I repeat therefore I am: The parasyntactic perspective Cover Image

Opakuji, tedy jsem: Parasyntaktická perspektiva
I repeat therefore I am: The parasyntactic perspective

Author(s): Martina Benešová, Dan Faltýnek, Libuše Kormaníková, Ondřej Kučera
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Syntax, Lexis
Published by: Jazykovedný ústav Ľudovíta Štúra Slovenskej akadémie vied
Keywords: low-frequency lexicon; hapax legomenon; text structure; text cohesion; personal content profile; authorship attribution; forensic standard; parasyntax

Summary/Abstract: The text presents a theoretical platform and a case study of a new method for authorship attribution based on an author’s specific low-frequency lexicon. It will be shown that an author’s text is largely context-independent and is constructed by the author’s habit based on the regular repetition of certain topics or modes of expression. The author’s idiosyncratic way of choosing between synonymous linguistic devices in the text happens at a distance of several word forms or sentence units. This means that texts themselves are constructed using a much wider range of repetitions than expected and that the structure of the text above the level of intersentential linking is determined by a specific group of words (functional but above all content words) obligatorily used by the author in the formulation of the text. The newly introduced method can be used to attribute authorship by relying on the specific linguistic imprint of the author in the text (in this context, we talk about parasyntactic linguistic level). The method is compared with a function-word-based method.

  • Issue Year: 74/2023
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 477-494
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: Czech
Toggle Accessibility Mode