A View of Language

by Pieter A. M. Seuren

Overview

This book contains a collection of twenty-two papers written by the author between 1972 and 1999, reflecting the development of his highly independent ideas over this period. The papers, which are still topical today, are divided into four sections: General Theory, Syntax, Semantics, and Creole Linguistics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199244812
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/03/2002
Series:	Oxford Linguistics
Pages:	544
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Pieter A. M. Seuren was lecturer of linguistics at Cambridge and Oxford universities. From 1974 until 1999 he was Professor of Philosophy of Language and of Theoretical Linguistics at Nijmegen University. Upon retirement in 1999, he became a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics at Nijmegen. He is the author of, among others, Operators and Nucleus (1969), Discourse Semantics (1985), Semantic Syntax (1996), and Western Linguistics: An Historical Introduction (1998).

Table of Contents

IntroductionPart I: General Theory1. Language, World, and Cognitive Processing2. Grammar as an Underground Process3. Autonomous vs. Semantic Syntax4. Doing Sums with Language5. Internal Variability in Competence6. The Paradoxes and Natural LanguagePart II: Syntax7. Predicate Raising and Dative in French and Sundry Languages8. Negative's Travels9. Operator Lowering10. A Problem in English Subject Complementation11. Clitic Pronoun ClustersPart III: Semantics12. Presuppositions and the Universe of Interpretation13. Logical Form and Semantic Form: An argument against Geach14. Lexical Meaning and Presupposition15. Presupposition and Negation16. Why Does 2 Mean "2"? Grist to the anti-Grice mill17. Towards a Discourse-Semantic Account of Donkey Anaphora18. A Discourse-Semantic Account of Topic and CommentPart IV: Creole Linguistics19. Semantic Transparency as a Factor in Creole Genesis, (with H. Chr. Wekker)20. Serial Verb Constructions21. The Auxiliary System in Sranan22. The Question of Predicate Clefting in the Indian Ocean Creoles