This study investigates prosody-syntax interactions from a functional perspective and based on authentic corpus data. Drawing on Halliday's well-known interpretation of the tone unit as an information unit, Halford's idea of a prosodically and syntactically defined talk unit and Esser's concept of abstract presentation structures, a modified talk unit model is developed. The talk unit is built up of one to many tone unit(s). The focus of both the quantitative and the functional analysis is on the interplay between prosodic status and syntactic status at tone unit boundaries by means of which talk units as parasyntactic units are established. The database is provided by a sample of about 50,000 words mainly taken from the London-Lund Corpus of Spoken English. The findings reveal that speakers have at their disposal and make use of prosody-syntax interactions in order to structure information effectively and to allow for or facilitate turn taking. This volume is not only of interest for corpus linguists, but for functionalists in general and intonationists in particular. In analysing the stylistic and pragmatic potential of talk units and applying corpus linguistic methodology, this study breaks new ground with regard to functional and empirical approaches to spoken English.

Despite its everyday relevance, the reputation of punctuation is tarnished. Actually, modern English punctuation is often considered not more than a necessary evil. For many people, punctuation usage follows seemingly arbitrary and unmotivated rules. The present approach moves away from a static, rulebased description towards a more dynamic, contextbased interpretation of punctuation. Punctuation is a highly versatile medium-dependent means of presentational choice. To accept this view is to take a significant step towards closing the gap that still exists between punctuational theory and the actual usage of punctuation. Punctuation adopts a guiding role for the reader and the present study explores this guide potential, providing a thorough analysis of both the linguistic status and the communicative value of punctuation.

This collection of articles highlights some of the challenges facing English Corpus Linguistics at the beginning of the 21st century and shows how these challenges are being addressed by researchers.

The last decade has seen a rise in popularity in construction-based approaches to grammar. The various approaches within the rubric 'construction grammar' all see language as a network of constructions-pairings of form and meaning. Construction Grammar, as a kind of cognitive linguistics, differs significantly from mainstream generative grammar as espoused by Chomsky and his followers. Advocates of Construction Grammar see it as a psychologically plausible theory of human language. As such, it is capable of providing a principled account of language acquisition, language variation and language change. Research in Construction Grammar also includes multidisciplinary cognitive studies in psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, and computational linguistics. The Oxford Handbook of Construction Grammar is the first authoritative reference work solely dedicated to Construction Grammar. Divided into five sections, the book will be an invaluable resource that students and scholars alike can turn to for a comprehensive account of current work on Construction Grammar, its theoretical foundations, and its applications to and relationship with other kinds of linguistic enquiry.

Discover the intricate dynamics of L2 prosody with this pioneering study, which examines how advanced learners from Czech, German, and Spanish backgrounds engage with British and American English intonation. By employing a multidimensional approach - spanning phonetic, phonological, discourse-pragmatic, and sociolinguistic perspectives - this book provides a comprehensive overview of L2 prosodic features, highlighting patterns of intonational phrasing, f0 range, and the use of tones and uptalk. Building on foundational works by Pierrehumbert, Mennen, and Gut, this work bridges significant gaps in the field by comparing different L1 and L2 varieties, integrating diverse linguistic variables, and proposing a multifactorial model of L2 prosody. Relevant for linguists, language educators, and researchers in SLA, the findings offer valuable insights for reducing foreign accents and enhancing intelligibility, making it an essential resource for improving language teaching methodologies and learner outcomes. Dive into this essential guide and elevate your understanding of L2 prosody and its impact on effective communication.

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://www.benjamins.com/online/hop/