Anaphoric Encapsulation

Maria-Elisabeth Conte
Université di Pavia

Abstract. Anaphoric encapsulation is a cohesive device by which a noun phrase

functions as a resumptive paraphrase for a preceding portion of a text. The anaphoric
noun phrase is constructed with a general noun as the lexical head and a clear preference
for a demonstrative determiner. By anaphoric encapsulation, a new discourse referent is
created on the basis of old information; it becomes the argument of further predications.
As a semantic integration device, encapsulating noun phrases label preceding text-
portions; they appear at nodal points in the text. When the head of the anaphoric noun
phrase is an axionym, anaphoric encapsulation may be a strong means of manipulating
the reader. Finally, anaphoric encapsulation may also result in the categorization and
hypostasis of speech acts and argumentative functions in discourse.

1. Introduction

In this paper I will discuss a textually relevant phenomenon which has been
called "anaphoric encapsulation". This term describes a lexically based
anaphora constructed with a general noun (or an evaluative noun, an axionym) as
the lexical head and a clear preference for a demonstrative determiner.
Anaphoric encapsulation can be defined in the following way: it is a cohesive
device by which a noun phrase functions as a resumptive paraphrase for a
preceding portion of a text. This portion of text (or segment) may be of various
length and complexity (a whole paragraph or just one sentence).
Here are two Italian examples (with the general nouns fatto 'fact' and
situazione 'situation' as encapsulating nouns),1 and an English example with
issue as head of the encapsulating device:
(1) La vera, profonda anomalia del nostro sistema televisivo è rappresentata dal peso
del potere politico. Questo fatto ha scatenato una eccessiva frammentazione delle
antenne private, soprattutto al Centro-Sud.
(2) Oggi tutti i migliori spazi produttivi sono ancora nelle mani delle vecchie strutture
dello stato. Ci vorrà tempo per cambiare questa situazione.

Belgian Journal of Linguistics 10 (1996), 1–10. DOI 10.1075/bjl.l0.02con

ISSN 0774-5141 / E-ISSN 1569-9676 © John Benjamins Publishing Company
2 MARIA-ELISABETH CONTE

(3) And Kohl [...] sees his mission now as anchoring Germany deep in a united
Europe. He wants Germany, France and a handful of others to move rapidly
toward [...] a single currency and a strengthened European Parliament. [...]
The issue, however, does not exactly quicken pulse rates in Bavaria or North
Rhine-Westphalia, let alone the former East Germany.
These anaphoric forms are very different from standard examples of
anaphora regarding the following points:
(i) The referents of the anaphoric noun phrases are not individuals, but referents
with a different ontological status: they are higher-order entities like states-of-
affairs; events; situations; processes (which Lyons (1977) has called "second-
order entities") or facts; propositions; utterance-acts (which Lyons has called
"third-order entities").
(ii) The antecedent (if it is legitimate to speak of an antecedent) is not clearly
delimited in the text, but has to be reconstructed (or even constructed) by the
hearer/reader.
In my opinion, anaphoric encapsulation is a very important cohesive device
(especially in written argumentative texts) and has not received as much
consideration as it deserves in the discussion on anaphoric processes. My paper
is divided in the following way. I will first give a short overview of how the
concept of anaphoric encapsulation has been elaborated in contemporary
linguistics. Secondly, I will discuss the role of anaphoric encapsulation in
relation to the 'old-new' axis. Thirdly, the function of anaphoric encapsulation
as an organizing principle in discourse will be highlighted.

