English Department
Even Semester 2023
Universitas Negeri Semarang
Discourse Grammar
Language has “different patterns of use” in a discourse and a
sentence perspective. McCarthy argued that the words it, this,
and that have different meanings from those are commonly
known.
The word it suggests “reference to a continuing or ongoing topic
in a text, rather than just something inside or outside the text.”
The word this denotes “the raising of a new topic or a new focus
in the current topic.”
The word that points to “a distancing or marginalizing function in
a text, rather than just demonstrative functions” (Paltridge 2021,
206).
Discourse Grammar
McCarthy also “found similar differences in the use of tenses
such as the past perfect, the use of be to with future meaning,
and wh questions.”
Celce-Murcia identified the difference of grammatical form when
it is used in written and spoken discourse and in isolated
sentences. She found that this and that are also used in other
means than just as demonstrative pronouns.
Celce-Murcia and Olshtain discussed how be going to and will
from a discourse perspective “show different functions other
than just the expression of future time” (Paltridge 2021, 207).
Discourse Grammar
The pattern ‘be going to’ is especially used “to narrate future
actions” and is usually followed with ‘will’.
Hughes and McCarthy compared ‘discourse—and sentence-based
grammars’.
A discourse-based grammar “makes a strong connection
between form, function and context and aims to place
appropriateness and use at the centre of its descriptions.”
This grammar “acknowledges language choice, promotes
awareness of interpersonal factors in grammatical choice and
provides insights into areas of grammar that previously lacked a
clear explanation” (Paltridge 2021, 207).
Discourse Grammar
They argued that the suitable aspects of language in this
grammar are ellipsis and tense—function correlations.
This discourse-based grammar is also focused on “the
relationship between vocabulary items in texts, the relationship
between vocabulary items in texts, the relationship between
items such as ‘it’ and ‘others’ and the items they are referring to
inside or outside of the text, and conjunction.”
A key feature of a text is “its texture that describes how the text
holds together in terms of its patterns of organization and
relations between lexical items in the text” (Paltridge 2021, 208).
Discourse Grammar
Hasan called this texture as “unity of structure and texture.”
Unity of structure describes “patterns which combine together to
create information structure, focus and flow in a text, including
the schematic (or discourse) structure of the text.”
This schematic structure also includes “patterns of theme,
rheme and thematic progression in texts, another way in which
information flow and focus take place in texts.”
Patterns of cohesion are “a further way in which unity of texture
is achieved in a text” (Paltridge 2021, 208).
Discourse Grammar
Unity of texture
Jones argued that “a language speaker generally is able to
discriminate between a random string of sentences and one
forming a discourse because of the inherent texture in the
language and to their awareness of it.”
Unity of texture means “the way in which resources such as of
cohesion creates both cohesive and coherent texts.”
This texture emerges where there are “language items that tie
meanings together in the text as well as tie meanings in the text
to the social context of the text” (Paltridge 2021, 208).
Discourse Grammar
The example of this is the use of the words it and that, which
come from the social context of the text.
Texture then is “a result of the interaction between language
features in a text.”
This texture incorporates a tie which “connects the meanings of
words to each other as well as to the world outside the text.”
The basis for cohesion and texture is semantic.
This can be “both explicit and implicit and is based in the ways in
which the meanings of items are tied in a semantic relationship
to each other” (Paltridge 2021, 208).
Discourse Grammar
Cohesion & discourse
Cohesion suggests the integration of grammar and discourse in
language expression.
Cohesion points to “the relationship between items in a text such
as words, phrases and clauses and other items such as
pronouns, nouns and conjunctions.”
Cohesion incorporates “the relationship between words and
pronouns that refer to that word (reference items), words that
commonly co-occur in texts (collocation) and the relationship
between words with similar, related and different meanings
(lexical cohesion)” (Paltridge 2021, 209).
Discourse Grammar
This also includes “semantic relationships between clauses
and the ways this is expressed through the use of
conjunctions.”
