Author Description

The Concern Of The Book Is With Identifying A Domain Of Discourse Processing Referred To As 'interactive Grammar'. The Book Rests On The Analysis Of Grammatical Descriptions Of Well Over One Hundred Languages Spoken In All Major Regions Of The World. Ten Types Of Interactives, That Is, Extra-clausal Expressions Of Linguistic Discourse, Are Distinguished, Namely Attention Signals, Directives, Discourse Markers, Evaluatives, Ideophones, Interjections, Response Elicitors, Response Signals, Social Formulae, And Vocatives. The Main Message Of The Book Is That Speakers Dispose Of Two Contrasting Modes For Structuring Their Discourses. One Mode, Represented By Sentence Grammar, Organized In A Propositional Format And Having An Analytic Organization, Focuses On Conceptual Communication About The World. The Second Mode, Represented By Interactive Grammar, Has A Holophrastic Organization And A Focus On Social Communication. Both Kinds Of Grammar Have An Argument Structure, But Whereas That Of Sentence Grammar Is Shaped By The Propositional Format Of Sentences, That Of Interactive Grammar Is Shaped By The Indexical Nature Of The Situation Of Discourse.the Distinction Between Two Grammars Exhibits, On The One Hand, Correlations With Observations Made In Neurolinguistic Studies On Differential Activity In The Two Hemispheres Of The Human Brain. On The Other Hand, There Are Also Noteworthy Parallels To A Similar Distinction Made In Social Psychology Between Two Types Or Systems Of Reasoning And Judgement. The Conclusion Drawn In The Book Is That The Two Grammars Have Complementary Functions And Both Are Needed For Successful Communication