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U31a. Text and context. Text typology. Criteria for the classification of…
U31a. Text and context. Text typology. Criteria for the classification of text types. Register
Intro
Linguistics --> Text Linguistics --> taxonomic clasifications
Text = complete message or unified whole; Text not only meaning but also intention
Context is crucial
While individual sentences have meaning, they are often combined to create complete messages -->
Text Linguistics
- how utterances work to produce coherent texts and discourses.
1. Text and Context
(text related to its context of situation)
Sentence
= defined in
grammatical terms
Text
= defined in
meaning
(semantics) and
use
(pragmatic) terms
Pragmatics: lg use + context
Semantics: syntact structures
Halliday and Hasan (1976) -
context
and
text
are related; aspects of the same process ↓
Text + accompanying text (co-text) - link btw text and situation
context encapsulated in the text (social environment + functional organisation of lg)
1.1.Text
(lg in use)
Text = semantic unit
; text made of meanings.
A text considered from 2 POVs: product (output; systematic terms) + process (semantic choices; meaning)
Functional organisation - characteristics:
unity
. 2 types:
Unity of structure - global structure of message
Unity of texture
- meaning relations;
H+H, 1976
Textual unity, sources: structure + texture - related to context of situation
Texture of a passage
= semantic + lexico-grammatical patterns + listener's perception
Texture = coherence + cohesion (creates interdependency in text)
Cohesion: relations of meaning btw elements; cohesion in text related to semantic
ties
which define it as a text
Texture within the sentence
. Components:
Theme systems
: organisation of the clause as a message, including
theme
and
rheme
Information systems
: organisation of the text in units of info, including
intonation
and
punctuation
Theme systems
--> texture; help us follow the thread of discourse
Texture of discourse
. Macrostructure combining intrasentence structure and intersentence cohesion = property of being a text
1.1.1.
The Seven Standards of Textualit
y (= texture but B+D, 1988 term)
Text = communicative occurrence. 7 standards:
Text - centred notions
, text mats:
1.
Cohesion
- syntax (items mutually connected)
2.
Coherence
- relations under causality
User-centred notions
, textual communication: lg configuration = intended to be a text + accepted as such:
3.
Intentionality
- producers' attitude of lg configuration
4.
Acceptability
- receiver's attitude
5.
Informativity
- known vs unknown occurrences.
6.
Situationality
- relevant to the situation of occurrence; accessible with prior knowledge + expectations
7.
Intertextuality
- text depending on knowledge of previously related texts.
1.2. Context: Context of Situation and Context of Culture
(first coined by B. Malinowski, 1923)
Halliday, 1976 - context made up of:
Context of culture
- genre
Context of situation
- register
both, outside lg itself
Co-text
(= linguistic context) - discourse
inside lg itself
lg (if = system) --> its context of culture
text + components --> its context of situation
Situation (=context of situation) - meanings exchanged; extra-linguistic factors affecting speaker's choice
Context of situation
- immediate environment; not random but what goes together in the culture
Context of culture
- lg embedded in the life and culture of its speakers
HOWEVER, THEORY OF CONTEXT BEFORE THEORY OF TEXT --> Bronislaw Malinowski, 1923
Context of situation - environment:
info, what's happening + info, cultural background = interpretation of meaning
Firth's general linguistic theory, 1935
Malinowski's context of situation quite specific; for particular instances of lg use
Firth's general framework for description of the
context of situation
. Headings:
participants
+
action
+
surroundings
+ effects vbal actions
Halliday's another description of the context of situation, 1976
. 3 Headings
field (subject matter; nature of action)
tenor (social relations; nature of partipants)
mode (lg; symbolic organisation + status + function + channel) --> essential to register