A Computational Theory of Goal-Directed

8/4/2019 A Computational Theory of Goal-Directed

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A Computat ional Theory of Goal-DirectedStyle in SyntaxC h r y s a n n e D i M a r c o "U n i v e r s i ty o f W a t e r lo o

G r a e m e H i r s t tU n i v e r s i t y o f T o r o n t o

The problem of s ty le i s h ighly re levant to comp utat ional l inguis t ics , b ut curre nt sys tem s dealon ly superficially, i f at all , w ith su btle b ut sign if ican t nuance s of language. Expressive ef fects,together w ith their associated m ean ing, contained in the style o f a text are lost to ana lysis andabsent f rom generat ion .

We have developed an approach to the computat ional t reatment o f s ty le that i s in tendedto eventual ly incorporate three se lec ted components- - lex ical , syn tac t ic , and semant ic . In th ispaper, we concentra te on certa in aspec ts o f syntac t ic s ty le . We have designed and implem ented acom puta tiona l theory of goal-directed styl is t ics th at can be used in vario us applications, inc lud ingmachine t ransla t ion , second- language instruc t ion , and natura l language generat ion .

We have construc ted a vocabulary o f s ty le tha t conta ins both prim i t ive and abstrac t e lementsof sty le . T he pr im itive elements describe the styl ist ic e f fects of indiv idu al sentence components.These elements are combined into patter ns tha t are described by a styl ist ic m eta-language, theabstrac t e lements , that de f ine the concordant and d iscordant s ty l i s t ic e f fec ts com mo n to a group o fsentences. H igher-level patter ns are bu il t fro m the abstract e leme nts and associated w ith specif icstyl ist ic goals, such as clari ty or concreteness. Th us, w e have defined rules for a syn tactic styl ist icgr am m ar at three interrelated levels of description: prim it ive elem ents, abstract e lem ents, andsty l i s t ic goals . Gra mm ars for both En gl ish and French have been construc ted , u sing the samevocabulary and the same deve lopment m ethodology . P arsers that imp lem ent these gram ma rs havealso been bui l t .

The s ty l i s t ic gramm ars codify aspec ts o f language that were prev iously de fined only descrip-t ively . T he theory is being applied to various problems in w hich the for m of an u tteran ce conve ysan essentia l pa rt o f meanin g an d so m us t be precisely represented and understood.

1 . Introduct ion1 . 1 A n A d v o c a c y o f S t y l eU n d e r s t a n d i n g a te x t r e q u i r e s m o r e t h a n j u s t u n d e r s t a n d i n g i ts p r o p o s i t i o n a l c o n t e n t.I t r e q u i r e s a s e n s i t i v i ty t o th e i n t e r a c t i o n o f s e m a n t i c c o n t e n t , e m o t i o n a l e x p r e s s i o n ,a n d i n t e r p e r s o n a l a n d s i t u a t io n a l a t t i t u d e s . T h i s i n t e r a c t i o n i s r e f l e c te d in t h e s ty le o ft h e t e x t. S t y le i n l a n g u a g e i s n o t j u s t s u r f a c e a p p e a r a n c e , a d e c o r a t i v e v e n e e r . R a t h e r, i tis a n e s s e n ti a l p a r t o f m e a n i n g , p a r t o f th e a u t h o r ' s c o m m u n i c a t i o n t o th e r e a d e r. S o tof u l ly u n d e r s t a n d t h e n u a n c e s o f a te x t, o n e m u s t d e t e r m i n e n o t o n l y t h e p r o p o s i t i o n a lc o n t e n t , b u t a l so h o w i ts c o m m u n i c a t i v e e f f e ct is c o l o r e d b y t h e f o r m , w h i c h r e fl e c tsa f f e c ti v e c o n t e n t . W h i l e p r o p o s i t i o n a l c o n t e n t p r o v i d e s t h e b a s ic tone, t h e e x p r e s s i v e

* D epartment of Com puter Science, University of W aterloo, W aterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1.t Department of Co mputer Science, University of To ronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A4.

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Computational Linguistics Volume 19, Number 3

form provides the tonal quality. Together, form and content create style, that whichdistinguishes both an individual text and a collective body of writing.

Style is created through subtle variation, seemingly minor modulations of exactlywhat is said, the words used to say it, and the syntactic constructions employed, butthe resulting effect on communication can be striking. Consider the following versionsof the same text, Mat thew 7:27:

1. And descended the storm and came the floods and blew the winds andbeat against that house and it fell and the fall of it was great. (Literaltranslation of the Hellenistic Greek.)

2. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, andbeat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (RevisedStandard Version, 1952.)

3. The rain came down, the floods rose, the wind blew, and beat upo n thathouse; down it fell with a great crash. (The New English Bible, 1970.)

4. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and itfell; and what a fall it had! (The New Jerusalem Bible, 1985.)

5. The rains fell, the torrents came, the winds blew and lashed against hishouse. It collapsed under all this and was completely ruined. (The NewAmerican Bible, 1973.)

The first variation, a word-by-word translation from the Hellenistic Greek, is actuallya good deal less striking than subsequent, widely accepted versions. The placementof the verbs before their subjects is quite normal and the closing is also quite usual.The sense of discord and resulting poetic effect is not as evident as it is in the secondvariation, from the Revised Standard Version, which is resoundingly poetic in theimitative form of the first five clauses, followed by the inverted form of the final clause.The text begins in strong concord and dissolves into discord, but not unpleasingly so.Discord, as we use the term in this paper, refers to a deviation from the norm, but suchdeviations can be used to good effect. As we will see, in language as in music, it is oftenthrough the construction of patterns of concord and discord, particular combinationsof order and disorder that create an overall harmonious arrangement, that certainstylistic effects are achieved.

In versions 3 and 4, the dramatic effect of the closing has been retained from theRSV translation but through different choices of words and structure. In 3, the lastclause is inverted, but the translator has chosen to place more emphasis upon thefall itself (dow n i t fe ll ) than its magnitud e (great). Example 4 ends on an intense note,achieved through the use of an exclamation (wh at a fal l i t had! ) , rather than an inversionof syntactic structure. And no single word expresses the degree of magnitude of thefall. In the final example, 5, the drama and intensity of the RSV has been lost withthe removal of the dissolution from initial concord to final discord. In this case, thetranslator has opted for plainness and clarity, even at the expense of beauty.In English, example 1 sounds odd and disjointed; and examples 2, 3, and 4 aredramat ic in a wa y that example 5 is not. But all have the same essential content. Whatthen causes the differences in effect? What is being varied? There are at least fourparameters that play a role in these stylistic variations: lexical, syntactic, thematic, andsemant ic aspects.

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L e x i c a l a s p e c t s : Compare example 4 to the fo llowing constructed versions: 16. Rain descended, floods rose, gales raged and beat upon that dwelling,

and it collapsed; and what a fall it had!7. Rain fell, the water level rose, winds blew and hit that house, and it fell;and what a fall it had!

The differences between 4, 6, and 7 are primarily lexical. Example 6 uses rather ele-gant words, while 7 opts for a more commonplace vocabulary, and 4 lies somewherebetween the two in lexical formality.Syntax: Comparing example 2 to example 5, we see that the former uses syntacticstructures that create more dramatic effects: a short climactic sentence, and i t fe l l , anda striking inversion, grea t w as the fa l l o f i t , close the text on a powerful note. In contrast,5 ends with a very ordinary, unremarkable, construction.Thematic aspects: Comparing example 2 to example 3, we observe that the two sen-tence structures bring different elements into focus: grea t was the fa l l o f i t , in contrastto dow n i t fe l l w i t h a grea t crash . In general, variations in thematic structure can createdifferent stylistic effects.S e m a n t i c s : The exact choice of what is said, or not said, also has stylistic consequences.Compare example 4 to the following two constructed versions:

.

.A serious storm, with rain and gales and floods, struck that house,which collapsed.Rain fell and fell and eventually caused a flood, which rose up to thathouse; also the winds kept blowing until eventually the combined forcesof rain, flood, and wind were too great and caused so much structuraldamage that the house collapsed.

These variations differ in their semantic content: example 4 merely reports the events,but 8 evaluates, a ser ious s torm, while 9 emphasizes technical details, s t ru c tu ra l d a m a g e .These semantic differences are reflected in the texts; and stylistic differences result.

Given that these four parameters--lexical choice, syntax, theme, and semant ics--control stylistic variations, two questions arise: How do we characterize each type of variation? How does each variation contribute to an overall stylistic effect?

In considering these questions in this paper, we will concentrate on variations of thesyn ta c t i c parameter.

We emphasize that our intent here is n o t any form of literary analysis or literarytheory. Our main concern will be ordinary, everyday text. It is true that, in the Biblicaltexts above, we saw how different syntactic forms carry different stylistic import to thepoint that one form may be poetry while another is just dull, plodd ing prose. But style

1 We thank Eduard Hovy for constructingexamples 6 through 9.

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isn't just a mat ter o f achieving poetry or not. Every text, large or small, interesting ordull, effective or not, has its own style. Nor are we talking about style in any of itsnormat ive senses: the common tenets dictating standard forms (e.g., Chicago 1982), orthe textbook prescriptions for 'good' style: be clear, be simple, be precise (e.g., Strunkand White 1979). For people aim to convince, to persuade, to impress, and, even,sometimes to obscure, and standard textbooks tell us very little about such varied andsubtle stylistic and pragmatic goals.

Rather than a study of literary or normative style, our intent is to determinewhat gives any ordinary piece of text its stylistic 'feel.' The following examples willdemonstr ate wha t we have in mind. These texts are all from newspaper feature articles:

10. Silvia, a commanding wom an in her 50% a shrew falsely mellowed byreligion, promptly organized prayer sessions on the lines of Tupperwaremeetings.211. The artist provides a drea my background done in yellow and bistrebrushstrokes to a blue gow n with wood enly rigid folds or the profile of

a brown angel painted so mineral hard and modeled so carefully that theincoherence of virtue does it injury.3

12. Crazed with fear, he tried to purify her by dunking her in the ocean andholding her under the water; then in desperation he threw her on thestill-smoking pyreo 4

In a newspaper, we might have expected the writer and translator to have simplyaimed for clarity. In fact, we find a variety of effects. The first text, 10, emphasizes asense of harmony by repeating the same kind of structure, a nominal group, in thepostmodification of Silvia. The second, 11, is more complex, and achieves a certainbalance in the judicious use of conjunctions; but the result is so difficult to und ers tan dthat it doesn't really make sense. Text 12 has a stark initial participle clause, crazedwith fear, that emphasizes the intensity of the subject's emotional state.To account for the kinds of complex stylistic effects that occur even in everydaywriting, we propose a goal-directed understanding of style. That is, an author's in-tent can vary with respect to a number of stylistic goals, such as clarity or obscurity,abstraction or concreteness, staticness or dynamism . Particular choices of words , syn-tactic structure, and semant ic structure make a text more- -or le ss--stylistically variedand effective. We believe that these choices, goals such as abstraction or concreteness,and the stylistic elements that are used to realize them can be recognized and repre-sented in a formal notation. They are, in a word, codifiable. It is this codification thatis at the heart of com putation al s tylis t ics . S1 . 2 T h e F u n c t i o n o f S t y l ePropositional content alone is insufficient to determine the nature and form of a sen-tence (Hall iday 1985; McDonald and Pustejovsky 1985; Jameson 1987; Ho vy 1988; Scott

2 A d a p t e d f r o m T h e Manches ter Guardian W eekly , 7 Fe b r ua r y 198 8 . T r a ns l a t e d f r om Le M onde .3 T h e Manch es ter Guardian W eekly, 14 Fe b r ua r y 198 8 . T r a ns l a t e d f r om Le M o n d e . .4 The Manches ter Guardian Weekly , 7 F e b r u a r y 1 9 8 8 , w i t h m i n o r p u n c t u a t i o n c o r r e c t i o n s . T r a n s l a t e d f r o mLe Monde .5 T h e t e r m com putationa l sty listics h a s b e e n u s e d b y M i l i c ( 1 9 8 2 ) t o d e s c r i b e w h a t m i g h t b e t t e r b e c a l l e dcomputer-a ided s t yl is t ic s , i n w h i c h c o m p u t e r - g e n e r a t e d d a t a a n d p a t t e r n - m a t c h i n g a i d h u m a n a n a l y s i sa n d j u d g m e n t o f s ty l e i n l i t e ra r y s t u d i e s ( s ee S e c t io n 2 .2 ). I n c o n t r a s t , o u r u s e o f t h e t e r m e n t a i l s f u l lya u t o m a t i c c o m p u t e r a n a l y s i s o f t h e s t y l e o f a n y k i n d o f t e x t .

