SIL Publications by Category
Discourse

Analyzing Discourse: A Manual of Basic Concepts by Robert A. Dooley and Stephen H. Levinsohn, 2001, 173 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-115-2, $20.95

A practical introduction to discourse analysis for linguistic field workers addressing issues commonly confronted by field linguists.

Artistic and Rhetorical Patterns in Quechua Legendary Texts by Agot Bergli, PTT 3, 2010, 322 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-244-9, $36.00

Shows the role of specific linguistic structures in the creation of formulaic, artistic patterns in Quechua legendary narratives and explores how the patterns function in relation to concepts such as main event line and other rhetorical structures.

Aspects of Western Subanon Formal Speech by William C. Hall, PL 81, 1988, 207 pp., ISBN 978-0-88312-093-4, $21.00

Describes the speech behavior of the Western Subanon people (southwestern Mindanao, Philippines) in formal situations such as ceremonies or litigation.

The Development of Textlinguistics in the Writings of Robert Longacre, ed. by Shin Ja J. Hwang, PTT 4, 2010, 444 pp. ISBN 978-1-55671-246-3, $46.00

This book brings together Robert Longacre’s articles on textlinguistics and discourse analysis scattered throughout journals and books. Longacre’s theory of textlinguistics focuses on the intersection of the morphosyntax and discourse structure.

Discourse Features of New Testament Greek: A Coursebook on the Information Structure of New Testament Greek, Second Edition, by Stephen H. Levinsohn, 2000, 330 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-093-3, $33.50

Discusses discourse features of Koine Greek from the perspective of descriptive linguistics.

Discourse Features of Ten Languages of West-Central Africa edited by Stephen H. Levinsohn, PL 119, 1995, 251 pp., ISBN 978-0-88312-619-6, $31.50

Presents 12 papers on coherence, participant reference and Relevance Theory in Niger-Congo and Chadic languages of Cameroon.

Fifty Years in Brazil: A Sampler of SIL Work 1958–2008, eds by Mary Ruth Wise, Robert A Dooley, and Isabel Murphy, 2008, 416 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-220-3, $40.00

Samples of the products of fifty years of SIL International’s work in Brazil range; includes some out-of-print articles and others available for the first time in this volume. Approximately half of the book is in Portuguese.

The French Imparfait and Passé Simple in Discourse by Sharon R. Rand, PL 116, 1993, 148 pp., ISBN 978-0-88312-822-0, $16.00

Presents the results of the author's analysis of the use of the imparfait and passé simple tenses in French narrative discourse.

Holistic Discourse Analysis by Robert E. Longacre and Shin Ja J. Hwang, 2012, 264 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-266-1, $39.95

The central idea of this volume is the simple insistence that the structure of a part of a discourse (or text) needs to be explained in light of the structure of the whole. The book can be used both as a textbook and field manual for discourse analysis.

Holistic Discourse Analysis, Second Edition by Robert E. Longacre and Shin Ja J. Hwang, 2012, 264 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-329-3, $48.95

The central idea of this textbook is that the structure of a part of a discourse needs to be explained in light of the structure of the whole. This second edition employs the color-coding of example texts to aide in understanding the discourse structure.

Logical Relations in Discourse edited by Eugene E. Loos, 1999, 267 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-040-7, $30.50

Discusses how the indicators used by speakers and hearers in a wide range of languages connect parts of discourse.

Modes in Dényá Discourse by Samson N. Abangma, PL 79, 1987, 139 pp., ISBN 978-0-88312-007-1, $23.00

This study shows how discourse structure influences the use of verb forms. It looks at modes in narrative, procedural, expository, and hortatory discourse. The study includes five texts.

Pragmatics of Persuasive Discourse in Spanish Television Advertising by Karol J. Hardin, PL 137, 2001, 247 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-150-3, $30.50

This investigation analyzes pragmatic ways in which Spanish is used to achieve persuasion in television advertising and contributes to the cross-linguistic understanding of pragmatics and persuasion in Spanish.

Switch Reference in Koasati Discourse by David P. Rising, PL 109, 1992, 98 pp., ISBN 978-0-88312-813-8, $10.00

Contains a brief sociolinguistic note, a phonological description and a grammar outline of Koasati (Muskogean, TX).

Tense and Aspect in Obolo Grammar and Discourse by Uche Aaron, PL 128, 1999, 198 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-063-6, $30.50

Describes comprehensively and systematically the function of tense and aspect in the Obolo language (southeastern coastal Nigeria).

Word Order in Toposa: An Aspect of Multiple Feature-Checking by Helga Schröder, PL 142, 2008, 213 pp., ISBN 978-1-55671-181-7, $28.00

This study of Toposa, an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in Southern Sudan, is both data oriented and theoretical. It is valuable for upper level students of syntactic theory. It should also help further study of VSO languages and discourse research.

Workpapers Concerning Waorani Discourse Features edited by Rachel Saint; Evelyn G. Pike, LDAMI 10, 1988, 190 pp., ISBN 978-0-88312-625-7, $16.50

Discusses discourse features (peak), grammatical structures (clause) and features of the referential structure (participant reference).