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2. Text Linguistics
Members Of The Group:
●Mohammad Asif Ali
●Syed Ali Mutaqqi
●Syed Aitsam Haider
●Syed Junaid Ali Shah Bukhari
●Mohammad Imran Nazeer
3. Text Linguistics
Definition:
Text linguistics is a branch of linguistics that deals with texts
as communication systems. Its original aims lay in
uncovering and describing text grammars. . In general it is an
application of discourse analysis at the much broader level
of text, rather than just a sentence or word.
• It covers a wide range of fields of investigation ranging
from pragmatics to discourse analysis, from socio-linguistics
to cognitive sciences and others.
4. What is a Text?
Definition:
•A piece of spoken or written language. A text may be
considered from the point of view of its structure and/or its
functions, e.g. warning, instructing, carrying out a
transaction. A full understanding of a text is often impossible
without reference to the context in which it occurs.
•A text may consist of just one word, e.g. Danger! (written on
a warning sign), or it may be of considerable length, e.g. a
sermon, a novel, or a debate.
It meets seven criteria of textuality (the constitutive principles
of textual communication) and three regulative principles of
textual communication.
7. Constitutive Principles of Textual
Communication
Cohesion
It concerns the way in which the components of the surface
text, i.e. the actual words we hear or see, are mutually
connected within a sequence. The surface components depend
upon each other according to grammatical forms and
conventions, such that cohesion rests upon grammatical
dependencies. A close relationship based on grammar or
meaning between two parts of a sentence or a larger piece of
writing.
(Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary)
Cohesive relation fit into the overall pattern of language.
9. 1. Reference
•Reference is used to describe the different ways in which
entities- things, people, events- are referred to within texts.
•There are range of linguistic features, which enables
speakers and writers to make such references, for example
pronouns….may refer to entities already mentioned or about
to be mentioned.
10. Example of Reference
“Doctor Faustus went to Gloucester in a shower of
rain. He stepped in puddle right up to his middle
And never went there again”
'He' and 'There' show that information about them
is retrieved elsewhere within the text. It
characterizes a particular type of cohesion which is
called reference. The relationship of reference is on
semantic level. The reference items must not match
the grammatical item it refers to.
11. Reference can be sub-categorized
as follow;
Exophoric
Endophoric
Anaphoric
Cataphor
12. 1.Exophoric Reference
Grammatical term used to describe a linguistic feature in a
text, which refers to something out side of that text.
Examples are words such as there, that, or here, when these
are not further elucidated in the text e.g. “The book is over
there”, “For she is a jolly good fellow and so say all of us”.
Here text is not indicating who she is? And where the book is
lying.
13. 2.Endophoric Reference
Grammatical term used to describe forms of reference made
within any given text to other elements within the text e. g in
the following sentences:
‘She gave the books, to John. He left the room. 'He' is an
example of endophoric reference, referring to John.
Endophoric relations are categorized either as:
● Anaphoric ( Reference back)
● Cataphoric (Reference forward)
14. (i) Anaphoric Reference
Grammatical term used to describe a linguistic feature,
which refers to a previously mentioned element in any given
text. In the case of the following two sentences, for example:
“The water system is failing because of old pipes and
shortage of qualified technicians to repair them. These are
the reasons why change is necessary”. These have an
anaphoric function, referring back to the reasons given in the
preceding part of the text.
15. (ii) Cataphoric Reference
Grammatical term used to describe a linguistic feature,
which refers forward to another element in any given text.
For example in the sentence ‘Here are two examples of fossil
fuels: Coal and wood’, the word here has a cataphoric
function.
For Example
Child: Why does that one go?
Father: that what?
Child: that one
Father: that one what?
Child: that parrot, that you kept in in the cage.
16. Types of Reference
1. Personal Reference (Person)
2. Demonstrative Reference (Proximity)
3. Comparative Reference
(General/ Particular / Comparison)
17. 2. Substitution
Substitution is the replacement of one item by
another or something that you use instead of the
thing you would usually use. Substitution is a
relation within the text. A substitute is a sort of
counter which is used in place of the repetition of a
particular item.
18. Examples
(a) My axe is too blunt. I must get a sharper one.
(b) You think Joan already knows? I think everybody does.
As a general rule, the substitute item has the same structural
function as that for which it substitutes. The given example
‘one’ and ‘axe’ are both Head in the nominal group; and
‘does’ and ‘knows’ are both Head in the verbal group.
19. 3. Ellipse
It is another cohesive device. An occasion when words
are deliberately left out of a sentence, though the meaning
can still be understood. The leaving out of words or
phrases from sentences where they are unnecessary
because they have already been referred or mentioned.
