text linguistics

Text linguistics

Textthe spoken or written evocation of an event or series of events(p.193)

Missing the typographical boatIn written communication, the text is almost all there is.(p.180)

Missing the communication-design (RPW/RCD) boatTypefaceWeightSpaceProximityShapeSizeColourMedium.

26 November, 2001

James Peltz,Editor-in-Chief State University of New York Press90 State St., Suite 700Albany, NY 12207

Dear Mr. Peltz:

I am editing a collection of essays which bring the rhetoric of science to bear on one of the most profound, and certainly one of the most widely engaged, issues in science studies, incommensurability; SUNY Press is the ideal house for it.

The collection brings the rhetoric of science to bear on one of the most profound, and certainly one of the most widely engaged, issues in contemporary science studies, incommensurability. The topic has preoccupied not just philosophy of science over the last three decades, but also history and sociology of scienceall three of which have, roughly over the same duration, been strongly influenced by rhetoricas well as entering many strains of post-modern critical thought.

And incommensurability, since it implicates argumentation so heavily, is an issue that rhetoric is exceptionally well placed to address. Indeed, rhetoricin both the general scholarly sense and the specific disciplinary senseentered contemporary studies of science largely because of the ramifications Kuhn and Feyerabend pursued upon their coincident introductions of incommensurability.

The State University of New York Press, I hope youll agree, is the perfect house for this project, because of its major rhetoric lists, its important presence in philosophy, its significant science and technology studies offerings, and its growing attention to the scholarship of argumentation.

The book

The bookRhetoric and incommensurability pending a better ideagathers essays by the leading figures in rhetoric of science addressing the implications of incommensurability. It is a provocative and marketable meeting of scholars and subject. For most presses, I would now have to launch into subroutine describing rhetoric of science, but since youve

Sincerely,

Randy Allen HarrisLinguistics, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication

Encl: Abstracts

[email protected]

http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~raha/

Randy Allen HarrisDepartment of EnglishUniversity of Waterloo200 University AvenueWaterloo ON Canada N2L 3G1

519.885.1211, x5362

Textual function = Weaving functionThe elements and dimensions of language that serve to weave a discourse together.

TextPerceived wholeThe two weaving mechanisms

TextPerceived wholeThe two weaving mechanismsTexture

TextPerceived wholeThe two weaving mechanisms Cohesion (elements)achieved by formal devices, usually lexico-syntacticsemasiologicalCoherence (dimensions)achieved by conceptual devices (ideas)onomasiological

A textIt is true (Ladies) your tongues are held your defensive armour, but you never detract more from your honour than when you give too much liberty to that slippery glib member. That Ivory guard or garrison, which impales your tongue, doth caution and instruct you, to put restraint upon your Speech. In much talk you must of necessity commit much error, as it leaves some tincture of vain-glory, which proclaims the proud heart from whence it proceeded, or some taste of scurrility, which displays the wanton heart from whence it streamed.

IterationCohesionIt is true (Ladies) your tongues are held your defensive armour, but you never detract more from your honour than when you give too much liberty to that slippery glib member. That Ivory guard or garrison, which impales your tongue, doth caution and instruct you, to put restraint upon your Speech. In much talk you must of necessity commit much error, as it leaves some tincture of vain-glory, which proclaims the proud heart from whence it proceeded, or some taste of scurrility, which displays the wanton heart from whence it streamed.

ReferentialCohesionIt is true (Ladies) your tongues are held your defensive armour, but you never detract more from your honour than when you give too much liberty to that slippery glib member. That Ivory guard or garrison, which impales your tongue, doth caution and instruct you, to put restraint upon your Speech. In much talk you must of necessity commit much error, as it leaves some tincture of vain-glory, which proclaims the proud heart from whence it proceeded, or some taste of scurrility, which displays the wanton heart from whence it streamed.

Balance (symmetry, parallelism, isocolon)CohesionIt is true (Ladies) your tongues are held your defensive armour, but you never detract more from your honour than when you give too much liberty to that slippery glib member. That Ivory guard or garrison, which impales your tongue, doth caution and instruct you, to put restraint upon your Speech. In much talk you must of necessity commit much error, as it leaves some tincture of vain-glory, which proclaims the proud heart from whence it proceeded, or some taste of scurrility, which displays the wanton heart from whence it streamed.

Functional linkingCohesionIt is true (Ladies) your tongues are held your defensive armour, but you never detract more from your honour than when you give too much liberty to that slippery glib member. That Ivory guard or garrison, which impales your tongue, doth caution and instruct you, to put restraint upon your Speech. In much talk you must of necessity commit much error, as it leaves some tincture of vain-glory, which proclaims the proud heart from whence it proceeded, or some taste of scurrility, which displays the wanton heart from whence it streamed.

