A discourse semantic approach to Old English narrative texts

Authors

  • Hyo-Chang Hong Marshall University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.v5i1.37

Keywords:

Systemic Functional Linguistics, genre analysis, appraisal, conjunction system, Old English, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Abstract

With a few exceptions such as Michael Cummings (1995, 2010), Martin Davies (1996) and David Banks (2008), older stages of English have not received much attention in in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Motivated by Coffin’s research on the language of history (1997, 2006), this paper attempts to examine the possibility of classifying OE texts into different genre types based on Martin & Rose’s genre classification model (2008) and to investigate discourse semantic features contributing to such classifications; in particular, with regards to the mystery particle ‘þa’ (Longacre, 1976). It reports on the way in which the discourse semantic systems of conjunction and appraisal play a key role in the generic classification of the OE texts examined.

Author Biography

  • Hyo-Chang Hong, Marshall University

    Hyo-Chang Hong is Associate Professor in the Department of English, Marshall University, Huntington, WV, USA.

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Published

2011-12-16

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Hong, H.-C. (2011). A discourse semantic approach to Old English narrative texts. Linguistics and the Human Sciences, 5(1), 37-57. https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.v5i1.37

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