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Ruled by construal?: Framing article choice in English*.

Authors :
Romain, Laurence
Hanzlíková, Dagmar
Milin, Petar
Divjak, Dagmar
Source :
Constructions & Frames; 2024, Vol. 16 Issue 1, p1-29, 29p
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

In cognitive linguistics, grammatical structure is known to be representative of meaning. This is also true of English articles. In this paper, we argue that the choice of article, when the grammar allows it, is dependent on the wider discourse context and most importantly on how the speaker construes this context. Using survey data from 181 native speakers of English, we show that the choice of article depends on the activation of semantic frames and how speakers may choose to highlight different elements of a frame to construe the situation differently. We rely on Entropy to measure the restrictiveness of a context and to identify particular contexts in which choice is allowed or inhibited. We find that some contextual features such as the specificity of the referent are more restrictive while Hearer Knowledge is more open to construal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
18761933
Volume :
16
Issue :
1
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Constructions & Frames
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
176989548
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1075/cf.22005.rom