2. The concept of anaphoric encapsulation: state of the art

Even if the term 'encapsulation' (in the sense in which it is used here)2 seems to
have been introduced by Sinclair (1983), various phenomena which fall under
the concept of anaphoric encapsulation had already been mentioned by Halliday
and Hasan (1976) and by Conte (1980, 1981). Halliday and Hasan take into
account the function of general nouns in discourse under the heading of
'extended reference'. Conte discusses anaphoric reference to propositions and
speech acts, i.e. third-order entities.3
A very important contribution to anaphoric encapsulation was made by
Monika Krenn (1985). She primarily discussed extended reference of the forms
this, that and it and, interestingly enough, she also included a chapter on
 ANAPHORIC ENCAPSULATION 3

Lexikalische Verweise (anaphoric noun phrases with lexical heads in English like
thing, matter, point, question). The function of these general nouns in texts may
be quite similar to the extended reference of bare demonstratives.4
In 1986 Gill Francis presented a study on anaphoric encapsulation under
the misleading title of Anaphoric Nouns. The title is misleading in that nouns are
not intrinsically anaphoric, but, as I would maintain, general nouns have a high
anaphoric potential. Gill Francis sets out to compile a list of possible A-nouns, a
set which of course cannot be delimited but is an open-ended list. She mostly
insists on utterance-nouns and opinion-nouns which are used to refer
metadiscursively to the ongoing discourse. The common denominator of noun
phrases with such nouns is that they are used "to summarize, to reformulate, to
chunk information" (Francis 1986: 2).
Last but not least, Wanda d'Addio (1988, 1990) makes it quite clear that
anaphoric encapsulation is primarily a categorization of the contents of the
preceding co-text. This categorization occurs by neutral general nouns, but also
in the evaluation of states-of-affairs by evaluative nouns (or in noun phrases with
an evaluative adjective as a modifier). I call these evaluative terms 'axionyms'.
Here I propose two clear examples of axionyms as encapsulating devices:

(4) È di ieri la notizia che una superpetroliera è affondata al largo delle coste baltiche
riversando l'intero carico in mare.
Oggi ci si chiede: questa ennesima catastrofe ecologica poteva essere evitata?
(5) But those who dreamed up reform programs were indeed naive - and now they fear
that the corruption associated with Russia's reform programs will lead to a political
backlash in favor of nationalists or communists who claim to have clean hands.
This risk exists elsewhere, too. In Venezuela, the government of Carlos Andrès
Pérez introduced a neoliberal economic reform package in 1989, cutting subsidies
and attempting to bring some sanity to public finances.

Categorization and evaluation are relevant cognitive and emotive

operations of the speaker. In this sense, anaphoric encapsulation may be
considered a pragmatic anaphora.
After this short overview of the most relevant contributions to the concept
of anaphoric encapsulation,5 I would like to formulate four open questions:
(i) How can encapsulation be viewed in terms of the 'old-new' axis?
(ii) Why do anaphoric encapsulating nouns prefer the demonstrative determiner
to the definite article?
(iii) In what sense are encapsulations not only a cohesive device but also an
organizing principle in discourse?
4 MARIA-ELISABETH CONTE

(iv) What types of anaphoric encapsulations can be distinguished?

The four questions I have formulated here have not yet been posed in the
literature regarding the topic of anaphoric encapsulation and may be a guide for
further research. In what follows, I will discuss some aspects of these questions.

3. Anaphoric encapsulation and the old-new axis

Anaphoric encapsulation is clearly co-text-dependent. But, do anaphoric noun

phrases merely convey old information as the term 'anaphoric encapsulation'
seems to suggest, and as it has been maintained up to now in the literature?
I would like to argue that what happens in anaphoric encapsulation is more
than just the appearance of a resumptive paraphrase of a preceding portion of the
text. Anaphoric encapsulations may be considered new in at least two ways. In
the first place, the lexical item as such (the head of the noun phrase) is generally
new in that it has not occurred in the preceding text. Secondly, and more
importantly, we are dealing not only with categorization of given co-textual
information, but also with hypostasis (Vergegenständlichung). What is already
present in the discourse model is objectified, or, in other words, becomes a
referent. On the basis of old information a new discourse referent is created
which becomes the argument of further predications. Thus, anaphoric
encapsulation turns out to be a very interesting procedure of introducing
referents into the text. These referents are created in the text dynamics.6
I maintain that it is this referent-establishing nature of anaphoric
encapsulation which favours the recurrence of the demonstrative determiner
instead of the definite article.7
Although the definite article is not excluded from encapsulating noun
phrases (see, for instance, example (3)), there is, however, a clear preference for
the demonstrative determiner. The demonstrative (by its intrinsic deictic power)
presents the new textual object to the reader, or brings it into focus. The
demonstrative must also be conceived of as an instruction to the reader to
discover the antecedent of the anaphoric expression, i.e. to look for the relevant
portion in the immediate co-text of the anaphoric referring expression. When the
encapsulating noun is an axionym, the demonstrative determiner is nearly
unavoidable, since there is a kind of elective affinity (Wahlverwandtschaff)
between demonstratives and evaluative terms (axionyms).
 ANAPHORIC ENCAPSULATION 5

