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Emancipatory Pragmatics : Innovative approaches to pragmatics incorporating the concept of “ba”
Dec 2025
Book
Emancipatory Pragmatics represents a unique contribution to the field of pragmatics. Most research in the field has focused on English and other Western languages but the study of Japanese and other non-Western languages as is done in this volume has led to a broader understanding of language use. Here thirteen articles each break new ground by discussing the application of ba theory to pragmatics research. Ba and basho which are Japanese terms often translated as “field” or “context” are central to expanding the theory of pragmatics to explain features not only of non-Western languages but of all languages. By presenting an introduction to the perspective of Emancipatory Pragmatics and discussing ba theory in detail it becomes obvious that this is an innovative approach to questions relevant for the study of all languages. Thus it is useful both for students new to the field as well as for seasoned researchers.
This ebook is Open Access under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.
Morphology by Serial Optimization
Nov 2025
Book
Harmonic Serialism is a derivational version of Optimality Theory that has widely been pursued for phonology and syntax but so far much less for morphology. The harmonic serialist approach to inflectional morphology underlying the contributions to the present volume is virtually unique in that it combines from the perspective of the minimalist program a cyclic approach to morphological structure-building with an optimality-theoretic approach to optimization; in a general taxonomy of morphological theories it qualifies as lexical realizational Merge-based and pre-syntactic.<br/>Following a comprehensive introduction to the new theory the book brings together eight case studies from typologically different languages (like Potawatomi Itelmen Acoma Modern Greek Lithuanian Urarina Irarutu and Hill Mari) that address a number of morphological phenomena which can all be shown to empirically support a cyclic optimality-theoretic approach (among them extended exponence disjunctive blocking impoverishment deponency portmanteau marking and morphological movement). The book will be of use to all scholars and students interested in morphological theory.
Varieties of German in Contact Settings : Studies in honor of William D. Keel
Nov 2025
Book
This volume pays homage to the legacy of William D. Keel and the significant impact of his research on German in contact settings from myriad perspectives and traditions. It includes structural and sociolinguistic studies focusing on varieties of German spoken throughout the world including Midwestern varieties of Low German Pennsylvania Dutch Texas German Zarzer German in Slove-nia and the use of different varieties of Standard German in the second language classroom. The contributions span multiple domains of linguistic inquiry such as phonology morphosyntax syntax and second language acquisition. Collectively they contribute to ongoing research on contact varie-ties of Germanic language and how they impact sociolinguistic and generative/theoretical theory as well as pedagogical choices involving varieties of German in instructed second language acquisition. The contributions thus are a fitting tribute to William D. Keel’s far-reaching legacy in research on bilingualism and in particular German-Sprachinseln throughout the world.
Transmedia in Translation and Transculturation
Nov 2025
Book
A prominent keyword of the 21st century humanities the concept of transmedia describes in essence an age-old phenomenon: texts tend to spread in a fragmented fashion in various media and be appropriated and further developed by multiple agents. However the concept of transmedia and the practices it describes have become especially foregrounded with the rise of the new digital technologies and the spread of globalization. <br xmlns="http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/"/>Transmedial practices more often than not span across languages and cultures; nevertheless the ways in which transmediality intersects with translation is an aspect that has so far received limited attention in the respective academic fields. <br/>The aim of this volume is to introduce the concept of transmedia to translation studies and to highlight the centrality of translation processes in transmedial phenomena. Both in its narrower sense as interlingual transfer and in its broader sense as intersemiotic transposition translation is of paramount importance in the study of transmedia.
Applying Corpora in Teaching and Learning Romance Languages
Nov 2025
Book
Applying Corpora in Teaching and Learning Romance Languages is the first major volume dedicated to the use of corpora in teaching and learning Romance languages. Covering four Mediterranean Romance languages – French Italian Spanish and Catalan – the volume provides a thematically structured exploration of applying corpora with sections on spoken language writing and translation data-driven learning acquisition and classroom practice. The chapters making up the volume engage critically with both historical issues and contemporary methodologies serving to illustrate how corpora can enhance language teaching and student engagement. With its broad scope and range of insightful research findings this volume lays the foundations for further research in applying corpus linguistics to Romance languages. A must-read for researchers and teachers wishing to engage with corpus use in the teaching and learning of Romance languages.
The Ziggurat of Grammar : In honor of Ur Shlonsky
Nov 2025
Book
What is the extent to which various grammatical levels – from features through subjecthood through cleft layers – reuse and reemploy certain structure-building operations? In this volume organized in terms of successively expanding domains leading contributors report research into the complex edifice of grammatical structure of human language that one might liken to the terraced layers of a ziggurat. Following the heuristics of reverse-engineering the chapters in this collection draw on theoretical and experimental analyses from Taqbaylit Berber to the sign language Cena from the Romance language family to the Semitic family in a kind to ‘reverse-architecture’ effort to understand the modes that compose multiple planes of morphosyntax. The volume presented to honor the work and influence of Ur Shlonsky within linguistics is aimed at a readership accessible to advanced undergraduates as well as specialists placed at distinct vantage points.
This ebook is Open Access under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.
