Grammatical configuration

Mahlberg M (2015)

Publication Type: Authored book

Publication year: 2015

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

ISBN: 9781139237031

Abstract

Research in literary stylistics analyses linguistic features of texts to explain literary or aesthetic effects as perceived by readers. The value of such an approach is, as Carter (1982: 67) points out, that ‘some linguistic analysis of a literary text is essential if something other than a merely intuitive or impressionistic account of the story is to be given’. It will depend on the text under investigation which linguistic categories and frameworks are most useful for the task; as analysts, we have ‘the full array of language models at our disposal’ (Simpson 2004: 3). In spite of the range of choice, there are some basic units and levels of language description that are typically drawn on in stylistic analyses. For most approaches to grammar a fundamental assumption about the relationship of linguistic units is expressed through the ‘rank scale’. According to the rank scale, larger linguistic units consist of smaller ones. On this scale, morphemes are the smallest meaningful units of grammar and from there units move up to clauses The linguistic units relate to the levels of linguistic description or branches of linguistics: morphology deals with the structure of words, lexicology with the vocabulary of a language, and grammar or syntax accounts for how words combine into phrases and clauses. Depending on the approach, terminology may vary as to whether something is called a noun ‘phrase’ or a noun ‘group’. How a rank scale is perceived to continue above the clause is also a matter for debate. Sometimes sentences are regarded as units above clauses, which already highlights limitations of a neat and tidy account of grammatical units, as a definition of the ‘sentence’ is more readily applicable to written than to spoken language. And if the sentence was an acceptable unit, would there be any textual unit above it, so that branches of linguistics like text linguistics could be accommodated as well?.

Authors with CRIS profile

Agnes Michaela Mahlberg

Involved external institutions

University of Nottingham

United Kingdom (GB)

How to cite

APA:

Mahlberg, M. (2015). Grammatical configuration. Cambridge University Press.

MLA:

Mahlberg, Michaela. Grammatical configuration. Cambridge University Press, 2015.

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