IterationCohesionIt is true (Ladies) your tongues are held your defensive armour, but you never detract more from your honour than when you give too much liberty to that slippery glib member. That Ivory guard or garrison, which impales your tongue, doth caution and instruct you, to put restraint upon your Speech. In much talk you must of necessity commit much error, as it leaves some tincture of vain-glory, which proclaims the proud heart from whence it proceeded, or some taste of scurrility, which displays the wanton heart from whence it streamed.

Iteration-PolyptotonCohesionIt is true (Ladies) your tongues are held your defensive armour, but you never detract more from your honour than when you give too much liberty to that slippery glib member. That Ivory guard or garrison, which impales your tongue, doth caution and instruct you, to put restraint upon your Speech. In much talk you must of necessity commit much error, as it leaves some tincture of vain-glory, which proclaims the proud heart from whence it proceeded, or some taste of scurrility, which displays the wanton heart from whence it streamed.

Cohesion / CoherenceCohesion (& coherence)Dont trust McBean, because hes a shyster.

Coherence (low cohesion)Dont trust McBean. Hes a shyster.

Cohesion without coherence (?)A week has seven days. Every day I feed my cat. Cats have four legs. The cat is on the mat. Mat has three letters.

Cohesion / CoherenceSubordination Dont trust McBean, because hes a shyster.

EvidenceDont trust McBean. Hes a shyster.


Evidence Dont trust McBean. Hes a shyster. Subordinator A word that puts one clause into a specific syntactic relationship with another clause (i.e., a subordinate relationship); functional linking.


EvidenceDont trust McBean. Hes a shyster. Shysters have low credibility. Trust requires credibility.


Evidence Dont trust McBean. Hes a shyster. CohesionKnowing the words and/or structureSemasiologicalCoherenceKnowing the ideas, the reasoning, the meaningOnomasiological

Text LinguisticsCohesion / CoherenceCohesion--formal, semasiologicalStructural Iteration (phrasal, lexical, morphological, phonetic), balance (iteration of structure), functional linking (coordination and subordination)Coherenceconceptual, onomasiologicalReferentialTopical; definite, indefinite RelationalParatactic (among nuclei)Hypotactic (between nucleus and satellite[s])ProformalAnaphoric, cataphoric, elliptical

Referential coherence--TopicalWhen the Star-Belly Sneetches had frankfurter roastsOr picnics or parties or marshmallow toasts,They never invited the Plain-Belly Sneetches. They left them out cold, in the dark of the beachesThey kept them away. Never let them come near.And thats how they treated them year after year.

Referential coherence--TopicalWhen the had frankfurter roastsOr picnics or parties or marshmallow toasts,They never invited . They left them out cold, in the dark of the beachesThey kept them away. Never let them come near.And thats how they treated them year after year.

Referential coherence Proformal (not content words)When the Star-Belly Sneetchesi hadj frankfurter roastsOr i j picnics or i j parties or i j marshmallow toasts,Theyi never invited the Plain-Belly Sneetchesk. Theyi left themk out cold, in the dark of the beachesTheyi kept themk away. i Never let themkcome near.And thats how theyi treated themk year after year. ik

Referential coherence--TopicalProminenceStar-BelliesfocusSBs actionstopicand/orPlain-Belliesfocus PBs treatmenttopic

SBs/PBs perspectives(actions vs. feelings)

Referential coherencePhrasalIdenticalPartial ProformalAnaphoric(Cataphoric)Elliptical

Referential coherence / Iterative cohesionPhrasal (content words, not proforms)Identical (full iteration)

Star-Belly Sneetches blah blah blah Star-Belly Sneetches

Plain-Belly Sneetches blah blah blah Plain-Belly Sneetches

Sylvester McMonkey McBean blah blah blah Sylvester McMonkey McBean

Referential coherence / Iterative cohesion Phrasal (content words, not proforms)Partial (reduction)Star-Belly Sneetches blah blah blah Star-Bellies Sylvester McMonkey McBean blah blah blah McBean Partial (paraphrase)Star-Belly Sneetches blah blah blah Sneetches with stars Plain-Belly Sneetches blah blah blah Sneetches without [stars on their bellies]

Referential coherence Proformal (not content words)Star-Belly Sneetchesi

AnaphoricTheyi never invited Ellipticali never let them

Referential coherenceProformal (not content words)Cataphoric

Theyi Star-Belly Sneetchesi

Referential coherence Proformal (not content words)Cataphoric

And he laughed as he droveIn his car up the beachTheyi never will learn.No. You cant teach a sneetchi!

