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Book Cover
E-book
Author McCready, Elin, author

Title The semantics and pragmatics of honorification : register and social meaning / Elin McCready
Edition First edition
Published Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2019
©2019

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Description 1 online resource (vi, 146 pages)
Series Oxford studies in semantics and pragmatics ; 11
Oxford studies in semantics and pragmatics ; 11.
Contents Introduction -- Honorification as expressive -- A theory of register for honorification -- Utterance honorifics -- Argument honorifics -- Role honorifics -- Pronouns and honorification -- Honorification as social meaning -- References -- Index
Summary This book explores the semantics and pragmatics of honorifics, expressions that indicate the degree of formality that a speaker feels is required in interacting with another person. Although these expressions are found in many languages worldwide, this volume is the first to approach the area from the perspective of formal semantics and pragmatics. Elin McCready treats honorifics - and expressions with honorific import - as carriers of expressive content that contributes either directly or indirectly to a register corresponding to the current formality of the speech situation. The analysis is applied to a variety of empirical examples, including utterance and argument honorifics in Japanese, Thai, and several other languages. It is proposed that the distinct strategies that different languages use for honorification have implications for the grammaticality of certain combination of honorifics. The volume also explores the connections between honorification and a range of theoretical issues in social meaning and the expression of gender. It will hence appeal not only to researchers in formal semantics and pragmatics, but also to sociolinguists, anthropological linguists, and philosophers
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Online resource; title from PDF title page (viewed May 19, 2020)
Subject Grammar, Comparative and general -- Honorific.
Semantics.
Pragmatics.
Semantics
semantics.
pragmatics.
Grammar, Comparative and general -- Honorific.
Pragmatics.
Semantics.
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780191860706
0191860700
0192554468
9780192554468