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The Comment Clause in English: Syntactic Origins and Pragmatic Development

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The Comment Clause in English: Syntactic Origins and Pragmatic Development
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Laurel J. Brinton
SeriesStudies in English Language
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:300
Dimensions(mm): Height 229,Width 152
Category/GenreGrammar and syntax
ISBN/Barcode 9781107405011
ClassificationsDewey:425
Audience
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Illustrations Worked examples or Exercises

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 19 July 2012
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Although English comment clauses such as I think and you know have been widely studied, this book constitutes the first full-length diachronic treatment, focusing on comment clauses formed with common verbs of perception and cognition in a variety of syntactic forms. It understands comment clauses as causal pragmatic markers that undergo grammaticalisation, and acquire pragmatic and politeness functions and subjective and intersubjective meanings. To date, the prevailing view of their syntactic development, which is extrapolated from synchronic studies, is that they originate in matrix clauses which become syntactically indeterminate and are reanalysed as parenthetical. In this corpus-based study, Laurel J. Brinton shows that the historical data do not bear out this view, and proposes a more varied and complex conception of the development of comment clauses. Researchers and students of the English language and historical linguistics will certainly consider Brinton's findings to be of great interest.

Reviews

'Although the outlines of all case studies look similar, they are variable enough to allow for the individual history and function of each discussed item. The organization of each chapter leads to the derivation that is proposed. The analyses are carefully conducted and easy to understand. No proposed derivation remains unclear. ... In sum, it is an impressive and excellent study of the derivation of comment clauses. ... I can recommend this book to all linguists ...' The Linguist List