Reverend Father Professor Amechi Nicholas Akwanya is one of the towering scholars of literature in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world. For decades, and still counting, Fr. Prof. Akwanya has worked arduously, professing literature by way of teaching, researching, and writing in the Department of English and Literary Studies of the University of…

This interview was conducted with Professor Keith Allan with the aim of providing a brief but informative summary of the state of the art of pragmatics. In providing answers to the interview questions, Professor Allan begins with a definition of pragmatics as it is practiced today, i.e., the study of the meanings of utterances with attention to…

This article is comprised of two essays by Paul Alper. The first essay, "Linda VA AG 2013 and Knitting Needles," provides examples of how a natural language does not necessarily work the way of logic. The second essay, "Words," discusses how the words of winners tend to become what we call the enduring historical record. The…

The very complicated nature of interpretation, in general, and ambiguities involved in Derrida's writings, in particular, makes it very difficult to hold what Derrida means by deconstruction. As Biesta and Miedema (2011, 105) state: "One of the main challenges here is to get the interpretation of Derrida's writings 'right.'" Surely, by putting…

Explores the theme of topicality, focusing on two books that contribute to the understanding of possessive construction and grammar.(Author/VWL)

Analyzes the argumentational structure of a legal document. (AM)

The distinction between literal meaning, the domain of semantics, and inferred or implicated meaning, the domain of pragmatics, is examined. Grice's (1975) theory of implicated or conveyed meaning as part of an overall account of cooperative communicative behavior is evaluated. A range of data is presented which challenges Grice's theory.…

Attacks the notion that a literal meaning can be defined for every sentence, independent of its context. (AM)

Describes and compares restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses and shows that, when studying their superficial differences, there is no need for construction-specific stipulations that distinguish between them. All the superficial differences between the two are derived from the single basic difference that one is a modifier and the other is not.…

The profound use of the computer in discourse analysis must employ a theory of discourse comprehension and production with which to conduct the analysis. Models currently employed in computational linguistics have a semantic basis and are goal-directed. The basic model is an associative cognitive network. The basic inventory of concepts of the…

Discusses discourse rules and their function, as seen within different theoretical orientations toward pragmatic aspects of language. (AM)

Analyzes the distribution of information in so-called "synonymous" sentences in the context of a semantic perspective. (AM)

Considers the conventions of quotation marks--or "perverted commas"--and identifies seven uses, including shudder quotes (slang or inappropriate words) and scare quotes (used for attention or emphasis). Notes that quotation marks influence meaning and that finding a personal voice entails using language without quotes. (MM)

Examines the effects of computerized data bank technology on legal discourse. (AM)

Traces in detail the development of pragmatics and its relationship to semantics. (AM)