40. Text as a syntactic unit. Coherence, cohesion and deixis as the main features of the text.

The text is a sequence of sentences connected logically and semantically which convey a complete message; is a unit of language in use.

Text can be understood as an instance of (spoken or written) language use

(an act of parole), a relatively self-contained unit of communication. As a

‘communicative occurrence’ it meets seven criteria of textuality (the constitutive

principles of textual communication): cohesion, coherence, intentionality,

acceptability, informativity, situationality and intertextuality, and three regulative

principles of textual communication: efficiency, effectiveness and appropriateness).

Cohesion can be defined as the links that hold a text together and give it

meaning. The term cohesion was introduced by Halliday and Hasan in 1976 to

denote the way in which linguistic items of which texts are constituted are

meaningfully interconnected in sequences. Each piece of text must be cohesive

with the adjacent ones for a successful communication.

There are two main types of cohesion: grammatical, referring to the

structural content, and lexical, referring to the language content of the piece and a

cohesive text is created through many different ways.

Coherence in linguistics is what makes a text semantically meaningful.

The notion of coherence was introduced by Vestergaard and Schroder as a way

of talking about the relations between texts, which may or may not be indicated

by formal markers of cohesion. Beaugrande/Dressler define coherence as a

“continuity of senses” and “the mutual access and relevance within a

configuration of concepts and relations” . Coherence, as a sub-surface feature of a

text, concerns the ways in which the meanings within a text (concepts, relations

among them and their relations to the external world) are established and

developed. Some of the major relations of coherence are logical sequences, such

as cause-consequence (and so), condition-consequence (if), instrumentachievement

(by), contrast (however), compatibility (and), etc. Moreover, it is the

general ´aboutness´, i.e., the topic development which provides a text with

necessary integrity; even in the absence of overt links, a text may be perceived as

coherent (i.e., as making sense), as in various lists, charts, timetables, menus.

Coherence is present when a text makes sense because there is a continuity

of senses which holds a text together – it has to be semantically and logically OK.

George entered the room. He saw Mary cleaning the table.

John fell and broke his neck. (?) John broke his neck and fell.

Deixismeans ‘identification by pointing’.

Features:

1. Deitic terms are used to refer to ourselves, to others, and to objects in our environment.

2. They are also need to locate actions in a time frame relative to the present.

3. Deitic terms can show social relationship – the social location of individuals in relation to others.

4. They may be used to locate parts of a text in relation to other parts.

Deitic expressions:

• Pronouns(that, this)

• Time and place adverbs(here, now)

• Verbs of motion(come, go)