Discourse
Since studying definitions, as a start, is important and helpful to study a subject, this chapter aims to provide the reader different definitions of discourse from different perspectives and views, which by their turns would give hints and overview about discourse as a word and as a notion.
Before understanding “discourse” as a notion, it is necessary to understand the literal meaning of the word “discourse”. Indeed, this word is derived from Latin prefix “dis”, which means “away”, and the root “currō”, which means “run”. Thus, discourse refers to the way conversations “run away”, or simply, flow. According to the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary, discourse is “the use of language in speech and writing in order to produce meaning”. It also defines discourse as “Language that is studied, usually in order to see how the different parts of a text are connected”. In other words, discourse refers to series of utterances that goes beyond one single sentence. Indeed, People exchange these utterances in their conversations, and these forms of communication may be verbal or written. Thus, linguistically speaking, discourse can be defined as
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