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Title: Medially-Placed Linking Adverbials in Written Academic English

Medially-Placed Linking Adverbials in Written Academic English

Usage Patterns and Functions

by Carolin Harthan (Author)
©2022 Thesis 340 Pages
English Studies
Series: MUSE: Munich Studies in English, Volume 49

Summary

In Present-Day English, the only flexible sentence constituent in unmarked
declarative sentences is the adverbial, which can often be placed in initial, medial, or end position. This book presents the first empirical and corpus-based study on the usage patterns and functions of medially-placed linking adverbials in conceptually-written academic English. By combining quantitative with detailed qualitative analyses of selected corpus examples, the present study explores whether the placement of linking adverbials in medial position can be regarded as a focusing strategy, similar to focusing adverbs and cleft sentences. Moreover, it investigates whether different medial positions are associated with distinct discourse functions, such as the marking of contrastive topics or different
focus meanings.

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • About the author
  • About the book
  • This eBook can be cited
  • Acknowledgements
  • Contents
  • List of Figures
  • List of Tables
  • List of Abbreviations
  • 1 Introduction
  • 1.1 Medial Placement of Linking Adverbials in Present-Day English
  • 1.2 Aims of the Study
  • 1.3 Structure of the Study
  • 2 Linking Adverbials
  • 2.1 The Category ‘Adverbial’: Overview
  • 2.1.1 Characteristic Features
  • 2.1.2 Classification of Adverbials
  • 2.1.3 Adverbial Positions
  • 2.1.3.1 Initial Position
  • 2.1.3.2 Medial Position(s)
  • 2.1.3.3 End Position
  • 2.1.3.4 Pre-End Position
  • 2.2 General Characteristics
  • 2.3 Semantic Categories
  • 2.4 Register Preferences
  • 2.5 Positional Distribution
  • 2.6 Summary
  • 3 Interplay between Adverbial Placement and Information Structure
  • 3.1 Information Structure
  • 3.1.1 Introduction
  • 3.1.2 Basic Terms and Concepts
  • 3.1.2.1 The Topic-Comment Distinction
  • 3.1.2.2 Frame-Setting and Delimitation
  • 3.1.2.3 Focus
  • 3.1.2.4 Information Status
  • 3.1.3 Information Structure after the Loss of V2
  • 3.1.4 Focusing Adverbs and Information-Packaging Constructions
  • 3.1.4.1 Focusing Adverbs
  • 3.1.4.2 Information-Packaging Constructions
  • 3.1.5 The ‘Nacherstposition’ in Present-Day German as a Focusing Strategy
  • 3.1.6 Summary
  • 3.2 Adverbial Placement and Information Structure
  • 3.2.1 Positioning of Circumstance and Stance Adverbials
  • 3.2.2 Positioning of Linking Adverbials
  • 3.2.2.1 Reference Grammars and Style Guides/Usage Manuals
  • 3.2.2.2 Previous Research
  • 3.2.3 Summary
  • 4 Material and Method
  • 4.1 Corpora
  • 4.1.1 The Reith Lectures of the BBC
  • 4.1.2 The BNC and the COCA
  • 4.2 Selection Process and Data Retrieval of the Linking Adverbials Investigated in the Present Study
  • 4.3 Quantitative and Qualitative Analyses
  • 4.3.1 Annotation Levels
  • 4.3.2 Analysis of Information Structure
  • 5 Positional Distribution of Linking Adverbials in Written Academic English: Overview
  • 6 The Central Case of however: Usage Patterns and Functions
  • 6.1 however
  • 6.2 Positional Distribution: Overview
  • 6.3 Formal Realization of the Subject Constituent
  • 6.4 Functions in Medial Position M1
  • 6.5 Functions in Medial Positions M2–M3
  • 6.6 Functions in Medial Positions M4–M9
  • 6.6.1 Positions M4–M6
  • 6.6.2 Position M7
  • 6.6.3 Position M8
  • 6.6.4 Position M9
  • 6.7 Initial Position
  • 6.8 End Position
  • 6.9 Pre-End Position
  • 6.10 ‘Other’
  • 6.11 Special Syntactic Constructions
  • 6.12 Summary
  • 7 by contrast, in contrast, on the contrary, and on the other hand: Usage Patterns and Functions
  • 7.1 by contrast, in contrast, on the contrary, and on the other hand
  • 7.2 Positional Distribution: Overview
  • 7.3 Formal Realization of the Subject Constituent
  • 7.4 Functions in Medial Positions
  • 7.5 ‘Other’
  • 8 nevertheless: Usage Patterns and Functions
  • 8.1 nevertheless
  • 8.2 Positional Distribution: Overview
  • 8.3 Formal Realization of the Subject Constituent
  • 8.4 Functions in Medial Positions
  • 9 therefore and thus: Usage Patterns and Functions
  • 9.1 therefore and thus
  • 9.2 Positional Distribution: Overview
  • 9.3 Formal Realization of the Subject Constituent
  • 9.4 Functions in Medial Positions
  • 10 in other words and in short: Usage Patterns and Functions
  • 10.1 in other words and in short
  • 10.2 Positional Distribution: Overview
  • 10.3 Formal Realization of the Subject Constituent
  • 10.4 Functions in Medial Positions
  • 11 furthermore and moreover: Usage Patterns and Functions
  • 11.1 furthermore and moreover
  • 11.2 Positional Distribution: Overview
  • 11.3 Formal Realization of the Subject Constituent
  • 11.4 Functions in Medial Positions
  • 12 Factors Influencing the Variation between Initial and Medial Position
  • 12.1 User-Based Factors
  • 12.2 Individual Author Preferences
  • 12.3 The Role of Style Guides and/or Usage Manuals
  • 12.4 The Role of Discipline Conventions
  • 13 Medially-Placed Markers of Epistemicity and Evidentiality: Usage Patterns and Functions
  • 13.1 Epistemic Modality and Evidentiality
  • 13.2 Epistemic Adverbs
  • 13.3 Medially-Placed I think, I believe, and it seems
  • 13.3.1 Definition of ‘parenthetical’ and ‘comment clause’
  • 13.3.2 Functions of I think, I believe, and it seems
  • 13.3.3 Positional Distribution: Overview
  • 13.3.4 Formal Realization of the Subject Constituent
  • 13.3.5 Functions in Medial Positions
  • 13.3.6 Phrases other than I believe, I think, and it seems
  • 13.4 Medially-Placed Reporting Clauses
  • 13.4.1 Definition
  • 13.4.2 Functions in Medial Positions
  • 14 Conclusion
  • References
  • Appendix A: ToBI Labels Used in the Present Study
  • Appendix B: Overview of Linking Adverbials and Comment Clauses Included in the Present Study
  • Appendix C: Parenthetical I think, I believe, and it seems
  • C.1. Positional Distribution as Attested in each Dataset
  • C.2. Individual Medial Positions
  • Appendix D: The Reith Lectures of the BBC
  • Series Index

