Supra-Phrasal Units

The term Supra-Phrasal unit (SPU) is used to denote a larger unit than a sentence. It generally comprises a number of sentences independent structurally (usually by means of pronouns, connectives, tense-forms) and semantically (one definite thought is dealt with). Such a span of utterance is also characterized by the fact that it can be extracted from the context without losing its relative semantic independence.

The Paragraph

A paragraph is a graphical term used to name a group of sentences marked off by indentation at the beginning and a break in the line at the end. But this graphical term has come to mean a distinct position of a written discourse showing an internal unity. As a linguistic category the paragraph is a unit of utterance marked off by purely linguistic means: intonation, pauses of various length, semantic ties which can be disclosed by scrupulous analysis of the morphological aspect and meaning of the component parts. The logical aspect of an utterance will always be backed up by purely linguistic means causing, as it were, an indivisible unity of extralinguistic and intralinguisticapproach.

The length of paragraph normally varies from eight to twelve sentences. In newspaper style, however, most paragraphs consist of one or perhaps two or three sentences.

Paragraphs of purely logical type may be analysed from the way the thought of the writer develops. Attempts have been made to classify paragraphs from the point of view of the logical sequence of the sentences. Thus, in manuals on the art of composition there are models of paragraphs built on different principles:

1) from the general to the particular, or from the particular to the general;

2) on the inductive or deductive principle;

3) from cause to effect, or from effect to cause;

4) on contrast or comparison.

■ The paragraph in some styles, such as scientific, publicistic and some others, generally has a topic sentence, a sentence which embodies the main idea of the paragraph. In belles-letres style the topic sentence may be placed in any part of the paragraph.

Не знайшли потрібну інформацію? Скористайтесь пошуком google:

Генерація сторінки за: 0.011 сек.