23.1130, Diss: Semantics/Pragmatics: Zaki: 'The Semantics and Pragmatics of Demonstratives in English and Arabic'

linguist at linguistlist.org linguist at linguistlist.org
Tue Mar 6 16:43:19 UTC 2012


LINGUIST List: Vol-23-1130. Tue Mar 06 2012. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 23.1130, Diss: Semantics/Pragmatics: Zaki: 'The Semantics and Pragmatics of Demonstratives in English and Arabic'

Moderators: Anthony Aristar, Eastern Michigan U <aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Aristar-Dry, Eastern Michigan U <hdry at linguistlist.org>

Reviews: Veronika Drake, U of Wisconsin-Madison
Monica Macaulay, U of Wisconsin-Madison
Rajiv Rao, U of Wisconsin-Madison
Joseph Salmons, U of Wisconsin-Madison
Anja Wanner, U of Wisconsin-Madison
       <reviews at linguistlist.org>

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org

The LINGUIST List is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing the
discipline of linguistics with the infrastructure necessary to function in
the digital world. Donate to keep our services freely available!
https://linguistlist.org/donation/donate/donate1.cfm

Editor for this issue: Xiyan Wang <xiyan at linguistlist.org>
================================================================  

Visit LL's Multitree project for over 1000 trees dynamically generated
from scholarly hypotheses about language relationships:
          http://multitree.linguistlist.org/
					
					
To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at
http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.cfm.


Date: Tue, 06 Mar 2012 11:42:57
From: Mai Zaki [m.zaki at mdx.ac.uk]
Subject: The Semantics and Pragmatics of Demonstratives in English and Arabic

E-mail this message to a friend:
http://linguistlist.org/issues/emailmessage/verification.cfm?iss=23-1130.html&submissionid=4541815&topicid=14&msgnumber=1
 
Institution: Middlesex University, UK 
Program: PhD in Linguistics 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2011 

Author: Mai Zaki

Dissertation Title: The Semantics and Pragmatics of Demonstratives in English
and Arabic 

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics
                     Linguistic Theories
                     Pragmatics
                     Semantics
                     Text/Corpus Linguistics

Subject Language(s): Arabic, Standard (arb)
                     English (eng)


Dissertation Director(s):
Billy Clark

Dissertation Abstract:

This research investigates the semantics and pragmatics of demonstratives
in two languages, English and Arabic, within the framework of relevance
theory. The study applies the fundamental distinction between 'conceptual'
and 'procedural' semantics in an attempt to account for the various
instantiations of such referring expressions in the two languages. I argue
that demonstratives play a crucial role in aligning the discourse models of
the speaker and hearer by encoding procedural semantics instructing the
hearer to maintain or create a joint level of attention to the intended
referent as opposed to other referential candidates. Following Diessel
(2006), I take it that this notion of joint attention subsumes all the
cognitive and functional roles played by demonstratives in discourse. I
also argue that demonstratives encode a (pro)concept of distance which
falls under the scope of the attention-directing procedure, thus creating
the internal contrast between the intended referent and other candidate
referents. Within this proposal, I discuss how demonstratives can
contribute to both the explicit and the implicit levels of meaning by
virtue of the interaction between their encoded semantics and the context
in a relevance-driven framework. Compared to other referring expressions or
no referring expression at all, the role of a demonstrative achieves
relevance on the implicit level. It can either highlight a certain aspect
of the referent, or encourage the creation of weak implicatures, or signal
a certain cognitive/emotional attitude towards the referent. The study is
supported by an analysis of corpus data from both languages in order to
supplement theoretical proposals with attested evidence.

I further extend my analysis to include two areas. First, I discuss cases
of self-repair in spoken English discourse which involves the definite
article and demonstratives. By linking the notion of self-repair to that of
optimal relevance, I shed some light on the semantic and pragmatic
differences between these two referring expressions. Second, I extend my
analysis to include other forms of demonstratives in Arabic and explore
their semantic and pragmatic behaviour in discourse. I propose a procedural
account for the three forms attentional haa, kadhaalik and haakadhaa,
arguing that their contribution goes well beyond that of mere demonstrative
reference to that of being discourse markers encoding procedural
constraints on interpretation. I also investigate some alternative
syntactic structures where demonstratives occur, arguing that the stylistic
effect of emphasis which they give rise to can be explained in terms of
relevant cognitive effects. 






------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This Year the LINGUIST List hopes to raise $67,000. This money will go to help 
keep the List running by supporting all of our Student Editors for the coming
year.

See below for donation instructions, and don't forget to check out Fund 
Drive 2012 site!

http://linguistlist.org/fund-drive/2012/

There are many ways to donate to LINGUIST!

You can donate right now using our secure credit card form at  
https://linguistlist.org/donation/donate/donate1.cfm

Alternatively you can also pledge right now and pay later. To do so, go to: 
https://linguistlist.org/donation/pledge/pledge1.cfm

For all information on donating and pledging, including information on how to 
donate by check, money order, or wire transfer, please visit: 
http://linguistlist.org/donation/

The LINGUIST List is under the umbrella of Eastern Michigan University and as 
such can receive donations through the EMU Foundation, which is a registered 
501(c) Non Profit organization. Our Federal Tax number is 38-6005986. These 
donations can be offset against your federal and sometimes your state tax
return (U.S. tax payers only). For more information visit the IRS Web-Site,
or contact your financial advisor.

Many companies also offer a gift matching program, such that they will match 
any gift you make to a non-profit organization. Normally this entails your 
contacting your human resources department and sending us a form that the 
EMU Foundation fills in and returns to your employer. This is generally a
simple administrative procedure that doubles the value of your gift to
LINGUIST, without costing you an extra penny. Please take a moment to check if
your company operates such a program.

Thank you very much for your support of LINGUIST!
 


----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-23-1130	
----------------------------------------------------------
Visit LL's Multitree project for over 1000 trees dynamically generated
from scholarly hypotheses about language relationships:
          http://multitree.linguistlist.org/
					
					



More information about the LINGUIST mailing list