Topic-Related Variation in Discourse: A Sociolinguistic Analysis

虽然大多数学者都认为“话题”可以定义为“信息是关于什么的”，但话题仍然是语言学中最不被理解的概念之一。本研究的总体目标是整合不同类型和层次的主题：实体、命题、文本、说话者和互动主题。方法是分析语言使用的变化是如何与主题相关的。重点将放在分句顺序的变化（在主句和从句之间），指代术语的变化，以及这些语言变化如何在话语和互动中定位。因为话题的实现依赖于交际过程，这些交际过程是社会性的、表达性的，也是指涉性的，所以我们还将分析子句顺序和指涉术语中与话题相关的变化与说话者的社会身份（社会阶级和性别）的关系。本研究与以往的话题分析有几个不同之处：1)本研究旨在整合五种不同类型和层次的话题；2)研究包括实体和命题的信息状态和主题状态的分析；3)数据在话语模式上呈现多样化；4)对主题编码的话语本身进行分析；5)研究考察了话题编码的社会差异。该项目涉及主题、信息状态、语言变化、句法和话语以及语言使用中的社会差异的研究。这对变异理论和分析以及我们对语篇连贯的理解也有启示。最后，它将提供相互作用和相关社会语言学之间的联系，并帮助协调形式语言学和功能语言学的关注。

ABSTRACT Although most scholars agree that "topic" may be defined as "what a message is about", topic is still one of the least understood concepts in linguistics. The general objective of this study is to integrate different types and levels of topic: entity, proposition, text, speaker, and interactive topics. The method will be to analyze how variation in language use is related to topic. The focus will be on variation in clause order (between main and subordinate clauses), and variation in referring terms, and how such linguistic variants are situated in discourse and interaction. Because topic realization depends on communicative processes that are social and expressive, as well as referential, there will also be an analysis of how topic- related variation in clause order, and in referring terms, is related to speakers' social identity (social class and gender). The study differs from past analyses of topic in several ways: 1) the study aims to integrate five different types and levels of topic; 2) the study includes an analysis of the information status, as well as the topic status, of entities and propositions; 3) the data are diversified in terms of discourse mode; 4) the discourse in which topics are encoded is itself analyzed; 5) the study examines social differences in the encoding of topic. The project is relevant to the study of topic, information status, linguistic variation, syntax and discourse, and social differences in language use. It also has implications for variation theory and analysis, and our understanding of discourse coherence. Finally, it will provide connections between interactional and correlational sociolinguistics, and help align the concerns of formal and functional linguistics.