Meta-Informative Centering in Utterances: Between Semantics and Pragmatics PDF
Preview Meta-Informative Centering in Utterances: Between Semantics and Pragmatics
Meta-informative Centering in Utterances Studies in Language Companion Series (SLCS) This series has been established as a companion series to the periodical Studies in Language. For an overview of all books published in this series, please see http://benjamins.com/catalog/slcs Editors Werner Abraham Elly van Gelderen University of Vienna / Arizona State University University of Munich Editorial Board Bernard Comrie Christian Lehmann Max Planck Institute, Leipzig University of Erfurt and University of California, Santa Barbara Marianne Mithun William Croft University of California, Santa Barbara University of New Mexico Heiko Narrog Östen Dahl Tohuku University University of Stockholm Johanna L. Wood Gerrit J. Dimmendaal University of Aarhus University of Cologne Debra Ziegeler Ekkehard König University of Paris III Free University of Berlin Volume 143 Meta-informative Centering in Utterances Between Semantics and Pragmatics Edited by André Włodarczyk and Hélène Włodarczyk Meta-informative Centering in Utterances Between Semantics and Pragmatics Edited by André Włodarczyk Université Charles de Gaulle & Université Paris-Sorbonne Hélène Włodarczyk Université Paris-Sorbonne John Benjamins Publishing Company Amsterdam / Philadelphia TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of 8 the American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984. CIP data is available from the Library of Congress. Studies in Language Companion Series, issn 0165-7763 ; v. 143 isbn 978 90 272 0610 7 (Hb ; alk. paper) isbn 978 90 272 7114 3 (Eb) © 2013 – John Benjamins B.V. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher. John Benjamins Publishing Co. · P.O. Box 36224 · 1020 me Amsterdam · The Netherlands John Benjamins North America · P.O. Box 27519 · Philadelphia pa 19118-0519 · usa Table of contents Preface vii Introduction ix André Włodarczyk & Hélène Włodarczyk part 1. Associative semantics and meta-informative centering Roles and anchors of semantic situations 3 André Włodarczyk Frames of semantic situations 21 André Włodarczyk Grounding of the meta-informative status of utterances 41 André Włodarczyk Attention-centered information in language 59 Hélène Włodarczyk part 2. Neuropsychological evidence for the MIC theory Semantic and episodic memory by reference to the ontological grounding of the old and new meta-informative status 103 Franz J. Stachowiak Tracing the role of memory and attention for the meta-informative validation of utterances 121 Franz J. Stachowiak part 3. Meta-informative centering in languages It-clefts in the Meta-Informative structure of the utterance in modern and present-day English 145 Ana Elina Martínez-Insua & Javier Pérez-Guerra Discourse coherence and referent identification of subject ellipsis in Japanese 167 Shigeko Nariyama vi Meta-informative Centering in Utterances Structure of centre of attention in a multi-party conversation in Japanese: Based on the data of a review meeting concerning a Science Café held in Hiroshima 183 Miki Saijo Verbal aspect in Slavic languages between semantics and pragmatics 193 Hélène Włodarczyk The position in the utterance and the melodic realisation of object and reflexive pronouns in classical modern literary Russian 231 Olivier Azam Accented and unaccented pronouns in Ancient Greek: A pragmatic choice by the speaker 259 Jean-Christophe Pitavy Personal subject pronouns and the meta-informative centering of utterances in classical Latin 285 Perrine Vedrenne-Cloquet Glossary of defined terminology 297 Index 303 Preface The papers in this volume are a selection of lectures delivered at three consecutive MIC Sorbonne workshops in Paris: Discourse coherence – text and theory (2008), Context-bound Communication (2010) and New standards for language studies (2012). Another selection relating specifically to Slavic languages has been pub- lished in French in the Revue des Études Slaves (2009, vol. 80/1–2). The editors and co-authors benefitted a great deal from discussions with the programme commit- tee members and participants before, during and after the workshops. Sachiko Ide (former President of the International Pragmatics Association, Women’s University, Tokyo), Istvan Kecskes (President of the American Pragmatics Association, New York State University, Albany), Masao Aizawa (Vice-President of The Japanese Language National Institute, Tachikawa) and Yasunari Harada (Director at the Institute for DECODE = Digital Enhancement of Cognitive Development, Waseda University, Tokyo) have played an important role in the dissemination and development of various aspects of the MIC theory. Grants for a research exchange program with the Jagiellonian University (Cracow) as well as invited lectures delivered by the editors at Waseda University (Tokyo), The Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw University (Warsaw), The Japanese Language National Institute (Tachikawa), and New York State University at Albany allowed us to discuss many MIC theoretical issues. We have been very privileged to have received help and advice from dis- tinguished scholars. We wish to thank especially professors Werner Abraham (Vienna University), Elisabeth Leiss (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), Radosław Katarzyniak (Wrocław University of Technology, Poland) and Robin K. Burk (USMA, West Point, Dept. of Electrical Engineering & Computer S cience). Last but not least, the editors also held discussions on various occasions with their colleagues from CELTA Sorbonne research group: Jan Pekelder, Paul-Louis Thomas, Stéphane Viellard and the late Jean Breuillard and Michel Viel, all of them being professors at Paris-Sorbonne University, as well as Claude Delmas (professor at Sorbonne Nouvelle University) and Claude Guimier (professor at Caen University). They have all contributed a great deal in one form or another to the realisation of our research plans. A special and personal thank you goes also to our friend, Dr Rosemary Masters, for her translations of a few chapters, careful rereading of, and insightful comments on all the chapters of this book. viii Meta-informative Centering in Utterances Acknowledements The publisher and editors wish to thank the Slavic Studies Institute (PAN – P olish Academy of Science) for permission to print the paper by André Włodarczyk (“Roles and Anchors of Semantic Situations”, Études Cognitives – Studia kogni- tywne 8, SOW, Warszawa 2008, p. 53–70) as well as the English translation of the paper by the same author (“Les Cadres des situations sémantiques”, Études Cognitives – Studia Kognitywne 5, Warszawa 2003, p. 35–51). Introduction André Włodarczyk & Hélène Włodarczyk Université Charles de Gaulle / Université Paris-Sorbonne, Centre de Linguistique Théorique et Appliquée (CELTA Sorbonne) 1. Information and meta-information At the beginning of the 21st century, the study of communication in human lan- guages still remains under the influence of the theory of information structure (Lambrecht 1994) which elaborates on the concepts of theme, rheme, and commu- nicative perspective. The meta-informative centering (MIC) theory is an alternative framework based on the concepts of centre of attention (CA), meta-information and the meta-informative status of information. Importantly, the MIC theory is built on associative semantics (AS) in which the concept of information is defined as a compound relational structure, which to some extent makes it compatible with the definition of information as often used in the field of computer (infor- mation) science. In order to explain how it is possible for the hearer to interpret a linguistic message (i.e. to build a mental representation of the situation spoken about) a mapping must be established between the linguistic form and its content, using some formalised representation of meaning. From the semantic point of view, the logical motivation for the formal representation of situations consists in reducing multi-argument relations solely to unary and binary ones, and combin- ing them in compound configurations. 2. Attention centering The origins of the MIC theory go back to Włodarczyk 1999 when we used the concept of “centre d’intérêt” (Fr. centre of interest) for the first time. This French term has since been replaced by that of “centre of attention” under the influence of the American centering theory (Grosz & Sidner 1986), and it underwent a few revi- sions and reassessments in the succeeding papers published in English. According to the MIC theory, because of the linear order of speech, no judgment may be uttered without selecting at least one centre of attention; thus centering is con- sidered as a structuring operation not only at the discourse/text level but also at
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