Constructions of Intersubjectivity: Discourse, Syntax, and Cognition

by Arie Verhagen

Overview

Constructions of Intersubjectivity shows that the meaning of grammatical constructions often has more to do with the human cognitive capacity for taking other peoples' points of view than with describing the world. Treating pragmatics, semantics, and syntax in parallel and integrating insights from linguistics, psychology, and animal communication, Arie Verhagen develops a new understanding of linguistic communication. In doing so he shows the continuity between language and animal communication and reveals the nature of human linguistic specialization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199273843
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	08/11/2005
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Arie Verhagen has been the chair of Dutch Linguistics at the University of Leiden since 1998. He received his PhD in 1986 at the Free University in Amsterdam and has taught at the Free University, Utrecht University, and the University of Leiden. His books include Linguistic Theory and the Function of Word Order in Dutch (1986) and Usage-Based Approaches to Dutch (co-edited with Jeroen van de Weijer, 2003). He was editor-in-chief of the journal Cognitive Linguistics from 1996 until 2004. His research focuses on relations between language use and language structure, synchronically and diachronically. Current topics, in addition to those addressed in this book, include causative constructions and other expressions of causation, and the organization of constructions into grammars.

Table of Contents

1. Intersubjectivity - Mutual Management2. Negation and Virtual Argumentation3. Finite Complements - Putting Conceptualizers on Stage4. Discourse Connections - Managing Inferences Across Perspectives5. Concluding Remarks