法律语篇树状信息结构研究  现代外语  2007年第1期

提要：法律语篇信息结构的研究目前尚属空白。在法律实践中, 语篇信息处理是语篇生成和使用的中心环节。法律语篇是具有典型特点的机构性语篇, 其信息结构与普通语篇信息结构不同, 因此是语篇分析领域的重要研究课题。本文主要目标是建立法律语篇信息结构的语言学模式。首先回顾相关信息理论及研究方法, 建立分析框架, 然后选取有代表性的材料进行语篇信息综合分析, 并论证法律语篇信息结构的一系列特点。研究表明, 各种法律语篇具有共同的内在信息结构, 由核心命题和它下层的信息点构成。所有信息点可由 15 个疑问词所代表的问题表示, 信息点具体体现为信息单位, 每一信息单位由一个命题构成。语篇的信息点和信息单位构成一个多维度的树状层级系统。树状信息结构可用于分析书面语篇或口语语篇。

关键词：信息、树状结构、法律语篇、信息单位

Abstract: A study of the tree information structure of legal discourse

In legal practice, information processing constitutes the core of discourse production and consumption. Legal discourse is institutional and bears characteristic features different from other discourse types. Therefore, the processing of such discourse constitutes a significant area of research, which remains largely unexplored to date. The present study sets out to develop a linguistic model of information structure of legal discourse. It begins with an analytical framework for information processing, on the basis of which the information features are then analyzed of typical and representative legal discourses drawn from various sources. The analyses show that legal discourse contains an information structure which is composed of the core proposition and its subordinate information knots and units. The knots are represented by 15 interrogative words and the units by propositions, thus giving rise to a multidimensional hierarchical system which can be exploited to analyze written or oral discourse.