A Cognitive Linguistic Analysis of Indirect Directive Constructions in English and their Discourse Structures

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K00675
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02080:English linguistics-related
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: Takahashi Hidemitsu 北海道大学, 文学研究院, 名誉教授 (10142663)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 行為指示 / パートナー構文 / 間接行為指示文 / 談話構造

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Directive sentences are not normally used alone, but more often than not cooccur with other directive sentences. This research clarified the ways in which each of 15 different indirect directive constructions (=ID constructions) in English prefers to cooccur with which directive constructions. The main findings include: (i) The most frequent partner construction for many English ID Constructions is the imperative; (ii) The second-most frequent partner construction is an identical or closely related construction; and (iii) ID constructions in declarative form tend to cooccur with the imperative more frequently than those in interrogative form. By offering a fresh approach to analyses of directive constructions and their discourse structures, the present research will be of great value to scholars across a wide range of disciplines who are interested in speech act studies.

Free Research Field

認知言語学、語用論、

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

行為指示とは、他者に依頼、提案、命令などを伝える行為を意味しヒトの重要な言語コミュニケーションのひとつである。いかなる言語にも多彩な行為指示表現があるが、これまでの研究では行為指示の談話構造の分析が不十分であった。本研究が明らかにした英語の個々の行為指示文と他の行為指示文との共起可能性の全体像は、英語のみならず世界の様々な言語の行為指示文と談話構造の研究への道標となる。これらの成果は認知言語学・構文文法および語用論における発話行為研究の進展に大きく貢献し、行為指示の認知的・社会語用論的メカニズムの一端を世に示した社会的意義は非常に大きい。