Notion of text
Text is a unit of language in use
R. Trask a continuous piece of spoken or written language, especially one with a recognizable beginning and ending.
H. Widdowson the product of the process of discourse. In written language, the text is produced by one of the parties involved (the writer) and is part of the communication. In spoken language, the text will only survive the discourse if it is especially recorded.
G. Cook a stretch of language interpreted formally without a context.
I. Plamadeala language actualization, a basic communicative unit both oral and written.
R. Bell the product of the selections of the variants offered by the grammar systems of THEMES, a unit which carries the semantic meaning of an assertion through sentences which are connected with the help of cohesive devices.
R. de Beaugrande a COMMUNICATIVE OCCURRENCE which meets the seven standards of textuality. If any of these standards is not considered to have been satisfied, the text will not be communicative. Hence, non-communicative texts are treated as non-texts
- anthropological paradigm ()
Text is divorced from its context of action and situation
1935 Text is the way in which the utterance of a speaker can be preserved in time after the immediate speech or a certain situation
- A rhetorical structure theory
Relies completely on the content
- Systemic functional approach
1976 Halliday, Hasan
A Text is an integrated structure just like a house both need various kinds of fastening devicesto hold their parts together. In the case of house these devices are visible (nails, screws), while one major means is invisible (gravity).
A Text has texture. It derives its texture from the fact that it functions as a unity with respect to its environment.
According to them texture is largerly a result of cohesive means or ties within the text which links or ties the parts together.
Later they gave another definition:
A Text is a unit of language in use (it comes very close to the definition of discourse)
Text is an event (by Beaugrande)
Text is an actual system manifesting the real choices drawn from the language as virtual system of stimulating ( , ) the potential choices.
Text is a multisystem composed of multiple interactive systems such as sound, words and phrases
The Text is a communicative event where linguistic, cognitive and social actions converged in a system of connections among various elements: sounds, words, meanings (=participants)
Virtan:
The Text should be described as both product and process
Peter Verdong:
Text a stretch of language complete in itself and of some considerable extend
Textuality and standards of textuality
In the approach to text linguistics by de Beaugrande & Dressler (1981), text, oral or printed, is established as a communicative occurrence, which has to meet seven standards of textuality. If any of these standards are not satisfied, the text is considered not to have fulfilled its function and not to be communicative.
|
|
|
, :
1 Cohesion
2 Coherence
3 Modality
4 Acceptability
5 Informativity
6 Segmentation
7 Intertextuality
VS :
1 Cohesion
2 Coherence
3 Acceptability
4 Intentionality
5 Informativity
6 Situationality
7 Intertextuality
=> , modality segmentation , , . , .
http://www.oocities.org/~tolk/lic/LIC990329p3.htm , http://web.letras.up.pt/icrowcli/textual.html
Cohesion and coherence are text-centred notions, designating operations directed at the text materials. Cohesion concerns the ways in which the components of the surface text (the actual words we hear or see) are mutually connected within a sequence (de Beaugrande & Dressler 1981:3). Coherence on the other hand concerns the ways in which the components of the textual world, i.e. the concepts and relations which underlie the surface text are mutually accessible and relevant (1981:3-7).
The remaining standards of textuality are user-centred, concerning the activity of textual communication by the producers and receivers of texts:
Intentionality concerns the text producers attitude that the set of occurrences should constitute a cohesive and coherent text instrumental in fulfilling the producers intentions.
Acceptability concerns the receivers attitude that the set of occurrences should constitute a cohesive and coherent text having some use or relevance for the receiver.
Informativity concerns the extent to which the occurrences of the text are expected vs. unexpected or known vs. unknown/uncertain.
Situationality concerns the factors which make a text relevant to a situation of occurrence.
Intertextuality concerns the factors which make the utilisation of one text dependent upon knowledge of one or more previously encountered texts.
The above seven standards of textuality are called constitutive principles (cf. Searle 1965), in that they define and create textual communication as well as set the rules for communicating. There are also at least three regulative principles that control textual communication: the efficiency of a text is contingent upon its being useful to the participants with a minimum of effort; its effectiveness depends upon whether it makes a strong impression and has a good potential for fulfilling an aim; and its appropriateness depends upon whether its own setting is in agreement with the seven standards of textuality (de Beaugrande & Dressler 1981:11).
Standard of cohesion
( ) Cohesion concerns the ways in which lexical and grammatical elements can form connections between different types of a text
Cohesion: 1) lexical 2) grammatical
Cohesion refers to the relationship between items in a text such as words, clauses and other items such as pronouns, nouns and conjunctions. This includes the relationship between words and pronouns that refer to reference items.
|
|
|
Cohesion also considers semantic relation between clauses and the ways this is expressed through the usage of conjunctions.
A further aspect of cohesion is the way in which one and do are used to substitute for other words
Cohesive elements are at the surface, coherence is in our mind, it is a result of reading
Grammatical cohesion:
Anaphoric reference where a word or phrase refers back to another word or phrase that is used later I the text
Cataphoric reference - describes an item which refers forward to another word or phrase that is used later I the text
Exophoric reference looks outside the text to the situation in which the text occurs for the identity of the item being referred to.
Homophoric reference is the one where the identity of the item can be retreat by the reference to cultural knowledge
Lexical cohesion:
Repetition
synonyms\antonyms
hyponymy\hyperonymy
metonymy
Cohesion concerns the ways in which lexical and grammatical elements can form connections between different types of a text; cohesion is one of the ways which might signal coherence.
Coherence is the outcome of a dialogue between text and its reader
Coherence can be
a) referential when smth is referred to, smth is expressed through certain ideas
b) structural (relational) refers to some structural units, relations or certain parts of the text
1976 Halliday and Hasan Cohesion in English:
Cohesion there was regarded as a property of the text
Coherence was described as depending upon the reader evaluation of the text - > Coherence is a mental phenomenon
Cohesive devices are more objective (on the surface) while coherence means more subjective (understood in different ways)
Grammatical relations between clauses and sentences might acquire various relations (embedded, parataxic = gr.equal, hypothectic = subordinate clause)
Markers of semantic relations between sentences
Gram, lex, conjunctional
Relations:
problem-solution relation
goal-achievement
local semantic relations
Coherence can be discussed in 2 ways: linguistic paradigm and psychological
