Revolución industrial
Word order choices: Information flow: the typical word order in English is to start with the given information and to go on to the new one (information-flow principle)), which contributes to the cohesion of a text, it allows receivers to understand since the clause starts with something familiar. Focus and emphasis: the need to focus and emphasize something is an exception to the information-flow principle. In all clauses there is at least one point of focus, which naturally occur on the last lexical item in the clause, know as the end-focus principle. When the information-flow principle is followed the focus will be the new information which is added at the end of the clause. An initial element can also be the focus. A complement of the verb in initial position is intensified, in the same way as if it was preceded by an adverb like very, e.g. lovely dress instead of the dress is lovely. Contrast: it occurs when the focused part is highlighted to show its difference form another element. It shows contrast between the elements in the same way the coordinator but and the linking adverb however do, e.g. this is not an easy decision, it is something we would like to avoid/ (…) decision, however it is (…) Weight: depending on their weight the elements of a clause are of different size and complexity. The preferred distribution of element in the clause is called the end-weight principle, which means that long and complex elements (i.e. heavier) are placed towards the end of the clause, for the reason that this way receivers do not have to bear in mind long and complex information from the beginning. Given that many of these elements contain a large amount of new information, both, the information-flow principle and the end-weight principle often support one another.
Word order choices after the verb: placement of DO and IO: ditransitive verb: IO+OD: I’ll give you some cake afterwards. DO+prep to or for + prep object: I will prepare some cakes for you. When DO and IO are personal pronouns we find 3 patterns: DO+to-phrase: give it to me. IO+DO: give me it. DO+IO: give it him. Clauses with DO and Obj pred. the DO normally precedes the Obj pred, the DO can be postponed to the end position under particular circumstances, e.g. …make real some dreams / make them real. When the DO is a pronoun or a short noun-headed phrase, it must precede the Obj pred: He made it impossible. Placement of object of phrasal verbs: in transitive phrasal verb, DO can be placed before and after the advl particle. Why do you sweep the floor up with that old broom? If the DO is a pron it is normally placed between the verb and the particle: pick it up. When it’s a full noun there is more variation: put the book down/put down the book.
the discourse circumstances of conversation. Conversation takes place in shared context: it is normally carried out in face-to-face interaction with others and the speakers generally share a lot of contextual background thus in conversation we find a very high frequency of pronouns and a very low frequency of nouns. This shared contextualization is also connected with the use of substitute pro-forms, ellipsis and deictic words such as this, that, now… the use of inserts is especially common (yeah, okay, thanks…)and is also related with the interpretation on situational factors of verbal or non-verbal action, e.g. after banging into someone and saying sorry. conversation avoids elaboration or specification of meaning since it relies on context and it doesn’t need the lexical and syntactic elaboration found in written expository registers. It relies more on function words, especially pronouns and it has a higher frequency of verbs and adverbs than the other registers. One exception to this rule is the use of that and wh-complement clauses which are more common in this register. This lack of syntax elaboration is related to the lack of specification of meaning although from the speaker’s point of view there is no necessity for greater precision and the shared knowledge among interlocutors allows the use of hints and rough indications. conversation is interactive. There are several features in conversation: A-negatives: it has twice as many as the written registers. B- Eliciting responses: sequences of question-answer are typical, e.g. Q-who eat the cake? A-me. Many questions that are non-clausal fragments such as really? Are frequent in conversation, another very common type of questions are the question tags: …haven’t you? Q. tags unite an affirmation with a request for confirmation that illustrates the characteristic conciliation of acceptance between interlocutors. Other common features that elicit or make a response: (inserts) greetings and farewells. Backchannels: mm, yeah. Response elicitors: see? Okay? Imperatives. C- attention-signalling forms: hey, hey… D- vocatives (address forms for getting attention: mum, sweetheart… E- discourse markers: they occur at the beginning of a turn or utterance and they show interactively how the speaker is going to lead the dialogue, e.g. the use of well as a deliberation marker or as a contrast mark. conversation expresses stance: many of the most common grammatical features in conversation are used to express stance, this includes stance adverbials, modal verbs and complement clause constructions. Conversation typically displays a varied range of attitudes and the special features that are used are: endearments (kind words) are far more common within vocatives than honorific forms such as sir and madam, e.g. darling. Interjections (ah, oh, vow…) and expletives (bloody, damn…). Exclamations: Sit down! Evaluative predicative adjectives (good, lovely…). Stance adverbials: I like his music really. conversation takes place in real time: there are some characteristics that show that speakers are under pressure in conversation to produce language quickly: A-Dysfluencies: the conversation might not sound fluent because the speaker has to make pauses, hesitators and repeat when he needs time to think what is going to be said. When a speaker repeat something in order to correct it we talk about repairs; when these corrections are made at the beginning of an utterance they’re also called “false starts”. B-Reduced forms: processes such as elision (omission of vowels or consonant), contraction (it’s), reduced forms (gonna) and various types of ellipsis.
C-Restricted and repetitive repertoire: the language used in conversation is typically repetitive in several ways: 1-local repetition: to reduce real-time planning pressure, the conversation is partially or exactly repeated. 2-Lexical bundles: speakers rely on routine word sequences readily accessible from memory. 3- use of a small group of items in syntactic categories, for example modal verbs (will, can, would and could) conversation employs a vernacular range of expression: the style of conversation is overwhelmingly informal. We also find morphological forms as for example the multiple negative (don’t…no) and the concord of he with don’t that are widely considered as non-standard. Other marginally non-standards are the negative verb form ain’t and the combination aren’t I.