To integrate many of the theoretical linguistic studies examining pronoun reference, this paper focuses on tracing the shift from purely transformational syntactic studies of intrasentential phenomena to the wider orientations of discourse and pragmatic studies. The first section describes the classic studies of pronominalization within the…

A discussion of ellipsis, the omission of information from a communication, argues that the fairly precise logical notion of ellipsis as used in philosophical analysis can be applied in the sociological study of ideology. It is proposed that ellipsis is a simple explanation of the workings of the language in which much potent ideology is embodied,…

Inference is discussed as a factor in the derivation of non-explicit antecedents and referents for three types of discourse anaphora: definite pronouns, "one"-anaphora, and verb phrase ellipsis. This derivation process is seen as being part of the normal process of text-understanding. It is claimed that the use of non-explicit…

Although current theories concerning the composing process overlap in useful and interesting ways, a paradigm is emerging. This article discusses two of the major assumptions of this emerging paradigm: that there are distinct purposes for each kind of discourse (for example, expressive, literary, persuasive, and referential) and that the relation…

This paper uses discussion of Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" to present a theoretical framework for explaining the semantics of narrative discourse. The algebraic theory of finite automata is used. (CK)

A network model of logical and semantic structures from which speakers or writers generate linguistic messages at the discourse level is presented. (Author)

Viewed as discourse, official forms exhibit identifiable text characteristics and elicit strategies for comprehension that take into account these characteristics, as well as context and the user's prior knowledge about the world. However, forms also have unique characteristics that require processes and strategies which differ in systematic ways…

Photography has always been examined within a representational paradigm that does not accurately reflect its true nature. A new paradigm for thinking about photography based upon the work of language theorists and semioticians, and particularly upon the communications triangle of discourse theorist James L. Kinneavy, provides a vocabulary and…

Punctuation is not necessary in a sentence if a pair of adjacent words suggests an intentional conceptual relationship. However, when the pair suggests a relationship that is not a part of the intended communication, the writer must alert the reader, so some punctuation is necessary. When members of an adjacent pair do not suggest a plausible…

This paper, part of a larger study, focuses on a single linguistic device, the "machine-gun question," which was used by three of six participants in a Thanksgiving dinner conversation. This conversational device is characteristic of a style that seems to grow out of the need to have others approve of one's wants. It is a style…

The elicited speech of 26 Turkish children ranging in age from 2;0 to 4;6 was examined with respect to causality. The developmental sequence of the acquisition of causal connectives showed a progression from the use of no explicit connectives to the acquisition of connectives that are context-dependent. The next stage in this progression was the…

The speech of each of eight children aged 15 to 24 months was monitored in an informal setting and analyzed for the imitation of nonsense words introduced by the experimenter. In a second session, objects were introduced as referents for the nonsense words. Results failed to support the two initial hypotheses, namely that children imitate in part…

The option of verb-final versus verb-second (V2) order in subordinate clauses in German is subject to regularity when discourse context is taken into account. The artificial rule which places the verb at the end of any subordinate clause obliterates the feel for discourse structure that is still present in colloquial German. The option of using V2…

An examination of the literature supports the view that the implications of text studies have yet to have much impact on classrooms. For example, word frequency lists have been used widely in the preparation of reading materials. However, few books come with a list of the frequency of the words they contain. Thus, the main use of comparing texts…