Palgrave Studies in Pragmatics, Language and Cognition: How Focus Alternatives are Represented in the Mind

Gotzner, Nicole

This book presents a novel experimental approach to investigating the mental representation of linguistic alternatives. Combining theoretical and psycholinguistic questions concerning the nature of alternative sets, it sheds new light on the theory of focus and the cognitive mechanisms underlying the processing of alternatives. In a series of language comprehension experiments, the author shows that intonational focus and focus particles such as ‘only’ shape the representation of alternatives in a listener’s mind in a fundamental way. This book is relevant to researchers interested in semantics, pragmatics, language processing and memory.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 2017-02-13

Format: Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9783319527604

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-52761-1

Dimensions: 210cm x148cm

Pages: 162