4. Anaphoric encapsulation as an organizing principle in texts

4.1. Semantic integration

In anaphoric encapsulation the new referential expression (which is motivated by

the preceding discourse) functions retroactively as a semantic integration device
(as a kind of Einordnungsinstanz). The term Einordnungsinstanz was proposed
by Ewald Lang (1973) to identify a different phenomenon. In Lang's essay, this
term is used to characterize a final sentence in a text which produces semantic
integration for otherwise unrelated propositions.
The encapsulating noun phrase produces a higher level in the semantic
hierarchy of the text. Interestingly enough, anaphoric encapsulation quite often
occurs in the initial point of a paragraph and thus functions as an organizing
principle in discourse structure.8
As the starting point of a new paragraph, anaphoric encapsulation is the
shortest imaginable summary of the preceding discourse portion. In other words,
it is a kind of subtitle which simultaneously interprets a preceding paragraph and
functions as a starting point for the new one. This is clearly shown in examples
(6) and (7):
(6) Il minitest di ieri sembra dirci che la maggioranza degli italiani continua a votare
entro il perimetro di centro-destra del Polo della libertà: ma all'interno di questo
perimetroridistribuiscei propri consensi, non dimenticando nemmeno la Lega, che
sembra aver iniziato a bloccare una pericolosa erosione.
Curiosamente, sí. Ma, aggiungiamo, non troppo. Perché questa tendenza era
stata in buona misura colta dagli stessi strateghi berlusconiani del sondaggio.
(7) In the end, however, the fight against corruption will be won in the developing
countries themselves — not in the rich world. There are encouraging signs:
Thailand, Zimbabwe and others have set up anti-corruption commissions, though
they don't always deliver what they promise. [...] In Argentina and elsewhere,
lawyers who once took civil-rights cases now fight corruption.
These indigenous efforts sometimes go off half-cocked.
In example (6), which comments on election results, some details are
presented; then, they are generalized and interpreted as a "tendency".
In such text-fragments, the encapsulating noun phrases appear at nodal
points in the text. They function as intra-textual interpreting devices which label
preceding text-portions.
6 MARIA-ELISABETH CONTE

4.2. Evaluation

When the head of the anaphoric noun phrase is an axionym, the text offers an
evaluation of the facts and events described. Consider, for instance, example (8):
(8) Irato per i fischi della folia che lo contestava a sole sei settimane dalle elezioni
generali, il presidente romeno Ion Iliescu è saltato fuori dalla sua limousine e ha
aggredito un giomalista dell'opposizione.
L'incredibile episodic che ha suscitato vivaci reazioni sulla stampa, è
avvenuto sabato scorso.
These shifts from the presentation of details to generalization on the one
hand, and from the description of facts or events to evaluation on the other, are
crucial points in argumentative discourse. Anaphoric encapsulation works
smoothly at these points; it functions simultaneously as a cohesive device and as
an organizing principle, and may be a strong means of manipulating the reader.
As has been pointed out by Wanda d'Addio (1988, 1990), the choice of the
encapsulating noun is not always easily comprehensible for the reader, but may
be arrived at through complex inference processes.