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C h r y s a n n e D i M a r c o a n d G r a e m e H i r s t G o a l - D i r e c t e d S t y le i n S y n t a x

a n d d e S o u z a 1 99 0). E v e n a f te r t h e p r o p o s i t i o n a l c o n t e n t h a s b e e n d e c i d e d u p o n , t h e r ea r e st il l m a n y l i n g u is t i c , s y n ta c t ic , a n d e v e n s e m a n t i c d e c i s i o n s t h a t t h e l a n g u a g e p r o -d u c e r m u s t m a k e b e f o r e a s e n te n c e c a n b e f o r m e d . T h e s e d e c i si o n s a re a s s u m e d b yt h e a u d i e n c e n o t to h a v e b e e n m a d e r a n d o m l y , b u t r a t h e r i n s p ec if ic , d e l i b e r a t e w a y st h a t e n c o d e a d d i t i o n a l i n f o r m a t i o n , s u c h a s o p i n io n , e m o t i o n a l a ff ec t , a n d i n t e r p e r -s o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s . 6 T o t h e e x t e n t t h a t a p i e c e o f t e x t e x h i b i t s a p a r t i c u l a r , r e c o g n i z a b l es ty l e, i t a l s o re f le c ts th e a u t h o r ' s p r e s u m e d i n t e n t t o c o n v e y t h e e f fe c t a s s o c i a t e d w i t ht h a t s ty le . T h e r e f o r e , f u ll u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f a te x t m u s t r e p r e s e n t n o t o n l y p r o p o s i t i o n a lc o n t e n t , b u t a l s o s t y l i s t i c e f f e c t s .

T h i s b e c o m e s m o s t a p p a r e n t i n th e c a s e o f m a c h i n e t r a n s l a ti o n . I f a t ra n s l a t i o n i st o b e f a i t h fu l , t h e s t y li s ti c e ff e c t s o f t h e s o u r c e l a n g u a g e t e x t m u s t b e t r a n s f e r r e d t o th et a r g e t l a n g u a g e t ex t , m a k i n g a p p r o p r i a t e u s e o f t h e s ty l is t i c c o n v e n t i o n s o f t h e t a r g e tl a n g u a g e . B u t a d i l e m m a a r is e s:

O n e w a n t s t o preserve t h e o r i g i n a l a u t h o r ' s s t y l i s t i c i n t e n t , t h ei n f o r m a t i o n b e i n g c o n v e y e d t h r o u g h t h e m a n n e r o f p r e s e n ta t io n .H o w e v e r , d i f f e r e n t l a n g u a g e s m i g h t r e a l iz e t h is e f f ec t i n d i f f e re n t w a y s .S o t h e s o u r c e a n d t a r g e t t e x ts s h o u l d b o t h a i m f o r th e a u t h o r ' s s ty l is t i cg o a l , b u t m i g h t h a v e t o a c h i e v e i t t h r o u g h d i f f er e n t l in g u i st ic m e a n s . 7

Y e t o n e w a n t s t o p r o d u c e a t e x t w h o s e s ty l e is a p p r o p r i a t e a n d n a t u r a lt o th e p a r t i c u l a r t a r g e t l a n g u a g e . L a n g u a g e s d i f f e r a s to t h e m o s t' n a t u r a l ' w a y t o e x p r e s s a n i d e a. F o r e x a m p l e , F r e n c h t e n d s t o p r e f e rm o r e a b s t r a c t io n , E n g l i sh m o r e c o n c r e t e n e s s ( V i n a y a n d D a r b e l n e t 1 9 58 ).T h e b e s t t r a n s l a t i o n , t h e r ef o r e , m i g h t modify t h e o r i g i n a l a u t h o r ' s s t y l i s t i ci n t e n t a n d e x p r e s s a d i f f e r e n t e f f e c t .

S o m e t i m e s , t h e r e i s n o w a y t o re s o l v e th i s d i l e m m a , a n d o n e i s l e ft w i t h a n u n s a t -i s f a c to r y tr a n s l at i o n . B u t , w i t h a k n o w l e d g e o f t h e comparative stylistics o f a l a n g u a g ep a ir , a n d o f th e s t y li s ti c r e s o u r c e s o f e a c h l a n g u a g e a n d t h e p o s s i b l e r a n g e o f ef fe c tst h e y c a n c r e a t e, o n e c a n s u b s t a n t i a l l y i m p r o v e t h e q u a l i t y o f a t r a n s la t i o n .1 . 3 T h e S t r u c t u r e o f t h e P a p e rO u r g o a l i s t o c re a t e a f o r m a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f s ty l is t ic s f o r u s e i n n a t u r a l l a n g u a g es y s t e m s , a n d , m o r e o v e r , to d o s o i n a m a n n e r a p p l i c a b l e to d i ff e r e n t l a n g u a g e s . T h es o l u t i o n w e w i ll p r o p o s e is a c o d i f i ca t i o n o f s y n t a c ti c s ty l is t i c k n o w l e d g e i n t he f o r mo f a stylistic gramm ar.

I n t h e n e x t s e c t io n , w e w i l l r e v i e w t h e c u r r e n t s t a t u s o f t h e c o d i f i c a t i o n o f s t yl e .I n S e c t i o n 3 , w e w i l l c o n s t r u c t a vocabulary f o r s ty l is t ic s . T h e d e f i n i t i o n o f c o n c e p t sa n d t h e a t t e m p t t o o r g a n i z e t h e m i n to a r e c o g n i z a b l e s t r u c t u r e is a n e c e s s a r y f ir s t s t e pt o w a r d u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e p r o b l e m . T h e n w e w i ll d e v e l o p i n S e c ti o n 4 a methodologyf o r c o n v e r t i n g s ty l is ti c k n o w l e d g e i n to a f o r m a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . T h e m e t h o d o l o g y w i l l

6 Thus the speaker or writer is accountable or his or her stylistic decisions, in the sense that that term isused in Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis. A person encountering friends on the street,for example, ma y choose to greet them or not, but is held accountable either w ay- -failu re to greet is asnub; it is not po ssible to opt o ut o f the situation altoge ther (Heritage 1984). Similarly, a speak er orwriter is accountable for all the stylistic nuances of his or her utterances; it is not possible to utter asentence in such a w ay that only the propositional content counts and not the form in which it isexpressed.7 "Econom y is expressed a t two levels, lexical and syntactic, which may, however, be related: w hat isexpressed lexically in one language m ay be realized through syntactic means in the other, and v iceversa" (Vinay and Darbe lnet 1958, p. 185, authors" translation).

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be as general as possible, ideally applicable to the codification of style for the sen-tence and parag raph levels; appropr iate for lexical, syntactic, and semantic style; andapplicable to both English and French. The methodo log y will be used in conjunctionwith the stylistic vocabulary to guide the systematic collection and creation of stylisticrules. This grammar will provide a formal description of the syntactic patterns thatdifferentiate the various stylistic goals.In addition to theoretical problems, there are implementation issues to be ad-dressed as well. In Section 5, we will describe the deve lopment of a stylis t ic parser thatuses the formal bodies of rules to analyze complex English text.In the last section, we will review the contributions of the paper and discusscompleted and ongoing extensions to the research.2 . Ba ck g ro und to the S tudy o f S ty l e2 . 1 V i e w s o f S t y l e2.1.1 The Classical View. The study of style has an ancient history, for the conceptfirst appeared in the fifth century B.C. Scholars of the time conceived the notion tha tthe rhetorical form of a writer's text should reflect his thoughts and intentions. Thiswas to be achieved through the appropriate choice and organization of words andsyntactic structures in order to "evoke the desired response" (Corbett 1971). Contentand form were recognized as inseparable, and as exerting a reciprocal influence uponeach other.Beginning with Corax of Syracuse, rhetoricians developed methods for systematicinstruction in the art of writing. The classical scholars, from Isocrates and Aristotleto Cicero and Quintilian, established standards of rhetoric that influenced curriculafor centuries. The contribution of Aristotle was particularly notable. He counteredPlato's a rgumen t that rhetoric was mere sophistry, deceitful reasoning, by providing asystem of instruction that treated the theory and practice of style as a valid discipline,designed to appeal simultaneously to reason and emotion.This classical approach to style flourished into the Middle Ages, for it formed partof a standard university education. The teaching of formal rhetoric in schools anduniversities continued to play a significant role throughout the Renaissance and intothe 18th century. However, in the 19th century, the teaching of rhetoric gave way tothe teaching of composition, which came to be associated merely with a set of basicprescriptive rules. This approach was in direct contrast to the original classical theorythat stressed the education of the whole person as a preparation for achieving style inwriting (Corbett 1971).2.1.2 The Modern View. Today, the common view of style is still one of conformityto standard good taste and an avoidance of bad form. Textbooks (Fowler 1968; Strunkand White 1979; Kane 1983; Grevisse 1986) promote the idea that there is a universaland correct mode of expression. However, normative rules, while necessary in somedegree so that communication is possible at all, may, if too inflexible, deaden theexpression of a writer's individual voice. Universal rules of good style are best used,we suggest, simply as a guide to avoiding bad constructions and obstacles to clearwriting, but no t as a basis for a theory of stylistic effects in text.2.1.3 Our View. In computational applications, where we expect to deal with largeamount s of similar types of text, the analysis of group s ty le is of more interest than theidiosyncratic style of any one writer. Group style can be subdivided into two majortypes, each associated with a different view of stylistics: l i terary style and util i tarian