The Diachrony of Word Class Peripheries
Nov 2025
Book
Word classes of a language are usually not homogeneous groups of lexemes that share the same morphological and syntactic properties completely. Rather lexemes are usually grouped together that have some basic commonalities but may differ in detail e.g. regarding their inflectional behaviour. In many cases one can identify within a word class a large number of lexemes that conform to a certain morphological or syntactic pattern (often referred to as “core members”) whilst there is only a comparatively small number of deviants (“peripheral members”). Examples abound: borrowings (in several word classes) may differ grammatically from native words some complex verbs evade certain syntactic slots (such as verb-second position in German) mass and proper nouns differ grammatically from (other) nouns and so on. In this volume we focus on the diachrony of such phenomena. We consider that the study of change and stability can be particularly helpful in furthering our understanding of the diversity within word classes concerning for example the motivation for divergent grammatical properties.
This ebook is Open Access under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.
Variation in Language Acquisition : Unity in diversity
Nov 2025
Book
This volume resulting from the fifth edition of the conference series Variation in Language Acquisition (ViLA) brings together research at the intersection of language acquisition and sociolinguistics. Work within the ViLA tradition explores how learners—from preschoolers to adult second-language users— produce perceive and evaluate socially meaningful language variation. Divided in two main parts the contributions to this volume highlight a rich diversity of linguistic settings methodological approaches and learner profiles. Where Part I focuses on the acquisition of variation in children from age three to adolescence Part II shifts the focus to the role of linguistic input and exposure in the acquisition process. Both parts showcase a broad methodological spectrum from observational and experimental studies to qualitative and mixed-methods research. By deepening our understanding of the interplay between social context and linguistic development the chapters in this volume both consolidate and inspire the growing research field of developmental sociolinguistics.
Possibility and Necessity: Concepts and expressions of modality : Concepts and expressions of modality
Nov 2025
Book
Researchers in the fields of logic philosophy and linguistics have for many years been pondering over the elusive nature of modality and grappled with ways of capturing it. This book provides a broad overview of issues relevant to the study of modality and reflects the diversity of theoretical frameworks and the heterogeneity of linguistic phenomena included under the general heading of modality a concept which in one of its most frequent definitions corresponds to the fields of possibility and necessity. The key concepts dealt with are the structure of the semantic notion of modality and of modal subcategories force dynamics evidentiality mirativity modal auxiliaries and verbs modal uses of verbs and constructions (hedged performatives capacitive structures conditional constructions) and modal polyfunctionality across languages. Articles deal with observations taken from a variety of languages including Danish English French Italian Latin and Slovak. The wealth of data and the critical evaluation of existing analyses of modality will be of interest for researchers and graduate students alike.
Framing in Interaction : Pragmatic approaches to framing analysis
Oct 2025
Book
This volume invites its readers to rethink the linguistic basis for framing analysis by problematizing the existing foundation and presenting eight new pragmatically based framing analyses.<br xmlns="http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/"/>The book challenges the assumption that there is a unilateral one-to-one relationship between words and frames such that framing occurs when a language user is exposed to a word that activates a frame.<br/>Conversely it is assumed that framing emerges in social interaction through a complex interplay between the participants the semiotic resources employed the circumstances and the multiple frames of interaction. This assumption calls for the relationship between words and frames to be analyzed in pragmatics including in cross-fertilization with other disciplines such as discourse analysis interaction analysis sociolinguistics psycholinguistics and social psychology.<br/>The assumption is operationalized in eight different exemplary framing analyses. Each analysis has its own focus drawing on its own disciplines and utilizing its own concepts tools and methods.<br/>The results of the analyses are noteworthy and demonstrate how a pragmatic approach to framing analysis can enhance the validity and reliability of the analysis.
What makes a Figure : Rethinking figurativity
Oct 2025
Book
This volume presents works seeking to re-think the very nature and scope of figurativity calling into attention some of the received tenets in accounts of figurativity both as a holistic category and for individual types and families of figures but also attempting to expand upon the current scope of figurative theorizing. The works presented here investigate a wider array of figures than the typically-studied tropes of metaphor irony and metonymy and they address broad issues such as figurativity writ large (what figurativity actually is and does including how embodied it is) multimodality contiguity of figurative forms and furthering our consideration of the ingredients of irony. It should appeal to any scholar interested in figurativity in all its expansive guises.
Technology and Instructed Second Language Acquisition : Connecting research and pedagogy
Oct 2025
Book
This book brings together a team of leading international scholars to explore the rich intersection of technology and second language (L2) learning and teaching. This innovative volume offers a unique blend of cutting-edge empirical research pedagogy-informed perspectives and practical applications for educators administrators and researchers alike. From digital games interactive fiction and chatbots to multimedia input online collaboration and vocabulary tools each chapter shows how technology can foster more effective equitable and purposeful L2 learning. Importantly the contributors avoid framing technology as a collection of isolated tools; instead they view technology as a set of adaptable resources for designing rich multimodal and socially-informed instructional practices. This forward-thinking comprehensive volume aims to empower L2 educators and researchers to leverage technology’s full potential in a way that resonates with pedagogy context and the growing need for justice equity and inclusion in L2 education; thereby preparing them to successfully navigate the ever-increasing array of technology for L2 teaching and learning.
The Making of Multi-Unit Turns : A spring-loaded door
Oct 2025
Book
The Making of Multi-Unit Turns is the first book-length treatment to comprehensively describe extended turns produced by a single speaker. It draws on multiparty everyday conversations in English using the methods of Conversation Analysis. It brings together the currently scattered literature on MUTs and goes on to expand our understanding of the ‘natural history’ of MUTs by showing how speakers and recipients deploy linguistic and embodied behaviours in intricate ways from the launch of an extended turn of talk to beyond the end of the MUT. The chapters report on the diverse ways in which speakers secure a second turn-constructional unit and show how grammatical prosodic gestural and postural resources as well as gaze direction are deployed to extend the speaker’s floor in a long MUT. Further investigating how speakers and their recipients transition out of the MUT and return to turn-by-turn talk and how recipients sometimes disrupt an extended MUT this book aims to provide a fresh understanding of the orderliness which underlies our everyday interactions.
