Kenneth Allan
Biographic Data
| ID | 140613 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kenneth Allan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kenneth |
| FAMILY NAME | Allan |
| SIGNATURE | ALLAN K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Monash University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1336-6154 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 58 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 207 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 58 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1972 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Don’t worry, be a senior?” The metaphorical labelling of late-life depression in Australian news media
Since the late 1980s, there has been a reconceptualization of ageing, which is also reflected in how older adults are referred to. Research on Australian English indicates that while the label seniors activates positive associations of health and well-being, the characteristics related to the label the elderly are generally negative. The question is whether this difference in semantic stereotyping is also extended to how a heavily stigmatized and…
What is Australian slang? Is it really slang
Why truth is necessarily pragmatic
This essay presents an array of arguments demonstrating that truth is necessarily pragmatic. Evaluations of truth derive from human experience, from the individual’s weltanschauung which molds their point of view and ideological perspective. Consequently, within any community, there exist alternative truths. Traditional takes on truth are reviewed. The fuzziness of many truths is examined. The existence within the community of alternative, someti…
The Pleasure and Pain in Taboo Exploitation
The taboo exploitation examined in this essay is swearing. Swearing intersects in complex ways with the giving and taking of pleasure and concomitantly coping with pain or, conversely, craving to inflict pain. Swearing is normally restricted to colloquial styles because it is commonly perceived to breach the rules of courtesy by offending against standards of good taste and good manners. The breaking of this taboo is an emotional release. Swearin…
Linguistics and communication
This essay begins by identifying what communication is and what linguistics is in order to establish the relationship between them. The characterization of linguistics leads to discussion of the nature of language and of the relationship between a theory of language, i. e., linguistic theory, and the object language it models. This, in turn, leads to a review of speculations on the origins of human language with a view to identifying the motivati…
Explorations in Classical Sociological Theory
Prelude Chapter 1 - Imagining Society Foundations of Theory The Sociological Perspective Assumptions Concerning Society Assumptions Concerning Values The Beginnings of Theory and Learning to Theorize Themes in Classical Theory Chapter 2: Organic Evolution-Herbert Spencer (British 1820 - 1903) The Perspective: The Evolution of the Universe at a Glance Social Evolution Social Institutions Thinking About Modernity and Postmodernity Summary Building …
When is a slur not a slur? The use of nigger in 'Pulp Fiction
The Social Lens
Part I: Modernity and the Sociological Response Chapter 1. On Theory A Lesson From History Critical Thinking and Theory Theory in Brief Building Your Theory Toolbox Chapter 2. The Evolution of Society: Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) Theorist's Digest The Life and Times of Herbert Spencer Concepts and Theory: Social Evolution Concepts and Theory: Social Institutions Summary Building Your Theory Toolbox Chapter 3. Contradictions in Capitalism: Karl Ma…
Nominal Classification
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Letters to Language
Letters to Language Mira Ariel and Keith Allan Language accepts letters from readers that briefly and succinctly respond to or comment upon either material published previously in the journal or issues deemed of importance to the field. The editor reserves the right to edit letters as needed. Brief replies from relevant parties are included as warranted. July 2, 2012 To the Editor: According to Keith Allan (Language 88.2. 413-16), I am constantly…
The Best Architect Designed This Church’
Jaszczolt examines the default semantic analysis of ‘the best architect designed this church’, uttered when standing in front of El Temple de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona. At first sight, Jaszczolt's conclusion that the cognitive default reading of the sentence is ‘Antoni Gaudí designed El Temple de la Sagrada Família, and the speaker believes him to be the best architect’ looks right; but is it in fact an appropriate semantic analysis, even g…
Vantage Theory
Vantage Theory and linguistic relativity
Referring as a pragmatic act
Guest Editor's Introduction
The connotations of English colour terms
The pragmatics of connotation
Forbidden Words
Many words and expressions are viewed as 'taboo', such as those used to describe sex, our bodies and their functions, and those used to insult other people. This 2006 book provides a fascinating insight into taboo language and its role in everyday life. It looks at the ways we use language to be polite or impolite, politically correct or offensive, depending on whether we are 'sweet-talking', 'straight-talking' or being deliberately rude. Using a…
Clause-type, primary illocution, and mood-like operators in English
Aristotle's footprints in the linguist's garden
Linguistic metatheory
Vantage theory, VT2, and number
From a to the
This paper presents an account of the semantic relationship between an indefinite NP and its coreferential definite successor in sentences such as Harry bought some strawberries, and they were mushy and Tom caught a rabbit, killed it, skinned it, and cooked it. Section 1 introduces a semantics for quantifiers. There are two weaknesses in accounts of quantification and countability such as are presented in, e.g. Link (1983), Lasersohn (1995), Land…
From a to the