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(o r f u n c t i o n a l ) s ty l e. U t il it a ri a n g r o u p s t y l e s a r e d i s t i n g u i s h e d f r o m t h e l i te r a r y t y p e b yt h e ir a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h a g e n r e o f t ex t t h a t h a s a p a r ti c u l a r f u n c t i o n o r p u r p o s e , s u c h a sm e d i c a l t e x t b o o k s o r p o l it ic a l n e w s p a p e r w r i ti n g . I n s u c h s t y le s , t h e w r i t e r a d j u s t s h e rl a n g u a g e t o wh a t r e a d e r s e x p e c t i n a sp e c i f i c s i t u a t i o n . T h e f a c t t h a t f u n c t i o n a l g r o u ps t y l e s a re s o m e w h a t m o r e r e s t r ic t iv e t h a n l i te r a r y g r o u p s t y le s , a s t h e y a r e c h a r a ct e ri s ti co f a p a r t i c u l a r g e n r e , su g g e s t s t h a t t h e p r o b l e m o f c o d i f y i n g u t i li t a ri a n s t y l e w i l l b em o r e t r a c t a b l e t h a n t h e l i t e r a r y c a se . F o r t h i s r e a so n , we w i l l f o c u s o n u t i l i t a r i a n t e x t si n g e n e ra l, d r a w i n g m o s t o f o u r e x a m p l e s f ro m n e w s p a p e r a n d m a g a z i n e j o u r n a li sm .( O u r m a i n s o u r c e o f e x a m p l e s i s t h e E n g l is h t r a n s la t io n s , p u b l i s h e d i n T h e G u a r d i a nW e e k l y, 8 of a r t i c l e s f rom L e M o n d e . )2 .2 The Current State o f Computat iona l Sty l i s t icsM o s t o f t h e r e s ea r c h t o d a t e i n c o m p u t a t i o n a l s t y li s ti cs h a s b e e n t h e d e v e l o p m e n to f so - c a l l e d s ty le -checkers . T h e U N i x -b a s ed W r i t e r' s W o r k b e n c h , G r a m m a t i k I a n d II,R igh tW ri t e r, P C-S ty le , Pun c tu a t io n an d S ty le , E lec t r ic W ebs te r , and CRITIQUE a re ex-a m p l e s ( R a s k in 1 9 86 ). H o w e v e r , n o n e o f t h e s e s y s t e m s i s a p p r o p r i a t e f o r o u r p u r p o s e s .T h e se p r o g r a m s e n f o r c e t h e b a s i c v i r t u e s : b e c l e a r , b e s i m p l e , b e p r e c i s e . T h e y m e r e l yc h e c k f o r c o m m o n g r a m m a t ic a l e r r o rs s u c h a s n u m b e r d i s a g re e m e n t , p r o n o u n c a sep r o b l e m s , u n b a l a n c e d p u n c t u a t i o n , s p l it i nf in i ti v es , e x c e s s iv e se n t e n c e l e n g th , a n d e x -c e s s i v e s e n t e n c e c o m p l e x i ty . T h e r e i s n o s y s t e m a t i c a p p r o a c h t o c o n s t r u c t i n g a v o c a b -u l a r y o f s t y l e , n o s t r u c t u r e d r e p r e se n t a t i o n o f s t y l is t ic r u l e s. S t y l is t ic k n o w l e d g e m a ys i m p l y c o n s i s t, a s i n t h e c a se o f C RIT IQUE , o f a n u n s t r u c t u r e d m a ss o f r u l e s ( J e n se ne t al. 1 98 6, p . 1 9 0) . T h e se p r o g r a m s h a v e n o r e a l u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e s i g n i f ic a n c e o fs t y l is t ic p a r a m e t e r s .

T h e o t h e r m a i n k i n d o f c o m p u t a t i o n a l r e se a r c h i n s ty l i s ti c s h a s b e e n s t a t is t ic a l ( e.g .,C lue t t 1976 , 1990 ; Mi l i c 1982 ; Bibe r 1988 , 1989) . Wi th th i s approach , a coun t i s made o ft h e n u m b e r o f o c c u r r e n c e s i n a s a m p l e t e x t o f a s t y li s t ic a l l y s i g n i fi c a n t f e a tu r e , su c ha s a n i n i t i a l p r e p o s i t i o n a l p h r a se . A s t a t i s t i c a l a n a l y s i s i s d o n e t o c o m p a r e t h e c o u n ta n d t y p e o f s ty l is ti c f e a t u r e s w i t h t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g p a r a m e t e r s o f t e x ts w r i t t e n b ya u t h o r s w o r k i n g i n t h e s a m e o r d i f f e r e n t g e n r e s . B u t t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e s t at is t ic a lr e s ul ts m u s t b e d o n e b y a h u m a n ; t h e c o m p u t e r s y s t e m h a s n o r ea l u n d e r s t a n d i n g o fw h a t t h e v a r i a t i o n s i n s t y l e m e a n .

A l t h o u g h v i r t u a l l y a l l c o m p u t a t i o n a l r e se a r c h i n s t y l i s t i c s t a k e s a n o n - AI a p p r o a c ht o t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a n d u s e o f st y li st ic k n o w l e d g e , t h e u s e f u l n e s s a n d d e g r e e o f s o -p h i st ic a ti o n o f s o m e o f th e s e p r o g r a m s s h o u l d n o t b e u n d e r e s t im a t e d . T h e Y o rk C o m -p u t e r I n v e n t o r y o f P r o s e S ty l e ( C l u e t t 19 76 , 1 99 0) h a s b e e n u n d e r g o i n g d e v e l o p m e n ts i n c e 19 70 . T h e p r i n c i p a l c o n t r i b u t i o n o f t h e p r o j e c t i s i ts c o n v i n c i n g d e m o n s t r a t i o nt h a t t h e r i c h n e s s a n d su b t l e t y o f l i te r a r y s t y l e c o u l d i n f a c t b e c o r r e l a t e d , t o a p e r h a p ss u r p r i s i n g d e g r e e o f a c c u ra c y , w i t h a c a t a l o g o f s y n ta c t ic p a t t e rn s . B u t t h e p r o g r a mt h a t p e r f o r m s t h e s t y li s ti c a n a l y s i s h a s n o u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e m e a n i n g o f i ts s t at is -t ic a l r e su l ts ; it r e l ie s o n h u m a n i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e s t a ti s ti c s c o m p u t e d . N e v e r t h e l e s s ,t h e Yo r k p r o j e c t ' s f i n d i n g s a r e s t il l v e r y u se f u l , a s t h e y h a v e c a t a l o g u e d t h e sy n t a c t i cf e a t u r e s t h a t p r o d u c e p a r t i c u l a r s t y l i s t i c e f f e c t s .

T h u s , m o s t c u r r e n t a p p r o a c h e s i n c o m p u t a t i o n a l s t y l i s t i c s h a v e n o t i n c l u d e d f o r -m a l s t y l i s ti c r u l e s , w h i c h a r e c l e a r ly a d e s i r a b l e p r e r e q u i s i t e . W e n o w r e v i e w t h e e x t e n tt o w h i c h s u c h r u l e s h a v e b e e n d e v e l o p e d i n t h e o r e t i c a l s t y l i s t i c s a n d u s e d i n c o m p u -ta t iona l s ty l i s t i c s .T h e t i tl e o f V i n a y a n d Da r b e l n e t ' s ( 19 58 ) b o o k , S t y l i s t i qu e c o mp a r d e d u f r a n a i s e t d e

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l 'anglais , i s s o m e w h a t m i s l e a d i n g , f o r t h e i r p u r p o s e w a s n o t j u s t t o d e a l w i t h c o m -p a r a t i v e s t y l i s t i c s i n t r a n s l a t i o n , b u t a l s o t o e n u m e r a t e t h e m o r e c o m m o n r u l e s a n dp r o c e d u r e s i n th e o v e r a l l tr a n s l a t i o n p r o c e s s . B u t t h e y d i d n o t c o n s t r u c t a sp e c if i c v o -c a b u l a r y f o r c o m p a r a t i v e s t y l is t i cs a n d , i n f a ct , v i r t u a l l y a l l o f th e i r ' s ty l i s ti c ' t e r m s r e f e rt o b a si c s y n ta c t ic c o n s t i tu e n t s . U s i n g t h e i r v o c a b u l a r y o f t e r m s , V i n a y a n d D a r b e l n e td e f in e d r u le s , e x p re s s e d in o r d i n a r y n a t u r a l l a n g u ag e , t h a t e n c o d e d k n o w l e d g e a b o u tF r e n c h - E n g l i sh c o m p a r a t i v e s t y li s ti c s . T h e r u l e s c e r t a i n l y f e ll sh o r t o f t h e r e p e r t o i r en e e d e d b y a p r o f e s s i o n a l t r a n s l a t o r , b u t n o o n e h a s y e t i m p r o v e d u p o n t h e i r c o d i -f i c a ti o n o f c o m p a r a t i v e s t y l i s ti c s ( B r ia n F it ch , p e r s o n a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n ) . T h e i r b o o ki s s t i l l u se d a s a p r e sc r i b e d t e x t i n t r a n s l a t i o n c o u r se s . V i n a y a n d Da r b e l n e t d i d n o tt a k e a n e x p l i c i t l y g o a l - d i r e c t e d a p p r o a c h , b u t t h e i r b o o k d o e s c o n t a i n a g r e a t d e a l o fi n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t t h e c o r r e l a t i o n o f s ty l i st i c g o a l s w i t h p a r t i c u l a r l ex i ca l, sy n t a c t ic ,a n d s e m a n t i c c h o i c e s . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , h o w e v e r , t h e i r r u l e s p r o v e d t o b e t o o l a n g u a g e -d e p e n d e n t f o r t h e f r a m e w o r k t h a t i s p r o p o s e d i n t h is p a p e r . B u t th e s u c c e s s o f ag o a l - d i r e c t e d c o d i f i c a t i o n , a l b e i t a n i m p l i c i t o n e , s u p p o r t s t h e a p p r o a c h t h a t w e w i l lt a k e b e l o w .

C r y s t a l a n d D a v y (1 96 9) h y p o t h e s i z e d t h e c r e a t io n o f a f o r m a l s t y l is t ic g r a m m a r ,b u i l t u p o n a v o c a b u l a r y o f s t yl is ti c t e r m s a n d i n t e n d e d t o re p r e s e n t t h e s e n t e n c es t r u c t u r e s c h a r a ct e ri s ti c o f a p a r t ic u l a r s t yl is t ic s u b l a n g u a g e . H o w e v e r , th e g r a m m a rt h a t t h e y s k e t c h e d c o n t a i n e d v i r t u a l l y n o t e r m s o t h e r t h a n p u r e l y s y n t a c t i c o n e s a n dn o c o r r e l a t i o n s w i t h s t y l i s t i c g o a l s ; i t wa s o n l y a f i r s t s t e p , a l t h o u g h a n a m b i t i o u so n e , t o w a r d a c o d i fi c a ti o n o f t h e s t y li s ti c ru l e s t h a t d e f i n e a s u b l a n g u a g e . W h a t w eh a v e f o u n d e s p e c i a l l y u s e f u l t o a d a p t f r o m t h e i r w o r k i s t h e o v e r a l l m e t h o d o l o g y , t h ea p p r o a c h t o f o r m a l i z in g s t y le , e v e n t h e b e l i e f t h a t s t y l e can b e f o r m a l i z e d .

