LINGUIST List 14.1182

Fri Apr 25 2003

Diss: Discourse Analysis: De Rooij "Cohesion..."

Editor for this issue: Anita Yahui Huang <anitalinguistlist.org>

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  • vderooij, Discourse Analysis: De Rooij "Cohesion through contrast..."

    Message 1: Discourse Analysis: De Rooij "Cohesion through contrast..."

     Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 07:28:00 +0000
    From: vderooij <vderooijpscw.uva.nl>
    Subject: Discourse Analysis: De Rooij "Cohesion through contrast..."




    Institution: University of Amsterdam Program: Institute of General Linguistics Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 1996

    Author: Vincent A De Rooij

    Dissertation Title:

    Cohesion through contrast: Discourse structure in Shaba Swahili/French conversations

    Linguistic Field: Sociolinguistics, Discourse Analysis, Anthropological Linguistics

    Subject Language: Swahili (code: SWA ) French (code: FRN )

    Dissertation Director 1: Pieter Muysken Dissertation Director 2: Johannes Fabian

    Dissertation Abstract:

    The dissertation deals with the question of whether and how the use of different linguistic varieties is involved in creating and strengthening cohesion in discourse. The material analyzed consists of Shaba Swahili/French conversations recorded during fieldwork in Shaba Province, Zaire (renamed Katanga Province, DR Congo). A detailed sequential analysis of the use of French discourse markers and nouns demonstrates that the distribution of French material in Shaba Swahili/French discourse is not random, but seems to be motivated by the need for cohesion in discourse. It is argued that the French material in mixed Shaba Swahili/French language use is more salient than the Shaba Swahili material. This heightened contrastive value of French elements leads to codeswitches from Shaba Swahili to French in places where cohesion between units of discourse and lexical items is encoded.

    The chapters that deal with the distribution of discourse markers and codeswitched nouns are preceded with a sketch of Shaba Swahili, a partly creolized variety of East Coast Swahili, and by a description of the sociolinguistic situation of the Zairean Copperbelt.