The Grammar of Interaction : Epistemicity, information management and discourse in language use
Oct 2025
Book
This volume deals with the relations between grammar and interaction from different perspectives with the aim of unraveling the way in which a language — through the different forms of discourse from which it emerges — reflects certain social and community-based schemas; that is how language originates within the space shared by the speaker and the addressee(s). The first part (“Grammar and Interaction”) concerns how interaction may intervene in grammar; the second part (“The Grammar of Interaction”) approaches both notions and linguistic structures which are anchored in interaction while revolving around epistemicity evidentiality and modality. The third part (“Interaction as a Model for Discourse”) concerns how certain constructions emerge from interaction and are further used to model discourse. Finally the fourth and last part of the book (“Interaction as a Driver for Change”) focuses on how interaction may help to delimit linguistic categories.
Mathematical Modelling in Linguistics and Text Analysis : Theory and applications
Oct 2025
Book
This book is a panorama of contemporary quantitative linguistics as developed over decades. It highlights the main topics of QL: statistical laws of language taxonomy of linguistic phenomena authorial attribution quantitative analysis of syntax (e.g. dependency grammar) measurement of text difficulty and other phenomena at the intersection of linguistics literary studies semiotics and information science. It also reflects on the relevance of these time-honoured approaches in our new reality increasingly dominated by AI – both in terms of text material and methodology. Before our very eyes computers are achieving human-level linguistic competence. The era of LLMs and the growing dominance of machine-generated text is becoming reality. The scale of these changes initiated by the replacement of print with the digital universe is enormous. Today linguistics is closer than ever to mathematics and computer science and thus quantitatively-oriented linguists are particularly well-suited to address questions about the boundary between humans and machines in scientific research.
First Language Acquisition in Finno-Ugric Languages
Oct 2025
Book
This book is the first comprehensive state-of-the-art overview of the first language acquisition of four Finno-Ugric languages: Estonian Finnish Hungarian and North Saami. Ten chapters review research on phonological lexical and grammatical development bringing the research within the language family into one source enabling easy access to topics touching upon acquisition of the key linguistic domains cross-linguistic comparisons between the languages and discussion of the ways in which Finno-Ugric languages contribute to theory in the field of first language acquisition. The volume will appeal to students and scholars of language acquisition linguists psychologists clinicians and educational professionals.
Constructions in Contact 3 : Constructional schemas and patterns in language contact
Oct 2025
Book
Over the last decade Construction Grammar has become increasingly popular in the study of language contact and multilingualism. Indeed constructional approaches including Diasystematic Construction Grammar not only offer a useful theoretical framework for empirical studies but also provide a fresh look at fundamental questions in contact linguistics. This volume continues the series of works on Constructions in Contact (the first two volumes were published in 2018 and 2021). It presents new research on the constructionist modelling of language contact phenomena the impact of multilingualism on argument structure constructions and the role of phonological units in language contact. The volume thus combines classical areas of constructional research with innovative ones demonstrating the broad applicability of Construction Grammar for contact linguistics.
COVID-19 : Metaphor and metonymy across languages and cultures
Oct 2025
Book
The COVID-19 pandemic set off a maelstrom of social cultural and political changes—as well as some surprising linguistic ones. This volume explores these dramatic changes through the lens of Cognitive Linguistics analysing noteworthy examples of pandemic discourse to reveal correspondences and contrasts between different cultures’ conceptions of the illness and its aftermath. The contributions examine a variety of genres including newspaper articles storefront signs artistic creations personal interviews social media comments and political speeches. They look at communication in various domains—business media politics economics art and psychiatry. And they compare past and present showing how the modern pandemic both continued and interrupted previous patterns of discourse around illness and disease. These diverse analyses show how Cognitive Linguistics on the cutting edge of quantitative sociocultural and interdisciplinary turns in linguistics can be a powerful theoretical tool in uncovering parallels and variations in how different cultures communicate in times of crisis.
Footprints of Phrase Structure : Studies in syntax in honour of Tim Stowell
Oct 2025
Book
This volume presents a collection of state-of-the-art studies that illustrate recent advances in the understanding of human language grammar design and linguistic categories. The title of the volume aims at highlighting the mark that the work of Tim Stowell has had on the field of Linguistics since his dissertation Origins of Phrase Structure defended at the MIT in 1981. Stowell’s work established the principles that replaced individual phrase structure rules from previous generative models with general universal constraints setting off the articulation of formal grammars on a new journey. The papers gathered here demonstrate how that principled approach runs in the field today. The empirical evidence discussed in the papers comes from 15 different languages which makes the volume a point of reference for cross-linguistic analyses and testimony to the wealth of descriptive knowledge brought to the scientific community.<br xmlns="http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/"/>A wide array of linguistic generations contributed to this volume ranging from legendary ones who established the field as we’ve known it to some who have only recently received their doctorates. This plainly demonstrates the time spanning impact of Stowell’s work and the deep footprint he has left in the field and in our lives.
