Sérthet

Sérthet is a theoretical construct in linguistics and cognitive science used to describe the perceived alignment between a speaker's communicative intent and the audience's interpretation of a discourse. It captures how well the internal logic, evidence, and rhetoric of a message cohere with the social context and expectations of listeners. The concept is a neologism; its etymology is not standardized and appears chiefly in speculative discussions rather than mainstream literature.

In usage, sérthet is applied to analyze discourse coherence and uptake. It is used in both spoken and written communication to assess how effectively a message achieves its communicative goals. Researchers may operationalize sérthet through ratings of coherence, plausibility, and perceived alignment between claims, evidence, and audience values, often using experimental pragmatics or discourse-processing tasks.

An example: a policy address that presents a clear goal, logical steps, and supporting data tends to score high on sérthet, whereas a message with mismatched anecdotes and unsupported claims scores lower.

Criticism: The construct is highly subjective and culturally contingent, raising concerns about reliability and cross-cultural validity. Some scholars view it as overlapping with existing notions of coherence and pragmatics, arguing it adds little beyond established measures.

See also: coherence, discourse analysis, pragmatics, narratology.