Textlinguistics

1
Textlinguistics

• What is a text?
• In how far is a text different from a random
  collection of sentences?
• Does the recipient understand the text?
• Why do we utter written or oral texts?

2
Research questions (1)

• In which context does the text make sense?
  pragmatics
• In how far is each sentence in a text incomplete
  and dependent on the whole text?

3
Research questions (2)

• Are there different types of texts? text
  typology
• Do texts play an important role in language
  acquisition?

4
Cohesive elements

• Example text
• My father once bought a Lincoln convertible. He
  did it by saving any penny he could. That car
  would be worth a fortune nowadays. However, he
  sold it to help pay for my college education.
  Sometimes I think Id rather have the convertible.

5
Cohesive elements key

• Pronouns father-he-he my my- I Lincoln it.
• Lexical connections Lincoln convertible that
  car the convertible
• Terms with a common element of meaning Money
  bought, saving, penny, worth a fortune, saving,
  sold, pay

6
The seven standards of textuality

• de Beaugrande Dressler (1981 3ff)

Text-centred notions
User-centred notions
7
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.

8
COHERENCE

• The concept of coherence denotes our ability to
  make sense of what we read or hear.
• We try to arrive at an interpretation which is in
  line with our experience of the way the world is.

9
INTENTIONALITY

• Intentionality concerns the text producers
  attitude.
• The author intends to produce a cohesive and
  coherent text instrumental in fulfilling his
  intentions

10
ACCEPTABILITY

• 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.

11
INFORMATIVITY

• Informativity concerns the extent to which the
  occurrences of the text are expected vs.
  unexpected or known vs. unknown.

12
SITUATIONALITY

• Situationality concerns the factors which make a
  text relevant to a situation of occurrence.

13
INTERTEXTUALITY

• Intertextuality concerns the factors which make
  the utilisation of one text dependent upon
  knowledge of one or more previously encountered
  texts.