Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T19:16:16.773Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Planned vs Unplanned Discourse: Oral Narrative vs Conversation in Woods Cree

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Donna Starks
Donna Starks*
Affiliation:
The University of Auckland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Most research on Algonquian languages, of which Cree is a typical example, is based on collections of narrative texts (Wolfart 1973; Dahlstrom 1986; James 1986). Although there is nothing intrinsically wrong with this approach, the use of one particular type of database in such an extensive amount of research lends itself to a genre-biased description of the language. In oral cultures, many narrative texts are typically preplanned (Chafe 1985) and therefore will have, according to researchers in discourse analysis, many of the features of preplanned texts such as complete and longer sentences, higher clause density and a larger proportion of subordinate clauses (Brown and Yule 1985:151–117; Biber 1988:47). In addition, other language-specific features may occur.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 39 , Issue 4 , December 1994 , pp. 297 - 320
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahenakew, Freda 1984. A Text-Based Grammar in Cree Language Education. MA thesis, University of Manitoba.Google Scholar
Biber, Douglas 1988. Variation Across Speech and Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Brown, Gillian, and Yule, George 1985. Discourse Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Chafe, Wallace L. 1985. Linguistic Differences Produced by Differences between Speaking and Writing. Pp. 105–123 in Literacy, Language and Learning: The Nature and Consequences of Reading and Writing. Olson, David R., Torrance, Nancy and Hildyard, Angela, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Crystal, David 1991. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. 3rd ed. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Cyr, Danielle 1991. Algonquian Orders as Aspectual Marks: Typological evidence and pragmatic considerations. Pp. 58–88 in Papers of the Twenty-Second Algonquian Conference. Cowan, William, ed. Ottawa: Carleton University.Google Scholar
Dahlstrom, Amy Louise 1986. Plains Cree Morpho-Syntax. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California/Berkeley.Google Scholar
James, Deborah 1986. Foreground and Background in Moose Cree Narratives. Pp. 155–174 in Actes du Dix-Septième Congrès des Algonquinistes. Cowan, William, ed. Ottawa: Carleton University.Google Scholar
James, Deborah 1991. Preverbs and the Function of Clauses in Moose Cree. Belcourt Lecture (9 March 1990). Winnipeg: Voices of Rupert’s Land.Google Scholar
Labov, William 1972. Sociolinguistic Patterns. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Rhodes, Richard 1979. Some Aspects of Ojibwa Discourse. (Special issue: Linguistique amérindienne I: syntaxe algonquienne. Ford, Alan and Lees, Jim, eds.) Montreal Working Papers in Linguistics. 12:187–204.Google Scholar
Starks, Donna J. 1992. Aspects of Woods Cree Discourse. Ph.D. disssertation, University of Manitoba.Google Scholar
Wolfart, H. Christoph 1973. Plains Cree: A Grammatical Sketch. American Philosophical Transactions. ns 63:5. Philadelphia: Philosphical Association.Google Scholar
Wolfart, H. Christoph, and Carroll, Janet F. 1981. Meet Cree: A Guide to the Cree Language. 2nd ed. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press.Google Scholar