Handbook of Terminology : Volume 4. Terminology planning in Europe
Sept 2025
Book
This book provides an overview of the various methods adopted for terminology planning in the languages under examination. Collectively the authors attempt to establish an overall understanding of terminology planning in Europe starting from an examination of the organizations engaged in terminology planning in different European linguistic contexts. Each chapter focuses on a specific language or language landscape focusing on issues such as:<br xmlns="http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/"/>- the defining features of these terminology planning institutions including their size structure funding sources specialization public recognition publication methods and collaborations with other organizations;<br/>- the responsibilities and operational procedures for example as regards standardization description evaluation quantification of results dissemination and terminometry;<br/>- terminology planning versus general language planning;<br/>- the historical development of these institutions and the future prospects for terminology planning in each language or language landscape.<br/>The individual authors provide an independent overview of one language landscape. Overall the book tells a fascinating story about how each language handles terminology as an essential linguistic factor in everyday society.
English across Borders : A reflexive approach to anglophone migrants’ repertoires
Sept 2025
Book
This book presents an account of English in the communicative repertoires of anglophone West-Africans living in Southwestern Germany. Adopting an ethnographically grounded perspective it analyzes how participants perceive and utilize English as well as other linguistic resources at their disposal in an environment where linguistic competence is routinely under scrutiny. The book traces how linguistic practices participate in the construction of socially meaningful spaces and images of personhood and how discourse about language enables participants to position themselves in relation to these constructions. In the process notions of languages and varieties themselves are used in surprising and sometimes conflicting ways. While these are at odds with descriptive linguistic terminology the book takes them seriously as expressing local understandings of the relationship among ways of speaking and social positions. At the theoretical level the book advances a shift in World Englishes research towards a reflexive approach grounded in linguistic anthropological perspectives.
Handbook of Pragmatics : 28th Annual Installment
Sept 2025
Book
This encyclopaedia of one of the major fields of language studies is a continuously updated source of state-of-the-art information for anyone interested in language use. The IPrA Handbook of Pragmatics provides easy access – for scholars with widely divergent backgrounds but with convergent interests in the use and functioning of language – to the different topics traditions and methods which together make up the field of pragmatics broadly conceived as the cognitive social and cultural study of language and communication i.e. the science of language use.
The Handbook of Pragmatics is a unique reference work for researchers which has been expanded and updated continuously with annual installments since 1995.
Also available as Online Resource: https://benjamins.com/online/hop
The Handbook of Pragmatics is a unique reference work for researchers which has been expanded and updated continuously with annual installments since 1995.
Also available as Online Resource: https://benjamins.com/online/hop
Cultural Conceptualizations of the SELF in Hong Kong English
Sept 2025
Book
This monograph offers a cultural-cognitive approach to the study of identity construction at a cultural group level and how it patterns language exemplified with Hong Kong English. For this cultural values political ideology language models and reported self- and other-perception as constitutive elements of the speech community’s cultural cognition are explored for the understanding of the cultural model of the SELF. Rooted in the disciplinary synthesis of Cultural Linguistics and World Englishes and its corpus-based approach this book offers new applications and methodological extensions in the study of the acculturation processes of Englishes around the world and the cognitive substrates that inform them. The present study showcases that human experience is fundamentally cultural. Hence this book will enlighten anyone interested in the workings of cognition as connected to language and culture i.e. researchers and students working in the fields of Cultural Linguistics Cognitive Linguistics World Englishes (linguistic) anthropology critical discourse analysis social science sociolinguistics cultural studies and political science.
Cultural models of GENDER and HOMOSEXUALITY in Indian and Nigerian English
Sept 2025
Book
The study presented in this book explores the cultural models of GENDER and HOMOSEXUALITY in Indian and Nigerian English drawing on the research fields of Cultural Linguistics Cognitive Sociolinguistics and World Englishes. With the help of different methodologies and empirical data in the form of sociolinguistic interviews multimodal film material and an online survey the study scrutinises cultural conceptualisations such as culture-specific conceptual metaphors or schemas and shows how they combine to larger interconnected cultural models which provide speakers with a conceptual logic for understanding and interpreting gender and homosexuality. The book further provides visualizations of these cultural models in the form of complex network representations. This scholarly work caters to readers interested in the culturally oriented strands of Cognitive Linguistics in sociolinguistics in World Englishes research and in questions on language gender and homosexuality. It offers valuable insights into the intricate connections between language culture and cognition.
The Progressive Revisited : Historical and Quantitative Studies in Germanic and Romance Languages
Sept 2025
Book
This volume consists of corpus-based analyses of progressive aspect constructions in Germanic and Romance. By adopting a variety of methodologies and theoretical frameworks these studies provide valuable insights into the development grammaticalization and use of various progressive structures across two subgroups of the Indo-European family. The progressive constructions under scrutiny range from widely studied and seemingly well understood constructions to relatively infrequent and obscure ones. Most chapters investigate a specific function of a particular progressive structure or a change affecting it. Some chapters cast new light on the pragmatic non-aspectual functions fulfilled by the progressive. All the chapters present a substantial amount of new empirical work. This collection thus provides a unique opportunity for linguists working on Romance languages to get an instant insight into similar phenomena in Germanic languages and vice versa. At the same time the volume addresses contemporary theoretical and methodological issues in corpus contact and historical linguistics showing that research on the progressive remains today as relevant and inspiring as ever.
