DOCUMENT RESUME ED 275 183 FL 016 125 AUTHOR Ostman, Jan-Oln, Ed. TITLE Cohesion and Semantics. Reports on Text Linguistics. Meddelanden Fran Stiftelsens for Abo Akademi Forskningsinstitut, Nr 41. SPONS AGENCY Abo Akademi (Finland). REPORT NO ISBN-951-648-447-6 PUB DATE 78 NOTE 185p.; For individual papers, see FL 015 126-134. PUB TYPE Collected Works - General (020) EDRS PRICE MF01/PM8 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Ambiguity; *Coherence; *Cohesion (Written Composition); *Discourse Analysis; Foreign Countries; Idioms; Language Variation; Linguistic Theory; Logical Thinking; Metaphors; Persuasive Discourse; *Semantics; Semiotics IDENTIFIERS Simplification (Language) ABSTRACT This collection of papers on semantics and cohesion is organized into two sections: Meaning and Semantics, and Textual Cohesion. Titles and authors are as follows: "Functional Text Semantics, Idioms, and Variability" (Jan-01a Ostman); "On the Degree of Motivation in Signs Used in Metaphors Involving Plant Symbolism" (Ralf Norrman); "'Hence'--An Iconoclastic Study on Logic, Language and Argumentation" (Johan yan der Auwera); "Montague Grammar and the Aims of Linguistics and Logic" (Bengt-Olof Qvarnstrom); "Coherence, Pseudo-Coherence, and Non-Coherence" (Nils Erik Enkvist); "An Analysis of Textual Cohesion in a Passage from Maria Gripe's 'Hugo och Josefin'" (Erik Andersson); "Some Aspects of Discourse and Cohesion" (Liisa Korpimies); "Some Observations on Cohesion and Coherence in Simplified Texts" (Liisa Lautamatti); and "Felicity Conditions, Preferred Interpretations, and Disambiguations of Pronominal Reference in Reported Speech" (Nils Erik Enkvist). 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',if,a ' ":- -),^;, - 44401.171r. - " 4 ,-I .ento.; 1, fey. (' it , isk'14 V,. tt. r1 11 I' ft.41f1.0., "-:1;"1 ,7, 3k - , Il- - a"r, .,, .,t,'' , 14.041-.4.,Ir V' 41.0. 44. ..1. e ,, APS, - 4 '116-;erftP4,10.4.5 ' 7' Tr -- ' Jan-Ola Ostman (ed.), Reports on Text Linguistics: Semantics and Cohesion. SEMANTICS AND COHESION Copyr ight01978 by the authors ISBN-951-648-447-6 Stiftelsens (Or Abe Akademi offset- orb kopierinprentral1979 PREFACE This is the last in a series of collections of papers on text linguistics which has come about as a direot off- spring of the Text Linguistics Research Group at Abo Akademi. The Research Group, led by Professor Nils Erik Enkvist, worked under the auspices of the Academy of Finland between September 1974 and August 2977. The members of the Researoh Group were: Nils Erik Enkvist, Erik Andersson, Auli Hakuli- nen, Fred 'Carlsson, Viljo Kohonen, Marianne von Wright, and myself. Previous volumes have included papers on syntax, word order, stylistics, language teaohing, cognitive learning, computer processing of syntaotio data, all connected in one way or another with the concepts 'text' and 'text lin;uistios'. The present papers focus mainly on two topics which have been of primary interest to some of the members of the Text Linguistios Research Group, semantics and oohesion. The former is a topio of general linguistics which o a n be considered from a text-linguistio point of view, while the latter I. by its very nature more specifically text linguistios. The.seotion on meaning and semantics oontains papers'on a variety of topics, some of which have not often reoeived attention. By its heterogeneity this section tries to stress the many-foldedness of aemantio theory. The articles in the section on textual cohesion are more closely oonnected with one another, basically because of the more restricted nature of the field itself. The scope of tha previous collections has not been tied down exclusively to papers written by members of the Research Group. In this volume too, a number of contrib- utors are active at other Finnish universities, and at universities outside Finland. This also explains why the contributions reflect different approaches. -- I would here like to thank all those who have contributed to the present volume, for giving the collection a wide perspec- tive on matters connected with semantics and cohesion. I