OLAC Discourse Type Vocabulary

Date issued:2002-11-21
Status of document:Draft Recommendation. This is only a preliminary draft that is still under development; it has not yet been presented to the whole community for review.
This version:http://www.language-archives.org/REC/discourse-20021121.html
Latest version:http://www.language-archives.org/REC/discourse.html
Previous version:None.
Abstract:

This document specifies the codes, or controlled vocabulary, for the Discourse Type extension of the OLAC Type element. These codes describe the content of a resource as structured in such a way as to represent a particular type of discourse.

Editors: Heidi Johnson (mailto:ailla@ailla.org) Helen Aristar Dry (mailto:hdry@linguistlist.org)
Changes since previous version:
Copyright © Heidi Johnson (University of Texas at Austin) Helen Aristar Dry (Eastern Michigan University) . This material may be distributed and repurposed subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

Table of contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Discourse Type
References

1. Introduction

The Discourse Type extension of the Type element is used to describe the content of a resource as representing discourse of a particular structural type. It will typically be used when the resource is itself an object of study, as, for example, when the resource is a primary text. So it will usually occur in conjunction with the Linguistic Data Type extension. For example, a narrative text would be described as both a primary text (OLAC Linguistic Type) and a narrative (OLAC Discourse Type).

2. Discourse Type

Each term in the controlled vocabulary is described in one of the following subsections. The heading gives the encoded value for the term that is to be used as the value of the code attribute of the "OLAC-Discourse-Type" extension of the Type metadata element [OLAC-MS]. Under the heading, the term is described in four ways. Name gives a descriptive label for the term. Definition is a one-line summary of what the term means. Comments offers more details on what the term represents. Examples may also be given to illustrate how the term is meant to be applied.

dialogue

NameDialogue
DefinitionAn interactive discourse with two or more participants.
Examples

Examples of dialogues include conversations, interviews, correspondence, consultations, greetings and leave-takings.

drama

NameDrama
DefinitionA planned, creative, rendition of discourse involving two or more participants.
Comments

Usually a drama involves mimesis of events, either real or imagined.

Examples

Examples of drama include plays, skits, and enacted scenes.

formulaic

NameFormulaic
DefinitionThe resource is a ritually or conventionally structured discourse.
Examples

Examples of formulaic discourse are prayers, curses, blessings, charms, curing rituals, marriage vows, and oaths.

ludic

NameLudic
DefinitionLudic discourse is language whose primary function is to be part of play, or a style of speech that involves a creative manipulation of the structures of the language.
Examples

Examples of ludic discourse are play languages, jokes, secret languages, and speech disguises.

oratory

NameOratory
DefinitionThe art of public speaking, or of speaking eloquently according to rules or conventions.
Examples

Examples of oratory include sermons, lectures, political speeches, and invocations.

narrative

NameNarrative
DefinitionA monologic discourse which represents temporally organized events.
Examples

Types of narratives include historical, traditional, and personal narratives, myths, folktales, fables, and humorous stories.

procedural

NameProcedural
DefinitionAn explanation or description of a method, process, or situation having ordered steps.
Examples

Examples of procedural discourses include recipes, instructions, and plans.

report

NameReport
DefinitionA factual account of some event or circumstance.
Examples

Examples of reports include news reports, essays, and commentaries.

singing

NameSinging
Definition"Words or sounds [articulated] in succession with musical inflections or modulations of the voice" OED.
Examples

Examples of singing include chants, songs, and choruses.

unintelligible_speech

NameUnintelligible speech
DefinitionThe resource consists of utterances that are not intended to be interpretable as ordinary language.
Examples

Examples of unintelligible speech include sacred languages, speaking in tongues, and singing syllables (fa-la-la).


References

[OLAC-MS]OLAC Metadata Set.
<http://www.language-archives.org/OLAC/olacms.html>