Anaphora: A Cross-Linguistic Study (Oxford Studies in Typology and Linguistic Theory) - Hardcover

Huang, Yan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198235291 ISBN 13: 9780198235293

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2000

Synopsis

Understanding any communication depends on the listener or reader recognizing that some words refer to what has already been said or written (his, its, he, there, etc.). This mode of reference, anaphora, involves complicated cognitive and syntactic processes, which people usually perform unerringly, but which present formidable problems for the linguist and cognitive scientist trying to explain precisely how comprehension is achieved. Anaphora is thus a central research focus in syntactic and semantic theory, while understanding and modelling its operation in discourse are important targets in computational linguistics and cognitive science.

Yan Huang provides an extensive and accessible overview of the major contemporary issues surrounding anaphora and gives a critical survey of the many and diverse contemporary approaches to it. He provides by far the fullest cross-linguistic account yet published: Dr Huang's survey and analysis are based on a rich collection of data drawn from around 550 of the world's languages. Topics covered include binding and control, null subjects and objects, long distance reflexivisation, logophoricity, bridging-cross reference, switch-reference, and discourse anaphora.

Written by a leading expert on anaphora, the book will be the standard point of reference for all those interested in this important topic in theoretical linguistics. It will be a vital reference for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, on the interfaces between them, on linguistic typology, and on computational linguistics.

About this title

Review:

Huang took on the immense job not only of popularizing his own views but of discussing other people's ideas, and as a result the book provides a thorough retelling and critical analysis of a variety of approaches to anaphora ... Huang is a very conscientious critic ... Yan Huang's book makes an important contribution to the understanding of anaphora and related issues. It is also a very good reference source, enlightening those who have always wanted to know what, for example, "sluicing", "pseudo-gapping", or "return pop" means, but have not dared to ask. This book also comes handy for those functionalists who insufficiently familiar with formal theorizing about anaphora: at a relatively low cost, it gives them a fairly good idea of what they are rejecting. (Andrej A. Kibrik, Linguistic Typology)

...an impressive book which i recommend to all linguistics; it will change your theoretical assumptions and expand your typological horizons ... This book sets the standard against which any future account of anaphora, syntactic, or pragmatic, will be measured. (Steve Nicolle, SIL International Book Reviews)

Huang's book is extremely rich in coverage ... [I]t is an excellent and recommendable reference work ... Anaphora, besides being a comprehensive summary of the state of the art, tries to come to grips with intricate problems in a stimulating and sometimes controversial manner. For anybody interested in anaphora, this book can be expected to serve as a major point of orientation for many years to come. (Language)

Huang's book is an important contribution to the study of anaphora. The wealth of crosslinguistic data (over 500 languages from various language families are represented), and especially the emphasis on switch-reference and related phenomena, fill a gap that often exists in other theoretical work on this topic ... Huang's main theoretical contribution is the unified neo-Gricean account of anaphora. (Journal of Pragmatics)

About the Author:

Yan Huang is Professor of Linguistics, Department of Linguistic Science, University of Reading.

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0198235291
• ISBN 13: 9780198235293
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416