Overview

Understanding any communication depends on the listener or reader recognizing that some words refer to what has already been said or written (his, its, he, there, etc.). This mode of reference, anaphora, involves complicated cognitive and syntactic processes, which people usually perform unerringly, but which present formidable problems for the linguist and cognitive scientist trying to explain precisely how comprehension is achieved. Anaphora is thus a central research focus in syntactic and semantic theory, while understanding and modelling its operation in discourse are important targets in computational linguistics and cognitive science. Yan Huang provides an extensive and accessible overview of the major contemporary issues surrounding anaphora and gives a critical survey of the many and diverse contemporary approaches to it. He provides by far the fullest cross-linguistic account yet published: Dr Huang's survey and analysis are based on a rich collection of data drawn from around 550 of the world's languages. Topics covered include binding and control, null subjects and objects, long distance reflexivisation, logophoricity, bridging-cross reference, switch-reference, and discourse anaphora. Written by a leading expert on anaphora, the book will be the standard point of reference for all those interested in this important topic in theoretical linguistics. It will be a vital reference for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, on the interfaces between them, on linguistic typology, and on computational linguistics.

Full Product Details

Author:   Yan Huang (Professor of Linguistics,, Professor of Linguistics,, University of Reading)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 16.20cm , Height: 2.80cm , Length: 24.20cm
Weight:   0.735kg
ISBN:  

9780198235293

ISBN 10:   0198235291
Pages:   416
Publication Date:   17 August 2000
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Typologies of anaphora Introduction Typologies of anaphora Anaphora and syntactic categories Anaphora and truth-conditions Anaphora and contexts Anaphora and discourse: reference-tracking systems Organisation of the book Syntactic approaches to anaphora Classical Chomskyan theory of anaphora Typology of NPs Binding theory Control theory Revisions and alternatives Summary Null subjects and null objects Null subjects Null objects Summary Long-distance reflexivisation The phenomenon Properties and theoretical issues Long-distance reflexivisation in generative grammar Summary Conclusion Semantic approaches to anaphora VP-ellipsis Definition and properties Theoretical issues Two general approaches: syntactically oriented versus semantically oriented Summary Binding and control: some semantic alternatives Binding Control Summary Logophoricity Background Logophoric pronouns in African languages Long-distance reflexives in East Asian languages Discourse representation Summary Conclusion Pragmatic approaches to anaphora A neo-Gricean pragmatic theory A revised neo-Gricean pragmatic theory of anaphora The general pattern of anaphora A revised neo-Gricean pragmatic theory Application Summary Some other pragmatic/cognitive/functional approaches Relevance theory Accessibility theory Prague School functionalism Summary 'Syntactic' versus 'pragmatic': a new typology of language? The pragmaticness of anaphora in a pragmatic language The prominence of 'Chinese-style' topic constructions in a pragmatic language Explaining the differences: parametric or typological? Summary Conclusion Switch-reference and discourse anaphora Switch-reference The phenomenon Switch-reference and related phenomena Two general approaches and beyond: syntactically oriented versus semantically oriented, and perhaps pragmatically oriented Summary Discourse anaphora The problem of anaphoric distribution in discourse The topic continuity or distance-interference model The hierarchy model The cognitive model The pragmatic model Summary Conclusion Conclusions Notes References Index of names Index of languages and language families Index of subjects

Reviews

Huang's book is extremely rich in coverage ... [I]t is an excellent and recommendable reference work ... Anaphora, besides being a comprehensive summary of the state of the art, tries to come to grips with intricate problems in a stimulating and sometimes controversial manner. For anybody interested in anaphora, this book can be expected to serve as a major point of orientation for many years to come. Language Huang's book is an important contribution to the study of anaphora. The wealth of crosslinguistic data (over 500 languages from various language families are represented), and especially the emphasis on switch-reference and related phenomena, fill a gap that often exists in other theoretical work on this topic ... Huang's main theoretical contribution is the unified neo-Gricean account of anaphora. Journal of Pragmatics

Author Information

Yan Huang is Professor of Linguistics, Department of Linguistic Science, University of Reading.

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