K a n e ' s ( 19 83 ) rh e t o ri c a n d h a n d b o o k o f s t y l e r e p r e s e n t s t h e t y p i c a l t e x t b o o k t h a ta i m s t o t e a c h t h e r u l e s o f c l a ss i c g o o d wr i t i n g . K a n e , t o o , d i d n o t t a k e a n e x p l i c i tl yg o a l - d i r e c te d a p p r o a c h i n h i s st y li st ic ru l e s , b u t n e v e r t h e l e s s g a v e n u m e r o u s r e f e r e n c e st o th e s t y l is t ic g o a l s a s so c i a t e d w i t h p a r t i c u l a r sy n t a c t i c s t r u c t u r e s . T h e sy s t e m a t i c c o n -s t r u c t io n o f a s t y li s ti c v o c a b u l a r y s e e m s n o t t o h a v e b e e n a n e x p li c it g o al , b u t h e u s e dm a n y t e r m s u n i q u e t o st yl is ti cs . H o w e v e r , hi s t e r m i n o l o g y w a s a p p a r e n t l y a u g m e n t e dw h e n e v e r t h e n e e d a r o s e t o d e s c r i b e a n e w f e a t u r e ; t h e r e w a s n o u n d e r l y i n g s t r u c -t u re , n o f o r m a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f r u le s . T h e s t y li s ti c ru l e s w e r e e x p r e s s e d i n o r d i n a r yE n g l is h a n d a c h i e v e d , a s t h e a u t h o r i n t e n d e d , g o o d c o v e r a g e o f p l a i n w r i t i n g s t y le .T h i s b o d y o f r u l e s w a s ' s t r u c t u r e d ' t o t h e e x t e n t th a t t h e r e w e r e h i e r a rc h i e s o f s ty l is ti cs e n t e n c e t y p e s , b u t , i n g e n e ra l , K a n e ' s r u l e s a p p e a r t o b e j u s t a n e n u m e r a t i o n o f s t y li s -t i c t e n e t s , n o t a d e l i b e r a t e l y c o n s t r u c t e d o r g a n i z a t i o n . N e v e r t h e l e s s , w e h a v e f o u n di t u s e f u l t o d r a w u p o n t h e s e r u l e s a s ju s t if ic a t io n f o r t h e s y n t a c t ic c o v e r a g e o f o u rg r a m m a r .I n c o m p u t a t i o n a l s t y l i st i cs , a n a p p l i c a t i o n a r e a o f p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t to u s i s m a -c h i n e t r a n s l a t i o n (MT). I n su g g e s t i n g t h e a p p l i c a b i l i t y o f c o m p u t a t i o n a l s t y l i st i c s t o MT,L o f f i e r - L a u r i a n ( 1 9 8 6 ) e m p h a s i z e d a n i m p o r t a n t p o i n t : a l t h o u g h c o r r e s p o n d i n g g r o u ps t y l e s m a y e x i s t a c r o s s l a n g u a g e s , t h e r e a l i z a t i o n o f t h e s t y l e c a n b e d i f f e r e n t f o r e a c hl a n g u a g e . T s u t s u m i ( 19 90 ) p r e s e n t e d a m e t h o d o l o g y f o r b r i d g i n g s ty l i s t ic gaps (s tyl i s t icd i ff e re n c e s ) b e t w e e n t h e s y n t a x o f t h e s o u r c e a n d t a r g e t l a n g u a g e s i n MT. A n i m p o r -t a n t c o n t r i b u t i o n o f T s u t s u m i ' s w o r k i s t h e r e c o g n i t io n t h a t c o m p u t a t i o n a l s t y l is t ic sis u s e f u l fo r th e t r a n s l a ti o n o f p a i r s o f la n g u a g e s t h a t a r e n o t i n th e s a m e l a n g u a g eg r o u p .H o v y ' s (1 98 8) P A UL IN E s y s t e m w a s t h e f i r st c o m p u t a t i o n a l s y s t e m t h a t i m p l e -m e n t e d g o a l - d i r e c t e d s t y le . PAUL INE w a s a b l e t o g e n e r a t e t e x t t h a t c o n f o r m e d t o v a r i-o u s s ty l is t ic a n d p r a g m a t i c c o n s t r a in t s t h a t i t w a s g i v e n . T h e s y s t e m w a s g o a l - d i re c t e d ,a b l e t o c o r r e l a t e su c h s t y li s ti c g o a l s a s f o r m a l i ty , s i m p l i c it y , a n d r e sp e c t w i t h t h e l e x i c a l

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a n d s y n t a ct ic c h a ra c te r is t ic s o f t h e te x t p r o d u c e d . H o v y ' s m e t h o d w a s b a s e d o n t h ed e f i n i t i o n o f rhetorical goals of style, su c h a s f o r m a l i t y , f o r c e , a n d p a r t i a l i t y , t h a t c o n t r o lb r o a d e r p r a g m a t i c g o al s. F o r e x a m p l e , a l o w d e g r e e o f f o rm a l i ty c o m b i n e d w i t h h i g hd e g r e e s o f f o r c e a n d p a r t i a l i t y g i v e s a ' n o - n o n s e n se ' e f f e ct .T o a c h i e v e a p a r t i c u l a r r h e t o r i c a l g o a l , PAUL INE e x a m i n e d t h e o p t i o n s a t v a r i o u sp o i n t s d u r i n g t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f t e x t a n d a p p l i e d t h e a p p r o p r i a t e s t ra t eg i e s. F o r e x-a m p l e , t o a c h i e v e formality, t h e g e n e r a t o r w o u l d p e r f o r m t h e f o l l o w i n g a c t i o n s :O rg a n i za t io n o f to p i c s : M a k e l o n g c o m p l e x s e n t e n c e s b y s u b o r d i n a t i n g t h e m i n

r e l a t i v e c l a u s e s o r b y c o n j o i n i n g t w o o r m o r e s e n t e n c e t o p i c s .O rg a n i za t io n o f s en tences : M a k e s e n te n c e s s e e m w e i g h t y b y in c l u d in g a n u m b e r

o f a d v e r b i a l c l a u s e s, b y p l a c i n g t h e s e c l a u s e s t o w a r d t h e b e g i n n i n g o f as e n t e n c e , b y b u i l d i n g p a r a l le l c l a u s e s, b y u s i n g t h e p a s s i v e v o i c e , b y u s i n gm o r e ' c o m p l e x ' t e n s e s s u c h a s t h e p e r f e c t t e n s es , a n d b y a v o i d i n g e ll ip s is .

Cho ice o f w o r d s a nd phra s e s : S e l ec t f o r m a l w o r d s a n d p h r a s e s . A v o i d d o u b t f u lg r a m m a r , p o p u l a r i d i o m s , s l a n g , a n d c o n t r a c t i o n s .

A l t h o u g h s t r u c t u r e d i n it s c o r r e la t io n o f t h e g e n e r a t o r ' s a c t io n s w i t h d e c i s i o n p o i n ts ,t h is a p p r o a c h t o r e p r e s e n t i n g a g o a l - d i r e ct e d k n o w l e d g e o f s ty l e is e s s e n ti a ll y h e u r is t ic .

H o v y ' s s u c c e s s i n i m p l e m e n t i n g a g o a l - b a s e d n o t i o n o f s t y le , e v e n t h o u g h l i m -i te d i n s co p e a n d i n fo r m a l i n th e m o d e o f k n o w l e d g e r e p r e s e n ta t io n , e n c o u r a g e d o u rd e v e l o p m e n t o f a c o m p u t a t i o n a l a p p r o a c h t o g o a l - d i r e c te d s ty l e.2 . 3 S u m m a r y F r o m e x i s ti n g r e se a r c h in t h e o r e t i c a l s t y li s ti c s , w e h a v e s e e n t h a t t h e r e i s

a b a s i s f o r t h e c o d i f i c a t io n o f g r o u p - b a s e d , u t i li t ar i a n , g o a l - d i r e c t e dstyl i s t ics . T h e n e e d f o r a v o c a b u l a r y o f s t y li s ti c t e r m s i s a n a c c e p t e d i d e a .H o w e v e r , t h e n a t u r e a n d s t r u c tu r e o f s u c h a v o c a b u l a r y fo r

c o m p u t a t i o n a l u s e , w h i c h m u s t d e s c r i b e m o r e t h a n b a s i c s y n t a x a n d b ea m e n a b l e t o s y s t e m a t i c c o n s tr u c t io n , h a v e n o t y e t b e e n a d d r e s s e d . T h e s ei s su e s w i l l b e su b j e c t s o f t h e n e x t s e c t i o n .

S i m i la r ly , w h i l e l a rg e b o d i e s o f s t y l is t ic r u l e s a l r e a d y e x is t , t h e y h a v e n o tb e e n o r g a n i z e d i n t o t h e f o r m a l s t r u c t u r e n e c e s s a r y t o a c o m p u t a t i o n a la p p r o a c h . S e c t io n 4 w i l l d e v e l o p a s t r u c t u r e d m e t h o d f o r r e p r e s e n t i n gs t y li s ti c ru l e s b y c o n s t r u c t i n g f o r m a l g r a m m a r s .

T h e f e a s i b i li t y o f a g o a l - d i r e c t e d a n a l y s i s o f s t y l e i s su p p o r t e d b yp r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h , b u t a n a c t u a l g o a l - b a s e d c o d i f i c a t i o n h a s n o tp r e v i o u s l y b e e n a tt e m p t e d . I n th e g r a m m a r t h a t w e w i ll d e v e l o p i nS e c t i o n 4 , w e w i l l i n c o r p o r a t e s u c h a g o a l - d i r e c t e d k n o w l e d g e o fstyl i s t ics .

3 . A Vocabulary o f Sty le3 .1 Sty l i s t ic GoalsI f w e h o p e t o b u i l d A I -b a s ed s y s t e m s t o d e a l w i t h m a t t e r s o f s t y le , t h e n w e m u s tp r o v i d e a f o rm a l k n o w l e d g e r e p re s e n ta t io n : w e n e e d a v o c a b u l a r y o f w e l l - d ef i n e d ,e x p r e s s i v e t e r m s t h a t w i l l a l l o w o u r i n t u i t i o n s a b o u t s t y l e t o b e s t a t e d p r e c i s e l y a n d

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Co mp utational Linguist ics Volume 19, N um ber 3

u n d e r s t o o d c le a rl y. W e w i l l c o n s t r u c t a v o c a b u l a r y f r o m t e r m s t h a t a r e a s s o c i a t e d w i t hu t i li t a ri a n , g r o u p - b a s e d , g o a l - d i r e c t e d s t y l i st ic s . W e wi l l s ta r t b y c o n s i d e r i n g t h e k i n d so f s t y l i s t i c g o a l s t o b e d e a l t w i t h i n t h e l e x i c o n .

