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The Semantic Field of Modal Certainty : A Corpus-Based Study of English Adverbs / Karin Aijmer, Anne-Marie Simon-Vandenbergen.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextSeries: Topics in English Linguistics [TiEL] ; 56Publisher: Berlin ; Boston : De Gruyter Mouton, [2008]Copyright date: ©2007Description: 1 online resource (395 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9783110196177
  • 9783110198928
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 425 22
LOC classification:
  • PE1325 .S56 2007eb
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Table of contents -- Chapter 1. Aims, methodology and data -- Chapter 2. Establishing meaning relations: Problems -- and solutions -- Chapter 3. The linguistic categories of modality -- and evidentiality -- Chapter 4. An integrated model for describing -- adverbs of certainty -- Chapter 5. Classification of adverbs of -- certainty -- Chapter 6. The epistemic certainty adverbs -- certainly, definitely, indeed: Syntagmatic and paradigmatic -- dimensions -- Chapter 7. The epistemic certainty adverbs no -- doubt, surely: Syntagmatic and paradigmatic dimensions -- Chapter 8. Evidential, expectation and speech act -- adverbs: Syntagmatic and paradigmatic dimensions -- Chapter 9. Adverbs of certainty and the wider -- context: Text types and genres -- Chapter 10. Semantic-pragmatic relations: Networks -- and maps -- Chapter 11. Semantic-pragmatic relations: -- Parameters and features -- Chapter 12. Conclusions -- Backmatter
Summary: In spite of the vast literature on modality in English, very little research has been done on modal adverbs as a group. While there are studies of individual adverbs, the semantic and pragmatic relations between them have been left largely unexplored. This book takes a close look at the whole field of modal certainty as expressed by adverbs in English. On the basis of corpus data the most frequent adverbs of certainty, including certainly, indeed, and no doubt, are examined from the point of view of their syntactic, semantic and pragmatic characteristics. The corpus used is the International Corpus of English - Great Britain, supplemented by data from other present-day English corpora, and questionnaires testing native speakers' intuitions on fine-grained similarities and differences between closely related adverbs. The methodology also includes the study of cross-linguistic equivalents as indicators of semantic-pragmatic relations between adverbs. Translation corpora yield correspondences in Swedish, Dutch, French and German. A detailed study of those correspondences adds useful information for setting up a semantic-pragmatic profile of each adverb, showing where their meanings overlap and where the boundaries are. The concept of semantic maps is relied on for plotting these relations. The book not only provides a thorough empirical study of English adverbs expressing certainty, it also contributes to a better theoretical understanding of the complexity of modal certainty, how it is related to speakers' goals and to other semantic areas. It is the first in-depth study of this kind, combining rich information on English as well as opening up perspectives for further empirical and theoretical research into modality.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9783110198928

Frontmatter -- Table of contents -- Chapter 1. Aims, methodology and data -- Chapter 2. Establishing meaning relations: Problems -- and solutions -- Chapter 3. The linguistic categories of modality -- and evidentiality -- Chapter 4. An integrated model for describing -- adverbs of certainty -- Chapter 5. Classification of adverbs of -- certainty -- Chapter 6. The epistemic certainty adverbs -- certainly, definitely, indeed: Syntagmatic and paradigmatic -- dimensions -- Chapter 7. The epistemic certainty adverbs no -- doubt, surely: Syntagmatic and paradigmatic dimensions -- Chapter 8. Evidential, expectation and speech act -- adverbs: Syntagmatic and paradigmatic dimensions -- Chapter 9. Adverbs of certainty and the wider -- context: Text types and genres -- Chapter 10. Semantic-pragmatic relations: Networks -- and maps -- Chapter 11. Semantic-pragmatic relations: -- Parameters and features -- Chapter 12. Conclusions -- Backmatter

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http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

In spite of the vast literature on modality in English, very little research has been done on modal adverbs as a group. While there are studies of individual adverbs, the semantic and pragmatic relations between them have been left largely unexplored. This book takes a close look at the whole field of modal certainty as expressed by adverbs in English. On the basis of corpus data the most frequent adverbs of certainty, including certainly, indeed, and no doubt, are examined from the point of view of their syntactic, semantic and pragmatic characteristics. The corpus used is the International Corpus of English - Great Britain, supplemented by data from other present-day English corpora, and questionnaires testing native speakers' intuitions on fine-grained similarities and differences between closely related adverbs. The methodology also includes the study of cross-linguistic equivalents as indicators of semantic-pragmatic relations between adverbs. Translation corpora yield correspondences in Swedish, Dutch, French and German. A detailed study of those correspondences adds useful information for setting up a semantic-pragmatic profile of each adverb, showing where their meanings overlap and where the boundaries are. The concept of semantic maps is relied on for plotting these relations. The book not only provides a thorough empirical study of English adverbs expressing certainty, it also contributes to a better theoretical understanding of the complexity of modal certainty, how it is related to speakers' goals and to other semantic areas. It is the first in-depth study of this kind, combining rich information on English as well as opening up perspectives for further empirical and theoretical research into modality.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 28. Feb 2023)