A Local Grammar of Evaluation

Abstract We mentioned in the introduction to this volume the generally accepted view that, except in the case of modality, evaluation does not have its own grammar and can most efficiently be explored in lexical terms alone. This bias arises partly at least because, from the viewpoint of a general grammar of the language, evaluation appears parasitic on other resources and to be somewhat randomly dispersed across a range of structural options shared with non-evaluative functions. If, however, we start from the expression of evaluation and identify the set of structures that are involved, we may well end up with a more systematic and coherent picture. That is what Hunston and Sinclair set out to do in their chapter: to provide a local grammar of evaluation.