Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A considerable proportion of our everyday language is "formulaic". It is predictable in form and idiomatic--apparently stored in fixed or semi-fixed chunks. This book explores the nature and purposes of formulaic language, and looks for patterns across the research findings from the fields of discourse analysis, first language acquisition, language pathology and applied linguistics. It gradually builds up a unified description and explanation of formulaic language as a linguistic solution to a larger, non-linguistic, problem, the promotion of self.
Synopsis
This book explores the nature of formulaic language, and looks for patterns across research findings from a variety of sub-fields. It gradually builds up a unified description and explanation of formulaic language as a linguistic solution to a larger, non-linguistic, problem, the promotion of self.
Table of Contents
Part I. What Formulaic Sequences Are: 1. The whole and the parts; 2. Detecting formulaicity; 3. Pinning down formulaicity; Part II. A Reference Point: 4. Patterns of formulaicity in normal adult language; 5. The function of formulaic sequences: a model; Part III. Formulaic Sequences in First Language Acquisition: 6. Patterns of formulaicity in child language; 7. Formulaic sequences in the first language acquisition; Part IV. Formulaic Sequences in a Second