This paper presents an account of the semantic relationship between an indefinite NP and its coreferential definite successor in sentences such as Harry bought some strawberries, and they were mushy and Tom caught a rabbit, killed it, skinned it, and cooked it. Section 1 introduces a semantics for quantifiers. There are two weaknesses in accounts of quantification and countability such as are presented in, e.g. Link (1983), Lasersohn (1995), Land…
A Formalization of Postmodern Theory
Postmodern theory is examined from the perspective of explanatory scientific theory. Although this kind of effort would be rejected by postmodernists as imposing a failed epistemology, this article nonetheless translates the arguments of prominent postmodern theorists into a series of propositions. By developing these propositions, it is possible to see how they might generate testable hypotheses that can guide the empirical assessment of the sub…
Classifiers
The investigation of data from many languages has the following results: (a) the characteristics of classifier languages are distinguished, and four types are identified; (b) defining criteria are postulated for classifiers, and it is discovered that every classifier is composed of one or more out of seven categories of classification. It is argued that classifiers typically index some perceived characteristic of the phenomenon to which the class…
Gender displaying television commercials
The pragmatics of connotation
Nouns and Countability
The customary disjunctive marking of lexical entries for English nouns as [± countable] does not match the fact that the majority can be used both countably and uncountably in different NP environments: this binary opposition is characteristic not of the nouns, but of the NP's which they head. Nevertheless, nouns do have countability preferences; some enter countable environments more readily than others. And not all nouns occur in all kinds of c…
Referring as a pragmatic act
The connotations of English colour terms
Explorations in Classical Sociological Theory
Prelude Chapter 1 - Imagining Society Foundations of Theory The Sociological Perspective Assumptions Concerning Society Assumptions Concerning Values The Beginnings of Theory and Learning to Theorize Themes in Classical Theory Chapter 2: Organic Evolution-Herbert Spencer (British 1820 - 1903) The Perspective: The Evolution of the Universe at a Glance Social Evolution Social Institutions Thinking About Modernity and Postmodernity Summary Building …
A Formalization of Postmodern Theory
Postmodern theory is examined from the perspective of explanatory scientific theory. Although this kind of effort would be rejected by postmodernists as imposing a failed epistemology, this article nonetheless translates the arguments of prominent postmodern theorists into a series of propositions. By developing these propositions, it is possible to see how they might generate testable hypotheses that can guide the empirical assessment of the sub…
Hierarchies and the choice of left conjuncts (with particular attention to English)
Over the last decade or so, hierarchies such as the animacy hierarchy, the personal hierarchy, the case hierarchy, the definiticity and referentiality hierarchies and so forth have been identified as determinants of constituent order. It is my intention in this paper to review the set of hierarchies and rank them as determinants of NP sequencing in English. I shall from time to time compare and contrast the effect of a hierarchy in other language…
The component functions of the high Rise terminal contour in Australian declarative sentences
(1984). The component functions of the high Rise terminal contour in Australian declarative sentences. Australian Journal of Linguistics: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 19-32
Clause-type, primary illocution, and mood-like operators in English
Vantage theory, VT2, and number
The McDonaldization Thesis
Introduction: McDonaldization and Beyond THEORETICAL ISSUES Mannheim's Theory of Rationalization An Alternative Resource for the McDonaldization Thesis? The McDonaldization of American Sociology A Metasociological Analysis Munch(ing) on the McDonald(ization) of Social Theory THE EXPANSION OF MCDONALDIZATION McJobs McDonaldization and its Relationship to the Labor Process McDonaldization The New American Menace Globalization, McDonaldization and A…
Linguistic metatheory
The anthropocentricity of the English word(s) back
Interpreting from context
The Pleasure and Pain in Taboo Exploitation
The taboo exploitation examined in this essay is swearing. Swearing intersects in complex ways with the giving and taking of pleasure and concomitantly coping with pain or, conversely, craving to inflict pain. Swearing is normally restricted to colloquial styles because it is commonly perceived to breach the rules of courtesy by offending against standards of good taste and good manners. The breaking of this taboo is an emotional release. Swearin…
When is a slur not a slur? The use of nigger in 'Pulp Fiction
Topic Continuity in Discourse
Nation, Tribalism and National Language
K. Allan — Nation, tribalisme et langue nationale : le cas du Nigeria. Le Nigeria présente, même à l'échelle africaine, un cas extrême de multilinguisme. L'auteur étudie en détail les avantages et les inconvénients du choix d'une langue africaine comme langue nationale et conclut que les effets d'un tel choix ayant toutes les chances d'être négatifs, la solution la moins mauvaise est de conserver l'anglais
What is Australian slang? Is it really slang
Linguistics and communication
This essay begins by identifying what communication is and what linguistics is in order to establish the relationship between them. The characterization of linguistics leads to discussion of the nature of language and of the relationship between a theory of language, i. e., linguistic theory, and the object language it models. This, in turn, leads to a review of speculations on the origins of human language with a view to identifying the motivati…
Nominal Classification
Preview this article: Nominal Classification: A history of its study from the classical period to the present (Amsterdam, 2013), Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/hl.41.2-3.07all-1.gif