Research Methods in Complex Dynamic Systems Theory Approaches to Second Language Development
Sept 2025
Book
This edited volume is a timely and significant contribution to second language development research from a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) perspective. The book addresses the growing need for consistent and practical methodologies for CDST research. Each chapter presents an innovative method or approach illustrating its use in concrete applications to empirical studies and highlighting its value in capturing the dynamic time-sensitive and interconnected nature of L2 development. The volume emphasizes a shift from static outcomes to developmental processes offering tools to explore intra-learner variability network analysis dynamic modeling and more. By bridging theory and practice it equips researchers with methodological guidance to investigate the process of second language development. Building on and extending previous volumes on CDST research methods by Verspoor et al. (2011) and Hiver and Al-Hoorie (2019) this book serves as a crucial reference for future CDST-informed research in Applied Linguistics.
Italo-Romance Heritage Languages : Multiple approaches
Sept 2025
Book
This volume brings together research on Italian and Italo-Romance varieties spoken as heritage languages across the world with contributions from different fields of linguistics and from diverse regions (the Americas Australia Europe). It offers a timely update on the state of the art combining studies on relatively well-documented communities with investigations of lesser-known groups and linguistic phenomena. A distinctive feature of the book is its search for a shared framework for studying Italo-Romance heritage language communities namely one that takes into account the wide range of linguistic resources present in these settings. The chapters include in-depth studies of Italian and Italo-Romance heritage languages as well as analyses of more complex repertoires such as communities where both Italian and dialect are spoken and onward migrant communities in Berlin and London.
Eyes on Text : Eye movements in reading and language processing
Sept 2025
Book
Eyes on Text presents a contemporary overview of research on eye movements in reading and language processing by spinning around the heptagon of cognitive science which consists of linguistics neuroscience philosophy anthropology artificial intelligence education in its corners. The book consists of four parts: basics methodology perspectives and bridging the gaps. After introducing the basic terminology in the first two chapters the book introduces the methodology of the research on eyes on text focusing on factors that shape experiment designs and data analysis. The book then introduces modeling perspectives (models of human text processing and eye movement control) empirical perspectives (eyes on text at various levels of language processing) and reader-oriented perspectives (children elderly readers reading disorders and nonnative reading processes) to the study of eyes on text. The final chapters of the book discuss the diversity of the current approaches and introduce several frontiers that allow bridging the gaps between the domains that conduct studies on eyes on text. It emphasizes the incorporation of the Human-in-the-Loop (HitL) paradigm into Natural Language Processing (NLP) applications as a promising approach to bridge the gaps between the domains also allowing designing personalized interfaces.
Child-centered Approaches to Applied Linguistic Research
Sept 2025
Book
In recent years child-centered research has garnered increasing attention among scholars working with children. However it remains under-explored within the field of applied linguistics. This gap is partly attributable to the conceptual complexity of the notion itself; “child-centered research” encompasses multiple interpretations and each significantly shapes research design and implementation. This edited volume offers a collection of reflective essays by leading scholars in the field of additional language learning and teaching with children. The contributors draw on their own research experiences to explore the complexities ethical dilemmas and methodological challenges they have encountered. They also propose future directions for the field emphasizing the importance of engaging more deeply with child-centered approaches. By bringing together voices from diverse research traditions this book aims to provoke critical discussion and inspire new thinking about research ethics and methodologies among researchers teacher educators and postgraduate students alike.
The Rhetorical Mind : Current issues
Sept 2025
Book
This book comprehends a unique collection of articles on the rhetorical tools with special reference to both discursive and verbo-visual metaphor. It focuses on monomodal and multimodal figurative representations in wine discourse in political discourse and in the sports media. Moreover it encompasses a discussion of the questionable role played by metaphor in scientific discourse concerning climate issues. The art and cognition and multimodality issues are empowered in this volume through the cognitive-oriented analysis of Andre Varda’s films Banksy’s graffiti and a comprehensive typological approach of the Tromp l’oeil technique.
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Romance Linguistics : In honor of Barbara E. Bullock and Almeida Jacqueline Toribio
Sept 2025
Book
The study of Romance linguistics has long been a vibrant and dynamic field enriched by diverse theoretical perspectives and a range of methodological innovations. This volume gathers contributions from leading scholars and emerging voices in the field to provide an up-to-date and comprehensive state-of-the-art survey of key issues in contemporary Romance linguistics. It offers a rich cross-section of the field’s current landscape with a particular focus on Spanish and French and explores how recent advancements in linguistic theory and methodology intersect with real-world language use in diverse social and cultural contexts.<br xmlns="http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/"/> At the heart of this volume is a tribute to the distinguished careers of Barbara E. Bullock and Almeida Jacqueline Toribio two scholars whose work has had a profound impact on the interdisciplinary study of Romance languages. Their groundbreaking research has not only shaped our understanding of key issues in syntax phonology and sociolinguistics but also set the stage for future innovations in the discipline. This collection brings together the legacy of their scholarship honoring their contributions while simultaneously advancing the field they have so profoundly influenced.<br/>
Storytelling, Identity Formation, and Resistance in Indigenous Cultures in Canada and the United States
Sept 2025
Book
Storytelling is a means of fostering a sense of identity belonging and continuity. Through stories Indigenous peoples understand and interpret the world and learn how to survive in spite of external forces such as colonialism. Storytelling has been studied by many scholars across myriad disciplines; however its importance in dealing with trauma and in shaping identity demand further study. This volume contributes to an understanding of the importance of storytelling in shaping identity and healing trauma and as a method of resistance among Indigenous peoples in North America. The book will attract readers interested in Native North American studies Canadian studies and cultural studies. In particular the audience will include scholars investigating the importance of storytelling and its impact on healing and resistance among Indigenous peoples in Canada and the United States. The contributions in this volume cover a wide range of media: fiction and non-fiction works documentaries poetry activist work movies and TV series.
