Discoursal Functions of Minor Sentences in Selected Disney Children's Stories
Mustafa Flaih Hasan
University of Diyala/ Al Muqdad College of Education
Hasan Shaban Ali Al-Thalab
University of Tikrit / College of Education for Humanities
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25130/jls.5.4.2.4
Keywords: Major sentence, Minor sentence, Irregular sentence, Nonsentence, Discoursal functions
Abstract
This study is intended to investigate the discoursal functions of minor sentences in Disney children’s stories. These sentences do not follow the regular clause structure patterns or the variants of those structures. Minor sentences are of two types: irregular sentences (henceforth IrrSs) and nonsentences (henceforth NonSs). The study aims at (i) identifying the discoursal functions of of IrrSs and NonSs in Disney stories, and (ii) investigating the most frequent discoursal functions of minor sentences in the selected data. Fulfilling the above aims, the study hypothesizes that the most discoursal functions of IrrSs and NonSs are used in Disney children’s stories. It is also hypothesized that surprise and summoning are the most frequent functions of those minor sentences in Disney children’s stories. The study examines the discoursal functions of irregular sentences and nonsentences in fifteen Disney children’s stories. The data are analyzed according to Quirk et al.'s (1985) model. The results show that (15) discoursal functions appear through using IrrSs, while (41) discoursal functions appear through using NonSs. The results also show that surprise and summoning are the most frequent functions of minor sentences that represent (11.25%) and (8.76%) respectively of the total number of minor sentences. The study concludes that the most discoursal functions of IrrSs and NonSs are used in Disney children’s stories. It is also concluded that surprise and summoning are the most frequent functions of minor sentences.
