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Text is defined as a unit of unlimited length formed by a sequence of utterances in which each
following utterance repeats the information introduced by the previous one and adds to it
some new information.
Sometimes to emphasise that we are talking about spoken texts the term discourse is used.
The task of text linguistics is to account for the ability of native speakers to distinguish
between well-formed texts, which constitute a unified whole, and non-texts.
It has been established that a sequence of utterances is a text if it meets the 7 standards of
textuality:
cohesion
coherence
intentionality
acceptability
informativity
situationality
intertextuality
Cohesion
It concerns the ways in which the components of the surface text (the actual words that we
hear or see) are connected in a sequence.
The cohesive devices have two tasks: a) to unify text; b) to make it more economical (to
save short-term memory).
- parallelism (reusing surface formats but filling them with different expressions)
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns.
Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.
- pro-forms (economical, short words empty of their own particular content, which
can stand in surface text in place of more content-activating expressions. Pronouns
are the best-known pro-forms)
There was an old woman which lived a shoe.
She had so many children, she didnt know what to do.
Are you to get it at all? said the Footman. Thats the first question, you
know. It was no doubt; only Alice did not like to be told so.
- intonation
(the falling intonation marks the end of an utterance or whole text, rising
continuity).
Coherence
Concerns the logical arrangement of elements of text.
It reflects cognitive processes of language users, their experience, and knowledge of the
world.
Could you open the door?
Im in the bath!
Often texts are both coherent and cohesive, but sometimes only coherent, e.g. the example
above. As long as they are interpreted by the users, and are understood, they are acceptable.
However, a text which is cohesive but not coherent in unacceptable. Logical unity is more
important than surface unity.
Yesterday I saw a car. A car is a machine. There is no doubt about it that a machine
is a noun. We have many kinds of nouns and he was very kind to me. Whats more,
kind has four letters.
Informativity
Concerns the balance between the unknown and certain, expected and unexpected in a text.
A text which is full of the new and unexpected can be rejected as too difficult. (too high
informativity)
A text which consists of only known information can be rejected as boring. (too low
informativity)
It is also context-sensitive you expect high informativity of a lecture, and rather low
informativity of a text heard at a bus stop.
Situationality
Concerns factors which make a text relevant to a current situation or occurrence.
These are strategies of monitoring and management employed by the speaker to make sure
that the discourse develops according to his expectations.
Intertextuality
Concerns the ways in which the production and reception of a given text depends upon the
participants knowledge of other texts.
The transfer from an old text to the present one can take the form a direct quoration or an
allusion.