Another aspect of cohesion is “the ways how words such as
‘one’ and ‘do’ are used to substitute for other words in a
text (substitution) and how words and phrases are left out,
ellipsed from a text (ellipsis).”
All these produce “the unity of texture of a text and its
cohesion” (Paltridge 2021, 209).
Discourse Grammar
Reference
Reference suggests “where the identity of an item can be
retrieved from either within or outside the text.”
The main patterns of reference are anaphoric, cataphoric,
exophoric and homophoric reference.
1. Anaphoric reference
This points to “where a word or phrase refers back to another word
or phrase used earlier in a text.” The following example is from a
review of the book The Cinematic Footprint: Lights, Camera,
Natural Resources (Nadia Bozak 2012).
Discourse Grammar
Examples of anaphoric reference are shown in the italicized words. The
identity of ‘the’ and ‘it’ are “retrieved by reference to an earlier mentioned
item (the topic) in the book:
Bozak argues that because cinema, from celluloid to digital manifestations, is
entrenched in our hydrocarbon economy, it is both a cause of the ecological crisis
that plagues this economy and perhaps also its salvation (9-10). In supporting the
first part of this claim, Bozak draws extensively from the parallel development of
cinema and twentieth-century industrial innovations to demonstrate how cinema’s
mainstream expressions are tied to fossil fuels. From artificial studio lights to
hardware that supports the seeming immateriality of the internet, cinema is sadly
dependent on finite natural resources. It also generates its own “dirty” footprint, as
resource use is often resource abuse. (Monani 2012: 587)
Discourse Grammar
Cataphoric reference
This describes “an item which refers forward to another word or phrase
which is used later in the text.” In this reference, “the identity of the
italicized item follows, rather than precedes, the reference item.” Look
at the following review of the book Intersecting Sets: A Poet Looks at
Science (Alice Major 2011), the cataphoric reference item is italicized:
Need a break from environmental bad news? Or from reading that feels like
work—of academic or theoretical prose or poetry? Want more to think
about that you’ll find in thrillers or lifestyle magazines? Alice Major’s
Intersecting Sets should suit.
Discourse Grammar
The book itself is a lovely object: no surprise that it has won design
awards. And reading the essays inside feels like visiting with a curious,
thoughtful friend—one who has always just read something interesting
and leaves you with lots of new ideas to consider, a friend who also has
her feet on the ground, plenty of experience, and an easy playfulness
that makes her company a pleasure. (Campbell 2012: 790).
In this case, the reader “knows the item being referred to is yet to
come in the text and reads forward to find the meaning of ‘that’”.
Discourse Grammar
Exophoric reference
This reference “looks outside the text to the situation in which the text
occurs for the identity of the item being referred to.” In the following
conversation, a literary critic named Angela Hume asked a question about
a term “ecopoetics” to another literary critic and poet, Robert Hass—
Hume: First things first. What do you make of the term “ecopoetics”?
Hass: I take “poetics” to mean “writing about the nature and practice of
poetry.” And the term exists, to some extent, to distinguish it (writing about the
Discourse Grammar
practice of poetry) from writing about the content of poetry.
So, the, does “ecopoetics” mean writing about poetry whose subject is,
broadly speaking, ecological? And would this kind of writing only be
“ecopoetics” if it was not so much about the content of the poetry—the
notion of Los Angeles, say, in Gary Snyder’s “Night Song of the Los
Angeles Basin”—but about the technical how and why of the writing?
(Hume 2012, 754).
The italicized word repetition ‘the’, ‘this’, and ‘it’ exemplifies exophoric
reference. Both speakers understand well what these words mean
without having to repeat the term ‘ecopoetics’.
Discourse Grammar
Homophoric reference
This reference describes “where the identity of the item can be retrieved by
reference to cultural knowledge, in general, rather than the specific context
of the text.” Look at the following excerpt of an essay, in which the use of
definite article ‘the’ in some words suggests a different meaning—
The places in our lives are rarely fixed, even relatively to us, like the polestar.
