Spontaneous Spoken Language by Regina Weinert, Hardcover, 9780198236566 | Buy online at The Nile
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Spontaneous Spoken Language

Syntax and Discourse

Author: Regina Weinert and Jim Miller  

Jim Miller and Regina Weinert examine the types of clauses used by people when they are speaking off the cuff. They also analyse the devices speakers use when organizing larger chunks of language. They argue that there are differences between spoken and written language, and conclude by exploring the implications of their findings.

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Summary

Jim Miller and Regina Weinert examine the types of clauses used by people when they are speaking off the cuff. They also analyse the devices speakers use when organizing larger chunks of language. They argue that there are differences between spoken and written language, and conclude by exploring the implications of their findings.

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Description

Jim Miller and Regina Weinert investigate syntactic structure and the organization of discourse in spontaneous spoken language. Using data from English, German, and Russian, they develop a systematic analysis of spoken English and highlight properties that hold across languages. The authors argue that the differences in syntax and the construction of discourse between spontaneous speech and written language bear on various areas oflinguistic theory, apart from having obvious implications for syntactic analysis. In particular, they bear on typology, Chomskyan theories of first language acquisition, and the perennial problem of language ineducation. In current typological practice written and spontaneous spoken texts are often compared; the authors show convincingly that typological research should compare like with like. The consequences for Chomskyan, and indeed all, theories of first language acquisition flow from the central fact that children acquire spoken language but learn written language.

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Critic Reviews

“'many nuggets of valuable information and analysis ... The authors display thorough knowledge and understanding of both formal and funtional linguistics and have bravely taken on the mantle of bridge-builders. With their rich data base and close analyses, they show that the convergence ofviews which is detectable in contemporary linguistics can be profitably put into practice.'J.Lachlan Mackenzie, Linguistics, Vol.37, 2001”

In this book [Miller and Weinert] not only argue strongly for the importance of the distinction between spontaneous speech and written language, but also demonstrate effectively its direct and central relevance to such areas of linguistic theory as historical change and language acquisition.'Australian Journal of Linguistics, vol.21many nuggets of valuable information and analysis ... The authors display thorough knowledge and understanding of both formal and funtional linguistics and have bravely taken on the mantle of bridge-builders. With their rich data base and close analyses, they show that the convergence of views which is detectable in contemporary linguistics can be profitably put into practice.'J.Lachlan Mackenzie, Linguistics, Vol.37, 2001

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About the Author

Jim Miller is a Professor, Department of Linguistics at University of Edinburgh. Regina Weinert is a Lecturer in German Linguistics at the University of Sheffield.

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More on this Book

Jim Miller and Regina Weinert investigate syntactic structure and the organization of discourse in spontaneous spoken language. Using data from English, German, and Russian, they develop a systematic analysis of spoken English and highlight properties that hold across languages. The authors argue that the differences in syntax and the construction of discourse between spontaneous speech and written language bear on various areas of linguistic theory, apart from having obvious implications for syntactic analysis. In particular, they bear on typology, Chomskyan theories of first language acquisition, and the perennial problem of language in education. In current typological practice written and spontaneous spoken texts are often compared; the authors show convincingly that typological research should compare like with like. The consequences for Chomskyan, and indeed all, theories of first language acquisition flow from the central fact that children acquire spoken language but learn written language.

Read more

Product Details

Publisher
Oxford University Press | Clarendon Press
Published
26th March 1998
Pages
472
ISBN
9780198236566

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