Table Of ContentCoherence Theory
Trends in Linguistics
Studies and Monographs 63
Editor
Werner Winter
Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin · New York
Coherence Theory
The Case of Russian
by
Jens N0rgard-S0rensen
Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin · New York 1992
Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague)
is a Division of Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin.
® Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines of the
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Nargärd-Serensen, Jens.
Coherence theory : the case of Russian / by Jens N0rgard-
Serensen.
p. cm. — (Trends in linguistics. Studies and
monographs ; 63)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes.
ISBN 3-11-012911-6 (acid-free paper) :
1. Cohesion (Linguistics) 2. Discourse analysis.
3. Speech acts (Linguistics. 4. Semantics. 5. Russian
language — Discourse analysis — Case studies.
I. Title. II. Series.
P302.2.N6 1992
415 - dc20 92-10456
CIP
Die Deutsche Bibliothek — Cataloging in Publication Data
Nergärd-Serensen, Jens:
Coherence theory : the case of Russian / by Jens Norgard-
Scrensen. — Berlin ; New York : Mouton de Gruyter, 1992
(Trends in linguistics : Studies and monographs ; 63)
ISBN 3-11-012911-6
NE: Trends in linguistics / Studies and monographs
© Copyright 1992 by Walter de Gruyter & Co., D-1000 Berlin 30
All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this
book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Printing: Gerike, Berlin. — Binding: Lüderitz & Bauer, Berlin.
Printed in Germany.
Preface
The theory presented in this book has been illustrated with samples in Russian.
However, the presumably general linguistic value of the model has induced
me to supply the sample material with English translations and present it in
such a way that the book should be comprehensible to anyone who has an in-
terest in questions of coherence. No previous knowledge of Russian is as-
sumed.
I wish to thank Kristine Heltberg, Gunnar Svane and L'ubomir Durovic,
members of the committee appointed by the Faculty of Arts, University of Co-
penhagen, to evaluate the book as a doctoral thesis. Further, I should like to
express my gratitude to Per Durst-Andersen, who read through the manuscript
and made a number of valuable comments, and to my Russian friends and ac-
quaintances, who patiently considered the material I presented to them. Danish
and other Scandinavian colleagues listened to my talks on the subject at meet-
ings and symposia and made a number of critical remarks. John Kendal re-
vised the text and tried to make amends for the shortcomings of my English.
The Faculty of Arts, University of Copenhagen, contributed to the preparation
of the manuscript, and the Danish State Research Council for the Humanities
contributed to the publication. Finally, I shall not forget to mention my ap-
preciation of the interest shown by my students in parts of the theory presented
during seminars at the University of Copenhagen.
Contents
Preface ν
1. Introduction 1
2. Background 5
2.1. Reference worlds 6
2.2. Types of implication 8
2.2.1. Presupposition 9
2.2.1.1. Theory 9
2.2.1.2. Criticism 11
2.2.1.3. Beyond presupposition formalism 13
2.2.2. Entailment 17
2.2.3. Complements of implicative verbs 18
2.2.4. Implicature 19
2.2.4.1. Conversational implicature 20
2.2.4.2. Conventional implicature 21
2.2.4.3. Assertion vs. implicature 22
2.2.4.4. Non-cancellability of conventional implicatures? 24
2.2.5. Logical and pragmatic implications 27
2.2.6. Implication and coherence 28
2.2.7. Cancellability and normal readings 29
2.3. Knowledge and coherence 31
2.3.1. Macrosyntax and cohesion 31
2.3.2. Knowledge and text linguistics 32
2.3.2.1. Global patterns 33
2.3.2.2. Elements of knowledge sets 33
2.3.2.3. Activation of knowledge 34
2.3.2.4. Knowledge and expectations 35
2.3.2.5. Inferencing as a source of knowledge 35
3. Knowledge and coherence. Coherence marking adverbials 37
3.1. Requirements for a theory of knowledge 37
3.2. Knowledge and coherence marking adverbials 39
3.2.1. The notational apparatus 40
viii Contents
3.2.2. Adverbial categories. Subsets of knowledge and expectations .... 41
3.2.2.1. If-then adverbiale 41
3.2.2.2. More on the model of knowledge 70
3.2.2.3. Expectation adverbials 71
3.2.2.4. Performative adverbials 81
4. Noun phrases 87
4.1. Reference, definiteness, deixis, and anaphora 87
4.1.1. Definiteness 87
4.1.2. Reference and definiteness 88
4.1.3. Deixis 89
4.1.4. Anaphora 89
4.1.5. Article use 90
4.1.6. Definiteness in non-article languages 90
4.1.7. Function and distribution of deictic and anaphoric terms 91
4.2. Definite descriptions 95
4.3. Anaphoric pronouns 100
4.4. Demonstrative pronouns 117
4.4.1. The attributive etot 117
4.4.2. The nominal έίοΐ 123
4.4.3. The demonstrative takoj 129
4.5. Repeating or paraphrasing an NP 135
5. Prosodic prominence, ellipsis, and word order 145
5.1. Functional sentence perspective 145
5.1.1. History 145
5.1.2. The intuitive foundation of FSP theory 146
5.1.3. Soviet theories 147
5.1.4. Criticism of FSP research 149
5.1.5. The Prague school of today 151
5.1.6. Prosodic prominence 153
5.2. Ellipsis 155
5.2.1. Ellipsis in Russian 155
5.2.2. A contrastive view on English 161
5.3. Word order patterns 163
5.4. Prominence adverbials 169
Contents ix
6. Concluding remarks 187
Notes 191
References 193
Sources of samples 211
Index of names 213
Index of subjects 217
List of semantic representations 221
