Key and Termination – Increments 163
The other major discourse function projected by increment initial high
key was that the speaker projected the introduction of a new topic. In
Text 1 there were 44 increment high keys which projected the introduction
of a fresh – though not necessarily an unexpected – topic to the discourse.
Four of the high keys were in minimal increments. Of the remaining 40, 20
were found in tone units coterminous with either relational or projecting
clauses, 6 were coterminous with nominal groups and 14 were coterminous
with elements which contained suffi cient information to realize a putative
act of telling. The position for Text 2 was similar. Seventeen of the 77 initial
high keys were in minimal increments, 26 were in tone units coterminous
with relational or projecting clauses, 6 with nominal groups, 3 were coterm-
inous with elements which did not form a syntactic category. One was
coterminous with circumstantial elements and 24 were coterminous with
elements which contained suffi cient information to realize a putative act of
telling. Examples 7 to 10 illustrate.
(7) i ll simply ↑TRY and tell you the infor\MAtion //
N V e V' c Ø V' N+ d N
as BEST as i \CAN // at the \↓MOment // [T1-Mh-3]
PHR P d N #The increment in example (7) has as an initial state information that
there is a limit to the information that the speaker can give about the terrible
bombing. Prior to Mh’s production of the increment he and his hearers
share a cognitive environment where they know that the following incre-
ments will contain information about the bombings. Example (7) is in
full accord with these expectations. Mh’s selection of the initial high key^6
signals his introduction of a fresh topic namely the fact that he will try to tell
the information as best he can at the moment. The achieved target information
projects a convergence which implies that while the speaker’s words are in
good faith they are to be taken as provisional.
Likewise, the topic of September 11th is part of the previous co-text which
forms the initial state of the increment presented in example (8). Sn’s
selection of a high key projects that she is introducing a new though not
unexpected topic into the discourse. The previous discourse has focused
on the results after September 11th. Sn’s high key signals her switch in
discourse focus to events prior to September 11th. Her selection of high
key informs her hearer that her discourse move represents a signifi cant
change of topic which she goes on develop in her immediately following
eleven increments. Six readers – but not Tony Blair – did not select a high