Places are more often like comets, or rivers. They have elliptical orbits. They
move, and their channels move over time as well. Sometimes they flood, and
sometimes they dry up altogether. The change may happen quickly—an
earthquake—or it may
Discourse Grammar
happen gradually, as with mountains, whose aging is best
appreciated by studying series, erathem, and eonothem—the
geologic strata of epochs, eras, and eons (from “Place as Self” by
Jeff Fearnside in ISLE Volume 19 Issue 4, Autumn 2012, p. 767).
The use of ‘the’ in ‘the places’, ‘the change’, ‘the geologic
strata’ is different from that in ‘the polestar’ since the nouns
in the former phrases indicate a historical timeline and
physical landscape.
Discourse Grammar
Comparative and bridging reference
Comparative reference describes a situation when “the identity of the presumed
item is retrieved not because it has already been mentioned or will be
mentioned in the text, but because an item with which it is being compared
has been mentioned.” Look at the following excerpt from Fearnside’s “Place
as Self” essay and identify what the meaning of the italicized words—
The observer effect is closely linked with the “uncertainty principle.” This states that
when examining the physical properties of something, such as its position and
velocity, we can only know one property more precisely at the expense of
knowing
Discourse Grammar
the other less so. That’s why light is sometimes seen as a particle and
sometimes as a wave. Or why many people find rainy days depressing, but
such days make me feel happy. Seattle and London aren’t for every writer.
This leads us to a variation of an old Zen riddle: if a place isn’t
experienced or even observed by a human, does it exist? (p. 768-769)
The italicized words ‘such’ and ‘other’ in the extract are examples of
this comparative reference.
A bridging reference occurs when “an item refers to something that has
to be inferentially derived from the text or situation, that is,
Discourse Grammar
something that has to be presumed indirectly” (Paltridge 2021, 212). Look at
the following excerpt of Fearnside’s essay where the word ‘those’ suggests this
bridging reference—
But already that world has become a museum piece, a scientific curiosity, a
mammoth leg encased in ice. Examining a place in a particular time necessarily
freezes portions of it. Our writing then becomes like an archival film. When done
well, it imparts the illusion of life in seamless motion, but when scrutinized more
closely, large gaps can be seen between the still frames. We can never reproduce all
of life in our work, nor would we want to, only those moments that impart its
essence. Good writers know this, and that’s why what’s left out is just as important
Discourse Grammar
as what’s included. Much can be implied in the jumps between frames—
between paragraphs, sections, chapters. Good writing is infused with an
energy that carries readers over those jumps. (p. 769).
Read the following excerpt and explain how reference works in the text.
Identify its anaphoric, exophoric, homophoric reference.
In many ways, what is at stake is the importance and pitfalls of linguistic
specificity when taking theoretical positions and advocating for animals. As
Cary Wolfe notes, by definition “those who engage in humane advocacy [in
the humanities] have duties and responsibilities that may or may not obtain on
other sites—a protest at a
Discourse Grammar
rodeo, say, or an interview before a governmental body” (29). The
specificity of our positions in the academy limits us in such
instances, even as Temple Grandin argues for definitional
specificity in making humane, enforceable animal welfare policies.
With nuance and skill, the essays in Species Matters grapple with
the problematic nature of articulation itself and they tease out a
discourse—through the very language that the text problematizes—
of the ways that the language undermines and enhances humane
advocacy. (Wright 2012, 590-591).
Lexical Cohesion
This term refers to “relationships in meaning between lexical
items in a text and, in particular, content words and the
relationship between the words.” Examples of this are the use
of different words for the same thing, such as ‘cinema’ and
‘movie theatre’ and the collocation of words such as ‘fresh
fruit’.
Lexican cohesion has six kinds, namely repetition, synonymy,
antonymy, hyponymy, meronomy and collocation (Paltridge 2021,
213).
Lexical Cohesion
Repetition
This refers to “words that are repeated in a text”. This includes “words which
are inflected for tense or number and words which are derived from particular
items such ‘Robert’ and ‘Bob’ in the following example. Other contracted
names such as ‘Jerome’, ‘Jeremy’ and ‘Jerry’; ‘Gerald’ and ‘Gary’; ‘Timothy’ and
‘Tim’ do the same.
