Cohesion
Definition
According to Hoey (1991:3) cohesion may be defined as the way certain
words or grammatical features of a sentence can connect it to other
sentences in a text. To McArther (1992: 230), cohesion is '' the property
which gives us the sense that something is a text and not a random collection
of sentences'' and this sense is created by the use of language.
Cohesive Devices
Cohesive devices are typically single words or phrases that basically
make the text hang together, i.e. they are the way of achieving a cohesive
text. Hatim and Mason (1990:195) assert that: There are many possible
cohesive devices capable of relying, say, a given relationship between
propositions. And in a given language same are likely to be preferred
option.
Halliday and Hassan (1976:75-84) recognize five types of cohesion:
reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction, and lexical cohesion. The first
four types belong to the category of grammatical cohesion. As for lexical
cohesion it refers to the relationships between any lexical item and some
previously occurring lexical item in the text quite independently of the
grammatical category of the items in question. These classificatory
categories are treated below:
Grammatical Devices
1- REFERENCE
Reference is achieved in text with the use of substitute words which refer to
something else in the text for their significance.
REFERENCE SIGNALS
• Personal pronouns (he, they, us)
• Demonstrative pronouns (this, that, those)
• Determiners (some, another, the, an, a)
• Adjectives and adverbs of comparison (similar, identical, different,
otherwise; more, less, so, as)
• Terms such as: the foregoing, the following, like that, this way, the
former, the latter
TYPES OF TEXTUAL REFERENCE
• Anaphora or backward reference, which points to preceding text (e.g. he,
they, the preceding)
• Cataphora or forward reference, which points to the text that follows (e.g.
the following, the succeeding)
2. SUBSTITUTION
Substitution is the replacement of one grammatical item by another.
NOMINAL SUBSTITUTION
Nominal substitution wherein certain words are used to fill in for the
presupposed headword of a noun phrase words used: one, ones, same.
EX:
“That red guitar made of nagka wood played beautifully, but my brother
wanted it and took it. Would you have another one?”
VERBAL SUBSTITUTION
Verbal substitution wherein certain words may substitute either for a verb
alone or for a verb and certain other elements in the clause words used: do,
does, did, doing, done.
EX:
“Juan works harder now than he was doing before.”
3. ELLIPSIS
Ellipses occur when something is left unsaid but understood; it is of three
types: NOMINAL, VERBAL and CLAUSAL.
EXAMPLES
1- “The first real typhoon was soon followed by a second.” (typhoon)
2- “Perhaps this was not his family at all -- they certainly did not treat him
as if they were.” (his family)
3 “I am well aware of the fact that definitions are not always necessary and,
perhaps, (are) not even possible.”
4- “We can both observe our bodies, but I can never observe your mind nor
(can) you (observe) mine.”
5- “When are you submitting your report?” “Tomorrow.” (I am submitting
my report)
6- “Did Carla ring the bell?” “I did.” (No, Carla did not ring the bell.)
4. CONJUNCTION
Conjunction is the act of connecting sentences expressing a particular
semantic relationship between them by means of the connectives (or
connectors) that signal that relationship.
1- ENUMERATIVE:
LISTING what follows is the order in which things are to be said
connectives: namely; first, second, third; lastly
TIME SEQUENCE
What follows is the time sequence in which things happen connectives:
first, subsequently, in the beginning
2- EXPLICATIVE
What follows explains, glosses, or clarifies what has been said before
connectives: essentially, that is, what I am saying is
3- ILLUSTRATIVE
What follows is an illustration of what has been said before connectives: for
example, for instance
4- ADDITIVE
REINFORCING What follows reinforces what has been said before
connectives: as a matter of fact, besides, clearly
EQUATIVE What follows is similar to what has been said before
connectives: as, at the same time, by the same token
5- CONTRASTIVE:
ANTITHETIC What follows is in complete opposition to what has been
said before connectives: by contrast, contrariwise, conversely
CONCESSIVE What has been said before is conceded as true or correct,
but what follows is, in contrast, also true or correct connectives: all the
same, anyway, for all that
REPLACIVE What follows is a replacement of what has been said before
connectives: instead, rather, worse
REFORMULATORY
What follows is a preferred rewording of what has been said before
connectives: in other words, rather, a better way of putting it is
LOGICAL SEQUENCE:
INDUCTIVE What follows is a generalization based on observations that
have gone before connectives: if so, this indicates that, consequently
DEDUCTIVE What follows is an observation which may be deduced
logically from the generalization that has preceded it connectives: hence,
that implies, therefore
GENERAL INFERENTIAL What follows is a logical consequent of a
given preceding statement connectives: in that case, so, therefore
RESULTATIVE What follows is a result of what has been said before
connectives: accordingly, as a consequence, as a result
7- TRANSITIONAL
What follows introduces a new stage in the presentation of information.
connectives: incidentally, now, let us now turn to
8- SUMMATIVE
What follows summarizes what has been said before connectives: all in all,
in a word, in sum
Lexical Cohesion
Halliday and Hassan (1976:82) argue that lexical cohesion is established
through the structure of lexis or vocabulary. Lexical cohesion encompasses
reiteration and collocation.
Reiteration implies saying or doing something several times. As a lexical
device for achieving cohesion, it is manifest in three ways:
1-Repetition: I met some young ladies at the conference. The ladies were
good looking.
2-Superordinate/Hyponym: I bought plenty of fruits yesterday at the
market. These fruits are oranges, pineapples and pawpaw.
3- Synonym: I was served with a good meal yesterday at the party. The food
was delicious.
Collocations: This is achieved through the association of lexical items that
regularly occur. It also involves pairs of words drawn from the same order
series.
Arabic connectives and their functions
The purpose of this section is to highlight the cohesive category of
connectives and their functions in Arabic. Arab grammarians usually refer to
the connectives- according to different significance- as [’adawa:t-u- l-rabT ]
or [Hu:ru:f-u- l-‘aTf ], i.e. connective particles.
4.2.1 [wa] ‘And’
The conjunctive particle [wa] ‘and’ is the most generally used particle in
Arabic.
In terms of functions, the conjunctive particle [wa] has subtle and varied
functions; it
may express one of the following relations:
1. To signal the beginning of a chunk of information
EX: wa there were a few women, some of them carried handbags wa there
was not a single peasant woman among them.
2. To express additive relations (X and Y)
3. To express temporal relations (X then Y)
4. To express simultaneous action (X at the same time as Y)
5. To express circumstantial relations (X in circumstance Y)
6. To express adversative relations (X but Y)
2 [fa]
1. To express result and causal relations:
2. To express adversative relations
3. To express sequential/temporal relations
3 [thumma] ‘Then’
4 [la:kinna] and [la:kin] ‘But’
5 [’aw] and [’am] ‘Or
