A nyelvtudomány műhelyéből
This paper offers an investigation of signals of metapragmatic awareness on the basis of the background assumptions of functional pragmatics. In this framework, metapragmatic awareness means the reflexive attitudes of discourse participants to various linguistic constructions and to the cognitive processes and socio-cultural expectations related to them. By employing a variety of metapragmatic signals, speakers can reflect on their own or their interlocutors’ current activity as message senders and/or addressees, or that of third parties, as well as on the organization of the discourse. The paper focuses on the types of metapragmatic signals. The empirical material is provided by two genres of computer-mediated Hungarian communication: thematically unbounded and thematically bounded topics. As a result of an analysis of two connected samples of 200 and 500 contributions, respectively, fourteen types of metapragmatic signals have been differentiated, depending on what the given reflections are aimed at, and proportions of their types have been compared across the two samples. The analysis confirmed the claim that metapragmatic signals operate in narrative discourses as background items and reflect on the organization of the referential scene in the largest number of cases, whereas in spontaneous written conversations, they are far more in the foreground of attention and tend to refer to some aspect of the shared scene of attention.
metapragmatic awareness, types of metapragmatic signals, internet-mediated discourse, functional pragmatics
This paper discusses the phenomenon of synonymy in light verb constructions, primarily with a problem raising character, and analysing a single set of synonyms: the range of variants of the construction feledésbe + verb ‘be forgotten’ (e.g., feledésbe merül ~ kerül ~ megy ~ enyészik ‘fall/pass/sink/slip/slide/fade into oblivion’). After sketching the notion and types of light verb constructions, the paper gives an overview of what kinds of metaphorical expressions typically make it possible to grasp the two inseparable concepts of memory and oblivion, and how the constructions under study here fit into the range of those possible ways of expression. Next, we try to find out what specific particulars the verbs occurring in the diverse variants of the given construction contribute to the meaning of the construction, and in what respects they make the process of forgetting linguistically accessible. The second main part of the paper offers a more detailed exploration of which construction(s) within the synonym set delineated by the variants of the construction type feledésbe V ‘be forgotten’ can be taken to be the central one(s) and why – primarily in a synchronic perspective but, as far as the available linguistic data make this possible, also taking the assumable diachronic changes into consideration.
synonymy, light verb constructions, variability, polysemy, verb semantics
This paper discusses the positions and (modal) roles of szerintem ‘in my view’ as discourse markers (more exactly, attitude markers) in spontaneous conversations and in semi-spontaneous interviews. The study approaches szerintem from other discourse markers typically occurring at discourse peripheries, showing that – albeit this item, too, typically occurs at the left periphery, especially in the material of the interviews – it often occurs in internal position, too, especially in spoken language, where it also takes scope above the whole proposition. The expression of probability and that of evaluation cannot be told apart either with respect to positions or to the genres investigated, the two are intertwined. Although szerintem is most frequently used in initial position, its sequential roles having to do with discourse management (turn taking, taking/yielding the floor) are meagre.
periphery, position, scope, discourse marker, attitude marker, spoken language
In this paper we describe the characteristics of lexico-semantic relationships across linguistic phenomena referred to collectively as ‘pairs of word forms’ that show some common features with lexical variants but have to be distinguished from them. After the description of systems of lexico-semantic relationships related to lexical variability, the phenomena of complete and partial word (word-form) split are presented. Within synonymy, variants created from the same stem with a pair of synonymous suffixes (sízik vs. síel ‘ski’ (verb)) and some functional verb structures (átirányítást eszközöl vs. átirányít ‘make a changeover’) are highlighted. Among paronyms, we deal with words sharing the same stems, pointing out that they are often used as variants by smaller or larger groups of speakers (helység ‘settlement’ vs. helyiség ‘premises’). From among series of words of the same form, we examine suffixed forms of pairs called pseudo-homonyms (jobb-at ‘the better one-acc.’ vs. jobb-ot ‘the right-side one-acc.’). Furthermore, we consider various groups of word pairs and word strings that are similar in form and meaning but are not etymologically related (kelepel ‘clapper’ (verb) vs. kalapál ‘hammer’ (verb); dörög ‘thunder’ (verb) vs. görög ‘roll’ (verb) vs. zörög ‘rustle’ (verb)). We clarify the (narrower and broader) meanings of the term doublet based on the relevant literature on Hungarian and on other languages.
pairs of word forms, lexico-semantic relationships, word split, synonymy, paronymy, pseudo-homonymy
Szó- és szólásmagyarázatok
In the suffixation of some items of the Hungarian word stock, formal bifurcations can be observed that are accompanied by semantic distinctions, that is, the two forms exhibit functional split. In this paper, the author investigates the verb téved ‘get lost; make the wrong decision’ whose 3sg past tense forms (and past participles) diverge in this manner. In present-day Hungarian, the meaning ‘arrived at an unwanted, non-appropriate, unexpected place’ is expressed by tévedt, while ‘made the wrong judgement/conclusion’ is expressed by tévedett. The author explores the history of this functional split with the help of corpora, tracing down the process that has led to the present-day situation. By doing that, he also offers a method that can be followed in future research, too. – With this article, the author commemorates an all-round linguist, László Elekfi, born a hundred years ago, whose research activities included the study of Hungarian conjugation and declension, including that of doublets in the above sense.
László Elekfi, doublets in conjugation, functional split, diachronic corpus study
Szemle