Modality in Mind

Auteur
Jan Nuyts is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Antwerp. His notable publications include Aspects of a Cognitive-Pragmatic Theory of Language (1992), Epistemic Modality, Language and Conceptualization (2001) and The Oxford Handbook of Modality and Mood (with van der Auwera, 2016).

Texte du rabat

Modality - the ways in which language can express grades of reality or truth - is the subject of a vast and long-established body of research. In this book, field-leader Jan Nuyts brings together twenty years of his research to offer a comprehensive, fully integrated view on areas of contentious debate within modality, from a functional and cognitive perspective. It provides an empirically grounded, conceptual reanalysis of modality and related categories including evidentiality, volition, intention, directivity, subjectivity, and mirativity. It argues for the dissolution of the category of modality, and for an alternative division of the wider field of semantic notions at stake. The analysis also reflects on how to model the language faculty, and on the issue of language and thought. It is essential reading for researchers interested in the semantics of modality, and in the implications of this domain for understanding the cognitive infrastructure for language and thought.

Résumé
Modality the ways in which language can express grades of reality or truth is the subject of a vast and long-established body of research. In this book, field-leader Jan Nuyts brings together twenty years of his research to offer a comprehensive, fully integrated view on areas of contentious debate within modality, from a functional and cognitive perspective. The book provides an empirically grounded, conceptual reanalysis of modality and related categories including evidentiality, volition, intention, directivity, subjectivity and mirativity. It argues for the dissolution of the category of modality and for an alternative division of the wider field of semantic notions at stake. The analysis also reflects on how to model the language faculty, and on the issue of language and thought. It is essential reading for researchers interested in the semantics of modality and in the implications of this domain for understanding the cognitive infrastructure for language and thought.

Contenu

List of Figures; List of Tables; Preface; Introduction; 1. The Cognitive-functional Approach; 2. Qualifying States of Affairs; 3. Modality Revisited; 4. Attitudes; 5. Beyond the Qualificational Hierarchy; 6. (Inter)subjectivity, and More; 7. Back to the Cognitive-functional Approach; Conclusion; Appendix; References; Person Index; Subject Index.