19.972, Diss: Historical Ling/Pragmatics/Semantics/Syntax: Whitt: 'Evidenti...'

Sat Mar 22 22:48:10 UTC 2008

LINGUIST List: Vol-19-972. Sat Mar 22 2008. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 19.972, Diss: Historical Ling/Pragmatics/Semantics/Syntax: Whitt: 'Evidenti...'

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

Reviews: Randall Eggert, U of Utah  
         <reviews at linguistlist.org> 

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org/

The LINGUIST List is funded by Eastern Michigan University, 
and donations from subscribers and publishers.

Editor for this issue: Evelyn Richter <evelyn at linguistlist.org>
================================================================  

To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at
http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.html.

===========================Directory==============================  

1)
Date: 20-Mar-2008
From: Richard Whitt < jasonwhitt at mindspring.com >
Subject: Evidentiality and Perception Verbs in English and German: A corpus-based analysis from the early modern period to the present

-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:43:38
From: Richard Whitt [jasonwhitt at mindspring.com]
Subject: Evidentiality and Perception Verbs in English and German: A corpus-based analysis from the early modern period to the present
E-mail this message to a friend:
http://linguistlist.org/issues/emailmessage/verification.cfm?iss=19-972.html&submissionid=172863&topicid=14&msgnumber=1  

Institution: University of California, Berkeley 
Program: Department of German 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2008 

Author: Richard Jason Whitt

Dissertation Title: Evidentiality and Perception Verbs in English and German: A 
corpus-based analysis from the early modern period to the
present 

Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics
                     Pragmatics
                     Semantics
                     Syntax

Subject Language(s): English (eng)
                     German, Standard (deu)

Dissertation Director(s):
Eve E. Sweetser
Irmengard Rauch
Thomas F. Shannon

Dissertation Abstract:

Perception verbs-those verbs denoting sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell-in
English and German are capable of signifying an evidential meaning in addition
to the general sense of perception, i.e. they encode the speaker's evidence for
the proposition. The type of evidence can be either direct (as in first-hand
perception) or indirect (as in hearsay or inference). There is virtually no
literature examining the evidential use of perception verbs in English and
German, and hence we know very little about how perception shaping our
epistemology is linguistically expressed in Germanic. My corpus-based study of
perception verbs in English and German from the Early Modern Period to the
Present reveals that not only is the high degree of polysemy expressed by some
perception verbs evinced in the evidential domain as well, but also that certain
evidential meanings are bound to certain complementation patterns/construction
types of the perception verbs.

In Chapter 1, I provide an overview of evidentiality and perception verbs,
discussing issues such as the nature of evidentiality and evidential meaning,
evidentiality's relationship to modality, evidential markers in English and
German, general perception verb typology, and the nature of an evidential
perception verb (i.e. a perception verb that deictically indicates evidential
meaning in addition to the denotation of sensory perception). I also discuss the
various complementation patterns or other types of constructions where
evidential meaning can be found (established by the corpus study): 1. 
Perception Verb + Finite Complementizer Clause (PV + FCC); 2.  Perception Verb +
Direct Object + Non-Finite Verb (PV + DO + NFV); 3.  Perception Verb +
Prepositional Phrase (PV + PP); 4. Perception Verb + Adjective (PV + ADJ); 5. 
Perception Verb + Conjunction + Clause (PV + CONJ + C); 6.  Perception Verb +
(Infinitive Copula) + Adjective/Noun/Adjective + Noun (PV + {IC + ADJ; (IC) + N;
(IC) + ADJ + N}); English only; 7.  Parenthetical Constructions (PARENTH); 8.
Perception Verb External to the Clause (EXT). I note how certain evidential
meanings are bound to specific complementation patterns/construction types (e.g.
direct perception is always found in the PV + DO + NFV construction but never
with parentheticals). I also discuss other issues germane to the topic of
evidentiality and perception verbs: polysemy, subjectivity and subjectivization,
bleaching and grammaticalization, and text type/genre.

In Chapter 2, I focus on the verbs of visual perception. SEE and LOOK from
English and German SEHEN and AUSSEHEN provide the data. I provide quantative
results of what types of complementation patterns each verb occurs in (where
evidential meaning can be found) and discuss the particulars of each verb.

Auditory perception is the focus of Chapter 3, with HEAR and SOUND serving as
the English data, while HÖREN, (SICH) ANHÖREN, and KLINGEN provide evidence from
German. Quantitative results are presented in tandem with discussions of
specific coomplementation patterns.

In Chapter 4, I examine English FEEL and German FÜHLEN in light of tactile
perception.

Given the small amount of data available for olfactory and gustatory perception,
both of these sensory modalities are covered in Chapter 5. SMELL and TASTE from
English and RIECHEN and SCHMECKEN from German serve as the basis for discussion.

Throughout the dissertation, I discuss issues such as the presence of modal
verbs or cognitive verbs (e.g. think) in conjunction with perception verbs, the
role of negation, and aspectual distinctions where relevant. I also focus on the
salient similarities and disparities between the English and German data.

In the conclusion I briefly summarize my findings, as well as suggest directions
for future research.

-----------------------------------------------------------

This Year the LINGUIST List hopes to raise $60,000. 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 our Fund Drive 
2008 LINGUIST List Circus and join us on our many shows!

http://linguistlist.org/fund-drive/2008/

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/donate.html

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-19-972	