Wednesday 6 May 2015

Text [3:1] — Problems With Martin's 'Semantics Of Reference' Analysis [3]

Martin (1992: 127, 128):
The nominal groups in [3:1] are listed below. Each is coded for the IDENTIFICATION choices made and the type of reference to the context where these choices are phoric. The analysis will be annotated for purposes of discussion, rather than presented in detail.

NOMINAL GROUP
REFERENCE
(terminal features)
RETRIEVAL
(where phoric)
I
presuming…interlocutor
anaphoric
a Hippopotamus
presenting…unmarked
I
presuming…interlocutor                 
anaphoric
him
presuming…noninterlocutor  
anaphoric
he
presuming…noninterlocutor  
anaphoric
he
presuming…noninterlocutor  
anaphoric
I
presuming…interlocutor                 
anaphoric
I
presuming…interlocutor                 
anaphoric
the tiger
presuming…undirected
bridging*

iii. The identity of the tiger can be taken as implied by the field — the zoo.  Rhinocerous and the Hippopotamus mentioned earlier in the text; however the writer is inconsistent, bridging the tiger here, but introducing the Hippopotamus, gorilla and baby gorilla with presenting groups; a more mature writer would probably have introduced the tiger with a presenting group as well.

Blogger Comments:

[1] This again mistakes interpersonal deixis for textual reference.  To be clear, only non-interactant (3rd person) pronouns and determiners function as personal reference items, since these alone mark identifiability.  The identities of the interactants (1st & 2nd person) are given by their rôles in the speech event (Halliday & Matthiessen 2014: 606).  The confusion is one of metafunction.

[2] This mistakes interpersonal deixis for textual reference.  The non-specific Deictic 'one' does not mark 'day' as identifiable.  The confusion is one of metafunction.

[3] This is Martin's rebranding of Halliday & Hasan's (1976) personal reference, misunderstood, and relocated from lexicogrammar to his discourse semantic stratum.

[4] Here the demonstrative reference is anaphoric to the title at the zoo.

[5] As previously explained, "bridging" is a confusion of reference and lexical cohesion, rebranded, and relocated to Martin's stratum of discourse semantics.

[6] This is writing pedagogy masquerading as linguistic theory.

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