Discourse and Pragmatic Constraints on Grammatical Choices: A Grammar of Surprises

This book constitutes a quest for discourse and pragmatic features responsible for so-called optional grammatical choices. In an attempt to adduce new evidence for the assumption that, in order to capture adequately the reasons for the choice of various grammatical devices, a multi-variable model is necessary which could account for the development and the functioning of grammaticalized ethno-linguistic features in a variety of languages. The main hypothesis put forward is that, limited as they are by the possibilities of a given language, the choices open to speakers when reconstructing linguistically the state of affairs are determined first and foremost by their foci of attention. Orality is one the most salient features of Romanian, but the profound consequences of such a feature for Romanian grammar have not been fully explored.

Cod: 9780444820433