Semantic structures of the American blog discourse

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SEMANTIC STRUCTURES OF THE AMERICAN BLOG DISCOURSE

Pavlo Zernetsky, Olena Kucherova

Annotation

In this article the semantic structures of constructing American blog discourse are analyzed. Those structures are based upon semantic relations between propositions in the text of the blogs and aim to enhance coherence in this discourse. The results show that particular types of interpropositional relations are used on macro-semantic level for different subgenres of blogs (the semantic relations of equivalence, comparison, contrast, `part-whole'/'whole-part', implication/causality, chronological order and spatial order relations). In particular, these interpropositional relations differ in the subgenres, such as political, business, socio-cultural, technology, and sports. In addition, the analysis brings out the different percentage of their usage.

Keywords: discourse, discourse analysis, blogs, proposition, speech event, interpropositional semantic relations.

Анотація

Павло Зернецький, Олена Кучерова

СЕМАНТИЧНІ СТРУКТУРИ В ДИСКУРСІ АМЕРИКАНСЬКИХ БЛОГІВ

Постановка проблеми. З лінгвістичного погляду цікавим є дослідження побудови дискурсу блогів як новітніх ЗМІ. На семантичному рівні важливим є поняття зв'язності дискурсу, тобто як значення пропозицій пов'язані між собою у тексті блогу. Семантичні відмінності між пропозиціями допомагають будувати дискурс залежно від інтенцій автора. Ми проводимо макрорівневий аналіз дискурсу і вивчаємо відношення між пропозиціями, що розташовані і контактно, і віддалено одна від одної в тексті блогу. Семантичні відношення між пропозиціями лежать в основі семантичних структур побудови дискурсу блогів.

Мета статті. Метою статті є визначення певних структур побудови дискурсу американських блогів із погляду семантичного комунікативно-функціонального підходу, а також з'ясування, як саме жанрові характеристики дискурсу блогів відображено у мові.

Методи дослідження. Методи дослідження передбачають відбір та аналіз інтернет-статей різних піджанрів у провідних американських блогах за 2019 рік. Було застосовано методи міжпропозитивного семантичного аналізу і метод статистичного моделювання для опису семантичних структур і піджанрових особливостей використання міжрівневих семантичних відношень.

Основні результати дослідження. Результати дослідження свідчать, що для продукування різних піджанрів блогів (у сферах політичній, соціально-культурній, економічній, технологічній і спортивній) характерним є використання автором дискурсу різних семантичних структур. Виявлено основні семантичні структури для окремих піджанрів та описано лексико-семантичні засоби розгортання змісту дискурсу.

Висновки і перспективи. Визначено типові риси дискурсу американських блогів. Семантичні структури побудови дискурсу американських блогів визначено як комбінацію певних міжрівневих переважно нееквівалентних семантичних відношень.

Ключові слова: дискурс, дискурс-аналіз, блоги, пропозиція, мовленнєва подія, міжпропозитивні семантичні відношення.

Introduction

Interest in blog discourse has been on a sharp rise for a few decades. The proliferation of digital technologies and rapid growth of internet penetration made weblogs (blogs) an increasingly popular form of communication. Moreover, blogs are significant part of global communication (Zernetska, 2017). Being highly diversified in terms of content and user motivations for engaging with weblogs, blogosphere has become a mainstream genre of computer-mediated communication. Some bloggers become so successful that their readership is increasing dramatically. High-powered blogs are paid by advertisers to reach audiences online. The USA perhaps has the largest blogging community in the world and blogging there is still on the rise. Due to the fact that blogs are treated as a text type, or a genre, or a discourse, their aim and motivation need to be taken into account. So far, there has not been much research about the blog design.

Theoretical background

In recent years discourse analysts have focused on researching how language is used above and beyond the sentence by examining units larger than sentences and also by examining aspects of the world in which language is used. J. Lemke defined discourse analysis as “a set of techniques for making connections between texts and their meanings” (p. 79). Discourse analysis is a tool used to analyze the production of meaning in context (Gee, 2005). What linguists investigate is the actual utterances, the processes that influence the production of such utterances, and the meaning we give language. Through discourse, people organize thoughts into communicative actions and convey communicative intentions. Linguists focus on how language is used in context. Writers, readers, and situations are also the realm of analysis.

