Johnstone examines a variety of discourse genres, showing how choices among linguistic resources are mediated by self-expressive choices. She then discusses linguistic consistency across a variety of speech situations, and asks how, if language is fundamentally idiosyncratic, people can understand one another. Johnstone examines a variety of discourse genres, showing how choices among linguistic resources are mediated by self-expressive choices. She then discusses linguistic consistency across a variety of speech situations, and asks how, if language is fundamentally idiosyncratic, people can understand one another.

About the Author
Barbara Johnstone is Associate Professor of Linguistics at Texas A&M University.

Reviews
Barbara Johnstone has written the sort of book I suspect many of us would like to write. She has woven various strands of her own personal approach to linguistics, but also might legitimately be said to present a fresh perspective on language-or better, on the ways we express ourselves to each other in talk. Those of us already engaged in discourse analysis will profit from Johnstone's focus on the individual voice and on the way it informs her analyses, while linguists of other stripes should read this book as an introduction to the new humanistic tendencies in the study of language. * Anthropological Linguistics *



Book Information
ISBN 9780195101850
Author Barbara Johnstone
Format Paperback
Page Count 232
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 331g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 156mm * 17mm