Hume: I do think your poems are “ecopoetical,” Bob, but not because the poems
are about “the state of the planet.” The critic Robert Kaufman, working through the
Frankfurt School, writes that “lyric constellates,” arguing that the unique work of
lyric is to “sing” determined concepts into “rich indeterminacy” and, in the process,
Lexical Cohesion
gesture toward new “objectivities,” or realities (107-08). It seems to me that
the constellative work of certain lyric poetry is absolutely ecological—and
ecopoetical. Your poetry is a great example. Yours is a poetics that relates a
schoolgirl in the rain to appropriated water systems, the writings of Lucretius
to chlorofluorocarbons, in the end glimpsing new aspects of relationships
between bodies, objects, and environments in crisis. (Hume 2012, p. 761-762)
Breaking through power nationwide means designing local campaigns that can
spread nationally. Doing so will require a focal point for legislation that will
empower people and communities. Here is my suggestion: Call it the Citizen
Summons. The Summons will call members of Congress to return home for
Lexical Cohesion
sustained questioning and education by their voters about the set of points on the
citizen empowerment agenda. The advantage of the Citizens Summons umbrella
is that it is simple, clear, basic, and personal. It is also new and unusual enough
to catch the attention of the media, especially if it gains momentum with a broad
base of people across the spectrum of race, income, and political orientation.
Politicians are used to running town meetings. The Summons would reverse the
process and the dynamic. Henry Thoreau once said that “most people live lives
of quiet desperation.” We are looking to change our communities into people of
rumbling determination. (from “Why Democracy Works” in Breaking Through
Power: It’s Easier Than We Think by Ralph Nader 2016, p. 142).
Lexical Cohesion
Synonymy
This refers to “words which are similar in meaning such as ‘people’
and ‘community’; ‘new’ and ‘unusual’ in the excerpt above. In
English, it is not “good style to continuously repeat the same word
in a text.” Both ‘people’ and ‘community’ refer to the same concept
but in a different way.
Antonymy
This describes “opposite or contrastive meanings such as ‘quiet’ and
‘rumbling’; ‘undermine’ and ‘enhance’ in the excerpts above.
Lexical Cohesion
By reading the text whose words contrast with each other, one can
get the meaning from this.
Hyponymy and meronymy
These two terms refer to “two kinds of lexical taxonomies that
typically occur in texts: superordination and composition.” These
mean “words which are in a ‘kind of’ relationship with each other
(superordination) and are in a ‘whole-part’ relationship with each
other (composition)” (Paltridge 2021, 215).
Lexical Cohesion
Hyponymy
This refers to “classes of lexical items where the relationship
between them is one of ‘general-specific’ and ‘an example of’ or in a
‘class to member’-type relationship.”
Meronymy
This points to “where lexical items are in a ‘whole to part’
relationship with each other, such as the relationship between ‘Jen’
and ‘Stuart’ in the relation to the item ‘couple’. ‘Jen’ and ‘Stuart’ are
co-meronyms of the subordinate item ‘couple’.
Lexical Cohesion
Jen Abydeera, 27, and Stuart Gilby, 22....are convinced
they wouldn’t be a couple if Jen had done things the [He’s
Just Not That Into You] way when they first met. ‘Stu was
quiet and shy, while I was more confident and forward,’
says Jen. ‘He was more reluctant than I was to ask
questions or to initiate a date. I would be the one to say to
him: “When do you want to go out, then?” (Cooper 2005:
S38 in Paltridge 2021, 214).
Diagram of Meronymy
Couple
Jen Stuart
Diagram of Hyponomy & Meronymy
spring wheat
wheat
field grown crops corn
hyponomy
sorghum
Diagram of Hyponomy & Meronymy
corn
ear tassell
kernel silk pollen
pollen tube
A Basic Definition on Cohesion
The concept of cohesion is “a semantic one; it refers to relations
of meaning that exist within the text, and that define it as a text.”
