ABSTRACT

First published in 1979, this book develops a grammatically orientated semantics (as opposed to a semantically orientated grammar) of mood and condition in English. It seeks to establish correspondences between areas of semantic organisation (‘planes’) and surface grammar, without reverting to an intermediate notion of deep grammar. The chapters explore topics including the differences between ‘literal meaning’ and ‘significance’, speech roles, and constructions of condition and reason in terms of the four panes discussed earlier in the volume.

chapter |4 pages

Introduction

chapter |24 pages

Decision

chapter |18 pages

Telling

chapter |16 pages

Knowledge

chapter |7 pages

Performance

chapter |31 pages

Condition and Reason

chapter |2 pages

Conclusion