ABSTRACT
Taking a text on the phonic/graphic level means looking at it as a sequence of sound-segments (or phonemes), or as a sequence of letters (or graphemes), or as both. Oral texts are normally only looked at in phonic terms. Even written texts may need to be looked at in phonic terms as well – in fact, translators consider them more often phonically than graphically. Phonemes and graphemes are on the same level of textual variables. To help keep this in mind, we shall normally refer to the ‘phonic/graphic level’, whether the text is oral or written.
