The Functions of ‹General Nouns›

Name: The Functions of ‹General Nouns›
Price: 68.00 CHF
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Author: Vera Benninghoven
ISBN: 978-3-631-76020-8

Benninghoven, Vera

The Functions of ‹General Nouns›

Theory and Corpus Analysis

by Vera Benninghoven (Author)

Linguistics

Series: English Corpus Linguistics, Volume 17

Summary

The author critically discusses the concept of ‹general nouns›, which Halliday/Hasan introduced in their approach to lexical cohesion (1976), and she provides a comprehensive overview of these nouns from a micro- and a macro-linguistic perspective. For the empirical analysis, the author compiled a corpus, which allows statements about a medium- and genre-specific use of ‹general nouns›. For this purpose, she developed an analytical tool, which takes into account formal and semantic features. The major outcome of the corpus analysis is that ‹general nouns› are much more flexible in form and function than Halliday/Hasan assumed and, most importantly, that they fulfil genre-specific functions some of which have not systematically been associated with lexical cohesion.

Excerpt

Cover
Title
Copyright
About the author(s)/editor(s)
About the book
This eBook can be cited
Danksagung
Table of Contents
List of tables and figures
1. Introduction
1.1 Aim of the study
1.2 Structure of the study
2. A linguistic discussion of ‘general nouns’
2.1 Halliday/Hasan’s approach to ‘general nouns’
2.1.1 The concept of ‘cohesion’
2.1.2 The concept of ‘reference’
2.1.3 The concept of ‘reiteration’
2.1.4 The concept of ‘general nouns’
2.2 Previous studies of ‘general nouns’
2.3 Critical evaluation of the status of ‘general nouns’
3. Approaches to general noun phrases across different linguistic disciplines
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The grammatical approach to general noun phrases
3.2.1 Classification of nouns
3.2.2 Modification
3.2.3 Classification of general noun phrase heads
3.3 The text-linguistic approach to general noun phrases
3.3.1 Constitutive features of textual communication
3.3.2 Regulative features of textual communication
3.3.3 Restricted and elaborated style of referencing
3.4 The pragmatic approach to general noun phrases
3.4.1 The Cooperative Principle
3.4.2 Vagueness in language
3.4.2.1 Defining vagueness
3.4.2.2 Types of vagueness
3.5 The cognitive approach to general noun phrases
3.5.1 Categorisation
3.5.2 Context-dependence of categories
3.5.3 Categorisation and general noun phrases
3.5.3.1 Introduction
3.5.3.2 General noun phrases as “empty containers”
3.5.3.3 General noun phrases as “full containers”
3.6 Summary: A workable definition of general noun phrases
4. Framework for the analysis of general noun phrases
4.1 Combination of structural and semantic parameters of general noun phrases
4.1.1 Structural parameters of general noun phrases: +/- Modification
4.1.1.1 Non-modified general noun phrase heads: - Modification
4.1.1.2 Modified general noun phrase heads: + Modification
4.1.2 Semantic parameters of general noun phrases: +/- Linkage
4.1.2.1 Non-linked general noun phrases: - Linkage
4.1.2.2 Linked general noun phrases: + Linkage
4.2 Functional matrix for the analysis of general noun phrases
4.3 The scale of specification
4.4 General assumptions for the analysis of general noun phrases
5. Corpus compilation
5.1 The corpus-linguistic approach of the present study
5.2 Medium-, domain- and genre-specific features of the corpus data
5.2.1 Some features of spoken and written language
5.2.2 Some features of legal language
5.2.3 Some features of political language
5.2.4 Some features of conversation
5.3 The corpus of the present study
5.3.1 Written corpus
5.3.1.1 Supreme Court judgments
5.3.1.2 Political manifestos
5.3.2 Spoken corpus
5.3.2.1 Parliamentary debates
5.3.2.2 General conversations
5.3.3 Summary: Overview of corpus data
6. Methodology
6.1 Methods for the quantitative analysis
6.1.1 From raw to relevant data
6.1.2 Determining the frequency of relevant general noun phrase heads
6.2 Methods for the qualitative analysis
6.2.1 The coding system used in the present study
6.2.2 The parameter modification
6.2.2.1 Types of premodification
6.2.2.2 Types of postmodification
6.2.3 The parameter linkage
6.2.3.1 Types of endophoric reference
6.2.3.1.1 Halliday/Hasan’s endophoric reference
6.2.3.1.2 Encapsulation
6.2.3.1.3 Reference between appositive units
6.2.3.1.4 Reference between subject and complement
6.2.3.1.5 Remote reference
6.2.3.2 Generic reference
7. Corpus analysis
7.1 Quantitative analysis: Frequencies and distribution of relevant general noun phrase heads in the corpora
7.1.1 Quantitative results from the judgment corpus
7.1.2 Quantitative results from the manifesto corpus
7.1.3 Quantitative results from the debate corpus
7.1.4 Conversation corpus
7.1.5 Summary and comparison of results
7.2 Qualitative analysis: The degree of specification of relevant general noun phrases in the corpora
7.2.1 Qualitative results from the judgment corpus
7.2.1.1 ‘Most specific’ general noun phrases in the judgment corpus
7.2.1.2 ‘Rather specific’ general noun phrases in the judgment corpus
7.2.1.3 ‘Less specific’ general noun phrases in the judgment corpus
7.2.1.4 ‘Least specific’ general noun phrases in the judgment corpus
7.2.2 Qualitative results from the manifesto corpus
7.2.2.1 ‘Most specific’ general noun phrases in the manifesto corpus
7.2.2.2 ‘Rather specific’ general noun phrases in the manifesto corpus
7.2.2.3 ‘Less specific’ general noun phrases in the manifesto corpus
7.2.2.4 ‘Least specific’ general noun phrases in the manifesto corpus
7.2.3 Qualitative results from the debate corpus
7.2.3.1 ‘Most specific’ general noun phrases in the debate corpus
7.2.3.2 ‘Rather specific’ general noun phrases in the debate corpus
7.2.3.3 ‘Less specific’ general noun phrases in the debate corpus
7.2.3.4 ‘Least specific’ general noun phrases in the debate corpus
7.2.4 Qualitative results from the conversation corpus
7.2.4.1 ‘Most specific’ general noun phrases in the conversation corpus
7.2.4.2 ‘Rather specific’ general noun phrases in the conversation corpus
7.2.4.3 ‘Less specific’ general noun phrases in the conversation corpus
7.2.4.4 ‘Least specific’ general noun phrases in the conversation corpus
7.2.5 Summary and comparison of results
8. Summary and conclusions
References
Series index