W h e n a w r i t e r c o m p o s e s t e x t , s h e h a s c e r t a i n s t y l i s t i c g o a l s i n m i n d ; s u c h g o a l sm i g h t i n c l u d e c l a ri ty , o r in f o r m a l i ty , o r e v e n t h e c l o u d i n g o f a n u n p a l a t a b l e m e ssa g e .T o a c h i e v e h e r v a r i o u s g o a l s , s h e w i l l c h o o s e s p e c i f i c w o r d s (outplacement o r f iring,f o r e x a m p l e ) , s y n t a c t i c c o n s t r u c t i o n s ( h e a v i l y m o d i f i e d o r s p a r s e n o u n p h r a s e s ) , a n ds e m a n t i c o r g a n i z a t i o n (T hir ty percent of the class failed o r The majo rity of stude nts passed).I n a p p l i c a t i o n s s u c h a s m a c h i n e t r a n s l a t i o n , w e w a n t t o u n d e r s t a n d w h y a w r i t e rh a s u s e d l a n g u a g e i n a p a rt i c u la r w a y , w h a t s p e c if ic e f fe c ts s h e i n t e n d e d t o c o n v e y ,a n d w h i c h l i n g u i s t i c c h o i c e s w e r e m a d e t o a c h i e v e t h e s e g o a l s . T h e r e a r e a m u l t i t u d eo f g o a l s t h a t c o u l d b e c o n s i d e r e d ; i n d e e d , t h e s p a c e o f p o s s i b il it ie s h a s n e v e r b e e nf u l l y e x p l o r e d . F o r t h i s s t u d y , w e h a v e c h o s e n s i x g o a l s t h a t V i n a y a n d D a r b e l n e t(1 958 ) c o n s i d e r to b e a m o n g t h e m o s t c o m m o n l y u s e d , r e p r e s e n t in g t h e o p p o s i t e e n d so f t h r e e d i m e n s i o n s . T h e g o a l s a r e l is t e d a s f o l lo w s , w i t h a n i n t u i t i v e d e s c r i p t i o n o ft h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g c h a r a c te r is t ic s t h a t a s e n t e n c e o f e a c h t y p e w o u l d d i s p la y :

C l a r i t y : S i m p l i ci ty , h a r m o n y , a n d n o a m b i g u i t y .O b s c u r i t y : C o m p l e x i ty , i n c o n g r u it y , a n d d i f fi c u l ty o f u n d e r s t a n d i n g .

C o n c r e t e n e s s : S p e ci fi ci ty , w i t h a n e m p h a s i s o n c e r t a in c o m p o n e n t s .A b s t r a c t i o n : G e n e r a l i t y , w i t h n o p a r t i c u l a r e m p h a s i s o n a n y o n es e n t e n c e c o m p o n e n t .

S ta t i cness : Un i f o r m i t y , p r e d i c t a b i l it y , c o n t i n u it y .D y n a m i s m : D e v i a t i o n f r o m t h e n o r m , u n e x p e c t e d n e s s , a c t i o n .

3 . 2 F r o m T h e o r e t i ca l S t y l i s t i c s t o C o m p u t a t i o n a l S t y l i s t i c sW e w i ll n o w d e v e l o p a v o c a b u l a r y o f b a s i c t e r m s t h a t w i l l d e s c r i b e s t y li s ti c al ly s ig -n i fi c an t a s p e c t s o f s y n t a x . O u r d e v e l o p m e n t i s g u i d e d b y m u c h i n cl as s ic a l r h e t o ri c a lt h e o r y ; o f te n , o u r d e f i n i t i o n s w i l l b e e x t e n s i o n s o f t h o s e o f th e c l a s s i c al th e o r y . W e d ot h i s i n t wo s t a g e s : f i r s t , we o u t l i n e a b s t r a c t p r o p e r t i e s o f s t y l e su g g e s t e d b y c l a s s i c a lr h e to r ic ; s e c o n d , w e c o n v e r t t h e s e p r o p e r t i e s i n t o d e f i n i ti o n s o f a b s t ra c t e l e m e n t s t h a tw i l l b e u s e d i n a g r a m m a r o f s t yl e.O u r s t a r t i n g p o i n t i s t h e n o t i o n o f stylistic norm, w h i c h i s d e f i n e d a s t h e m o s tc o m m o n l y u s e d s t r u c t u re s i n a g i v e n g e n r e. T h i s n o t i o n i s i n tr in s ic t o th e w o r k o f th em a j o r i t y o f d e sc r i p t i v e s t y l i s t s su c h a s C r y s t a l a n d D a v y ( 19 69 ) a n d C l u e t t ( 19 76 , 1 99 0) .F r o m t h i s , w e d e r i v e t h e n o t i o n s o f s t y l i s t i c concord a n d discord a s t h e f u n d a m e n t a lp r in c i p le s o f o u r f o rm a l iz a ti o n . C o n c o r d s i m p l y m e a n s c o n f o r m i t y w i t h t h e n o r m , a n dd i s c o r d , d e v i a t i o n f r o m t h e n o r m .E a c h g e n r e h a s i ts o w n p a r t i c u l a r n o r m ; f o r e x a m p l e , t h e s t y l e c h a r a c te r is t ic o fs c ie n ti fi c t e x ts m a y s e e m d i s r u p t i v e i f u s e d i n g e n e r a l n e w s p a p e r w r i ti n g . T h i s v i e wg o e s b e y o n d t h e t e n e t o f p r e s c r i p t iv e r h e t o r i c t h a t t h e s t y li s ti c n o r m m e r e l y r e p r e s e n t ss t a n d a r d , ' g o o d , ' s t yl e , i n d e p e n d e n t o f t h e u s e o f t h e t e xt . R a t h er , w e a g r e e w i t hL a n h a m ( 1 9 7 4 ) t h a t s t y l e sh o u l d b e v i e we d a s t h e t a i l o r i n g o f a t e x t t o a sp e c i f i ca u d i e n c e a n d a sp e c i f ic s i t u a t io n ; ' g o o d ' s t y l e c a n i n f a c t b e q u i t e i n a p p r o p r i a t e .

T h e c o n c e p t o f n o r m w i ll b e u s e f u l a s a m e a n s o f a n c h o r i n g t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o fo u r s t y l i s t i c r u l e s . I t i s s i m p l y t h e u su a l , t h e t y p i c a l , t h e s t a b l e a n d c o n c o r d a n t . I n d e e d ,d i s c o r d , d e v i a t i o n f r o m t h e n o r m , w i l l p l a y a n e s s e n t i a l r o l e i n o u r f o r m a l i z a t i o n o fs t y l e , f o r it i s o u r c o n t e n t i o n t h a t s t y l e a r i s e s f r o m t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f p a t t e r n s o f

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Chrysanne DiMarco and Graeme Hirst Goal-Directed Style in Syntax

concord a n d discord, particular combinations of order and disorder that create anoverall harmonious arrangem ent (Crystal and Davy 1969; Cluett 1976, 1990).3.2.1 T h e D i v i s i o n s o f th e V o c ab u la ry . As the first step in constructing a vocabularyof style for computati onal use, we will look at the descriptive terms tha t stylists havedeveloped over man y centuries of use.One of the most important rhetorical influences on sentence style that has beenidentified is syntactic parallelism, or coordination: the balancing of syntactical ly similarforms to achieve a harmonious stylistic effect, an idea dating back to the rhetoricalschemes of balance (Corbet t 1971, p. 463).But if parallelism or coordination plays an important role in style, so too doessubordination: variations in the hierarchical structure of a sentence that can producecorrespondingly different stylistic effects. One part of a sentence can dom ina te an-other. As with parallelism, the importance to style of syntactic hierarchy is also awell-established principle in classical rhetoric, evident in the schemes of parenthesis,apposition, and c l imax (Corbett 1971, pp. 466, 468, 476). Thus, modula tions in coordinateand subord inate structure are major factors in achieving stylistic expressiveness.A third major contributor to syntactic style is linear ordering: varying the orderof components within a sentence to produce quite marked stylistic differences. Therhetorical terms of anastrophe and parenthesis (Corbett 1971, p. 466) attest to the stylisticimportance of the ordering of sentence components.

Thus, we can see tha t three factors influencing syntactic style are: Ba lance : Parallelism of structure. Dominance: Structural hierarchy. Position: Linear ordering of structure.

We will adapt these factors from theoretical stylistics as the div isions of our vocabularyof style. Now, we will classify commonly used stylistic terms into these three groupsin order to identify and abstract the general properties of style characteristic of eachgroup.3.2.2 A b s t r a c t P r o p e r t ie s of Style. In the balance group, we classify the terms s y m m e t r i cconstruc t ion (Hendricks 1976), serial sentence (Kane 1983), parallel sentence (Kane 1983),balanced sentence (Kane 1983), and intersentence coordination (Crystal and Davy 1969).All of these terms suggest a stylistic imitation, the balancing of syntactically similarclauses. We also find evidence of stylistic parallelism below the clause level in the useof terms such as paired adjectives (Kane 1983), balanced phrases (Crystal and Davy 1969),and intrasentence coordination (Hendricks 1976). As well as identifying similar struc-tures, stylists have recognized characteristic asy m m e tr i c c ons t ruc tions (Hendricks 1976)or syntactic c oun te rpo in t (Hendricks 1976). These types of structures are most often in -terrupted or convolu ted sentences (Kane 1983). For inclusion in our vocabulary, we willchoose the most representative terms in the balance group: intersentence coordinationand intrasentence counterpoint.There are a variety of terms that can be classified into the dom inanc e group. First,there are sentences that have one trivially dominant clause. These are the s im p le se n -tences (Kane 1983) that have only one main , or central, clause with no subordinateclauses. Next, there are many and varied types of sentences built up around a central,dominant clause. The complex sentence (Kane 1983) has a central clause and at leastone de pend ent clause. The loose sentence (Kane 1983) has a central clause followed by

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a subordina te clause. The centered sentence (Kane 1983) has a central clause flanked bysubordinate clauses. The cumulative sentence (Kane 1983) has a central clause accom-panied by a series of appositive, modifying, or absolute constructions. Finally, thereare more-complicated sentences with more than one dominant clause. The compound-complex sentence (Kane 1983) can be much more elaborate than a simple compoundsentence, as it contains at least two independent clauses and at least one dependentclause. For inclusion in our vocabulary, we abstract from these three types of hierarchi-cal terms to iden tify trivial single-clause dominance, complex single-clause dominance ,and multiple-clause dominance.The position group appears to contain the largest number of terms, as any basicterm can be qualified to an arbitrarily fine degree by the exact intrasentence position towhich it refers. We will use only three qualifiers, associated with initial, medial, and f inalpositions (Quirk et al. 1985). At the sentence level, we can have any wo rd or phrase ininitial, medial, or final position. Within the sentence, there are almost infinite variationsof position terms. A small sample includes postpositive adjectives, and pre-verbal, post-verbal, or post-clause adverbs (Crystal and Davy 1969), and complex premodification andpostmodification (Crystal and Davy 1969). We will generalize from these many subtlevariations and define terms that have either a concordant or discordant effect, at aparticular position in a sentence, according to whether or not their usage is normal.From this grouping of terms into the three divisions of balance, dominance, andposition, we have abstracted general properties of style that we want to describe inour vocabulary. The abstract elements of style that we will now define will classify theunst ructured mass of stylistically significant sentence types into groups of sentenceswith similar stylistic properties.3 . 3 A b s t r a c t E l e m e n t s o f S t y l eWe will present the abstract elements in three groups, according to their properties ofbalance, dominance, and position, which we now define formally as follows:B a l a n c e : A balance term characterizes a stylistic effect created by the juxtaposition

of similar or dissimilar sentence components.For example, parallelism in sentence structure is the juxtaposition of syn-tactically similar components.

D o m i n a n c e : A dom inance term describes a stylistic effect created by the particularhierarchical structure of a sentence.In a simple sentence, for example, there is an effect of simplicity associatedwith the single and therefore, by default, dominant clause.