Referential coherenceProformal (not content words)Cataphoric

Then I was deep within the woodsWhen, suddenly, I spied themi.I saw a pair of pale green pantsiWith nobody inside themi!

Relational coherenceSo they clambered inside. Then the big machine roared.And it klonked. And it bonked. And it jerked. And it berked.And it bopped them about. But the thing really worked!When the Plain-Belly Sneetches popped out, they had stars!They actually did. They had stars upon thars.Local conceptual relations--between two, or a few,proximal clauses.

Relational coherenceRestatementSo they clambered inside. Then the big machine roared.And it klonked. And it bonked. And it jerked. And it berked.And it bopped them about. But the thing really worked!When the Plain-Belly Sneetches popped out, they had stars!They actually did. They had stars upon thars.RestatementsNucleusA satellite which reformulates (paraphrases) the information given in the nucleus.

Relational coherenceConcessionSo they clambered inside. Then the big machine roared.And it klonked. And it bonked. And it jerked. And it berked.And it bopped them about. But the thing really worked!When the Plain-Belly Sneetches popped out, they had stars!They actually did. They had stars upon thars.NucleusConcessionsA satellite which concedes potential incompatibilities with the information presented in the nucleus.

Relational coherenceParatacticAmong elements of equal importance to the text; between nucleiHypotacticAmong elements in which one (the nucleus) is more important to the text, and the other (the satellite) extends it in some way.

Relational coherenceParatactic relations Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches Had bellies with stars.The Plain-Belly Sneetches Had none upon thars.

Contrasttheme, characterNuclei

Relational coherenceParatactic relations Off again! On again!In again! Out again!

SequenceNarrative elements ContrastPlot development (equality of characters!)NucleiNuclei

Relational coherenceHypotactic relations NucleusUtterance that contributes to the core of the text (the story, the argument, the instruction, ).SatelliteUtterance that is peripheral to text, and which depends on a nucleus (that it extends, explains, frames, )

Hypotactic relations Nucleus and satelliteThen ONE day, it seems, while the Plain-Belly SneetchesWere moping and doping alone on the beaches,Just sitting there wishing their bellies had stars A stranger zipped up in the strangest of cars.

Hypotactic relations Nucleus and satelliteThen ONE day, it seems, while the Plain-Belly SneetchesWere moping and doping alone on the beaches,Just sitting there wishing their bellies had stars A stranger zipped up in the strangest of cars.SatellitesNucleus

Nucleus and satellite CircumstanceThen ONE day, it seems, while the Plain-Belly SneetchesWere moping and doping alone on the beaches,Just sitting there wishing their bellies had stars A stranger zipped up in the strangest of cars.SatellitesNucleusCircumstance

Nucleus and satellite CircumstanceThen ONE day, it seems, while the Plain-Belly SneetchesWere moping and doping alone on the beaches,Just sitting there wishing their bellies had stars A stranger zipped up in the strangest of cars.SatellitesNucleusCircumstanceA satellite which gives the framework in which the reader is intended to interpret the situation described in the nucleus.

Multiple relationsAnd Ive heard of your troubles. Ive heard youre unhappy.But I can fix that. Im the Fix-it-up Chappie.Ive come here to help you. I have what you need.And my prices are low. And I work at great speed.And my work is one-hundred percent guaranteed.

ContrastAnd Ive heard of your troubles. Ive heard youre unhappy.But I can fix that. Im the Fix-it-up Chappie.Ive come here to help you. I have what you need.And my prices are low. And I work at great speed.And my work is one-hundred percent guaranteed.Nuclei

SolutionhoodAnd Ive heard of your troubles. Ive heard youre unhappy.But I can fix that. Im the Fix-it-up Chappie.Ive come here to help you. I have what you need.And my prices are low. And I work at great speed.And my work is one-hundred percent guaranteed.Problem(s)NucleusThe nucleus is a solution to the problem described in the satelite.

JustificationJustificationsA satellite which increases the readers readiness to accept the writers right to present the information in the nucleus.NucleusAnd Ive heard of your troubles. Ive heard youre unhappy.But I can fix that. Im the Fix-it-up Chappie.Ive come here to help you. I have what you need.And my prices are low. And I work at great speed.And my work is one-hundred percent guaranteed.

From the perspective of the Plain-Belly SneetchesMotivationAnd Ive heard of your troubles. Ive heard youre unhappy.But I can fix that. Im the Fix-it-up Chappie.Ive come here to help you. I have what you need.And my prices are low. And I work at great speed.And my work is one-hundred percent guaranteed.MotivationsA satellite which motivates the hearer to perform the action described in the nucleus (in this case, evoked by the nucleus).Nucleus

Motivation?! Hey, thats persuasion, isnt it?Rhetorical interludeAnd Ive heard of your troubles. Ive heard youre unhappy.But I can fix that. Im the Fix-it-up Chappie.Ive come here to help you. I have what you need.And my prices are low. And I work at great speed.And my work is one-hundred percent guaranteed.Reasons: premises feeding the argument pay me (so you can jump into my star-off machine).

