The topic-introducing expression Es geht um as a general academic lexical item: applications in philological research articles Cover Image

Worum es geht: Zum Funktionenspektrum eines Thematisierungs-Ausdrucks in der allgemeinen Wissenschaftssprache
The topic-introducing expression Es geht um as a general academic lexical item: applications in philological research articles

Author(s): Cordula Meißner
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Syntax, Lexis, Descriptive linguistics
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego
Keywords: verbs in general academic German; speech acts in academic language; usage-based language description

Summary/Abstract: Verbs like ausgehen von, beziehen auf or darstellen that contain semantically concrete basic verbs (gehen, ziehen, stellen) form an essential part of German general academic vocabulary, i.e. vocabulary that is used across disciplines. Recent work has illuminated the inventory of these general academic verbs, the areas of meaning expressed by them as well as aspects of their polysemy. However, indepth studies on the functional application and usage of the verbs in connection to the speech acts expressed remain to be conducted. It is only by such investigations that the expressive potential of this lexis can be revealed. The paper reports on a corpus study that exemplarily analyses the usage and functional application of the expression es geht um in research articles from the field of German philology and thereby shows how general academic expresssions are specifically utilized in scientific texts and adapted for disciplinary specific needs.

  • Issue Year: 2016
  • Issue No: 25
  • Page Range: 245-264
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: German