Relevance-Theoretic Lexical Pragmatics: Theory and Applications
This volume is one of the first books to present a comprehensive view of lexical pragmatics, describing its origins, assumptions, scope, methodology and the various approaches to it, focusing specifically on the approach offered by relevance theory. In addition to theoretical considerations, the book discusses particular linguistic expressions and pragmatic phenomena, showing how the relevance-theoretic tools may be used to explore pragmatically motivated changes to lexically encoded meanings. The most recent developments are discussed and questions are asked to indicate directions for further research within this rapidly developing field.
Ewa Wałaszewska is Assistant Professor at the Institute of English Studies at the University of Warsaw, Poland. She is the author and co-editor of a number of publications on relevance-theoretic research. Her principal interests lie within the fields of semantics and pragmatics, and focus on relevance theory and its applications to the study of particular linguistic phenomena, as well as its theoretical implications for the investigation of human communication and cognition.
“This book is a brilliant, original and scholarly contribution to our understanding of lexical pragmatics. Beautifully written and based on extensive research, it takes readers from first principles to the most recent cutting-edge discoveries. Highlights include a careful dissection of the notion of an ‘ad hoc concept’, a ground-breaking reassessment of recent work on metaphor, and a new account of lexical blending. I heartily recommend it to anyone with an interest in how word meanings are modified in use.”
Deirdre Wilson
Emeritus Professor of Linguistics, University College London
“An excellent, well-written and thought-provoking book. Readers will certainly find up-to-date, insightful and in-depth discussion on the origin of lexical pragmatics and much reflection on word meaning and the process of ad hoc concept construction from a relevance-theoretic perspective. This is further complemented with applications of the theory to the study and analysis of metaphor and lexical blending.”
Manuel Padilla Cruz
Department of English Language, University of Seville
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