A Study on Non-human Subjects in English
1
조회
0
다운로드
1
인용
0
참고문헌
키워드
초록
This study aims to identify a language-specific tendency that characterizes the transitive use of non-human subjects in English, and explore a relation between the subjecthood of non-human subjects and syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic factors. On a sematic level, thanks to category extensions, the prototypicality of non-human subjects in English can be projected onto a wider range of categories. Accordingly, English, as a subject-prominent, and also as an agent-oriented language, does not impose any syntactic or semantic constraints on the transitive use of non-human subjects. On a pragmatic level, the extensive use of less prototypcial transitive sentences in English discourse reflects a pragmatically-oriented strategy for the choice of non-human subjects in transitive events. The findings show that in both written and spoken English discourse, non-human subjects are strategically exploited for the purpose of maintaining a conversation topic and conveying the speaker’s attitude or preference. Finally, this study suggests that the tendency to exploit ‘nonhuman subject-action-patient’ in English should be recognized as one of the reflexes of its language-specific conventions that are frequently used in English discourse in a pragmatically-oriented way.
Abstract
This study aims to identify a language-specific tendency that characterizes the transitive use of non-human subjects in English, and explore a relation between the subjecthood of non-human subjects and syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic factors. On a sematic level, thanks to category extensions, the prototypicality of non-human subjects in English can be projected onto a wider range of categories. Accordingly, English, as a subject-prominent, and also as an agent-oriented language, does not impose any syntactic or semantic constraints on the transitive use of non-human subjects. On a pragmatic level, the extensive use of less prototypcial transitive sentences in English discourse reflects a pragmatically-oriented strategy for the choice of non-human subjects in transitive events. The findings show that in both written and spoken English discourse, non-human subjects are strategically exploited for the purpose of maintaining a conversation topic and conveying the speaker’s attitude or preference. Finally, this study suggests that the tendency to exploit ‘nonhuman subject-action-patient’ in English should be recognized as one of the reflexes of its language-specific conventions that are frequently used in English discourse in a pragmatically-oriented way.
참고문헌 (15)
- Ariel, Mira, "Referring and accessibility", Journal of Linguistics, 24, pp.65~87 (1988)
- Givón, Talmy, "The grammar of referential coherence as mental processing instructions", Linguistics, 30, pp.5~55 (1992)
- Halliday, Michael A. K, "An introduction to functional grammar" (1985), Edward Arnold
- 김경열, "A Data-based Analysis of Topic Continuity and Information Status in English", 언어학 연구, (48), pp.139~156 (2018), 한국중원언어학회[DOI]
- Labov, William, "ways of analyzing variation in English", pp.340~371 (1973), Georgetown University Press
- Lakoff, George, "The contemporary theory of metaphor" (1992), Cambridge University Press
- Langacker, Ronald, "Foundations of cognitive grammar, vol. I:theoretical prerequisites" (1987), Stanford University Press
- Langacker, Ronald, "Foundations of cognitive grammar, vol. II:descriptive application" (1991), Stanford University Press
- Langacker, Ronald, "Concept, image, and symbol: the cognitive basis of grammar" (2002), Mouton de Gruyter
- Li, Charles, "Subject and topic: A new typology of language" (1976), Academic Press
- Prince, Ellen, "Radical Pragmatics", pp.223~255 (1981), Academic Press
- Rosch, Eleanor, "Natural categories", Cognitive Psychology, 4, pp.328~350 (1973)
- Rosch, Eleanor, "Family resemblance studies in the international structure of categorie", Cognitive Psychology, 7, pp.573~605 (1975)
- Taylor, John, "Linguistic categorization: prototypes in linguistic theory" (1995), Oxford University Press
- Taylor, John, "Cognitive grammar" (2002), Oxford University Press