Аннотация

In the first section the term discourse and its meanings in different schools ofthe discourse analysis are discussed. The discourse is characterized by the following pivotal properties: coherence, situational context, the intentions of the author as well as of the addressee, the topics in the discourse and their development, intertextuality. The function ofthe discourse must be explored both through the language and through examination of the situation the author is attempting to deal with. Both the discourse and the situation are the outcomes ofsystematic selections from among alternates. The author's endeavour is to attempt at according his language activity with the situation (as he estimates it). For his partners, the meaning and function ofthe discourse (as they in turn estimate it) arise from their endeavours to take account of and respond to the selections which have generated the discourse. In the second section the debate between two Czech leading politicians, Vaclav Klaus and Milos Zeman, and their means of argumentation are analysed. The article is concen[1]trating on the conjunction but and on its different semantic and pragmatic functions.