Российский университет дружбы народов

Реферат
на тему «Sentence in the Text»

Выполнила: студентка 2 курса

Хатунцева А.Д.
201 ЛВМ

Москва – 2020

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Plan:
1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..3
2. Subject of study…………………………………………………………………….
……...4
3. The elements of a dialogue……………………………………………………….
………..5
4. Retrospective cumulation ……………………………………………………….
………...6
5. The basic communicative function of the dicteme……………………………….……..…
8
6. Syntactic constructions…………………………………………………………………..10
7. List of literature…………………………………………………………….
…………….12

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Introduction
Text as an object of research. The problem of text in the hierarchy of language levels.
Topical (semantic) unity
The semantic structure of a text is a special network that displays the
relationship, as well as the relationship between the grammatical and lexical
meanings of words, phraseological units, and sentences used in the text.
and semantico-syntactic cohesion
The syntactic coherence of the text can be traced in the implementation of
conjunctions and conjunctive words, particles, incomplete, elliptical and parallel
constructions.
as basic differential features (categories) of the text. Monologue and dialogue
sequences of sentences. The problem of textual units: a supra-phrasal unity (a complex
syntactic unity), a dialogue unity; a cumuleme and an occurseme. Prospective
(cataphoric) and retrospective (anaphoric) cumulation of sentences in the text.
Conjunctive cumulation:
Cumulation (literary studies). Cumulation (in literary studies and folklore) (Latin
cumulatio-increase, accumulation) - a term used in different meanings: A method
for constructing compositions of chronicle and multilinear narrative and dramatic
plots. The events in the chronicle plots have no cause-and-effect relations and are
correlated with each other only in time, as is the case, for example, in Homer's
Odyssey, Cervantes ' Don Quixote, and Byron's Don Juan.
pure conjunctions, conjunction-like adverbial and parenthetical connectors. Correlative
cumulation: substitution and representation. Cumulation of mixed type. Communicative
unity of sentences in textual sequences: linear and parallel connections of sentences.
The dicteme as an elementary textual unit. Functions of the dicteme: the topical
function, the functions of nomination, of predication and of stylization. Intonational
delimitation of a dicteme in the text. The correlation of a dicteme and a paragraph.
Intermediary phenomena between the sentence and the supra-sentential construction;
parcellation and its stylistic load. Text as the sphere of functional manifestation of the
sentence.

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Subject of study
Syntax of the text is one of the youngest branches of grammar. The sentence and the
phrase, as a constituent of the sentence, have been traditional objects of study in
linguistics in general and of grammar in particular for centuries, starting with ancient
linguistics. The text (oral or written) has been studied primarily by stylistics, rhetoric and
literary studies, from the point of view of the means used by the speaker or the author
of a written text to achieve the desired effect on the listener or the reader, the recipient
of the text. Some linguistic aspects of textual sequences of sentences were also
addressed: for example, connections between sentences were described in the works of
the Russian linguists N. S. Pospelov, L. A. Bulakhovsky and others; the linguists of the
Prague Linguistic Circle showed that the actual semantics of the sentence and the use of
such lingual elements as articles or substitutive words cannot be accounted for without
reference to the broader textual context. But it was only in the 1980s-90s that the
majority of linguists admitted, that the sentence is not the largest grammatically
arranged lingual unit.

Sentences are unified by a certain topic and are organized in speech according to a
communicative purpose in a particular communicative situation. The linguistic
description of the text is as follows: it is a speech sequence of lingual units
interconnected semantically (topically) and syntactically (structurally); in other words, it
is a coherent stretch of speech, characterized by semantic and syntactic unity. Topical
(semantic) unity and semantico-syntactic cohesion6 are the basic differential features
(categories) of the text.
On the basis of the communicative direction of their component sentences, sentence
sequences in speech are divided into monologue sequences and dialogue sequences. In
a monologue, sentences are directed from one interlocutor (participant of
communication) to another: from a speaker to a listener, or from an author to a reader,
e.g.: Once upon a time there lived a beautiful princess. She had many suitors from far
countries. In a dialogue, the sentences are directed from one interlocutor to another in
turn, to meet one another, e.g.: “Who is absent today?” – “John.” “What’s the matter
with him?” – “He is ill.” Traditionally, a monologue sequence of sentences united by a
common topic is identified as the basic textual unit; it is called a “supra-phrasal unity”
(the term of L. A. Bulakhovsky) or a “complex syntactic unity” (the term of N. S.
Pospelov); a two-directed sequence of sentences is sometimes called a “dialogue unity”.

