Reflexivity and Intensification in English: A Study of Texts and Contexts: 46 (Arbeiten zur Sprachanalyse) - Softcover

Lange, Claudia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3631543573 ISBN 13: 9783631543573

Publisher: Peter Lang AG, 2006

Synopsis

Present-Day English is unique among the Germanic languages in employing the same forms (himself, herself etc.) both as reflexive pronoun and intensifier. While a lot of attention has been directed at the grammaticalization of the compound reflexive, the emergence of the compound intensifier has remained largely mysterious. This study is a detailed investigation of the domains of reflexivity and intensification throughout the history of English. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the possible source contexts for SELF-forms in Old and Middle English. Backed up with a wide range of data from early Middle English, the compound intensifier is traced to discourse-pragmatic motivations: expressive strategies linked to specific discourse traditions become rapidly grammaticalized once the former Old English standard gave way to large-scale variation in Middle English.

About this title

About the Author

The Author: Claudia Lange studied Linguistics at the Freie Universität Berlin and at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. She is currently working as a lecturer in Linguistics at the Technische Universität Dresden.

Edition details

• Publisher: Peter Lang AG
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3631543573
• ISBN 13: 9783631543573
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 220