Tuesday 23 August 2016

A Transparently False Claim

Martin (1992: 559):
Not in passing that wave patterns are very commonly reflected in the labelling given to beginning and end stages across genres, reflecting the peaks and troughs of prominence that open and close a text; a number of these are reviewed in Table 7.17.

Table 7.17 Culminative prominence and generic structure

beginning
(initial prominence)
end
(final prominence)
Mitchell (1957)
Auctioneer’s Opening
Conclusion
Hasan (1977)
Greeting
Summary ^ Finis
Hasan (1985)
Sale Initiation
Purchase Closure
Hasan (1984)
Initiating Event
Finale
Ventola (1979)
Greeting
Leave-taking ^ Goodbye


Blogger Comment:

As the table demonstrates, this claim is wholly bogus.  Not one of the labels "reflects" the notion of a wave peak or trough.