On identifying basic discourse units in speech: theoretical and empirical issues

In spite of its crucial role in discourse segmentation and discourse interpretation, there is no consensus in the literature on what a discourse unit is and how it should be identified. Working with spoken data, we claim that the basic discourse unit (BDU) is a multi-dimensional unit that should be...

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Main Authors: Liesbeth Degand, Anne Catherine Simon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses universitaires de Caen 2009-06-01
Series:Discours
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/discours/5852
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author Liesbeth Degand
Anne Catherine Simon
author_facet Liesbeth Degand
Anne Catherine Simon
author_sort Liesbeth Degand
collection DOAJ
description In spite of its crucial role in discourse segmentation and discourse interpretation, there is no consensus in the literature on what a discourse unit is and how it should be identified. Working with spoken data, we claim that the basic discourse unit (BDU) is a multi-dimensional unit that should be defined in terms of two linguistic criteria: prosody and syntax. In this paper, we explain which criteria are used to perform the prosodic and syntactic segmentation, and how these levels are mapped onto one another. We discuss three types BDUs (one-to-one, syntax-bound, prosody-bound) and open up a number of theoretical issues with respect to their function in discourse interpretation.
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spelling doaj-art-c9a0bfbe967b48169e81673ebdd14ec02025-01-30T09:52:53ZengPresses universitaires de CaenDiscours1963-17232009-06-01410.4000/discours.5852On identifying basic discourse units in speech: theoretical and empirical issuesLiesbeth DegandAnne Catherine SimonIn spite of its crucial role in discourse segmentation and discourse interpretation, there is no consensus in the literature on what a discourse unit is and how it should be identified. Working with spoken data, we claim that the basic discourse unit (BDU) is a multi-dimensional unit that should be defined in terms of two linguistic criteria: prosody and syntax. In this paper, we explain which criteria are used to perform the prosodic and syntactic segmentation, and how these levels are mapped onto one another. We discuss three types BDUs (one-to-one, syntax-bound, prosody-bound) and open up a number of theoretical issues with respect to their function in discourse interpretation.https://journals.openedition.org/discours/5852prosodic segmentationgrammatical segmentationdiscourse structurebasic discourse units
spellingShingle Liesbeth Degand
Anne Catherine Simon
On identifying basic discourse units in speech: theoretical and empirical issues
Discours
prosodic segmentation
grammatical segmentation
discourse structure
basic discourse units
title On identifying basic discourse units in speech: theoretical and empirical issues
title_full On identifying basic discourse units in speech: theoretical and empirical issues
title_fullStr On identifying basic discourse units in speech: theoretical and empirical issues
title_full_unstemmed On identifying basic discourse units in speech: theoretical and empirical issues
title_short On identifying basic discourse units in speech: theoretical and empirical issues
title_sort on identifying basic discourse units in speech theoretical and empirical issues
topic prosodic segmentation
grammatical segmentation
discourse structure
basic discourse units
url https://journals.openedition.org/discours/5852
work_keys_str_mv AT liesbethdegand onidentifyingbasicdiscourseunitsinspeechtheoreticalandempiricalissues
AT annecatherinesimon onidentifyingbasicdiscourseunitsinspeechtheoreticalandempiricalissues