The Linguistics of PunctuationCenter for the Study of Language (CSLI), 1990 - 141 páginas Geoffrey Nunberg challenges a widespread assumption that the linguistic structure of written languages is qualitatively identical to that of spoken language: It should no longer be necessary to defend the view that written language is truly language, but it is surprising to learn of written-language category indicators that are realized by punctuation marks and other figural devices.' He shows that traditional approaches to these devices tend to describe the features of written language exclusively by analogy to those of spoken language, with the result that punctuation has been regarded as an unsystematic and deficient means for presenting spoken-language intonation. Analysed in its own terms, however, punctuation manifests a coherent linguistic subsystem of 'text-grammar' that coexists in writing with the system of 'lexical grammar' that has been the traditional object of linguistic inquiry. A detailed analysis of the category structure of English text-sentences reveals a highly systematic set of syntactic and presentational rules that can be described in terms independent of the rules of lexical grammar and are largely matters of the tacit knowledge that writers acquire without formal instruction. That these rules obey constraints that are structurally analogous to those of lexical grammar leads Nunberg to label the text-grammar an 'application' of the principles of natural language organization to a new domain. Geoffrey Nunberg is a researcher at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. |
Conteúdo
IN SEARCH OF THE WRITTEN LANGUAGE | 1 |
THE LIMITATIONS OF CONTRASTIVE | 9 |
THE GRAMMAR OF TEXTCATEGORIES | 17 |
THE SYNTAX OF TEXTCATEGORIES | 25 |
PRESENTATION OF TEXTCATEGORY INDICATORS | 51 |
THE FUNCTIONS OF TEXTCATEGORIES | 91 |
CONCLUSION | 129 |
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Termos e frases comuns
absorption rules addressee adjunct analogous Anaphora argument structure argument-structure categories associated assume boundary bracket absorption Brian Cantwell Smith Carl Pollard circumstances clauses cliticization colon colon-expansion comma-delimited elements constituent constraint constructed languages context of interpretation contrast dash dash-interpolation delimiter commas described determine discourse discussion distinct English example expressions fact feature formal function genres Goguen Henry Kissinger IFA rule insertion Interlisp intonation John Jon Barwise José Meseguer Joseph Goguen Lauri Karttunen Lecture Notes lexical grammar lexical sentences linguistic Logic natural language natural-language notational conventions observations paragraph parenthetical particular period phonology point absorption pouring rules preceding presentation rules presumptive context presumptive reader quotation marks reading realization rules reference relations relative relevant representation rule of point semantic semicolon separator commas sequences sorts spoken language syntactic syntax term Terry Winograd text-adjuncts text-category indicators text-clause text-grammar text-phrase text-sentence token tone-indicators transposition utterance various West Coast Conference words written language written texts