Motivation?! Hey, thats persuasion, isnt it?Rhetorical interludeAnd Ive heard of your troubles. Ive heard youre unhappy.But I can fix that. Im the Fix-it-up Chappie.Ive come here to help you. I have what you need.And my prices are low. And I work at great speed.And my work is one-hundred percent guaranteed.Ethos, pathos, logos, figuration, topoi, invention, arrangement, style, delivery, stasis,

Motivation?! Hey, thats persuasion, isnt it?Rhetorical interlude: ethosAnd Ive heard of your troubles. Ive heard youre unhappy.But I can fix that. Im the Fix-it-up Chappie.Ive come here to help you. I have what you need.And my prices are low. And I work at great speed.And my work is one-hundred percent guaranteed.Eunoia (Goodwill)Arete (Virtue)Phronesis (Good sense)

Character?! Hey, thats literary, isnt it?Literary interludeAnd Ive heard of your troubles. Ive heard youre unhappy.But I can fix that. Im the Fix-it-up Chappie.Ive come here to help you. I have what you need.And my prices are low. And I work at great speed.And my work is one-hundred percent guaranteed.Opportunistic interloper, illustrating selfish personal values, in contrast to the (selfishly skewed) community values of the Sneetches. Advances plot while advancing personal wealth; thematically exposes superficiality of appearance and fashion; character revealed through dialogue.

Text linguistics vs. other analysesText linguistics only cares what satellites and nuclei are doing.Rhetoric cares (from a suasive viewpoint) about where, how and why (and what).Literary analysis cares (from an aesthetic viewpoint) about where, how and why (and what).

Text linguisticsCohesion--formal, semasiologicalStructural Iteration (phrasal, lexical, morphological, phonetic), balance (iteration of structure), functional linking (coordination and subordination)

Coherenceconceptual, onomasiologicalReferentialTopical; definite, indefinite RelationalParatactic (among nuclei)Hypotactic (between nucleus and satellite[s])ProformalAnaphoric, cataphoric, elliptical

Thread shapeMaterial (thread, dyes) and Percept (shape, size, pattern, )Cohesion concerns form: words, sounds, structures Coherence concers content: ideas, conceptual relations. Cohesion concerns form: words, sounds, structures Coherence concers content: ideas, conceptual relations. Hannah Wolley, The Gentlewomans Companion, 1675Hannah Wolley, The Gentlewomans Companion, 1675Hannah Wolley, The Gentlewomans Companion, 1675Hannah Wolley, The Gentlewomans Companion, 1675Hannah Wolley, The Gentlewomans Companion, 1675Hannah Wolley, The Gentlewomans Companion, 1675Hannah Wolley, The Gentlewomans Companion, 1675OK. A story. A text. You all understood it. We have varying levels of literacy and expertise among us. Some people got more than others, in terms of theme, enjoyment, ethical value, aesthetic appreciation, message. But we all followed it. How? Thats what text linguistics gets at: what the features are of texts that allow us to understand longer chunks of language. Iteration, but with different reference. my cat, cats, and The cat all have different referents. Etc.When we focus on proforms, the job becomes more difficult. The standard way that linguists handle this is with subscripts, like j and k here, but Ive added colour too. Theres iteration here, too, so theres cohesion, but lets just focus on coherence.

GAPS! Eliptical referential coherence. Two flavoursThe even-though test, or the despite test.Restatement and Concession are hypotactic. Others, like Contrast and Sequence, are paratactic.Here we have Sequence and Contrast working in tandem. The again is what indicates that it is sequential. The antonyms (off and on, in and out) indicate it is contrastive.

The contrast suggests they are different, but its a paratactic relation, equal. (The story is about prejudice and privilege, but the structure of the poem stresses equality of characters).

Speech act: a proposal. McBean proposes to solve their problems. Justification. Speech act: a warrant. Argumentative structure.Other components of suasion. Lets just take ethos. Character, narrative, point of view, ideology, Cohesion--formal, semasiologicalStructural Iteration (phrasal, lexical, morphological, phonetic), balance (iteration of structure), functional linking (coordination and subordination)Coherenceconceptual, onomasiologicalReferentialTopical; definite, indefinite RelationalParatactic (among nuclei)Hypotactic (between nucleus and satellite[s])

text linguistics

Documents