Man and Message: A Guide to Meaning-Based Text Analysis

Copublished with the Summer Institute of Linguistics, Man and Message provides a practical method of analyzing texts based on a cognitive, multilevel model of meaning presented in simple, non-technical language for a wide audience. It begins with a demonstration of human communications as grounded in a cognitive and language-independent meaning base, and details the non-verbal nature of meaning, purpose, conceptualization, thematic patterns, and coherence-providing relations. Then the model is applied to a variety of English texts by dividing it into subunits and displaying their inter-relations at all levels. Each chapter provides pointers in analyses that can be applied to any text in any language. The approach to analysis from a standpoint of cognition realized in language, rather than based in the language itself makes this an original and effective guide for text analysis of any kind in any language.