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The elements of a dialogue
The elements of a dialogue can be used in a monologue text: for example, the author of
the text can ask a question and answer it in his or her “inner dialogue” (also known in
stylistics as “dramatic monologue”), e.g.: ^  What can I do in this situation? Nothing
whatsoever. And vice versa, one-direction sequences can be used in a dialogue,
e.g.: “He is not a very nice person.” – “And he never was.” Dialogues can contain
stretches of speech by a single speaker, which are actually monologues: descriptions,
narrations, jokes, etc.

Thus, more consistent is the definition of the two types of sentence sequences on the
basis of syntactic connections used: the supra-sentential construction of the one-
direction communicative type is based on cumulation of sentences, so it can be defined
as a cumulative sequence, or a “cumuleme”: the connections between the components
of a dialogue sequence can be defined as “occursive” (from the Latin word “to meet”)
and the supra-sentential construction based on occursive connections can be called an
“occurseme”.

The occurseme as an element of the system occupies a place above the cumuleme: the
occurseme can be built by separate sentences or by cumulative sequences. Both
occursemes and cumulemes are topical textual entities.
Cumulation in sentence sequences may be of two types: prospective (cataphoric)
cumulation and retrospective (anaphoric) cumulation.

Prospective or cataphoric cumulation presupposes the use of connective elements

which relate the sentence in which they are used, to the sentence which follows. In
other words, prospective connective elements make the preceding or leading sentence
semantically incomplete; they signal that this sentence is to be semantically developed
in the following, sequential sentence or sentences. E.g.: Let me tell you  this. Jack will
never let you down. In this cumulative sequence, the demonstrative
pronoun this functions as a prospective connector. Among the other prospectives
are: the following, as follows, the following thing (way), one thing, two things, etc.

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Retrospective cumulation
Retrospective or anaphoric cumulation presupposes the use of connective elements
relating the sentence in which they are used to the one that precedes it. In other words,
retrospective (anaphoric) connectors make the sequential sentence dependent on the
leading sentence of the sequence. E.g.: She was taken aback. However, she tried to pull
herself together. Retrospective cumulation is the basic, the most neutral, and the most
widely used type of text connection; prospective cumulation is much rarer,
characteristic mostly of scientific and technical texts.
According to the connective means used, cumulation is divided into two
types: conjunctive and correlative.

Conjunctive cumulation is achieved by functional or semi-functional conjunction-like

words and word combinations: pure conjunctions (coordinative or
subordinative), adverbial connectors, such as however, thus, yet, then, etc.,
or parenthetical connectors, such as firstly, secondly, on the one hand, on the other
hand, in other words, as mentioned above, etc. Conjunctive cumulation is always
retrospective (anaphoric).

Correlative cumulation is achieved by a pair of elements, one of which, the

“succeedent”, refers to the other, the “antecedent”. Correlative cumulation may be
either prospective or retrospective. Correlative cumulation can be divided
into substitutional connection and representative connection. Substitutional correlation
is based on the use of various substitutes, for example, pronouns, e.g.: I saw  a
girl. She looked very much upset; the girl is the antecedent of the pronoun she. The
whole preceding sentence, or its clause, can be the antecedent of a correlative
substitute, e.g.: We’re getting new machines next month. This (= this fact) will help us to
increase productivity. Representative cumulation is achieved by elements which are
semantically connected without the factor of replacement, e.g.: I saw a girl. Her
face  seemed familiar to me. Representative correlation includes repetition (so-called
“repeated nomination”): simple lexical repetition or repetition complicated by different
variations (by the use of synonyms, by certain semantic development, periphrasis,
association, etc.), e.g.: I answered very sharply. My answer didn’t upset her.