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List of Figures

Fig. 1: Prosodic description using Praat (Boersma and Weenink 2020) and ToBI

Fig. 2: Positional distribution of the linking adverbials under investigation across the three datasets – the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Fig. 3: Positional distribution of however as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Fig. 4: Individual medial positions of however as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Fig. 5: Formal realization of the subject with however in different positions across the three datasets

Fig. 6: Prosodic structure of example (103) with however in position M1

Fig. 7: Prosodic structure of example (104) with however in position M1

Fig. 8: Prosodic structure of example (108) with however in position M2

Fig. 9: Prosodic structure of example (110) with however in position M2

Fig. 10: Prosodic structure of example (111) with however in position M2

Fig. 11: Prosodic structure of example (122) with however in position M5

Fig. 12: Prosodic structure of example (133) with however in initial position

Fig. 13: Positional distribution of by contrast, in contrast, on the contrary, and on the other hand as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Fig. 14: Positional distribution of by contrast, in contrast, on the other hand, and on the contrary according to different medial groups across the three datasets

Fig. 15: Formal realization of the subject with by contrast, in contrast, on the other hand, and on the contrary in positions M2–M3 and M4–M9, respectively

Fig. 16: Positional distribution of nevertheless as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

←13 | 14→

Fig. 17: Individual medial positions of nevertheless as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Fig. 18: Formal realization of the subject with nevertheless in positions M2–M3 and M4–M9, respectively

Fig. 19: Positional distribution of therefore and thus as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Fig. 20: Individual medial positions of therefore as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Fig. 21: Individual medial positions of thus as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Fig. 22: Formal realization of the subject with thus and therefore in positions M2–M3 and M4–M9, respectively

Fig. 23: Prosodic structure of example (163) with therefore in position M2

Fig. 24: Positional distribution of in other words and in short as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Fig. 25: Positional distribution of in other words and in short according to different medial groups across the three datasets

Fig. 26: Formal realization of the subject with in other words and in short in positions M2–M3 and M4–M9, respectively

Fig. 27: Positional distribution of furthermore and moreover as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Fig. 28: Positional distribution of furthermore and moreover according to different medial groups across the three datasets

Fig. 29: Formal realization of the subject with in other words and in short in positions M2–M3 and M4–M9, respectively

Fig. 30: Positional variation of however as attested in different disciplines in the academic section of the COCA

Fig. 31: Positional variation of therefore as attested in different disciplines in the academic section of the COCA

Fig. 32: Prosodic structure of example (184) with of course in position M3

Fig. 33: Positional distribution of I believe, I think, and it seems according to different medial groups across the three datasets

