Contextual constraints on causal sequencing in informational texts
(2000) Functions of Language — Vol. 7, n° 2, p. 173-201 (2000)
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- When expressing a causative situation, one of the choices speakers/ writers have to make is whether the cause or the consequence should be the starting point of the causal utterance, i.e. how the two elements should be ordered with respect to each other. This article discusses a number of discursive constraints that seem to play a role in the selection of either forward causal constructions (CAUSE connective CONSEQUENCE) or postposed or preposed backward constructions (respectively, CONSEQUENCE connective CAUSE and connective CAUSE, CONSEQUENCE) in Dutch newspaper articles. Combining the previous research of Schiffrin (1985), Renkema (1996) and the Prague School work on information flow and information distribution, it could be established that a majority of these constructions are highly sensitive to the surrounding discourse. In particular, it appeared that writers tend to organise their discourse in function of prior and upcoming topics of discourse. This was quantified in a written corpus analysis based on the forward connectives dus, daarom, daardoor and the backward connectives aangezien, omdat, doordat.
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Degand, E. (2000). Contextual constraints on causal sequencing in informational texts. Functions of Language, 7(2), 173-201. https://doi.org/10.1075/fol.7.2.02deg (Original work published 2000)