Testing the Limits of Anaphoric Distance in Classical Arabic: a Corpus-Based Study

One of the central aims in research on anaphora is to discover the factors that determine the choice of referential expressions in discourse. Ariel (1988; 2001) offers an Accessibility Scale where referential expressions, including demonstratives, are categorized according to the values of anaphoric (i.e. textual) distance that each of these has in relation to its antecedent. The aim of this paper is to test Ariel’s (1988; 1990; 2001) claim that the choice to use proximal or distal anaphors is mainly determined by anaphoric distance. This claim is investigated in relation to singular demonstratives in a corpus of Classical Arabic (CA) prose texts by using word count to measure anaphoric distance. Results indicate that anaphoric distance cannot be taken as a consistent or reliable determinant of how anaphors are used in CA, and so Ariel’s claim is not supported by the results of this study. This also indicates that the universality of anaphoric distance, as a criterion of accessibility, is defied

Discourse organisation through Theme position

This paper focuses on the role of elements placed in the initial position i.e. elements fulfilling the role of Theme in discourse organisation. The large-scale corpus study proposes a new methodology based on quantitative analysis of the discourse roles of sentence-initial elements. The theoretically-based hypothesis is that Theme position has an important function in discourse organisation. Theme, defined as the starting point of the message, is composed of the first elements that the reader perceives. The analysis of the distribution and the use in discourse of these elements gives us a great overview on the textual organisation of different types of text

Discourse organisation through Theme position

This paper focuses on the role of elements placed in the initial position i.e. elements fulfilling the role of Theme in discourse organisation. The large-scale corpus study proposes a new methodology based on quantitative analysis of the discourse roles of sentence-initial elements. The theoretically-based hypothesis is that Theme position has an important function in discourse organisation. Theme, defined as the starting point of the message, is composed of the first elements that the reader perceives. The analysis of the distribution and the use in discourse of these elements gives us a great overview on the textual organisation of different types of text