sequence (n.)

An application of the general sense of this term in LINGUISTICS and PHONETICS, referring to the observable succession of UNITS in an UTTERANCE or TEXT. This sequence may be LINEAR, where the dependencies are made between successive, adjacent units (the–big–cat–is . . . ), but it may involve non-linear relationships, as in AGREEMENT between WORDS which are separated by other STRUCTURES. Sometimes a specific sequential correspondence is given a separate label, as in the traditional term ‘sequence of TENSES’, referring to the dependencies between tense forms in successive CLAUSES (e.g. if he enters, he will win, but not * . . . he had won), or the ‘sequencing’ patterns analyzed in dialogue (as in the greeting ritual in conversational openings) which form part of the subject-matter of DISCOURSE analysis and text linguistics. Sequencing is also occasionally used, especially in psychologically influenced studies, to refer to the influence successive structures exercise upon each other (as seen, for example, in the difficulty some language-disordered patients have in sequencing appropriately a set of linguistic units). This use is quite different from the term ‘sequencing’ in language teaching, where it refers to the order in which a graded series of items is presented to the learner. The structure of linguistic sequences constitutes the province of SYNTAGMATIC analysis. The term is often distinguished from the more abstract notion of ORDER.