Why Language?: What Pragmatics Tells Us About Language And Communication

Jacques Moeschler

Published by De Gruyter Mouton 2021

Why Language?

What Pragmatics Tells Us About Language And Communication

Jacques Moeschler

Volume 25 in the series Mouton Series in Pragmatics [MSP]

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110723380

Overview
Contents

About this book

There is, at present, no book introducing the general issue of why language is specific to human beings, how it works, why language is not communication and communication is not language, why languages vary and how they evolved.
Based on the most recent works in linguistics and pragmatics, Why Language? addresses many questions that everyone has about language.

Starting from false claims about language and languages, showing that language is not communication and communication is not language, the first part (Language and Communication) ends by proposing a difference between linguistic rules and communicative principles. The second part (Language, Society, Discourse) includes domains of language and language uses which are generally taken as extrinsic to language, such as language variety, discourse and non-ordinary (literary) usages. Special attention is given to figures of discourse (metaphor, metonymy, irony) and literary usages such as narration and free indirect style.

The reader, either specialist or amateur in language science, will find a first and unique synthesis about what we know today about language and what we have yet to learn, sketching what could be the future of linguistics in the next decades.

This volume argues that

Language is used for communication but is not communication.
Linguistic rules are language specific, while communication is governed by pragmatic principles.
Language has social, discourse and non-ordinary (literary) usages.

Author / Editor information

Jacques Moeschler, University of Geneva, Switzerland.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Foreword Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
Caveats Publicly Available Download PDF	XI
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	XIII
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I: Language and communication
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
Chapter 1 Eight commonplace assumptions about language Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
Chapter 2 Why is language not communication, and why is communication not language? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
Chapter 3 Language structure and usage Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	66
Part II: Language, society, and discourse
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
Chapter 4 The social dimension of language Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	97
Chapter 5 Language and discourse Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
Chapter 6 Ordinary and non-ordinary usages of language Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	157
Chapter 7 Superpragmatics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
Conclusion: What we do and still do not know about language Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	206
Afterword Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
Glossary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
Name index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
Subject index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
Audience: Scholars and students of Linguistics, Psychology, Pedagogy, Philosophy, Computational Science, Anthropology, Neuroscience
Pages
- Front matter: 15
- Main content: 246
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 6
- Coloured Illustrations: 1
- Tables: 5
Keywords: Relevance Theory; Evolution of Language; Pragmatics

eBook

Published: August 23, 2021
ISBN: 9783110723380

Hardcover

Published: August 23, 2021
ISBN: 9783110723328

Paperback

Published: May 8, 2023
ISBN: 9783111266763