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MODES OF DISCOURSE
In studying discourse, the problem for the linguist is to find a fruitful level
of analysis. Carlota Smith offers a new approach with this study of discourse
passages, units of several sentences or more. She introduces the key idea of
the “Discourse Mode,” identifying five modes: Narrative, Description, Report,
Information, Argument. These are realized at the level of the passage, and cut
across genre lines. Smith shows that the modes, intuitively recognizable as
distinct, have linguistic correlates that differentiate them. She analyzes the
properties that distinguish each mode, focusing on grammatical rather than
lexical information. The book also examines linguistically based features that
appear in passages of all five modes: topic and focus, variation in syntactic
structure, and subjectivity, or point of view. Operating at the interface of syntax,
semantics, and pragmatics, the book will appeal to researchers and graduate
students in linguistics, stylistics, and rhetoric.
carlota s. smith is Centennial Professor of Linguistics at the University
of Texas. She is the author of The Parameter of Aspect (second edition, 1997).
Her current research is at the interface of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics,
especially in texts.
In this series
60 sarah m. b. fagan The syntax and semantics of middle constructions: a study with
special reference to German
61 anjum p. saleemi Universal grammar and language learnability
62 stephen r. anderson A-Morphous morphology
63 lesley stirling Switch reference and discourse representation
64 henk j. verkuyl A theory of aspectuality: the interaction between temporal and
atemporal structure
65 eve v. clark The lexicon in acquisition
66 anthony r. warner English auxiliaries: structure and history
67 p. h. matthews Grammatical theory in the United States from Bloomfield to
Chomsky
68 ljiljana progovac Negative and positive polarity: a binding appro