Simple conversational example;
A-“where are you going?”
B- “To town.”
(The full form of B’s reply would be; I am going to town).
20. 4. Conjunctions
A word which joins words, phrases or clauses together,
such as “but” and “when” so that, nevertheless, or, that
and unless etc.
22. 1. Additive
It means substance added to another.
2. Adversative
It means contrary to expectations.
3. Causal
These relations expressed by so, thus, hence, therefore. All
these regularly combine with initial ‘and’.
4. Temporal
This relation is expressed in its simplest form ‘then’.
23. Lexical Cohesion
Lexical cohesion refers to the ties created between lexical
elements, such as words (e.g. rabbit), groups (e.g. the velveteen
rabbit), and phrases (e.g. get up steam) (Halliday 537). These
lexical ties can occur over long passages of text or discourse. The
primary paradigmatic types of lexical cohesion (meaning words of
the same type or class) are repetition, synonymy, hyponymy, and
meronymy.
24. Repetition
Using the same word over again, but not restricted to the
same morphological form (572).E.g. Using rum (V), run (N),
ran, running, runner, etc., all within the same text.
Synonymy
Using words that are in some way synonymous, or in the
case of antonymy, in some way antonymous. E.g. Synonyms:
sound-noise; Antonyms: sound-silence
25. Hyponymy
One word represents "a class of thing and the second either a
super class or a subclass, or another class at the same level"
(574) e.g. tree- oak, pine, elm
Meronymy
Words that refer to parts of a whole. E. g. tree- trunk,
branch, leaf.
26. Collocation
Is the way in which particular words tend to occur or belong
together.
For example, you can say Meals will be served outside on the
terrace, weather permitting but not Meals will be served
outside on the terrace, weather allowing. Both these
sentences seem to mean the same thing (The will bring us
our meals outside if the weather is good enough) allow and
permit have very similar meanings. But in this combination
only permitting is correct. It collocates with weather and
allowing does not.
27. Coherence
According to the definition given in Oxford advance learners
dictionary,
“Coherence is a situation in which all the parts of something
fit together well.”
The key to the concept of coherence is not something which
exist in the language, but something which exists in people.
it is people who make sense of what they read and hear.
They try to arrive at an interpretation which is in line with
their experience of the way the world is.
28. Example
My father bought a Lincoln convertible. The car driven by the
police was red. That color does not suit her. She consists of three
letters. However a letter isn’t as fast as a telephone call.
It becomes clear from an example like this that the
‘connectedness’ which we experience in our interpretation of
normal texts is not simply based on connections between the
words. There must be some other factor which leads us to
distinguish connected texts which make sense from those
which do not. this factor is usually described as coherence.
29. Coherence is basically concerned with
two things
1- The ways in which the things the text
is about are mutually accessible and
relevant.
2- Coherence concerns the textual world
that means about what a text is.
30. 3. Intentionality
Intentionality, concerning the text producer’s attitude that
the set of occurrences should constitute a cohesive and
coherent text instrumental in fulfilling the producer’s
intentions, e.g. to distribute knowledge or to attain a goal
specified in a plan. ...
31. 4. Acceptability
Acceptability, concerning the text receiver’s attitude
that the set of occurrences should constitute a
cohesive and coherent text having some use or
relevance for the receiver, e.g. to acquire knowledge
or provide co-operation in a plan
32. 5. Informativity
The fifth standard of textuality is called informativity and
concerns the extent to which the occurrences of the presented
text are expected vs. unexpected or known vs.
unknown/certain.
For Example
The big bad Wolf said “Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll
blow your house down!”
The Little piggy said, “ Back off or I'll sneeze on you”
33. 6.Situationality
The sixth standard of textuality can be designated
situationality and concerns the factors which make a text
relevant to a situation of occurrence.
It is connected with coherence and acceptability,
e. g. SLOW CHILDREN AT PLAY
Some elements in text refer to the context of situation (e.g.
deictic) and cannot be decoded unless reliance on
situationality is made.
34. 7. Intertexuality
Textuality is concerned with the way in which uses of texts
depend on the knowledge of other (preceding or following)
texts.
e. g. “A tale of two cards”
Headline for an article in the Daily Mail describing the Xmas
cards sent by Blair and Howard – reference to Dickens’s
novel ” A Tale of Two Cities”.
35. Regulative Principal of Textual Communication
The three regulative principles that control communication
are:
Efficiency:
Text used to communicate with a minimum expenditure of
effort by the participants.
Effectiveness:
Text creating favorable conditions for attaining the Sender’s
goal.
Appropriateness:
Suitability of the Text to the communicative situation in
which it is used.