Traditionally written discourse is opposed to spoken discourse (Sindoni, 2013). Discourse can be created by speaking or writing and these two processes rely upon language in strikingly different way. As a result, their products achieve coherence through very different means. Blogs stand somewhere between speech and writing. Thus, blog discourse is somewhat the combination of properties of written and spoken discourse. Cohesive ties between propositions show recipient design - the process whereby a speaker takes the listener into account when presenting information.

In terms of communication type, blogs resemble us public speaking. Public speaking is viewed as expanded conversation with three important characteristics of good conversation: direct and spontaneous, colorful and compelling, and tuned to listeners (Osborn, & Osborn, 2000, p. 11). What does this mean? First, although the blog post is planned and written beforehand, it addresses its audience just like an oral speech. The author of the blog is addressing the readers in an engaging way, almost as if they are talking to them. Second, just like effective speeches, successful blogs are colorful and compelling, conveying colorful conversational qualities that audience enjoy so much. Last but not least, blogs monitor their readers' reaction, which is, however, postponed in time. The author of a blog a kind of predicts this reaction providing additional facts, examples, and expert opinions. In this way the author answers all possible questions of the audience.

Moreover, similar to public speaking, the roles of writer and reader are clearly defined. Good blogs like good speeches are products of thorough research, careful planning, and appropriate design. The reader will `trust' the author who seems to be competent in their subject. The author plans speech events. The right blog design contributes to credibility and charisma of its author.

We focus our attention on utterances as minimal units of discourse. Utterances are communicative units and their meaning is shown in propositions as discourse units. Thus, to study the discourse semantics, we analyze semantic features of propositions. In linguistic sense the term `proposition' describes the semantic structure that manifests the cognitive meaning of the utterance. And semantic relations between propositions form some certain types of discourse design.

Macroand micro-semantic relations between propositions constitute the structural basis for the dynamic aspect of discourse development, which is usually, analyzed with the help of corresponding strategies and tactics (Kuranova, 2018). We differentiate the status of semantic relations between propositions into macro relations and micro relations according to the scope of their use. The text of the blog is understood as a speech event, which is the basic analytical unit for the analysis of verbal interaction and can consist of single utterances or stretches of utterances (Gumperz, 1986, p. 16-17). We analyze the relations which exist between different propositions within the whole blog as a speech event and are called macro semantic relations.

We aim to explore the structure of American blog discourse that involves the linguistic processes of arranging sentences to convey meaning and cognitive processes that underlie the organization of thoughts into verbal forms. Our critical analysis of American blog discourse goes beyond the usual description of grammatical and rhetorical structures and is based on an explicit theory of “context” (van Dijk, 2009) that is able to relate such discourse to the social situation understood by the participants.

It is important to remember that a key feature of a discourse is coherence - there are structured relationships among its parts, some patterned relationships among sentences and among ideas. The role of lexical patterns in written texts had been the object of detailed attention, especially within the study of lexical cohesion (Halliday, & Hasan, 1976; Hasan, 1984). Multiple ties between words in written texts had been meticulously recorded by M. Hoey (1991). For some years, a variety of studies have been conducted to investigate discourse coherence (Kucherova, 2005; Kuranova, 2012; Riabokon, 2004). The concept of coherence describes not only something that exists in structures of discourse, but also something that exists in people.

In American blog discourse different kinds of processes and different configurations of language work together to produce coherence. Depending on the blog topic/subgenre the writer uses different designs to construct their discourse for their projected recipient. A good way to see this is to compare different topics/subgenres with one another. This can be called the comparison between registers, ways of using language that reflect different facets of its context such as participants, goals, and settings.

