Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T07:13:55.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Word spacing

Is a space between word pairs random or purposeful in English?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2020

Zeki Hamawand
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

There are two main ways to communicate messages linguistically: verbally and non-verbally. In verbal communication, the message is transmitted by means of such devices as stress, intonation and pausing. An example of stress is the word object which has differentmeanings when stresseddifferently, as in obˈject and ˈobject. The first is a verb which means ‘disagree’. The second is a noun which means ‘material thing’. An example of intonation is the expression What a beautiful day! which expresses different feelings when said with different intonations. With a fallingintonation, it is said perfunctorily. With a fall-riseintonation, it is said enthusiastically. With a rise-fall intonation, it is said sarcastically. An example of pausing is the expression Don't eat that honey. When the pause is after that, that refers to an object and honey refers to a person, meaning ‘darling’. When the pause is after honey, honey refers to an object. So, the listener is ordered not to eat the honey. These devices are extensively covered in Roach (2009), Carr (2012), Odden (2014) and Kennedy (2016), among others.

Type
Research Article
Information
English Today , Volume 38 , Issue 2 , June 2022 , pp. 114 - 122
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

The American Heritage: Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style. 2005. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.Google Scholar
Burchfield, R. 1996. The New Modern English Usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Carr, Ph. 2012. English Phonetics and Phonology: An Introduction. New Jersey: Wiley-BlackwellGoogle Scholar
Casagrande, J. 2014. The Best Punctuation Book, Period. Berkley: Ten Speed Press.Google Scholar
Fowler, H. 1996. The New Fowler's Modem English Usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Garner, B. 2016. Garner's Modern English Usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hamawand, Z. 2007. Suffixal Rivalry in Adjective Formation. A Cognitive-Corpus Analysis. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Hamawand, Z. 2008. Morpho-Lexical Alternation in Noun Formation. London: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamawand, Z. 2009. The Semantics of English Negative Prefixes. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Hamawand, Z. 2011. Morphology in English. Word Formation in Cognitive Grammar. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Hamawand, Z. 2016. Semantics: A Cognitive Account of Linguistic Meaning. Sheffield: Equinox.Google Scholar
Hamawand, Z. 2018. ‘The Status of Punctuation Marks in Cognitive Grammar.’ Cognitive Linguistic Studies, 5(2), 189–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, R. 2016. Phonology: A Course book. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langacker, R. 1987. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar. Vol. 1: Theoretical Prerequisites. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Langacker, R. 1988. ‘A view of linguistic semantics.’ In Rudzka–Ostyn, B. (ed.), Topics in Cognitive Linguistics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing, pp. 49–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langacker, R. 1991. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar. Vol. 2: Descriptive Application. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Langacker, R. 1997. ‘The contextual basis of cognitive semantics.’ In Nuyts, J. & Pederson, E. (eds.), Language and Conceptualisation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 229–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langacker, R. 2008. Cognitive Grammar: A Basic Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovinger, P. 2000. The Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and Style. New York: Penguin Group.Google Scholar
Lukeman, N. 2007. A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.Google Scholar
Odden, D. 2014. Introducing Phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Peters, P. 2004. The Cambridge Guide to English Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poole, B. 2020. ‘One Lump or Two?’ English Today, 36(1), 51–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roach, P. 2009. English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Terban, M. 2000. Punctuation Power: Punctuation and How to Use It. New York: Scholastic, Inc.Google Scholar
Trask, L. 2004. The Penguin Guide to Punctuation. UK: Penguin.Google Scholar
Truss, L. 2003. Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. London: Profile Books.Google Scholar
Webster's Dictionary on English Usage. 1989. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster Inc. Publishers.Google Scholar