The text is a sequence of linguistic units joined together by semantic connections and characterized by integrity (целостность), wholeness (цельность), and cohesion (связь)

Textual linguist may understand something, which is as short as a sentence or even an interjection (complete and coherent), as long as a whole text: story, novel.

Text as a linguistic unit has its own semantic and structural categories: The main semanticfeatures/categories:

- information

- profundity presupposition

- completeness

1) Any text should carry complete information; it should express a certain

communication.

2) By profundity some authors mean that the text should have some depth, some food for thinking, some idea, which may either be expressed, or may be understood implicitly.

3) By presupposition we mean the shared knowledge: there should be some level at which we communicate, otherwise there may be complete misunderstanding,

4)The text should be complete in meaning, it shouldn't be abrupt (except for fiction where it's a stylistic device).

As to the structuralcategories of the text, they are:

- integration

- cohesion

- retrospection

- prospection

- continuum

- polyphony

1) integrity (целостность): to achieve integrity we use certain logical connections and connectors, a certain composition, a certain word order.

2)Cohesion- to provide the logical connection (logical connectors: conjunction, parenthentic words, the article, pronominalization).

3) Retrospection + Prospection = profundity in semantics

Expressed with the 16 tense-aspect forms.

4) Polyphony = a good text usually has more than one line of thinking, of reasoning, which is very important for fiction.

5) Continuum = the text should continue without breaking, it shouldn't be abrupt. Tense forms, number forms, mood forms - all this provides for cohesionand continuum of a certain text.

Types of texts: (3 main types)

1) narrative (in a narrative text the most important thing which provides for prospection and retrospection are forms expressing time and word expressing space).

2) Description (temporal and spacious characteristics).

3) Dialog

- for description mostly spacious characteristics (considering space, not time)

- for the dialog - the dynamic means, in a dialog we have more colloquial words, more vivid words, more interjections than in other types of texts.

28. Text as a str.& semantic unit of communication.types of texts. Gram.means of expressing cohesion in texts

Text(t.) is a structural and semantic unit used in language communication.

It has a minimum border line – it always contains no less then two components – complete utterances, simple or composite, a text always presupposes the existence of a certain cohesion b\n its components-utterances. A t. has no max. ( upper) border line that can be grammatically defined, it’s given by the extra ling. situation which is reflected in the text.

Besides complete utterances the t. may also contain special connectors\means of text cohesion

1. the order of the elements – in the monologue each succeeding utterance in the paragraph is supposed to be a communication, a development of the idea, exp. In the previous part of the text; in the dialogue the words of the preceding speaker are understood as a clue to which the words of the next speaker are kind of response. 2. conjunctionsjoin not only utterance, but also utterances within a text. 3. articles. Definite article is often used anaphorically to indicate a link b\n a following and a preceding utter., or a previous situation. The indefinite art. generally point to the center of communication, the most important item, expressed in the paragraph; it can also be used cataphorically to indicate that the following text will devoted to the description of the object introduced by the noun mod. by the ind. art.( the same in titles of books and in news headlines). 4. pronouns ( esp. personal, possessive and demonstrative + pronominal adverbs0, they are often used as anaphoric connectors. 5. Forms of the verb. The non-perfect form (continuous or common) begins a paragraph giving the general background, the “time-point” of the sit. described in the paragraph, thus organizing all its utter-s into the same text cataphorically. The perfect form seldom begins a paragraph as it indicates a relation b\n the given and the previous situation. It’s generally placed towards the end of the end of the par. organizing it anaphorically. 6. ellipsis, elliptical utter. can be understood only within a text. 7. Parenthesis. They may be expressed by a word(doubtless, first, further, however, now, second, therefore), a phrase( at least, for example, for instance, in a sense, in my opinion, no doubt, no wonder, of course, on the contrary), a clause(it seems, as was said\mentioned\stressed above, as you will see later, one may think). Such phrases aren’t grammatically linked with the rest of the utter. into which they are imbedded, they don’t perform in it any gram. function, they are used for: a)to stress the attitude of the speaker to the events in the text, give a certain modal coloring to the text.. b) to exemplify smth previously mentioned. c) to refer the utter., to link it anaphorically or cataphorically to some other utterance in the text – a kind of text connector. d) sometimes they may be used to establish a closer contact with the listener, to switch the conversation onto a more friendly basis(you see, you know, let us see).

There are two types of texts: monologues(written speech; grouped into superphrasal units\paragraphs; full forms, Ind. or Sub. mood, Imp. rare, finite or non-finite9absolutely or in complexes)verb forms, non-elliptical utterances, two\one member utter-s, close\loose attributes or adv. modifiers, homogeneous members, complex\compound utterances, syndetic\asyndetic adjoinment, indirect speech) and dialogues(oral speech, grouped into ”minimal conversations”, contracted forms, Ind. or Imp. mood, Sub. – rare, finite forms, non-finite-rare ( used absolute), elliptical\non-ell. utter-s, two member utter-s, close attr. or adv. modifiers, hom. members-rare, simple\compound utter-s, complex – rare, mainly asyndatical adjoinment, direct\indirect speech).