Subgenres are the recurrent uses of more or less conventionalized forms through which authors of blogs communicate meaning, get things done using language. Blogs subgenres can thus be seen as a kind of tacit contact between writers and readers, which influence the behaviour of text producers and the expectations of receivers. american blog semantic linguistic

Special interest presents the semantic peculiarities of different subgenres of blogs. We single out traditional subgenres of blogs according to the spheres of social-economic life of the society: political, socio-cultural, business, technology, and spots blogs. The most informative from the point of view of the meaning structure of those blogs subgenres can be the analysis of the semantic relations between their propositions. We consider it most appropriate to apply the set of relations between propositions (interpropositional relations) reviewed by P. Zernetsky (1992, pp. 59-97) based on the American neo-rhetorical tradition, which often view them as thought relations (Adams, & Dwyer 1982; Arnaudet, & Barrett, 1984; McQuade, & Atwan, 1988; Raskin, & Weiser, 1987). Those semantic interpropositional relations were consequently developed in American and Canadian works (Conrad, 2001; Jordan, 2006; Swales, & Feak, 2017). Among the most frequently mentioned types of semantic interpropositional relations are the following: exemplification, definition, contrast, comparison, enumeration, chronological order, process, causality, spatial order, identity, and equivalence. In terms of the specific number and type of interpropositional relations, the authors of neo-rhetorical textbooks differ mostly in singling out such relations as exemplification, illustration, definition, general-to-specific (induction), and specific-to-general (deduction), which can be analyzed as subtypes of one general type `part-whole'/'whole-part' relations. In this research we apply such types of semantic interpropositional relations, as identity, equivalence, similarity, contrast, `part-whole'/'whole-part' relations, spatial order relations, chronological order relations, and semantic relations of implication/causality to analyze the relations between propositions that are situated both closely and distantly in blogs. Those types of relations are divided into two major groups: equivalent and non-equivalent. To the equivalent ones belong the relations of identity and equivalence proper. To the non-equivalent relations we refer the relations of similarity, the relations of contrast, `part-whole'/'whole-part' relations, spatial order relations, chronological order relations, and semantic relations of implication/causality.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the distinctive features of American blog discourse from the perspective of semantic communicative functional approach. In accordance with this approach, the semantic structure of American blog discourse is analyzed. In other words, how information is linked through cohesive ties. We aim to analyze the design of the most popular American blogs in order to see how rhetoric impacts on writing skills. We are the first to take the functional approach to the analysis of linguistic performance when authors construct blog discourse.

By defining the type of semantic relations between propositions, we conduct propositional analysis. In this way we describe how genre characteristics of blog discourse are presented in language. Comparing texts of the same subgenre in different blogs, we pinpoint the elements that repeat. As a result, discourse design patterns are suggested.

The method of interpropositional semantic analysis was applied to describe the semantic structure of American blogs. The statistical modelling method was also used to describe the usage of particular type of semantic relations between propositions in a definite blog subgenre. Thus, we have outlined some major design formats that are used in the most successful blogs and have described the main linguistic patterns of such blogs.

For this we have analyzed the most successful blogs in the USA. The corpus includes articles published during the year 2019. The corpus of media websites includes the most “powerful” and the most “valuable” blogs in the world according to the British newspaper `The Guardian' and an American magazine `The Atlantic' respectively: `The Huffington Post' (huffingtonpost. com), `Mashable' (mashable.com), `Techcrunch' (techcrunch.com), and `Business Insider' (businessinsider.com). The salient feature in this genre is the mixture of informative and persuasive rhetorical modes.

The research clearly demonstrates that distinctive differences in genres lead writers to employ different rhetorical choices. In our analysis we focus on the patterns in which sentences (and other units such as acts and turns) appear in the texts that are constructed when authors write their blogs. Believing that the form of language is governed by abstract linguistic rules that are part of writers' competence, we focus on principles that guide performance, the use of language. These principles are based on certain linguistic patterns that can be explained through definite relationships between propositions. The combination of such interpropositional relations constructs the structure of American blog discourse.

The interpropositional relations can be classified into two types: equivalent and non-equivalent relations. To the equivalent ones belong the relations of equivalence proper and the relations of identity. To the non-equivalent relations we refer the relations of comparison, the relations of contrast, `partwhole'/'whole-part' relations, spatial order relations, chronological order relations, and semantic relations of implication/causality.