Towards a linguistic theory of translation as re-contextualisation and a Third Space phenomenon

The article suggests a theory of translation as re-contextualisation and a ‘Third Space’ phenomenon supplementing the ideas recently suggested in the cultural branch of translation studies with a linguistic account and building a bridge between the two. The view proposed here is rooted in a functional approach to translation. Such an approach is fruitful because it implies a systematic consideration of the context of translation units and the embeddedness of language as a meaning-making tool in micro-situational and macro-sociocultural contexts. The categorically different nature of Third Space in covert and overt translation is exemplified and explained with reference to House ’s theory of translation as re-contextualisation. Finally, possible changes in conceptualizing translation as a Third Space phenomenon are mentioned with a view to the growing dominance of English as a global lingua franca.

Sectarianism: Nature and Defining Criteria

This paper investigates the linguistic account of sectarianism in terms of definition, forms, defining criteria, types of sectarianism and all the strategies which may represent sectarianism within a certain society. To define the sectarian discourse, defining criteria as well as parameters to specify the discourse genre which is related to sectarianism are to be explored and discussed. This can set the blueprints of analysis of the sectarian discourse.

Wittgenstein’s Bridge A Linguistic Account of Visual Representation

This paper uses structure-mapping to bridge the divide between the analytical and visual culture traditions of image interpretation. Wittgenstein’s analytic ‘picture theory of meaning’ from his early period, and his cultural theory of ‘meaning as use’ from his later period are used to show that the terms similarity, analogy and metaphor can be applied to both image and linguistic interpretation. As a result, by the mapping of similarity and analogy onto the analytic approach, and by the mapping of metaphor onto the visual culture approach, a common linguistic ground for the comparison of these two approaches to image interpretation can be established.

Context and Coherence

Natural languages are riddled with context-sensitivity. One and the same string of words can express indefinitely many different meanings on an occasion of use. And yet we understand one another effortlessly, on the fly. What fixes the meaning of context-sensitive expressions, and how are we able to recover this meaning so quickly and without effort? This book offers a novel response: we can do so because we draw on a broad array of subtle linguistic conventions that fully determine the interpretation of context-sensitive items. Contrary to the dominant tradition, which maintains that the meaning of context-sensitive language is underspecified by grammar, and depends on non-linguistic features of utterance situation, this book argues that meaning is determined entirely by discourse conventions, rules of language that have largely been missed, and the effects of which have been mistaken for extra-linguistic effects of an utterance situation on meaning. The linguistic account of context developed in this book sheds a new light on the nature of linguistic content, and the interaction between content and context. At the same time, it provides a novel model of context that should constrain and help evaluate debates across many sub-fields of philosophy where appeal to context has been common, often leading to surprising conclusions: for example, in epistemology, ethics, value theory, metaphysics, metaethics, and logic, among others.

Dynamic Propositionalism

This chapter tackles the challenge of non-propositionalism. It argues that the source of the puzzle motivating non-propositionalism is the implicit assumption of the traditional, extra-linguistic account of context-sensitivity resolution. The problem is not in the idea that modal claims express truth-conditional content, but in the underlying assumption of how a context operates to determine this content. With a more nuanced understanding of the linguistic mechanisms driving context-sensitivity resolution, which captures the effects of discourse conventions, the apparent non-propositionality of modal discourse turns out to be an illusion. The account delivers ordinary propositional content even for discourses that prima facie evade propositionalist treatment. More importantly, a broader range of data suggests that such propositional content is required to properly account for the range of interpretations modal discourses allow. Thus, any adequate account has to take into account how discourse conventions identified in this chapter interact with the interpretation of modality.

Content, Context, and Logic

Non-propositionalism has additionally been fueled by the fact that modals and conditionals seem to give raise to failure of classical patterns of inference, for instance, modus ponens and modus tollens. Since non-propositionalist accounts typically invalidate some of these patterns of inference, the apparent counterexamples have been taken as further data in support of such treatments. This chapter argues that this is a mistaken reaction to the apparent counterexamples. The seeming violations of classical patterns of inference yet again result from a faulty assumption of the extra-linguistic account of context-sensitivity resolution, and a failure to account for the effects of discourse conventions on the interpretation of modal discourse. The chapter’s account of modality, which treats them as prominence-sensitive expressions whose interpretation is determined by discourse conventions, predicts and explains the apparent counterexamples, while nevertheless preserving classical logic.

Discourse expectations: explaining the implicit causality biases of verbs

This article presents a linguistic account explaining particular mechanisms underlying the generation of expectations at the discourse level. We further develop a linguistic theory – the Empty Slot Theory – explaining the phenomenon of implicit verb causality. According to our proposal, implicit causality (IC) verbs introduce lexically determined slots for causal content of specific types. If the required information is not derivable from the current or preceding context, IC verbs generate the expectation that these slots will be filled in the upcoming discourse. The cognitive mechanism underlying the bias is grounded in the general processing strategy of avoiding accommodation. Empirical evidence for the proposed theory is provided in three continuation experiments in German with comprehensive semantic annotation of the continuations provided by the participants. The reported experiments consistently show that IC bias can be manipulated in systematic ways. Experiment 1 demonstrates important ontological constraints on causal content crucial for our theory. Experiments 2 and 3 show how IC biases can be manipulated in predictable ways by filling the hypothesized slots in the prompt. Experiment 2 illustrates that stimulus-experiencer (experiencer-object) verbs in contrast to causative agent-patient verbs can be manipulated with respect to coherence and coreference by employing adverbial modification. Filling the lexically determined slot of psychological verbs resulted in predictable changes in coherence relations and types of explanations, resulting in the predicted effects on coreference. Experiment 3 extends the empirical investigations to so-called “agent-evocator” verbs. Again, filling the semantic slot as part of the prompt resulted in predictable shifts in coherence relations and explanation types with transparent effects on coreference. The reported experiments shed further light on the close correspondence between coherence and coreference as a hallmark of natural language discourse.

Expressive Uses of Proper Names as Units of Measure in the Current Informal Online Discussion about Politics in Poland

This study offers a cognitive linguistic account of a few remarkably innova-tive uses of proper names to denote units of measure in utterances related to current political issues in Poland, which are delivered with ironic, sarcastic or humorous intent (such as jachiry and ziemce). The novel words, which are all nonce-formations, are minor conversions. They occur preceded by numerals and are pluralised. The coinages creatively elaborate on the morphological and semantic pattern utilised in scientific terminological eponyms (such as niutony and bubnoffy). The focus of this contribution is placed on metonymies and metaphors that motivate the form and content of the coinages.