Gastvortrag von Prof. Dr. Anna-Maria De Cesare (Universität Basel)
Frau Prof. Dr. Anna-Maria De Cesare (Universität Basel) hält einen Vortrag (auf Englisch, Diskussion auf Deutsch) über:
Defining Focusing Modifiers in a cross-linguistic perspective
Zeit: Dienstag, 30. Juni 2015, 15 Uhr
Ort: IDS Vortragssaal On the basis of a bundle of peculiar semantic and syntactic properties related to special cognitive processes, focusing modifiers (henceforth FMs) such as English also, only, even and their equivalent forms in German (auch, nur, sogar), French (aussi, seulement, même) and Italian (anche, solo, perfino) have been carved out from a superordinate class – of Adverbs, Adverbials and/or Particles – and given the status of an autonomous category as early as the 1970s for English and German (cf. Quirk et al. 1972 and Altmann 1976, respectively), in the early 1980s for French (cf. Nølke 1982, 1983) and in the 1990s for Italian (cf. Lonzi 1991, Ricca 1999 and Andorno 1999). In these pioneering works, the main research agenda consisted in identifying the defining properties of FMs, showing how these forms differ from other adverbs or particles subclasses, and in providing an inventory of the forms included in the class. In line with a few other studies proposed in the last twenty-five years (see König 1991 on English and German; Altmann 1978, 2009, and Poźlewicz (2011) on German), the goal of my contribution is to reconnect with the research agenda of the “classic” studies on the so-called FMs by tackling questions related to the intension (i.e. the defining properties) and the extension (i.e. the inventories) of the category. Since very few classic studies are devoted to FMs in more than one language, these issues are particularly pressing to address in a cross-linguistic perspective (De Cesare in press). In the present contribution, these questions will be discussed on the basis of data belonging to four languages of two distinct families: two Romance languages (Italian and French) and two Germanic languages (English and German). References Altmann, Hans. 1976. Die Gradpartikeln im Deutschen. Tübingen: Niemeyer. Altmann, Hans. 1978. Gradpartikelprobleme. Zur Beschreibung von gerade, genau, eben, ausgerechnet, vor allem, insbesondere, zumindest, wenigstens. Tübingen: Narr. Altmann, Hans. 2009. Gradpartikel. In Handbuch der deutschen Wortarten, Ludger Hoffmann, (ed.), 357-385. Berlin-New York: de Gruyter Mouton. Andorno, Cecilia. 1999. Avverbi focalizzanti in italiano. Parametri per un’analisi. Studi Italiani di Linguistica Teorica e Applicata 28(1): 43-83. De Cesare, Anna-Maria. In press / 2015, Defining Focusing Modifiers in a cross-linguistic perspective. A discussion based on English, German, French and Italian. In Karin Pittner, Daniela Elsner & Fabian Barteld (eds.), Adverbs – Functional and Diachronic Aspects. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins [Studies in Language Companion Series]. König, Ekkehard. 1991. The Meaning of Focus Particles: A Comparative Perspective. London-New York: Routledge. Lonzi, Lidia. 1991. Il sintagma avverbiale. In Grande grammatica italiana di consultazione, vol. 2, Lorenzo Renzi & Giampaolo Salvi (eds), 341-412. Bologna: il Mulino. Nølke, Henning. 1982. Problems in the semantic/pragmatic description of French adverbials like même, aussi, surtout and seulement. Acta Linguistica 17: 157-168. Nølke, Henning. 1983. Les adverbes paradigmatisants: Fonction et analyse. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag. Poźlewicz, Agnieszka. 2011. Syntax, Semantik und Pragmatik der Operatorpartikeln des Deutschen. Versuch einer Systematik. Bern: Lang. Quirk, Randolph, Greenbaum, Sidney, Leech, Geoffrey & Svartvik, Jan. 1972. A Grammar of Contemporary English. London: Longman. Ricca, Davide. 1999. Osservazioni preliminari sui focalizzatori in italiano. In Grammatica e discorso. Studi sull’acquisizione dell’italiano e del tedesco, Norbert Dittmar & Anna Giacalone Ramat (eds), 146-164. Tübingen: Stauffenburg.
