Relevance Relations in Discourse A Study with Special Reference to Sissala [Paperback]

Using the language Sissala, this book offers convincing evidence that although cultural backgrounds may vary widely, principles involved in utterance interpretation are universal.This book shows that the analysis of text and discourse is best approached from a cognitive rather than a strictly linguistic point of view. Using the language Sissala, Regina Blass discusses Sissala particles and compares them with their English, French and German counterparts. This book offers convincing evidence that although cultural backgrounds may vary widely, principles involved in utterance interpretation are universal.This book shows that the analysis of text and discourse is best approached from a cognitive rather than a strictly linguistic point of view. Using the language Sissala, Regina Blass discusses Sissala particles and compares them with their English, French and German counterparts. This book offers convincing evidence that although cultural backgrounds may vary widely, principles involved in utterance interpretation are universal.Using data from Sissala, a previously unanalyzed language, this book shows that the analysis of text and discourse is best approached from a cognitive rather than a strictly linguistic point of view. In two introductory chapters, Regina Blass argues that Sperber and Wilson's relevance theory, a general account of communication and cognition, sheds more light on conversational data than do alternative linguistic approaches based on such notions as cohesion, coherence, and topic. In subsequent chapters, she discusses the Sissala equivalents of words such as indeed, so, after all, and also, and compares them with their English, French, and German counterparts. This book offers convincing evidence that although cultural backgrounds may vary considerably, the principles involved in utterance interpretation are universally the same.Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations and symbols; Maps; Introduction; 1. What is discourse?; 2. Relevance ls3