English Abstract Nouns as Conceptual Shells: From Corpus to Cognition / Edition 1

by Hans-Jörg Schmid

Overview

No detailed description available for "English Abstract Nouns as Conceptual Shells".

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783110167672
Publisher:	De Gruyter
Publication date:	08/21/2000
Series:	Topics in English Linguistics [TiEL] , #34
Edition description:	Reprint 2012
Pages:	468
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.06(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Table of Contents

Part I	Foundations: Theory, terminology and methodology	1
1.	Introduction	3
2.	Approaching shell nouns	10
2.1	The term shell noun	10
2.2	Defining shell nouns and shell-content complexes in functional terms	13
2.3	A brief note on the theoretical stance	20
3.	The links between shell nouns and contents	21
3.1	Triggering co-interpretation	21
3.1.1	Lexico-grammatical patterns of shell-noun uses	21
3.1.2	From identity of reference to experiential identity	27
3.2	The semantic contributions of different types of complements: a survey of the evidence from verbal complementation	31
3.3	Basic functions of shell-noun typical patterns	36
4.	The systematic investigation of shell nouns	38
4.1	The From-Corpus-to-Cognition Principle	38
4.2	Data retrieval	40
4.3	Cleaning up the data	48
4.4	Systematic misses of the corpus inquiry	51
4.5	A survey of the results of the corpus inquiry	53
5.	Semantic prerequisites	63
5.1	Abstractness	63
5.1.1	Extensional abstractness and classes of abstract entities	63
5.1.2	Stylistic abstractness and grammatical metaphor	70
5.2	Unspecificity and structure-inherent semantic gaps	73
5.3	Summary of Part I	80
Part II	The use of shell nouns	83
6.	Describing shell-noun uses	85
6.1	Degrees of typicality	85
6.2	Explaining the meanings of shell-noun uses: features and frames	87
7.	Factual uses	92
7.1	Introduction	92
7.2	Neutral uses	93
7.3	Causal uses	101
7.4	Evidential uses	110
7.5	Comparative uses	113
7.6	Partitive uses	116
7.7	Attitudinal factual uses	120
8.	Linguistic uses	131
8.1	Introduction	131
8.2	Propositional uses	139
8.3	Illocutionary uses	147
8.3.1	Assertive uses	153
8.3.2	Rogative uses	166
8.3.3	Directive uses	170
8.3.4	Commissive uses	176
8.3.5	Expressive uses	181
9.	Mental uses	184
9.1	Introduction	184
9.2	Conceptual uses	188
9.3	Psychological-state uses	195
9.3.1	Creditive uses	195
9.3.2	Dubitative uses	208
9.3.3	Volitional uses	209
9.3.4	Emotive uses	226
10.	Modal uses	231
10.1	Introduction	231
10.2	Epistemic uses	235
10.3	Deontic uses	244
10.4	Dynamic uses	251
11.	Eventive uses	261
11.1	Introduction	261
11.2	General eventive uses	262
11.3	Specific eventive uses	266
11.4	Attitudinal eventive uses	270
12.	Circumstantial uses	275
12.1	Introduction	275
12.2	General circumstantial uses	277
12.3	Specific circumstantial uses	279
13.	Summary of Part II	292
Part III	Functions of shell nouns	301
14.	Introduction to Part III	303
15.	Semantic functions	308
15.1	The characterizing potential inherent in shell nouns	308
15.2	Characterization expressed by premodifiers	317
16.	Pragmatic, rhetorical and textual functions	329
16.1	Focusing and topicalizing	329
16.2	Linking	339
16.3	Signposting	349
17.	Cognitive functions	360
17.1	Conceptual partitioning	360
17.2	Reifying and hypostatizing	363
17.3	Integrating	370
18.	Conclusion and outlook	377
	Appendix	381
	Notes	409
	References	421
	Index of shell nouns	443
	Index of subjects	453

Editorial Reviews

Schmid's study is concerned with a class of abstract nouns and their linguistic environments. Among the most typical and frequent examples are the words , words called "shell nouns" that Schmid arranges into the following classes: factual (), linguistic (), mental (), modal (), eventive (), and circumstantial (). These nouns are classified as "shell" not because they are immutably shell-like but because they have the potential for being used as conceptual shells for complex, proposition-like pieces of information. In this dissertation-like study, Schmid attempts to lend some specificity to one of the vaguer classes of English words by exploring the uses and functions of some 670 examples. No information on the author is provided. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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