Mental Spaces in Grammar: Conditional Constructions

Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 5
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Dedication......Page 9
Contents......Page 11
Acknowledgments......Page 14
Preface......Page 17
Note on abbreviated citations......Page 19
The door-scraper in the Wild Wood: an informal lesson in frame metonymy......Page 21
MR BADGER......Page 22
1.1 Conditionals and conditional reasoning......Page 24
1.2 Constructional meaning and compositionality......Page 29
1.3 Mental spaces and constructions......Page 36
1.4 A word about our data and methods......Page 41
1.5 The grammatical “door-scraper”: compositionality and frames......Page 44
1.6 Where we\'re headed......Page 47
2.1 Conditionals and mental-space set-ups......Page 48
2.2 Prediction and reasoning......Page 51
2.3 Alternativity and \"biconditional\" interpretation......Page 55
2.4 Prediction and epistemic stance: background and backshifting......Page 63
2.5 Epistemic stance and mental-space set-ups......Page 65
2.5.1 Positive versus neutral stance......Page 66
2.5.2 Since: positive stance and space evocation......Page 69
2.5.3 Negative stance and verb forms......Page 71
2.6 Conclusions......Page 74
3.1 The polysemy of past-tense forms......Page 76
3.2 Epistemic distance......Page 77
3.3 Degrees of distancing......Page 81
3.4 Perspective and mental-space embeddings......Page 85
3.5 Counterfactuality: distance and mental-space embeddings......Page 91
3.6 Conclusions......Page 98
4.1 Verb forms and constructional meaning......Page 100
4.2 Will futures and gonna futures......Page 101
4.3 Positive-interest will......Page 103
4.4 Future will in protases of non-predictive conditionals......Page 107
4.5 Present forms with future meaning......Page 109
4.6 Generic meanings......Page 115
4.7 Definitions and tautologies......Page 122
4.8 Specialized constructions with was to /were to, if not for, and should......Page 125
4.9 Conclusions......Page 128
5.1 Non-prediction and non-alternativity......Page 130
5.2 Speech-act conditionals......Page 133
5.3 Epistemic conditionals, inference, and causality......Page 137
5.4 Non-predictiveness and verb forms......Page 141
5.5 Predictive epistemic conditionals......Page 144
5.6 Metalinguistic conditionals: predictive and non-predictive uses......Page 146
5.7 A note on meta-metaphorical conditionals......Page 152
5.8 Metaspatial conditionals......Page 156
5.9 A note on frequency......Page 157
5.10 Evidence from German parallels......Page 159
5.11 Conclusions......Page 160
6.1 Then and biconditionality: what is the link?......Page 162
6.2 Deictic semantics and mental-space reference......Page 164
6.3 Then in non-predictives......Page 166
6.4 Then and generic conditionals......Page 171
6.5 Concessive conditionals: prediction without specific alternatives......Page 175
6.6 Even if and then: the exceptions that prove the rule......Page 181
6.7 A final note on even then......Page 188
6.8 Conclusions......Page 190
7.1 Introduction......Page 192
7.2 If-constructions: variation in intonation and order of clauses......Page 193
7.3 Because and since: causal explanation and information structure in space building......Page 200
7.4 Unless: exceptive space building......Page 203
7.5 Embedded constructions with unless......Page 207
7.5.1 Distanced unless-clauses: some examples......Page 209
7.5.2 Unless versus except if......Page 213
7.6 Conclusions......Page 222
8.1 Only if: space uniqueness and negative meaning......Page 224
8.2 If only: wishes, pragmatic scales, and minimal differences......Page 231
8.3 Monoclausal if-only wishes......Page 237
8.4 Tense and epistemic stance in embedded wish- and if-only clauses......Page 240
8.5 Then in if-only conditionals......Page 242
8.6 Scopal relations, polysemy, and compositionality......Page 243
8.7 Negative epistemic stance and space-builders......Page 247
8.8 The if that NEG construction......Page 250
8.9 Positive-stance if only?......Page 253
8.10 Conclusions......Page 256
9.1 And-conjuncts as predictive conditionals......Page 257
9.2 Imperative and-conditionals......Page 262
9.3 Distancing, non-predictives, and other extensions of and-conditionals......Page 266
9.4 Conditional or......Page 268
9.5 Non-clausal P-constituents in coordinate conditionals......Page 273
9.6 Paired constituents with no conjunction......Page 275
9.7 Non-clausal coordinate conditionals without conjunctions......Page 279
9.8 “Freestanding” parts of conditionals......Page 283
9.9 Conclusions: constructions and compositionality......Page 286
10.1 Form–function parameters of conditionality......Page 289
10.2 Constructional compositionality and frame-based space building......Page 292
References......Page 298
Texts cited in examples......Page 307
Author Index......Page 309
Subject Index......Page 311