On the Semantics of Syntax

Download or read book On the Semantics of Syntax written by Eirian C. Davies and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-07-03 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1979, this book develops a grammatically orientated semantics (as opposed to a semantically orientated grammar) of mood and condition in English. It seeks to establish correspondences between areas of semantic organisation (‘planes’) and surface grammar, without reverting to an intermediate notion of deep grammar. The chapters explore topics including the differences between ‘literal meaning’ and ‘significance’, speech roles, and constructions of condition and reason in terms of the four panes discussed earlier in the volume.