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<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT size=3>Looking back over the RSTLIST messages, the
September 2003 message of Aliza Yahav seems to have been ignored.</FONT>
</FONT>That's unfortunate. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The question is about the Introduction in the RST website, <A
href="http://www.sil.org/linguistics/RST">http://www.sil.org/linguistics/RST</A> . The
analysis under examination appears in the Introduction, and also appears
as the 4th analysis on the Unpublished RST Analyses page. The
abstract text, with units numbered, is: "<!--StartFragment -->
<P><FONT size=4><FONT color=#400040>1) </FONT><FONT color=#ff0000>Lactose and
Lactase</FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><FONT color=#400040>2)</FONT><FONT color=#ff0000> Lactose is
milk sugar;</FONT><FONT color=#400040> </FONT></FONT><FONT color=#400040
size=4>3) </FONT><FONT size=4><FONT color=#ff0000>the enzyme lactase breaks it
down.</FONT><FONT color=#400040> 4) </FONT><FONT color=#ff0000>For want of
lactase most adults cannot digest milk.</FONT><FONT color=#400040>
5)</FONT><FONT color=#ff0000> In populations that drink milk the adults have
more lactase, perhaps through natural selection.</FONT><FONT
color=#ff0000>"</FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Norman Kretchmer, Scientific American, October 1972, page
70.</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>The analysis which Aliza Yahav offers below seems to me like a very
credible alternative. In it, the analyst would be saying that an important
function, to the writer, of unit 5) seems to be to highlight the way that in
certain populations, drinking milk may have caused (succeeding generations of)
adults to have more lactase.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In the analysis on the website the analyst is saying that
expressing the contrasting facts about the two populations and their
lactase seems central to the writer's purposes.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Judging writers' purposes is a subjective matter, and so it is very
understandable that two analysts would have these two different reactions to the
text.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Of course, under the conventions of RST analysis, an analyst could affirm
both analyses. They do not exclude each other. </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT size=3>Bill Mann</FONT> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=aliz@MACAM.AC.IL href="mailto:aliz@MACAM.AC.IL">Aliza Yahav</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=RSTLIST@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
href="mailto:RSTLIST@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG">RSTLIST@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, September 03, 2003 2:53
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [RST-LIST] analysis
question</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm just beginning to get acquainted with
RSTanaysis, and have been trying to follow the examples provided on the site.
I'd like to know if the following analysis is a possible alternative to the
one appearing on p. 4 of the Introduction.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The example: 1. Lactose and Lactase
(preparation)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>2. Lactose is milk sugar; 3. the enzyme lactase breaks
it down (elaboration)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>4. For want of lactase most adults cannot digest milk.
5. In populations that drink milk the adults have more lactase, perhaps
through natural selection. (contrast)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>If we're looking at writer's purpose, is it possible
that the relation between spans 4 and 5 is non-volitional result? The
situation in which most adults can't digest milk has resulted in a process of
natural selection in milk drinking populations. The 'contrast' relation
doesn't seem to express the implicit connection which gives these two spans
coherence.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Thank you,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Aliza Yahav</FONT> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>