4.3. Hypostasis of pragmatic discourse units

Until now I have treated anaphoric encapsulations exclusively as nodal points in

the semantic hierarchy of texts. In this section I will briefly discuss the anaphoric
encapsulation of pragmatic discourse units.
Indeed, anaphoric encapsulation does not only concern the contents of the
text, but may also result in the categorization and hypostasis of speech acts and
argumentative functions in discourse. In other words, anaphoric encapsulation is
not only inhaltsbezogen, but may also be kommunikationsbezogen.
Consider, for instance, examples (9) and (10):
(9) La Lega sarà sempre per la gente che suda contro la classe dei governanti. -
Questa promessa di Dasi ha provocate l'acclamazione della piazza.
(10) The CDA Workers group called on Kohl to keep the interests of "ordinary
people" in mind. With only a 10-seat majority, Kohl must now keep everybody
happy, so CDU general secretary Peter Hintze immediately announced that the
party "did not accept the employers' proposals."
If the CDU keeps that promise, the central test in Helmut Kohl's last term will
be whether the welfare state Germany has become can also be the competitive,
growing economy Germany once was.
 ANAPHORIC ENCAPSULATION 7

In both these examples, anaphoric encapsulation allows the writer to

ascribe an illocutionary force to some utterance. This categorization of an
utterance as a particular speech act (in both cases, as a promise) produces a shift
to the meta-communicative level. A similar hypostasis takes place when an
argumentative function (like premise, conclusion, argument,...) is assigned to
some text-segment. For instance, in (11):
(11) Romiti avrebbe detto ai giudici: "Anche noi abbiamo una responsabilità morale
nel degrado del sistema Italia." Una premessa alla seconda parte della
deposizione, quella dedicata all'attività della FIAT nel settore pubblico.
a quoted utterance is categorized as a premise in an argumentative strategy.

Dipartimento di Linguistica
Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia
Università di Pavia
Strada Nuova 65
I-27100 Pavia PV
Fax: 39-382-504487
8 MARIA-ELISABETH CONTE

NOTES

1. The Italian examples are all taken from the newspaper Corriere della Sera, the English
ones from the magazine Newsweek.
2. As is widely known, the term 'encapsulation' has been used in a quite different way by
Lyons (1977). For Lyons, 'encapsulation' denotes the phenomenon of syntagmatic
inclusion. (Example: 'to bark' encapsulates the sense of 'dog'.) This lexical phenomenon
had already been discussed by Porzig (1934) under the title of 'wesenhafte
Bedeutungsbeziehungen '.
3. It should be mentioned that Raible (1972: 203) had already maintained that "such
substitutions as case, process, condition, manner, should play an important role in any text
theory" ("solche Substitutionen wie Fall, Vorgang, Bedingung, Art und Weise in jeder
Texttheorie eine bedeutende Rolle spielen mussen"). But Raible's important insight has
long been neglected in textlinguistic research.
4. The function of encapsulating noun phrases is very similar to that of bare demonstratives
when they refer to abstract objects. There is one difference of course: the demonstrative has
no categorizing effect. It is the predicate, then, which determines what kind of entity the
demonstrative pronoun refers to. On the topic of demonstrative pronouns cf. Fraurud
(1992) and Conte (1996).
5. I have not included the book by Rolf Koeppel (1993) in my overview on anaphoric
encapsulation, since its relevance to the topic of this paper has been pointed out to me only
quite recently. I would just like to mention that the title of Koeppel's book, Satzbezogene
Verweisformen {Reference Forms Referring to Sentences) seems to me to be quite
inadequate for a book on anaphoric encapsulation, since the encapsulating anaphoric noun
phrases very often refer to entire portions of a text and not just to single sentences.
6. In an article of mine on non-coreferential anaphoric pronouns (Conte 1991), I also
discussed cases where a text referent is introduced by an anaphoric pronoun.
7. In encapsulating expressions we may also find determiners like such a, un tale, solch ein.
With these determiners, categorization is more prominent than referentialization.
8. In their text-structuring and text-organizing function, anaphoric encapsulations come very
close to text connectives. And interestingly enough, quite a few general nouns functioning
in anaphoric encapsulation are also involved in the formation of connectives. Cf. the
English connectives the reason why, by reason of the fact that; the French connectives par
le fait, pour cette raison; the Italian connectives per il fatto che, ragion per cui. These
connectives are the fruit of a grammaticalization process. There is a transition from lexicon
to grammar.
 ANAPHORIC ENCAPSULATION 9

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