Substratum of natural written speech texts in the aspect of genre relevance

The research subject matter corresponds to the idea of speech genre parameterization - the definition and justification of genre-relevant features involved in marking the genre characteristics of the text. One of these parameters is a substratum, a material carrier of a written sign. The paper considers various types of correlation between the substrate and genre characteristics of the text, from a high degree of their relationship to their relatively neutral interdependence. Given the concept of M. Foucault, four types of correlation of the substratum and functional-content features of the genre are outlined. Conformity is where substratum and functional-content characteristics are harmonized. Rivalry is where the substratum and functional-content characteristics of the genre, having a certain closeness and systemically determined integrity, come into conflict, especially once placed in a different sphere, leading to a genre shift. Analogy is where form and function, substrate and content, due to their initial heterogeneity, can share only specific characteristics. Sympathy is where the substratum and the content exist independently in the world but, under certain conditions, are attracted to each other. Thus, it seems significant for natural written speech to have an external to the content, may prove to be genre-relevant to some degree. The idea about the organic connection of all sides of a speech work, characteristic of natural written speech, corresponds to the general methodological principle of form, function, and content correspondence.