8/20/2019 Text Linguistics 1

1/3

DEFINITIONS OF TEXT DEFINITIONS OF

DISCOURSE

A piece of naturally occurring

spoken, written, or signeddiscourse identied for the

purposes of analysis. It is

often a language unit with a

denable communicative

function, such as a

conversation, a poster.

A continuous stretch of

(especially spoken) languagelarger than a sentence, often

constituting a coherent unit,

such as a sermon, argument,

 joke or narrative. (ir !avid

"rystal)

A stretch of languageinterpreted formally, without

conte#t.

tretches of languageperceived to be meaningful,

unied, and purposive. ($uy

"ook)%nit of communication seen

as a coherent syntactic and

semantic structure which

can be spoken or writtendown.

&hole complicated process

of linguistic interaction

between people uttering and

comprehending te#ts. ('ogerowler)

A te#t can be dened as an

actual use of language, as

distinct from a sentence

which is an abstract unit of

linguistic analysis.

 he term discourse is taken

here to refer both to what a

te#t producer meant by a

te#t and what a te#t means

to the receiver. (*enry

&iddowson)

FEATURES TEXT DISCOURSE

Degree of 

abstraction

A+'A" "-"'

8/20/2019 Text Linguistics 1

2/3

Role in

communication

/'!%" /'"

Linguistic status '0A1 %-"I-A1

Type of meaning /'/II-A1 --2/'/II-A1Relationship to

context 

!2

"-3%A1I!

"-3%A1I!

Linguistic unit  A-4 A-4Mode &'I-5/6- &'I-5/6-

8/20/2019 Text Linguistics 1

3/3

NORMS OF TEXTUAL COMMUNICATION

SENDERS INFORMATIVITY

RECEIVERS

INTENTIONALITY → ←

ACCEPTABILITY 

SITUATIONALITY INTERTEXTUALITY 

CONTEXTS OTHER

TEXTS

Dressed to kit

ven highlanders follow fashion.(7) $eo8rey ailor

6iltmakers, based in cotland, now produces 9:7st century

kilts,9 with pockets for modern necessities like mobile

phones.(:) !esigner *owie -icholsby sees the evolution as

a means of tapping into the youth market.(;) 9he kilt isfree and fun.9(".(?) And for

male buyers too shy to purchase in person, the kilts are

also available online.(@) 'obert the +ruce never had it this

easy.()

Newsweek 

COHESION

COHERENCE