Conjunctive and correlative types of cumulation are often used together in supra-
sentential constructions.
Semantic unity and syntactic cohesion are supported by communicative unity of
sentences, or  theme-rheme arrangement (organization) of the cumuleme. As was
mentionned, the role of actual division of the sentence in the forming of the text was
first demonstrated by the linguists of the Prague linguistic school (F. Daneč, in

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particular). There are two basic types of theme-rheme arrangement of sentences in
textual sequences: linear (progressive) connection and parallel connection of
sentences. With linear connection of sentences, the rheme of the leading sentence
becomes the theme of the sequential sentence, forming what is known as a theme-
rheme chain, e.g.: There was a girl on the platform She was wearing a hat. The hat was
decorated with flowers and ribbons. With parallel connection of sentences, the
component sentences share the same theme within the supra-sentential construction,
e.g.: George was an honest man. He had graduated from Harvard. He was a member of
the American Academy of Arts.

As was mentioned earlier, in Unit 1, a cumuleme (a cumulative supra-sentential

construction) correlates with a separate sentence which is placed in the text in a
topically significant position. Thus, the general elementary unit-segment of text built up
by either a cumuleme or by a single sentence can be defined as a “dicteme” (from Latin
‘dicto’ ‘I speak’).

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The basic communicative function of the
dicteme
The basic communicative function of the dicteme
Dictema (Latin: dico, dixi, dictum – "I say, I state") is an elementary situational-
thematic unit of a text, formed of one or more sentences as units of the
immediately lower level of language segments.
The concept of the dictema was put forward by Mark Bloch in the mid-twentieth
century in connection with a scientific discussion on the communicative units of
language as described by Ferdinand de Saussure of the Geneva School, as well as
Professor Alexander Smirnitsky. In turn, Professor Bloch considered the level of
language units that had gone unnoticed, namely the levels of the phoneme and
morpheme, to which he added the "third integral level of constructions with
blurred boundaries" – syntax. Thus, following the creation of morphology by
Dionysius Thrax and syntax by Apollonius Dyscolus, the isolation of the dictema
represents another key stage in the history of grammar.
In a uniformly unfolding monologic written text, the dictema is usually
represented by a paragraph, whereas in dialogical speech, the dictemma is
usually represented by a rejoinder.
As an integrative unit of linguistic expression, the dictema distinguishes four main
functionally significant aspects: naming, predication, thematization and
stylization.

is topical. But the dicteme is polyfunctional; in the text, besides the topical function, it
performs the functions of nomination, predication, and stylization: besides combining
various lingual units into a topical unity, it names propositional events, refers them to
reality, and regulates the choice of lingual units, appropriate for communication in
specific conditions.

In oral text, dictemes are delimited intonationally: pauses between dictemes are longer
than pauses between sentences within the same cumuleme.

In written text, the dicteme is normally represented by a paragraph, but it must be

noted that the two units are not identical. The paragraph is a unit of written
speech delimited by a new (indented) line at the beginning and an incomplete line at

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the close; it is a purely literary-compositional device. A paragraph can include more than
one dicteme, or it may divide one dicteme into parts, for example, for the introduction
of utterances in a dialogue or for the introduction of separate points in enumerations.
Still, though the paragraph is not a strictly syntactic device, the borderlines between
paragraphs are basically the same as the borderlines between dictemes. Both
multidicteme paragraphs and one-sentence paragraphs are stylistically marked features
of the text.
A paragraph is a component of fictional prose and non-fiction writings.
When writing essays, research papers, books, etc., new paragraphs are indented to
show their beginnings. Each new paragraph begins with a new indentation.
The purpose of a paragraph is to express a speaker’s thoughts on a particular point in a
clear way that is unique and specific to that paragraph. In other words, paragraphs
shouldn’t be mixing thoughts or ideas. When a new idea is introduced, generally, a
writer will introduce a new paragraph.

