People have a natural propensity to understand language text as a succession of smallish chunks, whether they are reading, writing, speaking or listening. Linguists have found that this propensity can shed light on the nature and structure of language, and there are many studies which attempt to harness the potential of natural chunking.

This book explores the role of chunking in the description of discourse, especially spoken discourse. It appears that chunking offers a sound but flexible platform on which can be built a descriptive model which is more open and comprehensive than more familiar approaches to structural description. The model remains linear, in that it avoids hierarchies, and it concentrates on the combinatorial patterns of text.

The linear approach turns out to have many advantages, bringing together under one descriptive method a wide variety of different styles of speech and writing. It is complementary to established grammars, but it raises pertinent questions about many of their assumptions.

Table of contents

Dedication vii Acknowledgements ix Preamble xi–xiii Introduction xv–xxi Section A: Preliminaries 1 Setting the scene 3–22 Background 23–40 Data description 41–45 Section B: Analysis 47 System of analysis 49–54 Provisional Unit Boundaries 55–58 Types of chunks 59–70 Types of organisational elements 71–78 Types of increments to shared experience 79–89 Synthesis 91–103 Section C: Theory and follow-up 105 The example texts analysed 107–127 Theoretical synopsis 129–144 Looking ahead 145–166 Appendix 167–173 Bibliography 175–179 Index of names 181–182 Index of subjects 183–185