Key and Termination – Increments 165
Thirteen examples were found where the increment initial high key was
in an increment which did not seem to support the hypothesis. Seven of the
examples were in Text 1 and six in Text 2. Of the six Text 2 high keys three
were in minimal increments. Examples (11) and (12) illustrate.
(11) just as it is ↑REAsonably \CLEAR // that this...
a w N V A E W+ (N)...
this is a TERrorist at\TACK // or a SEries of TERrorist
N V d e N c d n P eat\TACKS // [T1-Rf-16]
N
(12) you got a ↑GEnuine deMOCracy of the \PEOple // [T2-Bs-35]
N V d e N P d N #Rf, along with six of the other readers,^7 chose an increment initial high
key in example (11) despite the fact that the content of the increment is in
full accord with the expectations previously generated by the discourse.
The high key in (11) does not signal the introduction of a new topic into
the discourse; the following text summarizes but does not expand on the
target state achieved prior to the production of example (11). Rf’s selection
of high key may project a context where she signals to her hearer that
they are to treat example (11) as information which is either contrary to
expectations or as signalling a new topic. By so doing she may be attempt-
ing to highlight the signifi cance of the information contained within the
increment towards the achievement of her ultimate telling. However, it is
more likely that the high key on reasonably functions to particularize the
lexical sense realized by the production of the adverbial element reasonably.
Rf projects a context where the choice of reasonably projects an existential
paradigm consisting of two lexical senses; reasonably which is opposed to all
other possible senses available in the context (Brazil 1997:45). Rf signals
that her labelling of what has occurred as a terrorist attack or a series of terrorist
attack is the only credible way to categorize the bombings.
In example (12) Bs’s selection of increment initial high key on an incre-
ment which is neither contrary to the previous expectations nor a fresh
topic appears be an instance of a particularizing key. Genuine represents the
only sense selection which Bs can use to describe the democracy of the people.
As Bs was the sole reader to select a high key on genuine his reading differs
from the others in that he alone adds the nuance that genuine is the only label