Theorizing Language: Analysis, Normativity, Rhetoric, History

What language users in different cultures say about their own language, and its theoretical importance to the study of language has long been recognized as being of potential interest. This text places the reflexive character of language at the centre both of its empirical study and of its theoretical explanation. The first part of the book discusses the consequences of neglecting this reflexive character for the technical concepts and methods which are used in analyzing different types of communicational phenomena. In the second part, normativity - a crucial aspect of language’s reflexive nature - is examined. The book’s third and final part focuses on particular issues in the history of linguistic thought which bear witness to the rhetoric of language theorizing as a reflexive form of inquiry.