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Overview"In this book, the author argues that words should be presumed initially to be monosemic: having a single, highly abstract meaning. Semantic research should first seek a unitary meaning, resorting to polysemy, homonymy or idiomaticity only when an extended attempt fails. Utilizing a large data base, this book shows that some supposed ""lexical"" semantic meaning is actually pragmatic or extralinguistic. Included are extensive treatments of the verbs bear, hit, kick and slap, the phrase take off, and the noun ice. Ruhl studies linguistic research methods and theory, most directly relevant to the fields of semantics and pragmatics, and also to lexicography, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence. The hypothesis of monosemy implies significant changes of perspective and application for all fields which deal in lexical definition." Full Product DetailsAuthor: Charles RuhlPublisher: State University of New York Press Imprint: State University of New York Press Dimensions: Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm Weight: 0.445kg ISBN: 9780887069475ISBN 10: 0887069479 Pages: 299 Publication Date: 17 July 1989 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Manufactured on demand We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier. Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Chapter 1 Monosemy 1.1 Monosemic Bias 1.2 Modularity 1.3 Systematicity 1.4 Data: Use and Intuition 1.5 Heterogeneity 1.6 Minds and Realities Chapter 2 The Verb Bear 2.1 Preliminaries 2.2 Intransitives 2.3 Transitives 2.4 Reflexed Transitives 2.5 Concrete-Abstract 2.6 Ellipsis 2.7 Metonymic Inferences Chapter 3 Openness 3.1 Synchrony 3.2 Diachrony 3.3 Innovation 3.4 Pragmatic Specialization 3.5 Pragmatic Generalization Chapter 4 The Verb Hit 4.1 Indirection 4.2 Set Phrases 4.3 Implicit Contexts 4.4 Contacts and Impacts 4.5 Unity and Diversity 4.6 Stereotypes Chapter 5 Form and Meaning 5.1 Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics 5.2 Conscious Distortion 5.3 Unconscious Distortion 5.4 Context 5.5 Theories and People Chapter 6 Idioms and Particles 6.1 Idioms 6.2 Particles Chapter 7 Definition 7.1 The Shape of a Vocabulary 7.2 Semantic-Pragmatic 7.3 The Noun Ice 7.4 Lexical Shape 7.5 Semantic Unities 7.6 Semantic and Pragmatic Diversities Chapter 8 The Verbs Kick and Slap 8.1 Literal Kick 8.2 Figurative Kick 8.3 The Verb Slap Chapter 9 Summary Data References Abbreviations in References Other Abbreviations Notes References IndexReviewsMany of the themes of the book are new and innovative. The value of the book is in its principles of semantic analysis and its fresh perspectives. The book is critical of current work without being hostile or polemical like much of recent work in linguistic semantics. Ruhl's positions are well-argued and supported by sentence data from actual texts rather than from made-up sentences. The book continues a tone of theory development that Ruhl has been following in published articles during the last 15 years or so. It will have a definite impact on the field of semantic analysis and move linguistic semantics closer to the interpretations of meaning in the other social sciences. For example, work on metaphor, work on discourse, and work on emergent grammar. This topic is especially current right now and it is very central to the on-going controversy involving semantic interpretation, either as multiple meaning or unified meaning of words. I would like to underscore the importance of the book and its insights. I think it is a really good book. - James Copeland, Rice University Author InformationCharles Ruhl is Associate Professor of English at Old Dominion University. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |