語篇的定義(Definition of Text)
從詞源上看，英語“text”一詞源于拉丁詞textus(名詞，=tissure)和textere(動詞，=weave)，用來比喻在結(jié)構(gòu)和語義上相互交織在一起的一組句子。根據(jù)上下文語境的不同.英語"text"可分別譯為“語篇、文本、原文、正文、課本、經(jīng)文”等。
《新牛津英語詞典》對“text”的釋義，就包括至少下列四項(xiàng)主要內(nèi)容，它們的共同特點(diǎn)是認(rèn)為語篇是具有特定特征的、書面的或印刷的文字材料。
(Text一1. a book or other written or printed work, regarded in terms of its content
rather than its physical form(語篇):a text which explores pain and grief. 2. a piece
of written or printed material regarded as conve如ng the authentic or primary form of
a particular work(原文):the text of the lecture was available on request. 3. written
or printed words, typically forming a connected piece of work(文本):stylistic fea-
ture of journalist text. 4. the main body of a book or other piece of writing, as dis-
tinct from other material such as notes, appendices, and illustrations(正文):too
much text and too few pictures in this book.
一The New Oxford Dictionary of English (2001)
對“語篇”這一重要概念，許多學(xué)者都曾從不同的角度進(jìn)行過定義和闡釋。為了更好地理解它的含義，我們再看一看更具專業(yè)性的解釋。
英國語盲學(xué)家R. Quirk等在《英語語法大全》中，對語篇的概念進(jìn)行過分析和解釋。
雖然措詞比較謹(jǐn)慎.但卻勾勒出語篇應(yīng)具有的從本特征。他們是這樣說的:
A text-unlike a sentence一is not a grammatical unit but rather a semantic and prag-
static unit. It is a stretch of language which seems appropriately coherent in actual
use. That is, the text "cohere" in real world context，semantically and pragmatical-
ly. and it is also internally or linguistically coherent.
-A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language(1985)
在《文體學(xué)詞典》中，英國文體學(xué)家Katie Wale、不但詳細(xì)探討了語篇的概念.而且還對有關(guān)語篇的研究進(jìn)行了評述。她認(rèn)為:
A text is commonly used to refer to a sequential collection of sentences or utterances
which form a unity by reason of their linguistic cohesion and semantic coherence,
such as a recipe. poem or sermon. However, it is possible for a text to consist of on-
ly one sentence or utterance, e. g. a notice or road-sign(Exit;Stop)，which is se-
mantically complete in itself, and pragmatically tied to a specific situation.
-A Dictionary of Stylistics(1989)
從這些論述可看出，語篇是言語交際的基本單位。它不是一個像句子一樣的語法單位，而是一個相對完整的語義和語用單位。在實(shí)際交際中，語篇可以以不同的形式出現(xiàn)。它既可以是一個人說話時產(chǎn)生的言語單位‘如電視講話、公眾演說等)，也可以是一個人寫作時生成的言語單位(如日記、總結(jié)、散文、故事等)，當(dāng)然還可以是幾個人輪流發(fā)言時所形成的言語單位(如對話、訪談、辯論、戲劇等)。
語篇可長可短。在多數(shù)情況下，語篇一般是由許多句子、語段、甚至章節(jié)組成的有機(jī)整體，如小說、論文、辭典、百科全書等。但有時，一個句子或短語，甚至一個詞，都可以構(gòu)成一個意義完整并能實(shí)現(xiàn)特定語用意圖的語篇.像“DANGER!-, -ENTRANCE","Men's","No Smoking! ","Think before you leap"，"Vantage, the taste of success","Goodtaste, Kent style.”這樣的標(biāo)語、廣告、便條、告示或諺語。雖然只有只言片語或一兩句話，但在一定的語境中卻是意義很完整的語篇。
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