions in the two ancient traditions, and with different areas of expertise, to investigate the emotions and their conceptualization at a crucial period in the cultural and intellectual development of both cultures. The project was motivated by a desire to make an intervention in the existing scholarship on emotions in both fields, which stands to benefit from a greater methodological self-awareness about the category of emotions and the kinds of commitments it entails. The volume aims to explore how the tools of cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary investigation might be deployed to advance our understanding of the emotions in the two ancient societies and to use that understanding as a contribution to current research on the emotions more generally"--