discourse analysis: Meaning and Definition of

dis'course anal"ysis

Pronunciation: [key]
— Ling. Ling.
  1. the study of the rules or patterns characterizing units of connected speech or writing longer than a sentence.
  2. the study of the rules governing appropriate language use in communicative situations.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.