Decoding Movie Language through Multi-Dimensional Analysis and the Grammar of Graphics
Aug 2025
Book
This book offers a comprehensive and refined account of movie discourse through the application of Multi-Dimensional Analysis (MDA) to the American Movie Corpus a collection of authentic verified movie dialog transcriptions. Expanding on previous MDA-based research it broadens both the scope of data and the methodological framework by integrating the Grammar of Graphics to facilitate the interpretation of linguistic findings. The study addresses the longstanding debate on the authenticity of scripted dialog demonstrating the textual and linguistic proximity between movie language and spontaneous conversation. It includes genre-based and diachronic analyses offering a rigorous data-driven perspective on movie language as both a linguistic resource and a tool for teaching spoken grammar. Bridging corpus linguistics applied linguistics and media studies the book provides valuable insights for scholars educators and learners interested in spoken language ELT and telecinematic discourse while contributing a novel visualized approach to empirical language analysis.
The Person in Politics : Pronouns and political personalization in U.S. presidential campaigns
Aug 2025
Book
Personalization has become a central feature of political communication. Politicians appear on late-night talk shows smile from billboards and post family photos on social media – placing themselves at the heart of public discourse. As individual personalities take center stage abstract political ideologies and political collectives fade into the background. The Person in Politics explores the linguistic dimension of this shift through the cognitive semantic analysis of pronominal references. Drawing on a thorough account of how pronouns are used in American presidential nomination acceptance speeches and with what purpose this work investigates how politicians emphasize individual leadership and craft collective identities with personal pronouns. Offering valuable insights into the intersection of language and political campaign rhetoric this book is relevant for scholars of cognitive linguistics and political communication as well as practicioners seeking to navigate the evolving field of political discourse.
Local Grammar Approaches to Speech Act Studies : Apology in contemporary spoken British English
Aug 2025
Book
This book brings together corpus linguistics and pragmatics by extending the emerging corpus analytic framework of local grammar to speech act research aiming to enrich the toolkit of corpus-based speech act studies. It outlines four directions in which local grammar can be useful for investigating speech acts namely a local grammar approach to annotating speech acts developing local grammars of speech acts identifying speech act constructions via the lens of local grammars and applying local grammars into contrastive speech act studies. These directions are illustrated with studies on apology in contemporary spoken British English which shows that local grammar can be an innovative approach to advance speech act studies and that such research has significant implications and applications. The book should be of interest to researchers and students in corpus linguistics pragmatics construction grammar and L2 speech act research and teaching.
Evaluative Discourse Metaphor in Online Communities
Aug 2025
Book
This monograph introduces the Evaluative Discourse Metaphor model which argues that participants in public and semi-public online discourse (re)use evaluative metaphors to construct and maintain communities. We explore how such metaphors trigger others with similar forms though not necessarily the same evaluative targets generating discourse spaces unified by a shared evaluative ethos. The model draws on a discourse-based view of metaphor Hallidayan metafunctions Du Bois’s stance triangle and insights from computer-mediated communication with a focus on affordances and community-building. We define or redefine key concepts including single evaluative metaphors metaphorical complexes triggers bondicons and chains. Rather than departing from existing literature we integrate it into a framework valuable to scholars in metaphor studies digital ethnography discourse analysis and online communication.
Beyond Binaries in Address Research : Politeness and identity practices in interaction
Jul 2025
Book
Beyond binaries in address research: Politeness and identity practices in interaction shifts the focus of address studies away from the traditional T/V opposition and toward a more flexible contextually situated framework. The volume brings together linguistic phenomena that do not fit neatly within the formal/informal duality. The chapters explore several languages including European Portuguese Spanish varieties Caribbean Dutch Swedish German Bosnian Hungar-ian and Syrian Arabic. The analytical approaches are equally diverse challenging binary dis-tinctions through quantitative methods such as survey response analysis attitudinal experi-ments using the Matched Guise Test data clustering and qualitative analyses of interaction and metadiscourse. The ten chapters are accompanied by an introduction that situates the discussion within the broader critique of binary approaches to address over time.
This book will interest scholars engaged in address research broadly defined to include socio-linguistics language variation and change pragmatics politeness studies comparative linguis-tics and intercultural communication.
This book will interest scholars engaged in address research broadly defined to include socio-linguistics language variation and change pragmatics politeness studies comparative linguis-tics and intercultural communication.
