Let’s talk emotions: A case study on affective grammar

Abstract

English speakers have a choice between the forms ‘let’s talk x’ and ‘let’s talk about x’. We argue that the choice is an example of affective domain intersecting with grammar. To build our case, we explore the contrast between these two forms as it is manifested through syntactic, pragmatic, and semantic constraints. We conclude considering alternative views on idiomaticity and noun incorporation and presenting questions for future research.