Cohesion occurs when one’s interpretation of “some element in a
text or discourse depends on that of another.”
The one element “presupposes the other, in the sense that it
cannot be effectively decoded except by recourse to it.”
In a word, the two elements, the presupposing and the
presupposed “are potentially integrated into a text” (Halliday &
Hasan 1976, 4).
A Basic Definition on Cohesion
The cohesion consists of three ties: the elliptical form such as in you
can’t; the reference item such as in they; and the lexical repetition such
as in fly.
Cohesion is “part of the system of a language.” Its principle resides in
‘the systematic resource of reference, ellipsis and so on in the
language itself’.
The actualization of cohesion depends “not merely on the selection of
some option from within these resources, but also on the presence of
some other element which resolves the presupposition that this sets
up” (Halliday & Hasan 1976, 5).
A Basic Definition on Cohesion
Like other semantic relations, cohesion is “expressed through
the strata organization of language.”
Language is “a multiple coding system comprising three levels of
coding, or ‘strata’: the semantic (meanings), the
lexicogrammatical (forms) and the phonological and
orthographic (expressions).”
Meanings are “realized (coded) as forms, and forms are realized
in turn (recoded) as expressions” (Halliday & Hasan 1976, 5).
A Basic Definition on Cohesion
In a word, meaning “is put into wording, and wording into
sound or writing.”
Meaning (the semantic system)
Wording (the lexicogrammatical system,
grammar & vocabulary)
‘sounding’/writing (the phonological and orthographic
systems)
A Basic Definition on Cohesion
The term ‘wording’ refers to “lexicogrammatical form, the choice
of words and grammatical structures.”
Within this stratum, there is “no hard-and-fast division between
vocabulary and grammar.”
The guiding principle is that “the more general meanings are
expressed through the grammar, the more specific meanings
through the vocabulary will be.”
Cohesion is “expressed partly through the grammar and partly
through the vocabulary” (Halliday & Hasan 1976, 5).
A Basic Definition on Cohesion
This then refers to grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion.
For instance, the grammatical (reference) aspect is expressed by
the word the; the lexical one by the word table.
The distinction between grammatical and lexical is “only one of
degree.”
Cohesion is “a semantic relation and realized through the
lexicogrammatical system.”
Some forms of cohesion “are realized through the grammar and
others through the vocabulary” (Halliday & Hasan 1976, 6).
Activity
The Daily Planet
Also, we are simultaneously creating global and local (tribal)
publications.
In Telluride, Colorado, where I live, I read The Financial Times every
day. I also read The European, China Daily, The Asian Wall Street
Journal, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and so on.
But I read the Telluride Times-Journal first, our weekly local
newspaper. Now you would think that in a town of only 1,400
permanent residents,
The Daily Planet
the Telluride Times-Journal would not be challenged by a new weekly. But
earlier this year a new daily newspaper was born: The Daily Planet. (Excuse
me while I step into this telephone booth.). It used to be that it cost almost as
much to start a newspaper as to start a steel plant. But with today’s desktop
publishing, a newspaper can be started overnight at very little cost. The
Telluride Daily Planet is entirely digitized, including the use of digitized
cameras whose images feed directly into a computer.
Now the first thing I read every day is The Daily Planet.
With the help of increasingly inexpensive technology and with the need to be
The Daily Planet
increasingly grounded in community, expect many new local
publications, fiercely focusing on local—tribal—interests as we
globalize our economies and our life-styles.
The riddle of the ‘90s is: What will become universal? What will
remain tribal?
(from Global Paradox: The Bigger The World Economy, The More
Powerful Its Smallest Players by John Naisbitt. New York: William
Morrow & Co., p. 33).
Activity
1. Think of an experience you have had reading or listening to
someone speak where you haven’t understood a
vocabulary or a reference item. How can the theory of
cohesion help explain how you resolved this situation?
2. Andrew says that unity of structure and unity of texture are
two crucial attributes of texts. Think of the text above you
have just read. In what way does it have unity of structure
and unity of texture?