Runic Text Grammar and Pragmatics

It is the aim of the module "Runic text grammar and pragmatics" (2020–25) to determine the formal and functional features of the runic texts, to describe their communicative function and to delineate the changes in the use of the runic script from the perspective of social and cultural history. Thus, it will concentrate on the aspect of what we have called Verschriftlichung ['textualisation'], adapting and modifying the second term introduced in orality-literacy research. The determination and description of the textual structures and of the design of the textual space will be in the focus of the investigation, as well as the communicative-pragmatic functions of these texts and their relation to extra-runic accompanying signs. 

The foundation of the analyses is formed by all intentional marks on the runic objects: apart from the runic and extra-runic signs differentiated in the graphemics module, these also include the accompanying Latin written symbols. Runic and Latin characters are both determined by their linguistic function and jointly make up the text (or texts) of the runic monument. Extra-runic signs are added for structuring the text or as accompanying signs in various functions.
It is the aim of the analyses to describe the structural, lexical and pragmatic utterance features and their possible contributions in determining the function of the inscription, the interconnection of the individual texts through the formulaic structure of the inscriptions, affinity with certain text types and communicative domains, intertextual relations and references to text traditions in the Latin script.
The analyses will also refer to the spatial setting of these groups of signs on the sign-bearing object as well as the specific characteristics and functions of the latter.