P o s i t i o n : A posi tion term describes a stylistic effect created by the particular place-ment of a syntactic component within a sentence.For example, in English, a postmodifying adjective, as in the house ablazG canbe more emphatic than the more usual premodifying type, as in the blazinghouse.

Now we shall propose a set of stylistic terms, correlated with this classification,that will make explicit those abstract stylistic properties that are now only implicitin existing terminology. These stylistic terms will be based on effects of concord anddiscord, which we formally define as follows:C o n c o r d : A stylistic construction that conforms to the norm for a given genre.

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C h r y s a n n e D i M a r c o a n d G r a e m e H i r s t G o a l - D ir e c te d S t y le i n S y n t a x

Discord: A s t y l i s t i c c o n s t r u c t i o n t h a t d e v i a t e s f r o m t h e n o r m .W e w i l l n o w u s e t h e s e n o t i o n s t o d e f i n e a b s t r a c t e l e m e n t s t h a t a r e r e l a t e d , i n t u r n , t oe f fe c t s o f b a l a n c e , d o m i n a n c e , a n d p o s i t i o n .3.3.1 Ba la nce E lement s . T h e f i rs t g r o u p o f a b s t ra c t e l e m e n t s is r e l a t e d t o e f f e ct s o fb a l a n c e w i t h i n a s e n t e n c e . H e r e , w e w i l l b e l o o k i n g a t r e l a t i o n s h i p s t h a t t e n d t o e i t h e rp e r t u r b o r r e i n f o r c e t h e b a l a n c e o f a s e n t e n c e . T h e f i rs t a n d s i m p l e s t t y p e o f b a l a n c ee l e m e n t i s a h o m o p o i s e ( " s a m e w e i g h t " ) :H o m o p o i s e : A s e n t e n c e w i t h i n t e r c l a u s a l c o o r d i n a t i o n o f s y n t a c t i c a l ly s i m i la r

c o m p o n e n t s .I n o t h e r w o r d s , t h e r e a r e o n e o r m o r e s t y l i s t i c ' s h a p e s ' i n a h o m o p o i s a l s e n t e n c e , e a c hc o n t r i b u t i n g t h e s a m e t y p e o f e f f e c t t o th e c o n c o r d a n t p a r a l l e l is m o f th e s e n t e n c e . I nt h e e x a m p l e b e l o w , t w o v e r y s i m p l e c la u s es , w i t h i d e n t i c a ll y s h a p e d p a r s e t r e e s, a rec o n j o i n e d :

1 3. T h e s ty l e w a s f o r m e d a n d t h e p r i n c i p l e s w e r e a c q u i r e d . 9S e n t e n c e s th a t a re m o r e c o m p l e x c a n h a v e t h e i r b a l a n c e i n t e r r u p t e d o r p e r t u r b e d

b y a h e t e r o p o i s a l ( " d i ff e r e n t w e i g h t " ) c o m p o n e n t :

H e t e r o p o i s e : A s e n t e n c e i n w h i c h o n e o r m o r e p a r e n t h e t i c a l c o m p o n e n t s a re s y n -t a ct ic a ll y 'd e t a c h e d ' a n d d i s si m i la r f r o m t h e o t h e r c o m p o n e n t s a t t h e s a m el e v e l i n t h e p a r s e t r e e .

I t is d i ff i c u lt t o f o r m a l l y c h a r a c t e r i z e t h i s c la s s o f s t r u c t u r e s a n d t h e u n d e r l y i n g n o t i o no f a c o m p o n e n t b e i n g ' d e t a c h e d . ' Q u i r k e t a l. (1 98 5 ) a l so r e l y o n t h i s w o r d t o d e f i n ew h a t t h e y ca ll d i s j u n c t s b u t m a k e n o a t t e m p t t o d e f i n e i t :

D i s ju n c ts . . . h a v e a s u p e r i o r r o le a s c o m p a r e d w i t h t h e s e n t e n c e el-e m e n t s ; t h e y a r e s y n t a c ti c a ll y m o r e d e t a c h e d a n d i n s o m e r e s p e c ts' s u p e r o r d i n a t e , ' i n t h a t t h e y s e e m t o h a v e a s c o p e t h a t e x t e n d s o v e rt h e s e n t e n c e a s a w h o l e . ( Q u i r k e t a l. 1 9 8 5 , p . 6 1 3 ) l

S i m i la r ly , N u n b e r g ( 19 90 ), in d e f i n i n g t h e r e l a t e d i d e a o f th e d e l i m i t e r c o m m a , c a n d on o b e t t e r t h a n t o c h a r a c t e r i z e t h e c l a s s " i n a r o u g h w a y " :

T h e r e i s th e c l a ss o f e l e m e n t s d e l i m i t e d b y c o m m a s , e i th e r a t b o t h e n d s( w h e n t h e e l e m e n t s o c c u r c l a u s e- i n te r n a l l y ) o r a t o n e e n d ( r o ug h l y ,w h e n t h e e l e m e n t s a r e e i t h e r c l a u s e - i n i ti a l o r - f in a l ) [ p. 3 6] . . . . I t i so b v i o u s l y n o t p o s s ib l e h e r e t o p r o v i d e a n a n a l y si s o f t h e s y n t a x a n ds e m a n t i c s o f e a c h o f t h e s e c o n s t r u c t i o n s , m u c h l es s to t r y t o c h a r a c -t e r iz e t h e m i n s u c h a w a y a s to s a y w h a t t h e y h a v e i n c o m m o n . I na r o u g h w a y , h o w e v e r , w e o b s e r v e t h a t t h e y a l l i n v o l v e c o n s t i t u e n c y

9 Adapted from The Manchester Guardian W eekly , 14 February 1988, p. 15.10 An exam ple of a disjunct is the interrupting p repositional phrase in all frankness in the sentence Your sonis not, in a ll frankness, succeeding in his present job (Qu irk et al. 1985, p. 612).

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problems, so that they do not behave as constituents, for example,under such tests as verb-phrase ellipsis. What is more, all of themcan be characterized as supplying material that is communicativelysupererogatory to the bare propositional content of the lexical clausein which they app ea r. .. . This is all very rough, but it does suggestthat the content of these comma-delimi ted elements plays a distinctiverole in the representation of the [rhetorical] argumen t structure of thetext. [pp. 38-39]

Despite the difficulty of formal characterization, we agree with Quirk et al. andNunberg that there is an intuitively clear class of constructions here, and, like theseauthors, hope that it can be conveyed to the reader by sufficient use of examples.

We divide the class of heteropoise sentences into three types, depending upon theposition of the parenthetical component: a heteropoise may be medial , ini t ial , or f ina l .Moreover, we will distingu ish between two subtypes at each position: concordant anddiscordant.Medial heteropoise: A heteropoise in which the parenthetical component is in

medial position.Concordant medial heteropoise: A medial heteropoise in which the

parenthetical component is cohesively linked to the rest of the sen-tence. (This notion will be made precise when we have in troducedthe pr im i t i v e e l e m e n ts in Section 3.4.)

Discordant media l heteropoise: A medial heteropoise in which theparenthetical component is n o t cohesively linked to the rest of thesentence.

In example 14 below, the relative clause which brought no protests interrupts the mainclause, yet, as a postmodifier, it is still a part of the subject noun phrase and so thesentence is a concordant medial heteropoise. But now consider the medial adverbial phraseaccording to a com pan y spokesman; as a sentence modifier, it is quite detached from therest of the sentence and so the sentence is simult aneously a disco rda nt medial heteropoise:

14. The measure, which brought no protests, was decided, according to acompany spokesman, because of the dangers to which these employeesare exposed in travelling to particu larly exposed subtropical countries, u

Initial heteropoise" A heteropoise, concordant or discordant, in which the paren-thetical component is in initial position.

Sentence 15 contains an initial parenthesis, an appositive noun phrase, that is cohe-sively linked to the rest of the sentence because it refers to the subject of the mainclause. Thus, the sentence is a concordant ini t ial heteropoise:

15. The heir to a fortune, her friend did not care about passingexaminations.12

11 Manches ter Guardian W eekly , 21 February 1988 , p . 14 .12 Quirk e t a l . (1985, p . 1314) .

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F i n a l h e t e r o p o i s e : A h e t e r o p o i s e , c o n c o r d a n t o r d i s c o r d a n t , i n w h i c h t h e p a r e n -t h e t ic a l c o m p o n e n t i s in f i n a l p o s i t io n .

S e n t e n c e 1 6 c o n t a i n s a f in a l p a r e n t h e s i s , a n ' e x t r a n e o u s ' p h r a s e , t h a t i s d i s t i n c t f r o mt h e m a i n c l a u se , a s it is n o t c o h e s i v e l y l in k e d t o t h e r e s t o f t h e s e n t e n c e . T h u s , t h es e n t e n c e i s a discordant f ina l he teropoise:

16. S t e p h e n a n d J e n n i fe r ar e n o t g o i n g t o b u y t h e h o u s e , a c c o r d i n g t o as p o k e s m a n .

W e s a w i n 14 t h a t a h e t e r o p o i s e c a n c o n t a i n m o r e t h a n o n e p a r e n t h e t i c a l , a n d o n eo f t h e m m i g h t b e c o n c o r d a n t w h i l e a n o t h e r i s d is c o r d a n t . L i k e w i s e, it c a n b e t h e c a s et h a t o n e p a r e n t h e t i c a l i s , s a y , m e d i a l , w h i l e a n o t h e r i s i n i t i a l o r f i n a l . T h e f o l l o w i n ge x a m p l e s h o w s t w o s u c c e s s iv e m e d i a l p a r e n t h e ti c a ls r a t h e r s t r id e n t l y i n t e r r u p t i n g t h em a i n t e x t - - t h e e f fe c t is h e i g h t e n e d b y t h e u s e o f d a s h e s - - a s w e l l a s a fi na l p a r e n t h e t i c a li n t h e s a m e s e n t e n c e :

17 . T h e i d e a o f c o m b i n e d F r e n c h a n d B r i ti s h p a t r o l s b y n u c l e a rs u b m a r i n e s - - a p r o p o s a l o n c e m a d e b y t h e S o cia l D e m o c r a tl e a d e r D a v i d O w e n - - l e t a l o n e t h e p l a n f o r " s h a r i n g t h e w o r k "w h e r e t h e ta r g e ts a n d m i s si le s c a r r ie d b y t h e s e s u b m a r i n e s a r ec o n c e r n e d w a s n o t e v e n r a is e d , a c c o r d i n g t o a F re n c h m i l i t a rys p o k e s m a n . 13

3 .3 .2 D o m i n a n c e E l e m e n t s . T h e s e c o n d t y p e o f a b s t ra c t e l e m e n t d e a l s w i t h s t y li s-t ic d o m i n a n c e , w h i c h i s c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e h i e r a r c h i c a l s tr u c t u r e o f a s e n t e n c e . Ac o m m o n t y p e o f d o m i n a n c e e l e m e n t is t h e m o n o s c h e m a t i c , a v e r y s i m p l e s e n t e n c e :M o n o s c h e m a t i c : A s e n t e n c e w i t h a s in g l e m a i n c l au s e w i t h s i m p l e p h r a s a l s u b -

o r d i n a t i o n a n d n o a c c o m p a n y i n g s u b o r d i n a t e o r c o o r d i n a t e c la u s es .H e r e is an e x a m p l e o f a c an o n i c a l m o n o s c h e m a t i c s e n t en c e :

18 . P o s t e r i t y h a s n o t b e e n k i n d t o h i m . 14T h e m o s t c o m m o n d o m i n a n c e e l e m e n t in t h e te x ts th a t w e h a v e s t u d ie d is th e

centroschematic:C e n t r o s c h e m a t i c : A s e n t e n c e w i t h a c e n tr a l, d o m i n a n t c la u s e w i th o n e o r m o r e

o f t h e f o l l o w i n g o p t i o n a l fe a t u r e s: c o m p l e x p h r a s a l s u b o r d i n a t i o n , i n it ia ld e p e n d e n t c l a u s e s , f i n a l d e p e n d e n t c l a u s e s .

