discourse 8 macrostructure 宏观结构.pptVIP

Summary version one: (a) Pete wanted to go skiing in Utah that winter. He made the necessary arrangements. He went by plane. He liked the hotel in the mountains. Summary version two: (b) Pete want skiing. He really liked it. 3. Three macrorules for macrostructures Rule 1: deletion rule Rule 2: generalization rule Rule 3: construction rule Rule 1: deletion rule (删减法) This rule eliminates those propositions that are not relevant for the interpretation of other propositions in discourse. E.g. A girl in a yellow dress passed by. There are 3 propositions in the sentence: A girl passed by. She was wearing a dress. The dress was yellow. Analysis: By using the deletion rule, propositions (2) and (3) can be eliminated, leaving only (1) as a proposition. The deletion rule is a negative formulation: eliminate irrelevant propositions. when formulated positively, it is the selection rule: select those propositions that are necessary for the interpretation of other propositions. The deletion rule can be split into a weak and a strong variant. The weak deletion rule eliminateds irrelevant propositions; The strong deletion rule only eliminates propositions that are relevant at the microlevel but not at the macrolevel. John is sick. He will not be going to the meating. At the microlevel the proposition “John is sick” is relevant for the interpretation of the sentence which follows. If, however, the text does not continue with the theme of John’s illness, then this proposition is irrelevant at the macrolevel. Rule 2: generalization rule(概括法) Using this rule a series of specific propositions are converted into a more general proposition. E.g. Mary was drawing a picture. Sally was skipping rope and Dannie was building something with Lego blocks. The children were playing. Rule 3: construction rule(建构法) By means of this rule one proposition can be constructed from a number of propositions. (2) John went to the station. He bought a ticket, started running when he saw what