Meaning in Language

Description

A comprehensive introduction to the ways in which meaning is conveyed in language. Alan Cruse covers semantic matters, but also deals with topics that are usually considered to fall under pragmatics. A major aim is to highlight the richness and subtlety of meaning phenomena, rather than to expound any particular theory.

• Fully updated to reflect changes in current scholarship
• Substantial treatment of both semantics and pragmatics in one volume
• Rich exemplification and numerous exercises, as well as discussion questions with suggested answers at the end of the book
• Compares the main theoretical approaches and perspectives

New to this edition

• Chapters are fully revised to take into account changes in recent scholarship
• New chapters on the semantics of prepositions and the semantics of derivational affixes
• New exercises

Table of Contents

Part 1 Fundamental Notions
1:Introduction
2:Logic and Meaning
3:Concepts and Meaning
Part 2 Words and Their Meanings
4:Lexical Units
5:Contextual Variability of Word Meaning
6:Paradigmatic Relations of Inclusion and Identity
7:Paradigmatic Relations of Exclusion and Opposition
8:Lexical Hierarchies
9:Syntagmatic Semantic Relations
10:Describing Lexical Senses 1: Dimensions and Structures
11:Describing lexical Senses 2: Approaches to the Specification of Word Meanings
12:Extensions of Meaning
Part 3 Grammatical Meaning
13:Grammatical Meaning: Nouns and Noun Phrases
14:Argument Structure and Transitivity
15:Grammatical Meaning: Verbs and Adjectives
16:The Semantics of Prepositions
17:The Semantics of Derivational Affixes
part 4 Pragmatics
18:Speech Acts
19:Reference and Deixis
20:Conversational Implicatures
Epilogue
Answers to Questions
References
Author Index
Subject Index

Reviews

Review from previous edition 'Written in clear and concise language, this book offers comprehensive coverage of the topics in the study of meaning in language. Students will profit considerably by reading this excellent text' - Huimin Ji, University of Georgia

'The book introduces the reader to the complex topic of meaning in language, providing and excellent comprehensive survey of the full range of semantic phenomena. The author is aware that the richness and variety of the presented topic could cause feelings of confusion, especially to less experienced readers, and thus offers a text with extensive explanatory power.' - Gabriela Missikova, University of Constantine the Philosopher

Praise for the new edition 'Building on the many strengths of the first edition of Meaning in Language, Alan Cruse has significantly updated this already valuable textbook. New thinking about lexical semantics can be found alongside concise and pithy illustrations of all aspects of pragmatics and grammar, making this an excellent resource for any reader interested in the nuts and bolts of linguistic meaning.' - Mark Turin, Digital Himalaya Project, University of Cambridge