Sociolinguistic Approaches to Arabic and Spanish in Contact
Jul 2025
Book
This volume brings together empirical research in sociolinguistics that focuses on Arabic and Spanish contact across different geopolitical sociocultural and digital spaces. Bridging historical and modern sociolinguistic perspectives this volume challenges the marginalization of Arabic-Spanish contact as well as Judeo-Spanish in linguistic research shedding light on the enduring global relevance of the study of these languages and their contexts.<br xmlns="http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/"/> With contributions employing diverse methodologies – quantitative qualitative and mixed-methods approaches – this collection examines topics such as multilingualism identity language variation and language ideologies and attitudes. The volume also features research regarding the contemporary sociolinguistic dynamics of Arabic and Spanish in education familial and religious contexts. This volume is essential for scholars of sociolinguistics historical and contemporary linguistics language policy and planning and language education. Finally the volume offers novel insights that expand the field and inspire new directions in Spanish and Arabic linguistics.<br/>
Metaphors in Audiovisual Translation
Jul 2025
Book
As metaphors are fascinating linguistic and cultural phenomena and as they have a great potential to cause translation problems it is no wonder that a great deal has been written about them both in metaphor studies and in translation studies. They are severely under-researched from the perspective of audiovisual translation however. This is surprising considering the added layers of complexity caused by the multimodality of audiovisual texts and the special conditions and constraints of dubbing and subtitling. This monograph seeks to remedy this as it investigates how metaphors are handled in three different genres of televisual light entertainment. If a metaphor is verbalized in the dialogue while being visualized on screen and if that metaphor is not normally used in the target language the task of the audiovisual translator becomes very challenging indeed. The research shows that audiovisual translators go to great lengths of creativity and complexity to do metaphors justice and maintain harmony with sound and image.
Dutch and Contact Linguistics : The Dutch language outside the Low Countries
Jul 2025
Book
Whilst the Dutch language cannot be considered a world language in the manner of English Spanish Portuguese or French the fact that speakers of Dutch have sailed to the four corners of the earth means that it cannot be overlooked in language-contact studies. This volume brings together scholars from across the globe to showcase the many varied outcomes of contact between Dutch and other languages in Europe Africa Asia and the Americas. These outcomes include language learning translation multilingualism codeswitching lexical borrowing grammatical interference the emergence of contact varieties such as creoles and language shift or ‘first-language attrition’. Other subjects that the volume covers include the circulation of Dutch loanwords translanguaging sprachbund studies taboo words animal names call names language beliefs Dutch as a heritage language and Dutch in online spaces. In short the contributions in this volume tell the story of the many outcomes of contact between Dutch and other languages across the centuries and across the world.
Semantic-Pragmatic Change from Intersubjective to Textual Meanings
Jun 2025
Book
This is the first comprehensive volume to explore the tendency from ‘intersubjective’ to ‘textual’ functions in semantic-pragmatic change. It challenges the influential hypothesis based on the pioneering works by Traugott i.e. the unidirectionality of change from objective to subjective and then to intersubjective meanings. In this framework textual meanings precede (inter)subjective ones. Questioning this established trajectory the contributions in this volume offer fresh perspectives on the development of intersubjective and textual functions. The chapters provide new empirical data about different constructions (modals conditionals discourse markers non-lexical items etc.) across a variety of largely unrelated languages (Ainu Mandarin Chinese English German Japanese Italian Sicilian Spanish).<br xmlns="http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/"/>This book collects a multifaceted reflection for researchers interested in language change especially at the interface of semantics and pragmatics providing readers with an opportunity to better understand the crucial processes of textualization and intersubjectification.
Dialect on Air : Bahamian Creole in historical radio broadcasts
Jun 2025
Book
Despite the increasing interest in diachronic linguistic studies such research remains particularly scarce for creole varieties largely due to the limited availability of historical data on non-standard languages. This book addresses this gap by introducing a soap opera from the early 1970s as a source of historical creole data. It presents the first real-time analysis of selected grammatical and phonological features of Bahamian Creole English. Situated within the framework of comparative sociolinguistics the study provides quantitative variationist analyses of the zero copula BE-levelling verbal negation low vowels (i.e. the lexical sets of BATH PALM START and TRAP) and the closing diphthongs of MOUTH and PRICE. This book will appeal not only to those interested in the analysis of creole and non-standard varieties but also to those studying language variation and change more broadly.
Research at the Intersection of Second Language Acquisition and Sociolinguistics : Studies in honor of Kimberly L. Geeslin
Jun 2025
Book
This volume honors the scholarly legacy of Kimberly L. Geeslin. Geeslin’s pioneering work on variation in the Spanish copula system united and extended research in the fields of second language acquisition and sociolinguistics. Geeslin laid the foundation for a growing subfield of investigation that explores how interlanguages vary in systematic and socially meaningful ways across various modules of language; how variation in learner language relates to the speakers contexts and experiences learners are in contact with; and how variable features develop over learning trajectories. This volume connects established and up-and-coming scholars conducting research on second language sociolinguistic variation and exemplifies the present and future of this line of inquiry. Together these chapters reconsider important questions pose and test new methods and challenge long-standing practices to advance both second language acquisition and sociolinguistics. The volume’s collaborative format also pays homage to Kim Geeslin’s unparalleled mentorship and field-wide influence.
Second Language Cognitive Task Complexity : A research synthesis
Jun 2025
Book
This book addresses the topic of cognitive task complexity as it has been investigated in second language (L2) task-based research. This interest is premised on the notion that communication tasks may differ systematically in the types and amounts of cognitive complexity they present to L2 learners and these differences may have predictable effects on L2 performance learning and other outcomes. Adopting a research synthetic approach the authors pursued the first ever comprehensive review of experimental and quasi-experimental studies published over the first 30 years of relevant research that drew comparisons between tasks designed to differ in levels and types of cognitive complexity. Findings from included studies (N = 296) illuminated critical patterns and gaps in the tasks cognitive complexity operationalizations outcome measures and moderating variables investigated. Meta-analytic comparisons of the most replicated variables identified substantial beneficial as well as detrimental effects between a few task designs and certain measures of performance uncovering heretofore unknown patterns of cause and effect. The book concludes with a detailed consideration of what is now known about L2 cognitive task complexity as well as the ways in which research should be improved providing an essential interpretive benchmark and a foundation for future investigations.
