Subject: axiomatic linguistics

james dickins extended axiomatic linguistics 1998 . 23 x 15 , 5 cm . xii , 493 pages cloth dm 198 , - / approx . us $ 124 . 00 isbn 3-11 - 016086 - 2 trends in linguistics . studies and monographs 111 mouton de gruyter * berlin * new york this volume presents the semiotic and linguistic theory of extended axiomatic functionalism , focusing on its application to linguistic description . the theory is compared with other approaches to semiotics and linguistics , and particularly with the standard version of axiomatic functionalism . an informal account is given of the twin basic components of the theory - the signum ontology and the system ontology . the former provides a set-theoretically based account of the network of relationships between the abstractions of linguistic theory ( at whose apex stands the signum ) , and the phonetic and semantic facts of speech events . the latter deals with the purely abstract level of analysis , and covers roughly the traditional areas of phonology and grammar . a set of postulates , constituting a formal statement of the theory , is provided in an appendix . it is shown that the signum ontology can provide adequate accounts - sometimes in conjunction with interfacing extra-theoretical models - of a range of phenomena from phonetics to pragmatics , including incomplete neutralization , imperfect synonymy , polysemy , idiom , and figures of speech ( particularly metaphor ) . the relationship between core-linguistics and psycholinguistics is considered , and an initial model is developed for the interface between extended axiomatic functionalism , as a sentence-linguistic theory , and text-linguistics . the issues dealt with in this book are not only relevant to extended axiomatic functionalism and indicative of its broad scope , but are also of current interest in linguistics generally ; the analyses proposed are considered in the context of existing analyses throughout . without disguising complexities , the book presents extended axiomatic functionalism in a clear and accessible manner . wide use is made of figures and cross-referencing , and detailed indices are provided . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ mouton de gruyter walter de gruyter , inc . postfach 30 34 21 200 saw mill river road d-10728 berlin hawthorne , ny 10532 germany usa fax : + 49 ( 0 ) 30 26005-351 fax : + 1 914 747-1326 email : mouton @ degruyter . de this and further publications can also be ordered via world wide web : http : / / www . degruyter . com
