Semi-formulaic Phrases

Abstract

Chapter 9 explores the semi-formulaic expressions in our texts. These semi-formulaic expressions appear in the letter body and reflect a writer’s considerations as to the structure and tone of the letter. The chapter is divided into five parts: Section 9.1 sets apart semi-formulaic expressions from formulaic expressions and introduces the concepts of signposting and hedging. Section 9.2 describes the standard patterns and established variants and variations of each relevant semi-formulaic expression. Section 9.3 contains the analysis of errors, both phraseological and grammatical. Section 9.4 evaluates the distribution of the observed errors against the predictor variables set out in Chapter 2.