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List of tables and figures

Figure 2.1: The concept of ‘cohesion’

Figure 2.2: Different concepts of ‘reference’

Figure 3.1: The classification of nouns

Figure 3.2: A complex noun phrase

Table 3.1: The classification of general noun phrase heads

Figure 3.3: The classification of general noun phrase heads in terms of specification

Figure 3.4: The concepts of ‘ambiguity’, ‘polysemy’ and ‘vagueness’

Table 3.2: Tzeltal plant classification according to Berlin et al. (1973)

Figure 3.5: Horizontal dimension of categorisation illustrated by the example ‘dog’

Figure 3.6: Vertical dimension of categorisation illustrated by the example ‘dog’

Figure 3.7: Extension of a general noun phrase category dependent on co-text and context

Figure 3.8: Extension of the general noun phrase category ‘people’ dependent on co-text and context of example (39)

Figure 3.9: Extension of the general noun phrase category ‘people’ dependent on co-text and context of example (40)

Figure 4.1: The functional matrix for the analysis of general noun phrases

Figure 4.2: Generalisation and specification illustrated with the functional matrix for the analysis of general noun phrases

Figure 4.3: The scale of specification

Figure 4.4: The assumed arrangement of the four sub-corpora on the scale of specification (depending on frequency)

Figure 4.5: The assumed arrangement of the sub-corpora on the scale of specification (depending on modification and linkage)

Table 5.1: The corpus of the present study

Figure 5.1: The structure of the parliamentary government in the UK

Table 5.2: The judgment corpus ← 15 | 16 →

Table 5.3: The manifesto corpus

Table 5.4: The debate corpus

Table 5.5: The conversation corpus

Figure 6.1: Distinguishing relevant from irrelevant general noun phrases

Table 6.1: Numbering of general noun phrase heads

Table 6.2: Labelling of corpus texts

Figure 6.2: Example of the coding of a general noun phrase head in the judgment corpus