would like to express my gratitude to the Research Institute of the Abo Akademi Foundation, and to the Acad- emy of Finland for their financial support, which has made the publication of this volume possible. Thanks are also due to the Research Institute for in- cluding the present volume in ite publication series. Abo, December 1978 1-0. Ostman Dept of English Abo Akademi Fänriksgatan 3 A SF-20500 Abo 50 Finland CONTENTS Preface Contents SECTION I: Meaning and Semantics Introduction: Some Fundamental Questiont 110 Semantics Functional Text Semantics, Idioms, and VariAbility by Jan-Ola östman 1. Language and Linguistics 2. Form and Function 3. Towards a Functional Theory of Semantics 4. Indeterminacy in Language 5. Conclusion REFERENCES On the Degree of Motivation in Signs Used in Metaphors Involving Plant Symbolism 35 by Ralf Norrman 1. Arbitrariness in Semiotics 2. Arbitrariness and Metaphors 3. Plant Symbolism: the Cucurbits 4. Conclusion REFERENCES "Hence* An Iconoclastic and Argumentation by Johan Van der Auwera 0. Introduction 1. Hence as a non-PL connective 2. Hence as a PL connective 3. Towards Explaining Conservatism REFERENCES :Montague Grammar.and the' AimB of Linguistics and Logic 79 'by Bengt-Olof OVarnstrdm O. Introduction-, 1.'Montague's Fragment of English. its Phrases. Semantic'Rules. and Semantic Postulates 2: The Aim of PTQ: 3.' Main Conclusion REFERENCES Textual Cohesion .99' Introduction: Text. Cohesion, and Coherence 101 ,Coherence. PseudO-Coherence, and Non-Coherence 109 by Nils Erik Enkvist 1. Introduction 2. Coherence and Non-Coherence 3.Examples of Syntactic Evidence of Non- Coherence 4. Pragmatic Indication of Non-Coherence 5. Bordesline Cases '- 6.'Iconic Romomorphism as Pseudo-Coherence 7.,Conclusion REFERENCES 'An Analysis of-Textual Cohesion in a Passage from ;Maria Gripe's,"Nugo och Josefin" 131 by Erik Andersson 1. What is Textual Cohesion? 2. An Analysis of a Text 3. Conclusion LITERATURE MATERIAL APPENDIX ,Some Aspects of Discourse and Cohesion . 145 by Liisa Korpimies 0. Introduction 1. Discourse 2. Discourse Cohesion 3. Cohesion 4. Conclusion REFERENCES MATERIAL :Some Observations on Cohesion and Simplified Texts by Liisa Lautamatti 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical Background 3. The Procedure 4: Results and Discussion S. Final Remarks 'REFERENCES APPENDIX Felicity Conditions, Preferred Interpretations, and Disambiguations of Pronominal Reference in Reported Speech' 181 .by-Nils ErikInkvist . 1. Background 2. Morphological and Pragmatic Disambiguation I.' Reporting Verbs as Disambiguators 4. Concluding Remark BIBLIOGRAPHY Epilogue 195 Publications of the Research Institute of the Abo Akademi Foundation 197 SIECIION MEANING AND SEMANTICS The Hatter's remark seemed to have no meaning ;n and yet it was certainly:: English.: - L. Carroll. INTRODUCTION: SOME FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS IN SEMANTICS For the last twenty years or so the field of linguistic semantics has changed quite a lot.' Inipired by 'discoveries in' fields such as:psychology, . biology, sociology,, philosophy, logic, setnioticsand coarunication engineering semantictsts hav&found themselves constantly taking new ..*directions in theirresearch.. Any new'field or aspect hai been evaluated in .,,, . ... the,light of the insight it can give tO linguistic semantics: follOWedby . , new directions of research,- or a search for such directions. An *overview of . , the present state of the art,in Semantics would com& close to being .an over-; view of all the.neighbouring fields.of linguistics. Itis conspicuous,', however, that the qraditional! questions in seMantics-are still unsatis- factorily ansWered.,Also, many of these questions have.been dressed up -7' 'and perhaps.,to at -certain extent also disguised 7- 'in'new, terminologies. 'NeW terminologiesalso 'reflect the growth of knowledge in ,thO field. However,:a linguist cannot, as can &natural-scientist to a certain extent, , . " . .: forget about the problems-that existed in hiS.field son*. SO years ago. The, same problems crop up today:.