This textbook, designed for courses in first-and-second language education, provides a "big picture" view of basic linguistics through readings organized in 3 thematic units-"What is Language and How is it Acquired?"; "How Does Language Change?"; and "Wh

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.

This text aims to examine the nature of text and context, using theoretical models based in the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL).

Corpus Linguistics, Context and Culture demonstrates the potential of corpus linguistic methods for investigating language patterns across a range of contexts. Organised in three sections, the chapters range from detailed case studies on lexico-grammatical patterns to fundamental discussions of meaning as part of the ‘discourse, contexts and cultures’ theme. The final part on ‘learner contexts’ specifically emphasises the need for mixed-method approaches and the consideration of pedagogical implications for real world contexts. Beyond its contribution to current debates in the field, this edited volume indicates new directions in cross-disciplinary work.

This book explores the importance of Cognitive Linguistics for specialized language within the context of Frame-based Terminology (FBT). FBT uses aspects of Frame Semantics, coupled with premises from Cognitive Linguistics to structure specialized domains and create non-language-specific knowledge representations. Corpus analysis provides information regarding the syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of specialized knowledge units. Also studied is the role of metaphor and metonymy in specialized texts. The first section explains the purpose and structure of the book. The second section gives an overview of basic concepts, theories, and applications in Terminology and Cognitive Linguistics. The third section explains the Frame-based Terminology approach. The fourth section explores the role of contextual information in specialized knowledge representation as reflected in linguistic contexts and graphical information. The final section highlights the conclusions that can be derived from this study.

This book presents new issues in the study of the interface of emotions and language, and their use in social context. Two fundamental questions are tackled: the way different languages encode emotional information and the core role emotions play in languages' structure, use and learning. Seldom treated means of expressing emotions (such as interjections, conditionals, scalarity, allocentric constructions), the social and professional impact of emotions and the latest developments in the interface of speech recognition / emotions are some of the key contributions to this volume. The cross-cultural perspective contrasts new couples of languages (among which Australian aboriginal languages, Cypriot Greek, Italian, Japanese, Romanian, Russian) and addresses sociolinguistic, pragmatic and discursive issues. Most of the papers attempt interesting theoretical articulations that aim at a better understanding of the linguistic and sociolinguistic nature of emotions. This book will be highly relevant for students and researchers interested in emotions, semantics, pragmatics, discourse analysis, as well as prosody and philosophy of language.

This book is a guide to understanding and applying the essential, heretofore elusive, notion of context in language study and pedagogy. Éva Illés offers a new, critical, systematic theoretical framework, then applies that framework to practical interactions and issues in communicative language teaching rooted in English as a Lingua Franca. By linking theory and practice for research and teaching around the world, this book brings a new awareness of how context can be conceptualised and related to language pedagogy to advanced students, teachers, teacher educators and researchers of language teaching, applied linguistics and pragmatics.

A number of previous approaches to linguistic borrowing and contact phenomena in general have concluded that there are no formal boundaries whatsoever to the kinds of material that can pass from one language into another. At the same time, various hierarchies illustrate that some things are indeed more likely to be borrowed than others. Linguistic Borrowing in Bilingual Contexts addresses both, by examining claims of no absolute limits and synthesizing various hierarchies. It observes that all contact phenomena are systematic, and borrowing is no exception. Regarding forms, the determining factors lie in the nature of the morphological systems in contact and how they relate to one another. Two principles are proposed to determine the nature of the systematicity and interaction: the Principle of System Compatibility (PSC), and its corollary, the Principle of System Incompatibility (PSI). Together, these principles provide a consistent account of the possibilities and limits to borrowing.

Sign Languages: Structures and Contexts provides a succinct summary of major findings in the linguistic study of natural sign languages. Focusing on American Sign Language (ASL), this book: offers a comprehensive introduction to the basic grammatical components of phonology, morphology, and syntax with examples and illustrations; demonstrates how sign languages are acquired by Deaf children with varying degrees of input during early development, including no input where children create a language of their own; discusses the contexts of sign languages, including how different varieties are formed and used, attitudes towards sign languages, and how language planning affects language use; is accompanied by e-resources, which host links to video clips. Offering an engaging and accessible introduction to sign languages, this book is essential reading for students studying this topic for the first time with little or no background in linguistics.