Identity Perspectives from Peripheries
Jun 2025
Book
Data dubbed “peripheral” or previously unaccounted for have inspired new methods new models and theories of language and new ways of understanding language and communication within pragmatics. The chapters in the volume extend this perspective to include language users and their identities as central taking into account the ideologies that mediate their perception of language use. Identities and peripheries are approached geographically (Europe North America Africa Asia; dialectal variation) socially (gender age social status) medially (traditional electronic and multimedia) occupationally (trade congregation) and from the points of view of healthcare and of professional relations. The volume includes the editors’ introductory overview of challenges in the field and chapters divided into three parts Building the Peripheral Stage; Identities in Interaction; and Gender Narratives and Peripheries. By particularizing a variety of linguistic peripheries the volume fosters a deeper understanding of human interaction.
The Second Language Acquisition of English Tense, Aspect and Modality
Jun 2025
Book
After a comprehensive description of the French and English tense aspect mood/modality (TAM) systems in Chapter 1 an overview of key theoretical perspective and applied perspectives from the morpheme-order studies to examples of internal and external interfaces in monolingual child acquisition is presented in Chapter 2. The literature review of L2 studies illustrates the subtleties of TAM properties in Chapter 3. It is followed by the rigorous methodology of a cross-sectional empirical study designed to test the L2 acquisition of the English TAM system along with pretest results in Chapter 4. The quantitative and qualitative analyses of data obtained from written production tasks cloze tests and completion tasks completed by French EFL and ESL learners and a NS comparison group appear in Chapters 5 6 and 7. The results discussed in Chapter 8 address the explanatory power of the Interface and Feature Reassembly hypotheses while directions for future research are offered in Chapter 9. Scholars will appreciate how new data carefully analyzed in its nuances and complexities bring us closer to better understanding the challenges L2 learners face.
Grammar in Action : Building comprehensive grammars of talk-in-interaction
Jun 2025
Book
Grammar in Action: Building comprehensive grammars of talk-in-interaction investigates the possibility of writing comprehensive grammars of languages based on analyses of interaction. The volume combines two traditions in language studies that have hitherto been separate: Interactional Linguistics which analyzes instances of language use in naturally occurring interactions and Descriptive Grammars which describe the grammatical regularities of languages. The authors are skilled researchers in Interactional Linguistics. They analyze interactional phenomena in Danish English Finnish French German Italian and Swedish making concrete proposals about how grammatical phenomena might be described in a comprehensive interactional grammar. The volume also proposes solutions to problems that an interactional grammar faces for instance the written language bias the role of prosody and the body in the grammar how to approach different target audiences and how a web-based grammar could be useful for rendering the complexities of grammar in interaction.
Love, Sex, and the Sacred : A metaphor analysis of Hungarian folk songs
Jun 2025
Book
Most Hungarian folksongs are about SEX – according to a widely accepted opinion of ethnographers. But what is SEX about? How is it connected to LOVE and what does THE SACRED have to do with these? <br xmlns="http://pub2web.metastore.ingenta.com/ns/"/>Drawing on Conceptual Metaphor Theory this book reveals the profound connections between the three concepts highlighting the spiritual roots of romantic love in a premodern religious context. Within this framework we can gain a better understanding of the true role of women in traditional religious societies – a role often misunderstood or perhaps misjudged by contemporary perspectives as unjust oppressed exploited and pathetic. However such perspectives might overlook valuable lessons that could still resonate today.<br/>The volume cuts across linguistics philosophy cultural anthropology and religious studies by offering a compelling look at how metaphors in folk poetry serve as a window into a worldview where the concept of LOVE and SEXUALITY transcend the physical boundaries of life.
Terminology throughout History : A discipline in the making
May 2025
Book
Terminology throughout History: A discipline in the making is a collection of individual contributions by leading terminology scholars from around the globe who describe historical developments of terminology as a discipline and a field of practice. Its aim is to provide a comprehensive written record of the history of terminology as it evolves from a set of practices to a discipline in its own right. Terminology has witnessed considerable theoretical and methodological developments in recent decades. These changes need to be understood within the context of their historical foundations. The book has three main focus areas. The first examines the prehistory of terminology going back to the Ancient World leading to the second where the pioneers of modern terminology Eugen Wüster in particular are placed in their historical context. The final section is an account of how terminology developed in some twenty countries and language communities.
Early Language Education in Instructed Contexts : Current issues and empirical insights into teaching and learning languages in primary school
May 2025
Book
This volume presents state-of-the-art research in early foreign language (L2) education in instructed contexts with a special focus on primary school (ages 5-12). Over the past two decades early language teaching has become an important factor in both academic inquiry and education policy. Studies have attested to the value of early L2 learning but also revealed specific features and challenges which highlights the need for more high-quality empirical research. This book addresses this need by presenting current international research on early L2 teaching and learning in regular and CLIL contexts in the primary school setting. Uniting insights from 12 countries the studies shed light on current issues such as teaching and assessment practice emerging L2 literacy instruction teaching materials and teachers’ parents’ and learners’ perspectives. The volume thus contributes significantly to the advancement of early language education and is an essential resource for researchers and educators in the field.