Text linguistics

The text linguistics is a relatively new discipline of linguistics , which has developed from the 1960s. It deals with linguistic structures that span sentences. Related disciplines of text linguistics are literary studies , law and theology . The forerunners of text linguistics are genre theory , rhetoric and stylistics .

Define text

A central question in text linguistics (linguistic text theory or, in a more narrow sense, text grammar is also used more often) is the definition of the linguistic unit text : What are the characteristics of a text that differs from a “non-text”? (If such a distinction is considered possible.) The features that identify a text as text are textuality features .

To define the term text , one usually starts from the etymology of the Latin word for text (from texere = to weave). It means something like tissue ; a text is then understood as a web of sentences. Texts are usually closed, can be very short, even consist of just one word (e.g. a sign with the words Attention ). In another understanding, the whole language is seen as an infinite text ( texte infini according to Hjelmslev). Some also consider hypertexts → and the Internet as one text in an overstretching of the concept of text. The main difference to the classic text term lies in its incompleteness and inadequate assignment to authors. A text usually has an author or several identifiable authors.

Textuality features

The main criteria for textuality are coherence and cohesion . There are also controversial criteria such as intentionality , acceptability , informativity , situationality or intertextuality . Further essential criteria of a text are the text function , the text topic and the characteristics of the specific text boundaries.

Coherence and cohesion

The terms coherence and cohesion have a common linguistic root in Latin and mean something like context and cohesion. Its definition is controversial in text linguistics and varies depending on the author and linguistic research direction, especially since both words have undergone a change in meaning. Through coherence and cohesion, content-related or formal relationships are established between the sentences of a text through linguistic means.

coherence

The term coherence describes features that create a context of meaning, such as For example: anaphors (reference back), cataphors (reference), connectors ( conjunctions , disjunctions, pronouns, articles ) and re-entry procedures through lexeme recurrence and lexeme derivation. Connections can also be made through grammatical congruence in case, number and person. Contextual and meaningful context can describe propositions (facts) beyond the sentence limit and thus have a constructive effect on larger structures: macropropositions. Furthermore, through the use of articles, the subject-rhema structure , the lexeme recurrence and lexeme variation, as well as the isotope, coherence can be established.

cohesion

Cohesion is the term used to describe text features that establish a formal or syntactic context of a text; one also speaks of a connection on the "text surface". A distinction is made between grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion.

Classify texts

An essential field of research in text linguistics is the classification of texts into classes, types, genres or sorts. One also speaks of text classification, text typology or text categorization. In text linguistics, the discussion is not over, because: "Texts as complex large characters have a lot of properties." In the more recent research literature there are approaches to classify texts on the basis of a multilevel analysis or as text fields, i.e. always in combination with the corresponding texts analyze and classify (cf. discourse linguistics and discourse analysis), there is also the approach of Klaus Brinker to classify texts according to functions.

Delimitation of texts and their structure and the investigation of the communicative function and reception of texts.

Analyze texts

Further tasks of text linguistics are the analysis of texts, or text linguistic studies to determine characteristic organizational forms of certain text classes, as well as the justification for the functioning of certain texts in social situations.

literature

Adamzik, Kirsten (2004): Text Linguistics. An introductory presentation. Tübingen: Niemeyer. ISBN 3-484-25140-9 .
de Beaugrande, Robert-Alain & Wolfgang Dressler (1981): Introduction to Text Linguistics. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
Antos, Gerd [and a.] (Ed.): Text and conversation linguistics. An International Handbook of Contemporary Research. 1st half vol. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-013559-0 (Handbooks for Linguistics and Communication Studies, Vol. 16.1).
Brinker, Klaus (2010): Linguistic text analysis. An introduction to basic concepts and methods. 7th revised and expanded edition. Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag. ISBN 978-3-503-12206-6 .
Fix, Ulla , Stephan Habscheid, Josef Klein (eds.) (2007): On the cultural specifics of text types. 2nd edition Tübingen: Stauffenburg. ISBN 3-86057-682-8 .
Habscheid, Stephan (Ed.) (2011): Text types, action patterns, surfaces. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter.
Heinemann, Margot & Wolfgang Heinemann (2002): Basics of text linguistics. Interaction - Text - Discourse. Tübingen: Niemeyer. ISBN 3-484-31230-0 .
Janich, Nina (2008): Text Linguistics. 15 introductions. Tübingen: Fool.
Vater, Heinz (2005): Introduction to text linguistics. Munich: Wilhelm Fink.
Schwarz-Friesel, Monika & Consten, Manfred (Eds.) (2014): Introduction to Text Linguistics. Darmstadt: Scientific Book Society.
Hans Jürgen Heringer (2016): Linguistic Text Theory. An introduction. Tübingen: UTB. ISBN 978-3-8252-4471-2 .

Web links

Commons : Text Linguistics - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: Text linguistics - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b De Beaugrande, Robert-Alain & Wolfgang Dressler (1981): Introduction to Text Linguistics . (freely accessible on the homepage of R.-A. de Beaugrande | accessed February 21, 2013)
↑ ^a ^b ^c Schubert, Christoph (2012²): English text linguistics. An introduction. Berlin: ESV. ISBN 9783503137213 .
^ Van Dijk, Teun A .: Text science. Niemeyer, Tübingen 1980.
↑ Adamzik, Kirsten: Text types and their description. In: Janich, Nina (Ed.): Textlinguistik. 15 introductions. Narr, Tübingen 2008, p. 164.
↑ Citation Adamzik, Gansel

[beaugrande-1] De Beaugrande, Robert-Alain & Wolfgang Dressler (1981): Introduction to Text Linguistics . (freely accessible on the homepage of R.-A. de Beaugrande | accessed February 21, 2013)

[schubert-2] Schubert, Christoph (2012²): English text linguistics. An introduction. Berlin: ESV. ISBN 9783503137213 .

[dijk-3] Van Dijk, Teun A .: Text science. Niemeyer, Tübingen 1980.

[4] Adamzik, Kirsten: Text types and their description. In: Janich, Nina (Ed.): Textlinguistik. 15 introductions. Narr, Tübingen 2008, p. 164.

[5] Citation Adamzik, Gansel