Jörg Meibauer

Rita Finkbeiner

Petra B. Schumacher

Context is a core notion of linguistic theory. However, while there are numerous attempts at explaining single aspects of the notion of context, these attempts are rather diverse and do not easily converge to a unified theory of context. The present multi-faceted collection of papers reconsiders the notion of context and its challenges for linguistics from different theoretical and empirical angles. Part I offers insights into a wide range of current approaches to context, including theoretical pragmatics, neurolinguistics, clinical pragmatics, interactional linguistics, and psycholinguistics. Part II presents new empirical findings on the role of context from case studies on idioms, unarticulated constituents, argument linking, and numerically-quantified expressions. Bringing together different theoretical frameworks, the volume provides thought-provoking discussions of how the notion of context can be understood, modeled, and implemented in linguistics. It is essential for researchers interested in theoretical and applied linguistics, the semantics/pragmatics interface, and experimental pragmatics.

Linguistic Approaches and Challenges

What is a Context?

Ulrike Freywald

The exact iteration of phonemes, morphemes, words, sentences, and utterances is a ubiquitous phenomenon in language. While much has been said about how to separate reduplication from 'mere' repetition, the fuzzy grey area in between these two domain

Exact Repetition in Grammar and Discourse

Heike Wiese

Though “pejoration” is an important notion for linguistic analysis and theory, there is still a lack of theoretical understanding and sound descriptive analysis. In this timely collection, the phenomenon of pejoration is studied from a number of angles. It contains studies from phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics, and deals with diverse languages and their variants. The collection will appeal to all those linguists with a genuine interest in locating pejoration at the grammar-pragmatics interface.

Pejoration

Franz d’ Avis

Expressivität bezeichnet eine Dimension von Bedeutung, die weder deskriptiv noch theoretisch leicht zu fassen ist. Der vorliegende Band konzentriert sich auf Expressivität im Deutschen und setzt sich zum Ziel, unterschiedliche Verständnisweisen des Begriffs anhand von empirisch-deskriptiven Studien auf unterschiedlichen Beschreibungsebenen und aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven auszuloten, um so Möglichkeiten aufzuzeigen, wie sich Expressivität im Rahmen der germanistischen Linguistik genauer fassen lässt. Einen ersten Themenbereich bildet damit die Frage nach dem Begriff der Expressivität. Welche Rolle spielen Kriterien wie Nicht-Wahrheitsfunktionalität und Emotivität? Ist es überhaupt möglich, eine uniforme Bestimmung von Expressivität zu geben? Ein zweiter Themenbereich betrifft die Frage, welche sprachlichen Phänomene im Zusammenhang mit expressiver Bedeutung relevant sind. Für das Deutsche lassen sich auf allen linguistischen Ebenen Phänomene finden, für die eine Einordnung in den Bereich expressiver Bedeutung diskutiert werden kann. Die Relevanz des Bandes liegt in seiner Erschließung des theoretischen Konzepts der Expressivität für die Beschreibung einer Einzelsprache, nämlich des Deutschen. Umgekehrt sind von der Bündelung von empirischen Studien zum Deutschen auch Impulse für die Weiterentwicklung des theoretischen Begriffs der Expressivität zu erwarten.

Expressivität im Deutschen

Most scholars define reduplication as a formally restricted grammatical process, neatly distinguishing it from 'mere' repetition as a discoursal option. However, there is a fuzzy grey area between the two processes that has rarely been explored so far. In this timely collection, the phenomenon of exact repetition, understood broadly as the systematic iteration of one and the same linguistic item within relatively close syntactic proximity, is investigated from a number of angles. The volume contains studies from phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, and deals with a broad range of languages, including alleged 'reduplication avoiders'. In bringing together different theoretical perspectives, phenomenological domains, and methodologies, and in linking the fields of syntax and discourse to those of morphology and morphophonology, the volume provides new insights into the structure and meaning of exact repetition phenomena, and, more generally, into their status within a theory of language. The collection will appeal to formally and functionally oriented scholars from all subfields of linguistics, including typology.

Rita Finkbeiner

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