Ort: IDS Vortragssaal On the basis of a bundle of peculiar semantic and syntactic properties related to special cognitive processes, focusing modifiers (henceforth FMs) such as English also, only, even and their equivalent forms in German (auch, nur, sogar), French (aussi, seulement, même) and Italian (anche, solo, perfino) have been carved out from a superordinate class – of Adverbs, Adverbials and/or Particles – and given the status of an autonomous category as early as the 1970s for English and German (cf. Quirk et al. 1972 and Altmann 1976, respectively), in the early 1980s for French (cf. Nølke 1982, 1983) and in the 1990s for Italian (cf. Lonzi 1991, Ricca 1999 and Andorno 1999). In these pioneering works, the main research agenda consisted in identifying the defining properties of FMs, showing how these forms differ from other adverbs or particles subclasses, and in providing an inventory of the forms included in the class. In line with a few other studies proposed in the last twenty-five years (see König 1991 on English and German; Altmann 1978, 2009, and Poźlewicz (2011) on German), the goal of my contribution is to reconnect with the research agenda of the “classic” studies on the so-called FMs by tackling questions related to the intension (i.e. the defining properties) and the extension (i.e. the inventories) of the category. Since very few classic studies are devoted to FMs in more than one language, these issues are particularly pressing to address in a cross-linguistic perspective (De Cesare in press). In the present contribution, these questions will be discussed on the basis of data belonging to four languages of two distinct families: two Romance languages (Italian and French) and two Germanic languages (English and German). References Altmann, Hans. 1976. Die Gradpartikeln im Deutschen. Tübingen: Niemeyer. Altmann, Hans. 1978. Gradpartikelprobleme. Zur Beschreibung von gerade, genau, eben, ausgerechnet, vor allem, insbesondere, zumindest, wenigstens. Tübingen: Narr. Altmann, Hans. 2009. Gradpartikel. In Handbuch der deutschen Wortarten, Ludger Hoffmann, (ed.), 357-385. Berlin-New York: de Gruyter Mouton. Andorno, Cecilia. 1999. Avverbi focalizzanti in italiano. Parametri per un’analisi. Studi Italiani di Linguistica Teorica e Applicata 28(1): 43-83. De Cesare, Anna-Maria. In press / 2015, Defining Focusing Modifiers in a cross-linguistic perspective. A discussion based on English, German, French and Italian. In Karin Pittner, Daniela Elsner & Fabian Barteld (eds.), Adverbs – Functional and Diachronic Aspects. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins [Studies in Language Companion Series]. König, Ekkehard. 1991. The Meaning of Focus Particles: A Comparative Perspective. London-New York: Routledge. Lonzi, Lidia. 1991. Il sintagma avverbiale. In Grande grammatica italiana di consultazione, vol. 2, Lorenzo Renzi & Giampaolo Salvi (eds), 341-412. Bologna: il Mulino. Nølke, Henning. 1982. Problems in the semantic/pragmatic description of French adverbials like même, aussi, surtout and seulement. Acta Linguistica 17: 157-168. Nølke, Henning. 1983. Les adverbes paradigmatisants: Fonction et analyse. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag. Poźlewicz, Agnieszka. 2011. Syntax, Semantik und Pragmatik der Operatorpartikeln des Deutschen. Versuch einer Systematik. Bern: Lang. Quirk, Randolph, Greenbaum, Sidney, Leech, Geoffrey & Svartvik, Jan. 1972. A Grammar of Contemporary English. London: Longman. Ricca, Davide. 1999. Osservazioni preliminari sui focalizzatori in italiano. In Grammatica e discorso. Studi sull’acquisizione dell’italiano e del tedesco, Norbert Dittmar & Anna Giacalone Ramat (eds), 146-164. Tübingen: Stauffenburg.