C e n t r o s c h e m a t i c s e n t e n c e s c a n b e q u i t e v a r i e d i n s t r u c t u r e , b u t t h e i r s h a r e d c h a r a c -t er is ti c is a p r e d o m i n a n t c o m p o n e n t t h a t s e r v e s a s t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n a l c e n t e r f o r a llo t h e r c o m p o n e n t s . S u c h s t r u c t u r e s a r e b u i l t w i t h s u b o r d i n a t i o n a n d c o o r d i n a t i o n . I n

13 Man chester Guardian W eekly,7 Feb ruary 1988, p. 13.14 Adapted from The Man chester Guardian W eekly,14 Febru ary 1 988, p. 15.

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the first example below, the main clause is supported by a complex, but subordinateand coordinate, relative clause structure:

19. Neithe r these devices nor the cram ped vie wing rooms which are toonarrow and whose ceilings are much too low for the big altarpiecesmanage to spoil the works. 15

Two subordinate clauses, the first of them adverbial and the second of them relative,acco mpan y but do n ot domin ate the main clause in the following sentence:

20. Not all that long ago, the fam ous collector Charles de Bestegui,when unable to get hold of certain paintings, was quite prepared toadorn the walls of his Venetian palace with copies, which happilyrubbe d shoulders with his numer ous genuine canvases. 16

Finally, the complex but imitative postmodification in the next example incorporatesa substantial amount of information without weakening the dominance of the mainclause:

21. Silvia, a comm and ing wo ma n in her 50's, a shrew falsely mello wed byreligion, promptly organised prayer sessions on the lines of Tupperwaremeetings. 17

Given that we have a progression in complexity from monoschematic to cen-troschematic sentences, a natural extension is to the p o l y s c h e m a t i c :Polysehematic: A sentence with more than one central dominant clause and at

least one dependent clause.Such sentences occur muc h less frequently than the mo nosch ematic or centroschematicvarieties, at least in the corpus used in this research. However, a sentence with obvi-ously disparate comp one nts occasionally occurs, as in the following example. There aretwo dominant clauses ( w e c o u ld t h i n k . . , and w e s h o u l d n o t f o r g e t . . . ) and a dependentclause ( i f w e c o n s i d e r t h e p r o g r e s s . . . ):

22. If we consider the progress already achieved, the opposition that had tobe ove rcome, for example, in ord er to op en schools for girls, and the factthat Saudi Arabia is less than 60 years old, we could think that time willpermit resolving the contradictions between the most liberal aspirationsof one part of society and the ulemas' determination to keep the countryas it is, and we should not forget to mention the Islamic fundamentalistmovements which are threatening Saudi Arabia. TM

15Manchester Guardian Weekly , 14 February 1988, p, 15.16Manchester Guardian Weekly , 7 February 1988, p. 14.17 Adapted from TheManchester Guardian Weekly , 7 February 1988, p. 16.18 Adapted from The Manchester Guardian Weekly , 14 February 1988, p. 14.

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3.3.3 P o s i t i o n E l e m e n ts . T h e t h i r d g r o u p o f a b s t ra c t e l e m e n t s t h a t w e w i ll l o o k a t a ret h e p o s i ti o n e l e m e n t s . T h e m o s t c o m m o n t y p e s o f p o s i t io n e l e m e n t d e s c r ib e concordanto r discordant s t y l is t i c e f f e c t s i n p a r t i c u l a r p o s i t i o n s . T h u s , w e h a v e initial conco rd, me dialconcord, a n d f inal concord. S i m i la r ly , w e h a v e a r a n g e o f discord e l e m e n t s . T h e d e f in i t i o n so f t h e s e e l e m e n t s a r e c l o s e l y t ie d t o t h e p r i m i t i v e - l e v e l d e s c r i p t i o n s o f o u r v o c a b u l a r y ,s o w e w i l l d e l a y t h e i r p r e c i s e c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n s u n t i l S e c t i o n 3 . 5 , a f t e r t h e p r i m i t i v e -l e v e l d e s c r i p t i o n s a r e i n t r o d u c e d . H e r e , i t w i l l b e s u f f i c i e n t f o r t h e r e a d e r t o k n o wo n l y t h a t t h e c o n c o r d s d e s c r i b e c o n s t r u c t i o n s , a t a p a r t i c u l a r p o s i t i o n i n t h e s e n t e n c e ,t h a t c o n f o r m t o n o r m a l u s a g e w h i l e t h e d i s c o r d s d e s c r i b e c o n s t ru c t i o n s t h a t d e v i a t ef r o m t h e n o r m .

I n a d d i t i o n t o ef f ec t s c r e a t e d b y a s in g l e c o n c o r d o r d i s c o r d i n a p a r t i c u l a r p o -s i ti o n w i t h i n t h e s e n t e n c e , w e c a n o b s e r v e o t h e r k i n d s o f e f fe c t s p e r t a i n i n g t o th er e l a ti o n s h i p s b e t w e e n c o n c o r d s a n d d i sc o r d s:

R e s o l u t i o n : A s h i f t in s t y l is t ic e f fe c t t h a t o c c u r s a t th e e n d o f a s e n t e n c e a n d i s am o v e f r o m a r e l a t i v e d i s c o r d t o a s t y l i s t i c c o n c o r d .W e c a n s e e a n e x a m p l e o f a r e s o l u t i o n i n 2 3 b el o w . T h e r e is a n i n i ti a l d is c o r d , c r e a t e db y t h e u n u s u a l p l a c e m e n t o f t h e a d v e r b entirely, w h i c h i s n o t n o r m a l l y f o u n d i n t h ei n i ti a l p o s i t i o n a n d i s n o t c o h e s i v e l y l i n k e d t o t h e r e s t o f t h e s e n t e n c e ( c f. S e c t i o n 3 .4 .3b e l o w ) . H o w e v e r , t h e r e is a f in a l c o n c o r d , a s th e s u b s e q u e n t m a i n c l a u s e c o n t a i n s n os u c h i n c o n g r u i t i e s :

2 3. E n t i r e l y i n t h e s p ir i t o f p r o t e c t i v e s u p p o r t , c o u l d w e s u g g e s t y o u p a s s o na n a p p r o p r i a te c o m m e n t t o th e p e r s o n n e l c o n c e r n e d J 9

A n d t h e c o m p l e m e n t a r y e f fe c t is d is s o lu t io n :D i s s o l u t i o n : A s h i f t i n s t y li s ti c e ff e c t t h a t o c c u r s a t t h e e n d o f a s e n t e n c e a n d i s

a m o v e f r o m a r e l a ti v e c o n c o r d t o a s t y li s ti c d is c o r d .W e h a v e a l r e a d y s e e n a n e x a m p l e o f a d i s s o l u t i o n i n o n e o f t h e B i b li ca l t e x ts o fS e c t i o n 1 .1 , r e p e a t e d b e l o w a s 2 4. A s t r o n g i n it ia l c o n c o r d , c r e a t e d b y i m i t a t i v e c l a u s e s,is se t a g a i n s t a fi n al d is c o r d , p r o d u c e d b y a n u n c o m m o n s y n t a c ti c i n v e r si o n :

2 4. A n d t h e r a i n d e s c e n d e d , a n d t h e f lo o d s c a m e , a n d t h e w i n d s b le w , a n db e a t u p o n t h a t h o u s e ; a n d i t f el l: a n d g r e a t w a s t h e f a l l o f it. 2

3 . 4 P r i m i t i v e E l e m e n t s o f S t y l e3.4 .1 T w o K i n d s o f S t y l is t ic A n a l y s is . N o w t h a t a s e t o f a b s t r a c t s t y li s ti c e l e m e n t s h a sb e e n d e f i n e d , w e m u s t n e x t c o n s i d e r h o w t o u s e t h e m i n p r a c t i c a l s t y l i s t i c a n a l y s i s .S o fa r, t h e s e e l e m e n t s a r e t o o g e n e r a l t o a p p l y t o t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f a n a r b i t r a r ys e n t e n c e . W e m u s t r e l a t e t h e s e stylistic e l e m e n t s t o m o r e - b a s ic syntactic e l e m e n t s , w h o s es t y li s ti c c h a r a c te r i s ti c s a r e m o r e s p e c if ic a n d c o n c r e t e . In o u r r e a d i n g o f t h e l i t e r a t u r e

19 Quirk et al. (1985, p. 652).20 M atthew 7:27, Revised Stand ard Version (1952).

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o f s t y li s ti c s , w e o b se r v e d t h a t t w o a n a l y se s o f s t y li s ti c s t r u c t u r e a r e p o s s i b l e : connect ivea n d hierarchic o r d e r i n g s :C o n n e c t i v e o r d e r i n g : T h e r e su l t o f c o h e s i v e b o n d s d r a w i n g t o g e t h e r c o m p o n e n t sin a l i nea r o rde r ing .Hierarchic order ing : T h e r e su l t o f b o n d s o f s u b o r d i n a t i o n a n d s u p e r o r d i n a t i o n

d r a w i n g t o g e t h e r c o m p o n e n t s i n a n e s t e d o r d e r i n g .T h e s e t w o c o m p l e m e n t a r y k i n d s o f a n a l y s i s a re i m p l ic i t in t h e w o r k o f m o s t s t y l is t sa n d r h e t o r i c ia n s , s u c h a s C l u e t t ( 19 76 ) a n d B u r e a u ( 19 76 ) ( Ne i l R a n d a l l , p e r so n a l c o m -m u n i c a t i o n ) .

