TERMS FOR DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

1) TEXT:
Halliday and Hasan (1976, p.1) take text as “a unit of language in use” which can be “any
passage, spoken or written, of whatever length, that does form a unified whole”.
According to Halliday, text is a sign representation of a socio-cultural event embedded in a
context of situation. Context of situation is the semio-socio-cultural environment in which the
text unfolds. Text and context are so intimately related that neither concept can be
comprehended in the absence of the other.
2) COTEXT
Words that surround a node or another word, the linguistic environment of a word. Co-text
limits the range of possible interpretations we might have for a word. Co-textual context can
be in a sentence or within sentences.
co-text – the linguistic environment of a word. context – the non-verbal environment in which a
word is used. Put another way, the surrounding situation in which a word is used is its context
whereas the surrounding words is its co-text, the most obvious manifestation of which is
collocations.
3) CONTEXT
In semiotics, linguistics, sociology and anthropology, context refers to those objects or entities
which surround a focal event, in these disciplines typically a communicative event, of some
kind. Context is "a frame that surrounds the event and provides resources for its appropriate
interpretation".
According to dictionary, context is the circumstances that form the setting for an event,
statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood.
4) CODE
According to dictionary, code is a system of words, letters, figures, or symbols used to represent
others, especially for the purposes of secrecy.
There are three types of codes, symbolic codes, technical codes, and written codes.
Conventions are expected ways in which codes are organized in a product.
5) SOCIAL CODES
In semiotics, interpretive frameworks representing the world as it is understood within a
culture or subculture. These are drawn upon in making sense not only of the world, but also of
any representations of it. Much of this is tacit knowledge. Social codes include unwritten codes
such as bodily codes and behavioral codes. While all semiotic codes are in a broad sense social
codes (being based on social conventions), social codes can also be seen as forming a major
group of codes, alongside textual codes, and interpretive codes. See also common sense;
conversational currency; cultural literacy; dramaturgy; face-work; folk psychology; frame;
interaction rituals; ritual interaction; social knowledge; compare social schemata.
6) TEXTUAL CODES
Textual codes include scientific and aesthetic codes, genre, rhetorical and stylistic codes, and
mass-media codes. While many semiotic codes are treated by some semioticians as 'textual'
codes, this can be seen as forming one major group of codes, alongside social codes and
interpretive codes.
7) LANGUAGE CODES
A language code is a code that assigns letters or numbers as identifiers or classifiers for
languages. These codes may be used to organize library collections or presentations of data, to
choose the correct localizations and translations in computing, and as a shorthand designation
for longer forms of language names.
Language code schemes attempt to classify the complex world of human languages, dialects,
and variants. Most schemes make some compromises between being general and being
complete enough to support specific dialects.
For example, most people in Central America and South America speak Spanish. Spanish spoken
in Mexico will be slightly different from Spanish spoken in Peru. Different regions of Mexico will
have slightly different dialects and accents of Spanish. A language code scheme might group
these all as "Spanish" for choosing a keyboard layout, most as "Spanish" for general usage, or
separate each dialect to allow region-specific idioms.
8) DISCOURSE
Discourse is a verbal interchange of ideas, especially conversation. Or a formal, orderly, and
usually extended expression of thought on a subject. Or simply a connected speech or writing.
9) DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Discourse analysis, or discourse studies, is an approach to the analysis of written, vocal, or sign
language use, or any significant semiotic event. The objects of discourse analysis are variously
defined in terms of coherent sequences of sentences, propositions, speech, or turns-at-talk.
Discourse analysis is the study of social life, understood through analysis of language in its
widest sense (including face-to-face talk, non-verbal interaction, images, symbols, and
documents). It offers ways of investigating meaning, whether in conversation or in culture.
 10) CONTENT ANALYSIS
Content analysis is the study of documents and communication artifacts, which might be texts
of various formats, pictures, audio, or video. Social scientists use content analysis to examine
patterns in communication in a replicable and systematic manner.
11) TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Textual analysis is a broad term for various research methods used to describe, interpret, and
understand texts. All kinds of information can be gleaned from a text – from its literal meaning
to the subtext, symbolism, assumptions, and values it reveals.
12) TEXT ANALYSIS
Text Analysis is about parsing texts in order to extract machine-readable facts from them. The
purpose of Text Analysis is to create structured data out of free text content. The process can
be thought of as slicing and dicing heaps of unstructured, heterogeneous documents into easy-
to-manage and interpret data pieces.
13) TEXTUALITY
In literary theory, textuality comprises all of the attributes that distinguish the communicative
content under analysis as an object of study.
14) INTERTEXTUALITY
Intertextuality is the shaping of a text's meaning by another text. It is the interconnection
between similar or related works of literature that reflect and influence an audience's
interpretation of the text. Intertextuality is the relation between texts that are inflicted by
means of quotations and allusion.
15) CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Critical discourse analysis is an interdisciplinary approach to the study of discourse that views
language as a form of social practice.
Critical discourse analysis is a methodology that enables a vigorous assessment of what is
meant when language is used to describe and explain. There is a proliferation of terms within
critical discourse analysis which is reflective of the various influences in the development of the
methodology.
16) Standards of textuality
According to Mikhchi (2011), textuality is the extent to which a text is communicative and for a
text to be communicative, it needs to fulfill the following standards: cohesion, coherence,
intentionality, acceptability, informativity, situationality, and intertextuality.
 17) Transcriptional Approach towards language:
Transcription in the linguistic sense is the systematic representation of language in written
form. The source can either be utterances (speech or sign language) or preexisting text in
another writing system.