Figure 6.3: Highlighting of general noun phrase heads in the corpus texts

Figure 6.4: Coding of general noun phrase heads in the corpus texts

Figure 6.5: Searching for single occurrences of general noun phrase heads within a pdf document

Table 7.1: Frequencies of general noun phrase heads in the judgment corpus

Figure 7.1: General noun phrase head types and tokens in the judgment corpus

Table 7.2: Frequencies of general noun phrase heads in the manifesto corpus

Figure 7.2: General noun phrase head types and tokens in the manifesto corpus

Table 7.3: Frequencies of general noun phrase heads in the debate corpus

Figure 7.3: General noun phrase head types and tokens in the debate corpus

Table 7.4: Frequencies of general noun phrase heads in the conversation corpus

Figure 7.4: General noun phrase head types and tokens in the conversation corpus

Figure 7.5: Comparison of the normalised overall frequencies of general noun phrase heads in the four sub-corpora

Figure 7.6: The four sub-corpora on the scale of specification

Figure 7.7: Comparison of the distribution of general noun phrase heads in the four sub-corpora ← 16 | 17 →

Figure 7.8: Comparison of the frequencies of the general noun phrase heads ‘people’ and ‘child’

Figure 7.9: Comparison of the frequencies of the general noun phrase heads ‘matter’ and ‘question’

Table 7.5: Modified and non-modified general noun phrase heads in the judgment corpus

Table 7.6: Linked and non-linked general noun phrases in the judgment corpus

Figure 7.10: Correlation of modification and linkage of general noun phrases in the judgment corpus

Figure 7.11: Distribution of general noun phrase heads across the four categories of specification in the judgment corpus

Table 7.7: Most frequent types of modification in ‘most specific’ general noun phrases in the judgment corpus

Table 7.8: Most frequent types of linkage of ‘most specific’ general noun phrases in the judgment corpus

Table 7.9: Most frequent combinations of modification and linkage of ‘most specific’ general noun phrases in the judgment corpus

Table 7.10: Most frequent types of linkage of ‘rather specific’ general noun phrases in the judgment corpus

Table 7.11: Most frequent types of modification in ‘less specific’ general noun phrases in the judgment corpus

Table 7.12: Most frequent combinations of modification and - linkage in ‘less specific’ general noun phrases in the judgment corpus

Table 7.13: Modified and non-modified general noun phrase heads in the manifesto corpus

Table 7.14: Linked and non-linked general noun phrases in the manifesto corpus

Figure 7.12: Correlation of modification and linkage of general noun phrases in the manifesto corpus

Figure 7.13: Distribution of general noun phrase heads across the four categories of specification in the manifesto corpus

Table 7.15: Most frequent types of modification in ‘most specific’ general noun phrases in the manifesto corpus

Table 7.16: Most frequent types of linkage of ‘most specific’ general noun phrases in the manifesto corpus ← 17 | 18 →

Table 7.17: Most frequent types of modification in ‘less specific’ general noun phrases in the manifesto corpus

Table 7.18: Most frequent combinations of modification and - linkage of ‘less specific’ general noun phrases in the manifesto corpus

Table 7.19: Modified and non-modified general noun phrase heads in the debate corpus

Details

Pages: 258
Year: 2018
ISBN (PDF): 9783631760185
ISBN (ePUB): 9783631760192
ISBN (MOBI): 9783631760208
ISBN (Hardcover): 9783631747582
DOI: 10.3726/b14310
Language: English
Publication date: 2018 (November)
Keywords: lexical cohesion modification reference legal language political language conversation
Published: Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien, 2018. 255 S., 3 farb. Abb., 41 s/w Abb., 47 Tab.

Biographical notes

Vera Benninghoven (Author)

Vera Benninghoven has taught linguistics at the English department of the University of Bonn and the University of Cologne. Her research interests include morphology, lexicology, text-linguistics and corpus-linguistics.

The Functions of ‹General Nouns›

Summary

Excerpt

Table Of Contents

Details

Biographical notes

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