On the subject of impersonals

Langacker, Ronald W.

doi:10.1075/hcp.32.12lan

Part of

Cognitive Linguistics: Convergence and Expansion
Edited by Mario Brdar, Stefan Th. Gries and Milena Žic Fuchs
[Human Cognitive Processing 32] 2011
► pp. 179–218

On the subject of impersonals

Ronald W. Langacker | University of California, San Diego

In accordance with basic principles of Cognitive Grammar, impersonal it (e.g. It’s obvious that he’s angry) is claimed to be meaningful. Three avenues of approach are followed in the characterization of it and the constructions it appears in: a comparison with related constructions; a comparison to other pronouns; and examination of a basic cognitive model called the “control cycle”. This broad perspective leads to a unified account in which the meaning of impersonal it is a special case of the general semantic value of this pronoun.

Published online: 10 November 2011

https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.32.12lan

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