Sentence and Discourse

Abstract

The Minimalist Program of Generative Grammar provides a model of the Sentence which represents the competence of the native speaker. The model combines lexical and morphosyntactic primitives via iterative merge operations. No comparable model exists for discourse; nor can one exist, since the primitive sentences of a discourse are unlimited in their internal structure and therefore in number. Yet speakers have a discourse competence. Moreover, a speaker who possesses Sentence competence automatically possesses Discourse competence as well. This fact suggests that the two modules of the language faculty engage in crucial interaction. More precisely (i) the anaphoric and rhetorical relations between sentences responsible for discourse coherence are encoded in sentence grammar, and (ii) these same relations constrain in turn the construal of the individual sentences of a discourse. Part I of the volume examines elements of sentence grammar, including tense, aspect, mood, modality, and determination; Part II targets modes of discourse: sentence sequences, dialogue, and different types of narrative. While focusing on a variety of subjects, languages, and methods of research, taken as a whole, the studies support the hypothesis that the grammaticality of both sentence and discourse depends on their constant interaction in both synchrony and diachrony.