6.294 New Books: Discourse, Pragmatics, Syntax

[The Linguist List]

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-6-294. Sat 25 Feb 1995. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines: 123
 
Subject: 6.294 New Books: Discourse, Pragmatics, Syntax
 
Moderators: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar: Texas A&M U. <aristar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
            Helen Dry: Eastern Michigan U. <hdry at emunix.emich.edu>
 
Asst. Editors: Ron Reck <rreck at emunix.emich.edu>
               Ann Dizdar <dizdar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
               Ljuba Veselinova <lveselin at emunix.emich.edu>
 
------------------------------- Note ------------------------------------------
 
Additional information on the following books, as well as a short backlist
of the publisher's titles, may be available from the Listserv.  Instructions
for retrieving publishers' backlists appear at the end of this issue.
 
------------------------------New Books-------------------------------------
DISCOURSE
 
Levinsohn, Stephen H.; DISCOURSE FEATURES OF TEN LANGUAGES OF
WEST-CENTRAL AFRICA; Pb.; ISBN: 0-88312-619-2; ix,241pp.; $30.00.
Summer Institute of Linguistics and University of Texas Arlington.
Twelve contributers describe discourse features of ten
Niger-Congo and Chadic languages of Cameroon and bordering
countries, using data that includes folktales and other
narratives. Discussions include how coherence is maintained,
participant reference, and markers of prominence and
backgrounding.
Internet: academic.books at sil.org          Discourse; Africa
 
PRAGMATICS
 
Rudanko, Juhani. 1993. Pragmatic Approaches to Shakespeare. Essays
on Othello, Coriolanus and Timon of Athens.
        Lanham, New York and London: The University Press of America.
        Field: Pragmatics and its Application to Literature.
The book  develops methods of linguistic pragmatics that can, it is
suggested, be applied to the study of dramatic dialogue in three
Shakespearean tragedies. As far as Othello is concerned, the methods
applied include topic analysis and case grammar analysis, the latter
applied to soliloquies; in the case of Coriolanus there is a focus
on speech act analysis, and as for Timon of Athens, it is proposed
that politeness theory sheds light on themes of the play. It
is argued that the practical application of methods of linguistic
pragmatics contributes to a better understanding of the three plays
as dramatic works of art and also leads to the further refinement
of the methods themselves as tools of analysis.
 
 
 
SYNTAX
 
The Malfrfpirannssknir (Linguist Research) series:
 
Volume I: Fridrik Magnusson: Kjarnafaersla og tad-innskot i
aukasetningum i islensku (Topicalization and tad-insertion in
Subordinate Clauses in Icelandic). Prize: USD 14.
The main theme of this work is a study on topicalization and
tad-insertion in Icelandic, the author giving a great many examples to
support his theory. He works whitin the generative tradition, and
begins the book with an introducion on generative grammar and
X'-theory. He also examines word order in Icelandic and related
languages and the methods of describing it.
 
 
Volume II: Eirikur Rognvaldsson: Um ordarod og faerslur i islensku (On
Word Order and Movement in Icelandic). Prize: USD 14.
The author's main subject is positional transformations in
Icelandic. He begins by giving an account of the basic structure of
Icelandic sentences, and then turns to movement, topicalization,
extraposition, indefinite subject-shift, and indefinite
NP-shift. Finally, he examines the role of movement and its
constraints.
 
To order the books from Malfrfpirannssknir (Linguist Research) series,
please write to:
 
Institute of Linguistics
University of Iceland
Arnagardur v/Sudurgotu
101 Reykjavik
Iceland
 
e-mail: malvis at rhi.hi.is
 
-----------------------How to get a publisher's backlist-----------------------
Simply send a message to:
 
      Listserv at tamvm1.tamu.edu    (Internet)
           or
      Listserv at tamvm1             (Bitnet)
 
The message should consist of the single line:
 
get publishername lst linguist
 
For example, to get more information on a book published by Mouton
de Gruyter, send the message:
       get mouton lst linguist
 
At the moment, the following lists are available:
      benjamin lst    (John Benjamins)
      erlbaum lst     (Lawrence Erlbaum)
      kluwer lst      (Kluwer Academic Publishers)
      mouton lst      (Mouton de Gruyter)
      sil lst         (Summer Institute of Linguistics)
      ucp lst         (University of Chicago Press)
      glsa lst        (U. of Massachusetts Graduate Linguistics Association)
      osuwpl lst      (Ohio State Working Papers in Linguistics)
      cornell lst     (Cornell University Linguistics Dept.)
      USC lst         (U. of S. California Dissertation List)
      CSLI lst        (CSLI List)
 
 
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LINGUIST List: Vol-6-294.