Introduction

Discourse analysis is the study of language in use. It is the study of the meanings we give language and the actions we carry out when we use language in specific contexts. Discourse analysis is also sometimes defined as the study of language above the level of a sentence, of the ways sentences combine to create meaning, coherence, and accomplish purposes. However, even a single sentence or utterance can be analyzed as a “communication�? or as an “action,�? and not just as a sentence structure whose “literal meaning�? flows from the nature of grammar. Grammar can tell us what “I pronounce you man and wife�? literally means, but not when and where it actually means you are married.