Fig. 34: Formal realization of the subject with I believe, I think, and it seems in positions M2–M3 and M4–M9, respectively

Fig. 35: Prosodic structure of example (205) with I think in position M2

←14 | 15→

Fig. 36: Prosodic structure of example (216) with I repeat in position M3

Fig. 37: Comment clauses of the sequence “, _pp* hope*_v*,” in the academic section of the COCA (N = 115)

Fig. 38: Comment clauses of the sequence “, _pp* think*_v*,” in the academic section of the COCA (N = 772)

Fig. 39: Individual medial positions of parenthetical I believe as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Fig. 40: Individual medial positions of parenthetical I think as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Fig. 41: Individual medial positions of parenthetical it seems as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

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List of Tables

Tab. 1: Classification of adverbials (modeled after Hasselgård 2010: 22)

Tab. 2: Distinct medial positions of adverbials, adapted from Greenbaum (1969: 78)

Tab. 3: Semantic relations of linking adverbials (following Biber et al. 1999)

Tab. 4: Positions of linking adverbials in conversation and academic prose according to Biber et al. (1999: 891, Table 10.18): ■ = 5 %; □ = less than 2.5 %

Tab. 5: The ‘Givenness Hierarchy’, proposed by Gundel et al. (1993: 275)

Tab. 6: The ‘Topic Acceptability Scale’, proposed by Lambrecht (1994: 165)

Tab. 7: Information-packaging constructions (Huddleston and Pullum 2002: 1366)

Tab. 8: Discourse functions of medially-placed linking adverbials according to Lenker (2014: 32)

Tab. 9: Overview of the BNC and the COCA in terms of years covered, word count, and registers

Tab. 10: Overview of the disciplines included in the academic section of the BNC and the COCA, respectively

Tab. 11: Tags of the core annotation scheme of information structure as proposed by Götze et al. (2007)

Tab. 12: Positional distribution of the linking adverbials under investigation across the three datasets – the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Tab. 13: Positional distribution of however as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Tab. 14: Individual medial positions of however as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Tab. 15: Positional distribution of however according to different medial positional groups across the three datasets

Tab. 16: Formal realization of the subject with however in different positions across the three datasets

Tab. 17: Positional distribution of however as attested in the category ‘SSC’ across the three datasets

Tab. 18: Positional distribution of by contrast as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

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Tab. 19: Positional distribution of in contrast as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Tab. 20: Positional distribution of on the contrary as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Tab. 21: Positional distribution of on the other hand as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Tab. 22: Positional distribution of by contrast, in contrast, on the other hand, and on the contrary according to different medial groups across the three datasets

Tab. 23: Formal realization of the subject with by contrast, in contrast, on the other hand, and on the contrary in positions M2–M3 and M4–M9, respectively

Tab. 24: Positional distribution of nevertheless as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Tab. 25: Individual medial positions of nevertheless as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Tab. 26: Formal realization of the subject with nevertheless in positions M2–M3 and M4–M9, respectively

Tab. 27: Positional distribution of therefore as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Tab. 28: Positional distribution of thus as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Tab. 29: Individual medial positions of therefore as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Tab. 30: Individual medial positions of thus as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Tab. 31: Formal realization of the subject with thus and therefore in positions M2–M3 and M4–M9, respectively

Tab. 32: Positional distribution of in other words as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Tab. 33: Positional distribution of in short as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Tab. 34: Positional distribution of in other words and in short according to different medial groups across the three datasets

Tab. 35: Formal realization of the subject with in other words and in short in positions M2–M3 and M4–M9, respectively

Tab. 36: Positional distribution of furthermore as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

Tab. 37: Positional distribution of moreover as attested in the RL and the academic section of both the BNC and the COCA

←18 | 19→

Tab. 38: Positional distribution of furthermore and moreover according to different medial groups across the three datasets

Tab. 39: Formal realization of the subject with in other words and in short in positions M2–M3 and M4–M9, respectively

Tab. 40: Positional variation of however as attested in different disciplines in the academic section of the COCA

Tab. 41: Positional variation of therefore as attested in different disciplines in the academic section of the COCA

Details

Pages
340
Publication Year
2022
ISBN (PDF)
9783631877128
ISBN (ePUB)
9783631877135
ISBN (Hardcover)
9783631864562
DOI
10.3726/b19655
Language
English
Publication date
2022 (June)
Published
Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien, 2022. 340 pp., 41 fig. b/w, 51 tables.

Biographical notes

Carolin Harthan (Author)

Carolin Harthan holds a PhD degree in English Linguistics and Medieval English Literature from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich), where she has been working as a research assistant at the Chair of English Linguistics and Medieval Literature. Her research interests include adverbial placement, information structure, pragmatics, and syntax.

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Title: Medially-Placed Linking Adverbials in Written Academic English