W e w i ll n o w u s e t h e s e n o t i o n s o f c o n n e c t i v e a n d h i e ra r c h ic o r d e r i n g s t o g u i d e t h ed e f i n i t i o n o f m o r e - p r i m i t i v e s t y l i s ti c e l e m e n t s t h a t p r o v i d e a p r e c i s e sy n t a c t i c b a s i s t ot h e v o c a b u l a r y , y e t a l s o a l l o w a m a p p i n g t o t h e a b s t r a c t e l e m e n t s .3 . 4 . 2 T h e R o l e o f C o r p u s S t u d i e s i n t h e C l a s s i f i c a t i o n o f t h e P r i m i t i v e E l e m e n t so f Sty l e . W e b e l i e v e t h a t t o e s t a b l i sh s t y l i s t i c c l a s s i f i c a t i o n s a n d c o n s t r u c t a p r a c t i c a ls ty l is t ic g r a m m a r , o n e m u s t u n d e r t a k e c o r p u s s t u d i e s i n t h e s t y l e o f C l u e t t ( 19 76 ) a n dBibe r (1988 , 1989) to suppor t t he exac t c l a ss i f i ca t ions o f s ty l i s t i c e f fec t s . Bu t we a l soa g r ee w i t h C r y s t a l a n d D a v y t h at :

I t i s p e r h a p s w o r t h e m p h a s i s i n g r i g h t a w a y t h a t t h e f i r s t s t e p i n a n ys t y l i s t i c a n a l y s i s m u s t b e a n i n t u i t i v e o n e . T h e s t y l i s t i c i a n i s o n p r e -c i s e l y t h e s a m e f o o t i n g a s a n y o n e e l s e h e r e : h e n o t i c e s a l i n g u i s t i cf e a t u r e w h i c h h e f e e l s to b e s t y l i s t ic a l l y s ig n i f ic a n t . T h e d i f f e r e n c e b e -t w e e n h i s a p p r o a c h a n d t h a t o f t h e u n t r a i n e d o b s e r v e r is t h a t h e w i l lh a v e a c l e a r e r id e a o f wh a t i s l i k e l y t o b e s i g n i fi c a n t, a n d w i l l k n o ww h a t t o d o w i t h h i s o b s e r v a t i o n s o n c e t h e y a r e m a d e . T h i s l a s t p o i n ti s t h e s t y l i s t ic i a n ' s m a i n c o m p e t e n c e : h e i s a b l e t o in t e r r e l a t e h i s o b se r -v a t io n s w i t h i n t h e f r a m e w o r k o f s o m e t h eo r y , a n d t h u s p i e c e to g e t h e ra n y g e n e r a l p a t t e r n o f l in g u i s ti c v a r i a t i o n w h i c h m a y e x is t. ( C r y s t ala n d Da v y 1 9 6 9 , p . 1 2 )

T h u s , a l t h o u g h w e h a v e b u i l t o u r g r a m m a r o f s t yl e u p o n a c c e p t e d th e o ry , it i s c u r r e n t lya p r o t o t y p e f o r t h e f o r m a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f s t y l i s t i c k n o w l e d g e , n o t y e t d e v e l o p e d a sa too l fo r p rac t i ca l s ty l i s t ic ana lys i s . 21 For , li ke C rys t a l a nd Da vy , o ur in i t i a l ob je c t ivei s t o p r o v i d e a m e t h o d o l o g y , a v o c a b u l a r y a n d a p p a r a t u s , t h a t w i l l a l l o w o t h e r s t oi n t e g r a te o u r a p p r o a c h w i t h a n a l y ti c p r o c e d u r e s t o c o n s t r u c t u s e f u l f o r m a l i z a t i o n s o fs ty l e :

A l l we c a n d o i s sy s t e m a t i c a l l y p o i n t t o c e r t a i n s i g n i f i c a n t f a c t s i n t h el a n g u a g e b e i n g a n a l y s e d , s u g g e s t s o m e t h e o r e t i c a l p r i n c i p l e s w h i c hw i l l a c c o u n t f o r t h e o c c u r r e n c e o f t h e s e f a c t s , e m p h a s i s e t h e n e e d f o rf u r t h e r a n a l y s i s to v a l i d a t e o r r e f u t e t h e s e p r e l i m i n a r y s o u n d i n g s , a n di ll u s tr a te a p r o c e d u r e w h i c h w i l l a l l o w p e o p l e t o d o t h is . ( C r y s t a l a n dDavy 1969 , p . 13)

21 See Section 6 for a discussi on of wor k i n progress.

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I n t h e m a n n e r o f C r y s t a l a n d D a v y , w e a g r e e t h a t s t at is t ic a l v e r i f ic a t i o n m u s tf o l l o w s u c h r e s ea r c h , b u t w e b e l i ev e t h a t , i ni ti al ly , w e c a n u s e w e l l - m o t i v a t e d i n t u i t i o n sa b o u t s t y l is t ic f r e q u e n c i e s t o c l a s s if y o u r s t y l is t ic e l e m e n t s :

S u c h a [ s ta ti st ic a l] m e t h o d w o u l d b e p r e r e q u i s i t e f o r a n y s e r i o u s r e-s e a r c h w o r k , b u t i t i s t o o d e t a i l e d f o r o u r p r e s e n t p u r p o s e s . C o n s e -q u e n t l y w e m a k e u s e o f th e a l t e rn a t i v e m e t h o d o f e x p r es s io n , m a k i n go u r s t a t e m e n t s o f f r e q u e n c y in m o r e i n f o r m a l te r m s , u s i n g s u c h q u a n -t i f i e r s a s ' r a r e l y ' , ' c o m m o n l y ' , ' o f t e n ' , ' v e r y o f t e n ' , a n d s o o n . T h i sr a n g e o f a d v e r b i al s i n E n g l is h c u ts u p a c o n t i n u u m o f f r e q u e n c y v e r yc l e a r l y , w i t h v e r y l i t t l e o v e r l a p , a n d i s r e a d i l y i n t e l l i g i b l e . I t s h o u l dn o t b e f o r g o t t e n , h o w e v e r , t h a t a n y s t a t e m e n t s o f r e l a t i v e f r e q u e n c yi n t h e s e t e r m s c a n b e r e f e r r e d i f n e c e s s a r y t o t h e p r e c i s e s t a t is t i c als i t u a t i o n w h i c h u n d e r l i e s t h e m . ( C r y s t a l a n d D a v y 1 969 , p . 22 )

3.4.3 Pr imi t i ve Sty l i s t i c E lements . P r i m i t i v e s t y l is t ic e l e m e n t s a r e i n d i v i d u a l c o n -s t i t u e n t s t h a t h a v e a p a r t i c u l a r s t y l i s t ic e f fe c t. B u t w h a t s h o u l d w e u s e a s t h e b a s isf o r t h e d e f i n i t i o n o f 's t y l is t i c e f f e c t' ? W e h a v e s a i d t h a t t h e t w o a n a l y s e s o f s e n t e n c es t r u c t u r e , c o n n e c t i v e a n d h i e r a r c h i c , c a n p r o v i d e t h e a p p r o p r i a t e g u i d a n c e . W e w i l ld e f i n e t h e s t y li s ti c e f fe c t o f a n i n d i v i d u a l c o m p o n e n t i n t e r m s o f i ts c o n t r i b u t i o n t oe a c h o r d e r i n g :

F o r t h e c o n n e c t i v e v i e w , a c o m p o n e n t a c q u i r e s i ts s t y l is t i c e f f e c t f r o m i t sd e g r e e o f cohes iveness , i t s b o n d i n g w i t h o t h e r c o m p o n e n t s i n t h e se n te n c e.

F o r th e h i e r a r c h i c v i e w , a c o m p o n e n t a c q u i r e s i ts s t y l is t i c e f f e ct f r o m i tsd e g r e e o f s u b o r d i n a t i o n , i t s d e p e n d e n c e o n o t h e r c o m p o n e n t s i n t h es e n t e n c e .

W e i n t r o d u c e t h e t e r m s c o n j u n c t , a n t i j u n c t , s u b j u n c t , a n d s u p e r j u n c t ( to b e d e f i n e d i nt h e f o l l o w i n g s e c ti o n s) a n d w e u s e s u p e r s c r i p t s o n a l l t h e t e r m s t o i n d i c a t e t h e d e g r e eo f c o n n e c t i v i t y o r s u b o r d i n a t i o n . I n t h e c o n n e c t i v e v i e w , w e c l a ss i fy sy n t a c t i c c o m -p o n e n t s a s e i t h e r c o n j u n c t 4 ( e x c e s s i v e l y c o n n e c t i v e ) , c o n j u n c t 3 ( s t r o n g l y c o n n e c t i v e ) ,c o n j u n c t 2 ( m o d e r a t e l y c o n n e c t i v e ) , c o n j u n c t 1 ( m i l d l y c o n n e c t i v e ) , a n d c o n j u n c t ( n e u -t ra l ). S i m i l a r ly , w e u s e t h e t e r m s a n t i j u n c t t h r o u g h a n t i j u n c t 4 t o i n d i c a t e i n c r e a s i n g l yd i s c o n n e c t i v e e f f e c t s ; c o n j u n c t a n d a n t i j u n c t a r e t h e s a m e .

T h e r e i s a c o m p l e m e n t a r y v o c a b u l a r y o f p r i m i t i v e e l e m e n t s f o r t h e h i e r a rc h i c v ie w .T h e s t y li s ti c e f fe c ts o f s y n t a c ti c c o m p o n e n t s a r e c o r r e l a t e d w i t h t h e d e g r e e o f s u b o r d i -n a t i o n o r s u p e r o r d i n a t i o n ; t h e c l a s s if i ca t io n s a re a n a l o g o u s t o t h e c o n n e c t i v e : s u b j u n c t 4t h r o u g h s u b j u n c t ( d e c r e a s i n g l y s u b o r d i n a t e ) a n d s u p e r j u n c t t h r o u g h s u p e r j u n c t 4 ( in-c r e a s i n g l y s u p e r o r d i n a t e ) ; s u b j u n c t a n d s u p e r j u n c t a r e t h e s a m e .C o n n e c t i v e p r i m i t i v e e l e m e n t s . I n a s s i g n i n g c o n n e c t i v e e f f e c t s t o s y n t a c t i c c o m p o -n e n t s , w e a d a p t H a l l i d a y a n d H a s a n ' s (1976) w o r k o n c o h e si o n . A l t h o u g h H a l l i d a ya n d H a s a n f o c u s e d o n d e f i n it i o n s o f co h e s io n i n w h o l e t ex ts , w e c a n a p p l y t h e s ed e f i n i t io n s t o c o h e s i o n w i t h i n t h e s e n t e n c e , f o r , a s t h e y p o i n t o u t :

S i n c e c o h e s i v e r e l a t i o n s a r e n o t c o n c e r n e d w i t h s t r u c t u r e , t h e y m a yb e f o u n d j u s t a s w e l l w i t h i n a s e n t e n c e a s b e t w e e n s e n t e n c e s . T h e ya t t r a c t l es s n o t ic e w i t h i n a s e n t e n c e , b e c a u s e o f th e c o h e s i v e s t r e n g t ho f g r a m m a t i c a l s t r u c t u r e ; s i nc e t h e s e n t e n c e h a n g s t o g e t h e r a l r e a d y ,

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the cohesion is not needed in order to make it hang together. But thecohesive relations are there all the same. (Halliday and Hasan 1976,p. 8)

Halliday and Hasan enumerate five types of cohesion: substitution, ellipsis, reference,conjunction, and lexical cohesion. We will use all of these except lexical cohesion andwill add a new factor, interpolation, that works against cohesion.

Halliday and Hasan define subst i tut ion as the "replacement" (p. 88) of one itemby another. We suggest that such intrasentence phenomena as apposition and extra-position can be considered as types of substitution. For example, in 25, either of thetwo postmodifying nou n phrases could substitute for the head noun Silvia:

25. Silvia, a commanding woman in her 50s, a shrew falsely mellowed byreligion, promptly organized prayer sessions on the lines of Tupperwaremeetings.22And, in 26, the clausal subject for anyon e to esca

A Computational Theory of Goal-Directed

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