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Syntactic constructions
There are some syntactic constructions intermediary between the sentence and the
sequence of sentences. The first one is known as parcellation: in a parcellated
construction, the two parts are separated by a finalizing sentence tone in oral speech
and by a full stop in written speech, but they relate to each other as parts of one and
the same sentence, e.g.: I am always shy. With you. Parcellation can be treated as
transposition of a sentence into a cumuleme; it adds some topical significance to the
part parcellated. The second intermediary phenomenon is the result of transposing a
cumuleme into a sentence when two or more semantically independent sentences are
forced into one. This is characteristic of a casual manner of speech or, on the other
hand, for prolonged literary passages; in written speech such constructions usually
include semi-final punctuation marks, such as, for example, a semi-colon or brackets
(see Unit 25; inner cumulation).

Dictemes and paragraphs are connected within the framework of larger elements of
texts in various groupings, each of them being characterized by semantic (topical) unity
and syntactic cohesion. A large text, or macro-text (pleni-text), united by a macro-topic,
is semantically subdivided into smaller texts, or micro-texts (parti-texts), united
by micro-topics; for example, a novel can be subdivided into parts, chapters, sections,
and paragraphs. The smallest topical unit of this hierarchy is the dicteme.
These are the main grammatical aspects of texts.
A text is a semantic unit, which does not consist of sentences; but it is realized by
sentences. A text has texture, and this is what distinguishes it from other linguistic units.
The texture is provided by the cohesive relation or the co-reference of two elements
appearing in anaphoric or cataphoric relations.

Anaphoric and cataphoric relations are formal links that mark various types of inter-
clause and inter-sentence relationships within a text. These formal links are otherwise
called cohesive devices.

Anaphoric- reference backward and cataphoric- is reference forward (there are 3 things
I want to mention). М. Halliday and R. Hasan see the concept of cohesion as a semantic
one. This concept refers to the relations of meaning that exist within the text, and that
define it as a text. Cohesion occurs where the interpretation of some element in the text
is dependent on that of another. Cohesion is effected not by the presence of the

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referring item alone but by the presence of both the referring item and the one it refers
to.

Texts are heterogeneous. That's why it is impossible to classify texts according to one
criterion. First of all, linguists draw a distinction between dialogical, monological, and
mixed texts. A typical example of dialogical texts is everyday conversation, of
monological texts - academic prose, of mixed texts - prose fiction, in which the author's
speech is monological, while the speech of the characters is dialogical.

In the second place, texts are classified according to the type of the underlying situation.
This criterion gives one an opportunity to draw a distinction between narrative,
descriptive, and argumentative texts. Narrative texts we find in adventure fiction, in
culinary recipes, etc. Descriptive texts are found in such branches of academic prose as
biology, chemistry, etc. References provide another example of descriptive texts.
Mathematical texts are primarily argumentative texts because reasoning prevails in
them.

Texts can be classified into original and retold. To retold texts, one can refer abstracts,
synopses, reviews, and adapted fiction.
The text is studied in greater detail by a special branch of linguistics, text linguistics, by
literary studies, and by stylistics. For example, in stylistics, various images, allusions,
compositional peculiarities and other stylistic devices are treated as the means which
contribute to the semantic unity and structural cohesion of the text. Various textual
categories are distinguished, such as the category of textual time, the category of
author, modality of the text, etc.

It must be noted, however, that from the point of view of grammar, the sentence
remains the main element of syntax, while the text is the sphere of its functional
manifestation; it is through combining different sentence-predications that topical
reflections of reality are achieved in all the numerous forms of lingual communication.
1.

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List of literature.
1. Библиотека филолога. Проф. А. И. Смирницкий «Синтаксис английского языка»
Москва, 1957.
2. Расторгуева Т.А. Очерки по исторической грамматике английского языка. М.,
1989.
3. Сабирова Д., Халимова Р. Возникновение речи и языка, 2014.
4. Kahharova M.Y., Nazarova G.Н. Some specific features of the verbals in english
grammar, 2014.
5. Иванова И.П., Беляева Т.М. Хрестоматия по истории английского языка. —
Л.,1980
6. И.П.Иванова, В.В.Бурлакова, Г.Г.Почепцов «Теоретическая грамматика
современного английского языка» Москва, 1981.
7. Дмитриева С.Ю. «Грамматика английского языка: учебное пособие», 2019.

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