Peripheries and their internal structure: an empirical analysis of left- and right-peripheral sequences across written English discourse

Abstract

This article investigates the distribution, linear ordering and functions of sequences of linguistic elements occurring at the left and right peripheries of discourse units across three genres of written English discourse. Based on a corpus of news reports, commentaries and personal narratives, the paper aims to account for discourse-genre-specific preferences in the use of peripheral two-part sequences such as and so, but I think or now though. The data show considerable variation across genres in terms of (i) which formal types of sequences occur at the peripheries, (ii) how peripheral elements are sequentially ordered, and (iii) which discourse-pragmatic functions left- and right-peripheral sequences fulfil in written English discourse. The observed variation in the use of peripheral sequences across news reports, commentaries and personal narratives can be explained by discourse-related factors as well as the specific communicative purposes of each genre. The present article argues for a prototype-anchored conceptualization of the internal structure of discourse units: On the one hand, the left and right peripheries are conceptualized as containing a wide range of – more and less prototypical – linguistic elements (i.e. extra-clausal constituents and adjuncts); on the other hand, the boundary between core and periphery is conceptualized as fuzzy and gradient.