Performance of elaboration rhetorical relation in macrostructure and microstructure of formal elocutions

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the uses of elaboration relational proposition based on Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST) in a corpus formed by formal elocutions. Analysis focuses both on macro and microstructure according to RST principle that rhetorical relations established on discourse level organize from text coherence to clause combining. Within macrostructure level, it was possible to fi nd out that the nucleus of formal elocutions is formed by a supertopic which is expanded by subtopics which work as satellites and add information to the nucleus by means of elaboration relation. In the next layer of rhetorical structure, each of the subtopics becomes nucleus and is expanded by other subtopics. Thus, in macrostructure, elaboration relation is essential for the establishment of coherence in formal elocutions. Within the microstructure of formal elocutions, the satellite of elaboration relation is expressed by means of explicative and appositive clauses. In the fi rst case, additional information about the nuclear clause is added. In the second case, the segment that works as nucleus has an encapsulating referential expression which creates a reference focus for the content that will be specifi ed in the
appositive clause.

Key words: rhetorical structure theory, text macrostructure, discourse topic.