Centre for Hellenic Studies
King’s College London
Great Hall, King’s Building, Strand Campus

Monday 4 March 2013 (18:30-20:00)

Professor Georgios Babiniotis (former Rector of the University of Athens; Hellenic Foundation for Culture; Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation)

will speak on

Language communication: how verbs make sense

There are many ways to approach language communication. The history of Linguistics as science consists of a number of proposals (“linguistic theories”) to conceive, analyze and teach language communication.

In my talk I propose to see language communication from the point of view of the role of verbs in language. I argue that whatever we say about the communicative function of language makes sense only if it is based on the category of verbs. Verbs are actually the center of our language communication. What exists within and around the verb are all various ways we need to specify and expand the central information given by the verb. This happens on the level of sentence, to be continued all through the utterances which constitute the text.

Language communication is essentially a constant procedure of verb specification in a great number of ways offered by the system of language and chosen by speakers to meet their communicative needs. This is universal in language communication and is connected with the function of language to do things, with action in general, which is inherently based on the very center of action, on verbs.

Followed by a reception

All welcome

Κατηγορίες Ειδήσεις