English Historical Pragmatics - (Edinburgh Textbooks on the English Language - Advanced) by Andreas H Jucker & Irma Taavitsainen (Paperback)

About the Book

Historical pragmatics is placed at the intersection between pragmatics, historical linguistics and neighbouring disciplines like (historical) sociolinguistics.This book introduces this field to advanced linguistic students coming to the topic for the first time.

Book Synopsis

Providing an ideal introduction to historical pragmatics, this guide gives students a solid grounding in historical pragmatics and teaches the methodology needed to analyse language in social, cultural and historical contexts. Using a number of case studies including politeness, news discourse, and scientific discourse, this book provides new insights into the analysis of discourse markers, interjections, terms of address and speech acts. Through focusing on the methodological problems in using historical data, students learn the key concepts in historical pragmatics, as well as covering recent work at the interface of between language and literature.

From the Back Cover

EDINBURGH TEXTBOOKS ON THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE - ADVANCED Series editor: Heinz Giegerich Books in this series provide readers with a detailed description and explanation of key areas of English Language study. The authors presuppose a basic working knowledge of the topic and explore aspects of the linguistics of English for an intermediate or advanced student readership. English Historical Pragmatics Andreas H. Jucker and Irma Taavitsainen 'This much needed book could not have been written by two more qualified people, and they do not disappoint. Surveying a broad panorama of micro and macro phenomena, they gently guide the reader through historical pragmatics, skilfully negotiating complex theories and illuminating numerous examples. This book lends definition to the field; it will be a landmark in its development.' Jonathan Culpeper, Professor of English Language and Linguistics, Lancaster University Historical pragmatics is an emerging branch within linguistics and one of the most versatile fields in the historical study of English, placed at the intersection between pragmatics, historical linguistics and neighbouring disciplines like (historical) sociolinguistics. It is at such interfaces where exciting new developments take place. English Historical Pragmatics introduces this field to advanced linguistic students coming to the topic for the first time. It critically evaluates data sources and methodological approaches and takes a broad social pragmatics approach to micro issues within historical pragmatics such as discourse markers, terms of address and actions performed through language. It also covers macro issues of genre, medical and news discourse and fictional literature, and it outlines the underlying principles of language change through grammaticalisation, subjectivisation and pragmaticalisation. With engaging examples throughout and thought-provoking student exercises, this advanced textbook provides students with a thorough grounding in historical pragmatics. Andreas H. Jucker is Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Zurich. Irma Taavitsainen is Professor of English Philology at the University of Helsinki. Cover design and illustration: riverdesign.co.uk [EUP logo] www.euppublishing.com

Review Quotes

A powerful demonstration of the pragmatic approach to English from a historical perspective, taking the reader through methodological discussions and multiple case studies, and illustrating the usage of particular analytical tools with additional exercises and suggestions for further study. One of the best features of this textbook is its clarity and comprehensiveness. The discussion is well-signposted throughout, while the original quotes used in chapter titles immediately capture the reader's attention and give a flavour of each chapter's content. This textbook will definitely prove popular with students and academics. It is a perfect testimony to the breadth and depth of the field and will definitely inspire both neophytes of historical pragmatics as well as seasoned specialists.--Joanna Kopaczyk, University of Edinburgh and Adam Mickiewicz, University of Poznań "Journal of Historical Pragmatics"

This much needed book could not have been written by two more qualified people, and they do not disappoint. Surveying a broad panorama of micro and macro phenomena, they gently guide the reader through historical pragmatics, skilfully negotiating complex theories and illuminating numerous examples. This book lends definition to the field; it will be a landmark in its development.-- "Jonathan Culpeper, Professor of English Language and Linguistics, Lancaster University"

About the Author

Andreas H. Jucker is Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Zurich in Switzerland

Irma Taavitsainen is Professor of English Philology at the University of Helsinki. Her research focuses on historical pragmatics, corpus linguistics, and the development of scientific and medical writing. She has published widely on these topics.