Historical Pragmatics: Pragmatic Developments in the History of English (Pragmatics & Beyond. New Series, 35)

Until very recently, pragmatics has been restricted to the analysis of contemporary spoken language while historical linguistics has studied historical texts and language change in a decontextualized way. This has now radically changed and scholars from around the world are trying to build a new theoretical framework that integrates recent advances both in pragmatics and in historical linguistics. The volume, which contains 22 original articles, starts with an introduction that is both a state-of-the-art account of historical pragmatics and a programmatic statement of its future potential and its different subfields. Part I contains seven pragmaphilological papers that deal with historical texts and their interpretations by paying close attention to the communicative context of these texts. The second and third parts comprise papers in diachronic pragmatics. The ten papers of part II take a linguistic form as their starting point, e.g. particular lexical items or syntactic constructions, and study their pragmatic functions at different times (diachronic form-to-function mappings), while the four papers of part III take a particular pragmatic function as their starting point, e.g. discourse strategies or politeness, and study their linguistic realisation at different times (diachronic function-to-form mappings). The Historical Perspective In Pragmatics / Andreas Jacobs And Andreas H. Jucker -- The Openness Of Medieval Texts / Heinz Bergner -- They Had Their Points: Punctuation And Interpretation In English Renaissance Literature / Gert Ronberg -- Punctuation: And -- 'pragmatics' / John Lennard -- A Close Reading Of William Caxton's Dialogues: ... To Lerne Shortly Frenssh And Englyssh / Werner Hullen -- Wills And Will-making In 16th And 17th Century England: Some Pragmatic Aspects / Ulrich Bach -- Justifying Grammars: A Socio-pragmatic Foray Into The Discourse Community Of Early English Grammarians / Richard J. Watts -- Communicative Clues In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight / M. Pilar Navarro-errasti -- Pragmatic Maxims In Explanations Of Language Change? / Jose Pinto De Lima Pragmatic Constraints To Word Order, And Word-order Change In English / Enrique Bernardez And Paloma Tejada -- The Semantic And Pragmatic Development Of Substitutive Complex Prepositions In English / Scott A. Schwenter And Elizabeth Closs Traugott -- On Doing As You Please / Cynthia L. Allen -- Your Average Generalisations: A Case-study In Historical Pragmatics / Katie Wales -- Demonstratives In Early Modern English Letters / Barbara Kryk-kastovsky -- The Ambiguous Adverbial/conjunctions Pa And Ponne In Middle English: A Discourse-pragmatic Study Of Then And When In Early English Saints' Lives / Brita Warvik -- Middle English Po And Other Narrative Discourse Markers / Monika Fludernik -- Diachronic Analysis Of Japanese Discourse Markers / Noriko Okada Onodera Interjections In Early Modern English: From Imitation Of Spoken To Conventions Of Written Language / Irma Taavitsainen -- Topics In The History Of Dialogue Forms / Gerd Fritz -- Then I Saw To Antique Heddes: Discourse Strategies In Early Modern English Travelogues / Tuija Virtanen -- Linguistic Politeness Strategies In Shakespeare's Plays / Roman Kopytko -- Constraints On Politeness: The Pragmatics Of Address Formulae In Early English Correspondence / Terttu Nevalainen And Helena Raumolin-brunberg. Edited By Andreas H. Jucker. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.

until Very Recently, Pragmatics Has Been Restricted To The Analysis Of Contemporary Spoken Language While Historical Linguistics Has Studied Historical Texts And Language Change In A Decontextualized Way. This Has Now Radically Changed And Scholars From Around The World Are Trying To Build A New Theoretical Framework That Integrates Recent Advances Both In Pragmatics And In Historical Linguistics.
the Volume, Which Contains 22 Original Articles, Starts With An Introduction That Is Both A State-of-the-art Account Of Historical Pragmatics And A Programmatic Statement Of Its Future Potential And Its Different Subfields.
part I Contains Seven Pragmaphilological Papers That Deal With Historical Texts And Their Interpretations By Paying Close Attention To The Communicative Context Of These Texts.
the Second And Third Parts Comprise Papers In Diachronic Pragmatics. The Ten Papers Of Part Ii Take A Linguistic Form As Their Starting Point, E.g. Particular Lexical Items Or Syntactic Constructions, And Study Their Pragmatic Functions At Different Times (diachronic Form-to-function Mappings), While The Four Papers Of Part Iii Take A Particular Pragmatic Function As Their Starting Point, E.g. Discourse Strategies Or Politeness, And Study Their Linguistic Realisation At Different Times (diachronic Function-to-form Mappings).

This exploration of pragmatic developments in the history of English is divided into three main sections: pragmaphilology; diachronic form-to-function mapping; and diachronic function-to-form mapping. Cohen Center for Philosophy and History of Science, Boston University TABLE OF CONTENTS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE IX INTRODUCTION Xl PART I EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 1 1.