Vantage Theory and linguistic relativity
Hearers, Overhearers, and Clark & Carlson's Informative Analysis
HEARERS, OVERHEARERS, AND CLARK & CARLSON'S INFORMATIVE ANALYSIS Keith Allan Monash University Clark & Carlson 1982 claim that 'every traditional illocutionary act is performed by means of an informative' ; they therefore propose an additional initial informative illocution to every speech act analysis envisaged by previous theories. I show that C&C's analysis is unjustified; they apparently confuse perlocutionary effects of utterances or coopera…
In reply to ‘ There 1 , there 2 ’
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Classifiers
The investigation of data from many languages has the following results: (a) the characteristics of classifier languages are distinguished, and four types are identified; (b) defining criteria are postulated for classifiers, and it is discovered that every classifier is composed of one or more out of seven categories of classification. It is argued that classifiers typically index some perceived characteristic of the phenomenon to which the class…
Nation, Tribalism and National Language
K. Allan — Nation, tribalisme et langue nationale : le cas du Nigeria. Le Nigeria présente, même à l'échelle africaine, un cas extrême de multilinguisme. L'auteur étudie en détail les avantages et les inconvénients du choix d'une langue africaine comme langue nationale et conclut que les effets d'un tel choix ayant toutes les chances d'être négatifs, la solution la moins mauvaise est de conserver l'anglais
Mass Terms
Nouns and Countability
The customary disjunctive marking of lexical entries for English nouns as [± countable] does not match the fact that the majority can be used both countably and uncountably in different NP environments: this binary opposition is characteristic not of the nouns, but of the NP's which they head. Nevertheless, nouns do have countability preferences; some enter countable environments more readily than others. And not all nouns occur in all kinds of c…
Shorter notices
Christiane A.M. Baltaxe, Foundations of distinctive feature theory. Baltimore: University Park Press, 1978. Pp. xx + 219. Glen G. Gilbert (ed. & trans.), Pidgin and creole languages: selected essays by Hugo Schuchardt. Cambridge: University Press, 1980. Pp. vii + 157. T.L. Markey (ed. & trans.), The ethnography of variation: selected writings on pidgins and creoles by Hugo Schuchardt. Ann Arbor: Karoma Publishers, 1979. Pp. 152. Timothy Shopen (e…
The Semantics of English Aspectual Complementation
I. Methodology and Theoretical Assumptions.- 1.1. Theoretical Framework.- 1.2. Methods of Analysis: Presupposition and Consequence.- 1.3. Aspect.- 1.3.1. Aspectual Constructions.- 1.3.2. Aspectual Distinctions.- 1.3.3. Aspectualizers Defined.- 1.4. The Corpus.- II. Aspectualizers and Events.- 2.1. Why an Event Analysis.- 2.2. The Philosophical Treatment of Events.- 2.3. A Temporal Analysis of Events.- 2.3.1. A Description of Onset, Nucleus, and C…
Semantics
Semantics from Different Points of View
On Semantics
Interpreting from context
Language and Other Abstract Objects
The component functions of the high Rise terminal contour in Australian declarative sentences
(1984). The component functions of the high Rise terminal contour in Australian declarative sentences. Australian Journal of Linguistics: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 19-32
Where Have All the Adjectives Gone? And Other Essays in Semantics and Syntax
Interpreting English Comparatives
This paper attempts to clarify the way in which we interpret English comparatives. It shows that recognition of a comparative depends primarily on the recognition of the comparative operator, cl. The cl has two constituents (1) a comparative marker which, because there are less than a dozen of them, makes cl readily recognizable; and (2) a scale marker. I argue that comparisons are made on a particular scale, and that scales have a supra end and …
Prolegomena to Inferential Discourse Processing
This book shows that in reading verbal texts human reasoning is responsible for the recognition and construction of different forms of organization. On the one hand, it spells out in what ways human thinking succeeds in recognizing the surface form of grammatical organization which is characteristic of discourse expression (termed ‘cohesion’). On the other hand, it makes clear which human reasoning processes are involved in the construction of th…
Adjectives and Comparison in English
Beyond the Sentence
Coherence and Composition
Hearers, Overhearers, and Clark & Carlson's Informative Analysis
HEARERS, OVERHEARERS, AND CLARK & CARLSON'S INFORMATIVE ANALYSIS Keith Allan Monash University Clark & Carlson 1982 claim that 'every traditional illocutionary act is performed by means of an informative' ; they therefore propose an additional initial informative illocution to every speech act analysis envisaged by previous theories. I show that C&C's analysis is unjustified; they apparently confuse perlocutionary effects of utterances or coopera…
Structured Meanings
Noun Classes and Categorization
The Interpretation of English Noun Phrase Sequences on the Computer
Hierarchies and the choice of left conjuncts (with particular attention to English)
Over the last decade or so, hierarchies such as the animacy hierarchy, the personal hierarchy, the case hierarchy, the definiticity and referentiality hierarchies and so forth have been identified as determinants of constituent order. It is my intention in this paper to review the set of hierarchies and rank them as determinants of NP sequencing in English. I shall from time to time compare and contrast the effect of a hierarchy in other language…
Topic Continuity in Discourse
Philosophy (48 works) · Linguistics (42 works) · Psychology (30 works) · Computer Science (28 works) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (21 works) · Epistemology (17 works) · Sociology (17 works) · Philosophy (14 works) · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition (12 works) · History (11 works)