"The Fifth Element" : a remark on the FSP factors

Title: "The Fifth Element" : a remark on the FSP factors
Author: Klégr, Aleš
Source document: Brno studies in English. 2009, vol. 35, iss. 2, pp. [53]-60
Extent
[53]-60
  • ISSN
    0524-6881 (print)
    1805-0867 (online)
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
 

Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.

Abstract(s)
It has become canonical when listing the factors signalling Functional Sentence Perspective (FSP) to name four of them: linear modification, semantic structure, context and (emphatic, contrasting, and focusing) intonation. The paper argues for the inclusion of one more candidate for the status of a potential FSP indicator – typography or punctuation – to cover cases where FSP-relevant intonation is marked by typographic devices, such as italics, boldface, small capitals, etc., in written text. Acknowledgement of punctuation marking FSP-relevant prosody in writing, however marginal and discretionary, as a potential contributory factor – the "fifth element" – in decoding FSP would be methodologically sound and consistent. It would also be a useful antidote to the widespread practice of using self-supplied intonation in the FSP analysis of written communication, which, strictly speaking, somewhat presumptuously amounts to confusing two different modes of language and oversteps the boundary between the writer and the reader of the text.
References
[1] Adam, Martin (2007) A Handbook of Functional Sentence Perspective. Brno: Masarykova univerzita.

[2] Chamonikolasová, Jana (1995) 'Intonation centre in English and Czech sentences'. Brno Studies in English 21, 9–15.

[3] Chamonikolasová, Jana (2007) Intonation in English and Czech Dialogues. Brno: Masarykova univerzita.

[4] Chamonikolasová, Jana (2010) 'Communicative dynamism and prosodic prominence of pronouns in English and Czech'. In: Procházka, Martin, Markéta Malá and Pavlína Šaldová (eds.) The Prague School and Theories of Structure. Göttingen: V&R Unipress, 143–162.

[5] Cruse, Alan (2006) A Glossary of Semantics and Pragmatics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

[6] Daneš, František (1974) Papers on Functional Sentence Perspective. The Hague: Mouton de Gruyter.

[7] Douglas, Peter (2009) Encoding Intonation. The Use of Italics and the Challenges for Translation. Corpus Linguistics Conference, 5th Corpus Linguistics Conference, 2009, 20–23 July 2009, University of Liverpool, UK, http://ucrel.lancs.ac.uk/publications/cl2009/#papers.

[8] Firbas, Jan (1954) 'Anglická větná interpunkce'. Časopis pro moderní filologii, 36(3), 152–164.

[9] Firbas, Jan (1992) Functional Sentence Perspective in Written and Spoken Communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[10] Firbas, Jan (1966) 'Non-thematic subjects in contemporary English'. Travaux linguistiques de Prague 2, 239–256.

[11] Gundel, Jeanette K. and Thorstein Fretheim (2004) 'Topic and focus'. In: Horn, Laurence R. and Gregory Ward (eds.) The Handbook of Pragmatics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

[12] Horn, Laurence R. and Gregory Ward (eds.) (2004) The Handbook of Pragmatics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

[13] Huddleston, Rodney and Geoffrey K. Pullum (2002) Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[14] Leech, Geoffrey (1981) Semantics. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.

[15] Mathesius, Vilém ([1928]1967) 'On linguistic characterology with illustrations from modern English'. Reprinted in Vachek, Josef (ed.) A Prague School Reader in Linguistics. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 59-67.

[16] Quirk, Randolph, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech and Jan Svartvik (1985) A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman.

[17] Sgall, Petr, Eva Hajičová, and Jarmila Panevová (1986) The Meaning of the Sentence in its Semantic and Pragmatic Aspects. Dordrecht: Reidel.

[18] Sgall, Petr, Eva Hajičová, and Eva Benešová (1973) Topic, Focus, and Generative Semantics. Kronberg: Scriptor Verlag GmbH.

[19] Trask, R. Lawrence (1997) Penguin Guide to Punctuation. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.

[20] Truss, Lynn (2003) East, Shoots & Leaves. London: Profile Books.

[21] Vachek, Josef (1973) Written Language. The Hague: Mouton.

[22] Vachek, Josef (1989) Written Language Revisited. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.