Date: Wednesday 09 July 2025, 12:15 pm to 13:45 pm
Venue: C601, Bismarckstr. 1
About: This event is organized by the RTG Dimensions of Constructional Space.
Title: Fragmentary and imperative constructions in newspaper editorials?! Go figure!
About the speaker: Bert Cappelle (Université de Lille) is a Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Lille. His research focuses on core grammar areas of tense, aspect, and modality, from a Usage-based Cognitive Construction Grammar perspective.
Abstract
In this talk, I explore the unexpected presence of two informal clause types – sentence fragments and imperatives – in texts where you wouldn’t necessarily expect them: the highly polished prose of The Economist’s editorials. It is well known that journalistic writing has incorporated colloquial, speech-like features since at least the mid-twentieth century, and the use of fragments and imperatives fits into this broader trend. At the same time, these constructions occupy a special position in editorials – both figuratively and, quite often, literally.