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Cohesive devices
/kəʊˈhiːsɪv dɪˈvaɪsɪz/

Main types of cohesive devices

❑ exophoric reference /ˌeksə(ʊ)ˈfɒrɪk/

❑ endophoric reference /ˌendəˈfɒrɪk/
 anaphoric reference /ænəˈfɒrɪk/
 cataphoric reference /kætəˈfɒrɪk/
Reference ▪ pronominals /prəʊˈnɒmɪn(ə)l/
▪ demonstratives /dɪˈmɒnstrətɪv/
▪ the definite article
▪ items like “such”
Grammatical
cohesive
❑ nominal
devices Ellipsis and substitution ❑ verbal
/ɪˈlɪpsɪs/ /ˌsʌbstɪˈtjuːʃn/ ❑ clausal /klɔːzl/

❑ additive
❑ reason-cause
❑ contrastive
Conjunction /kənˈdʒʌŋkʃn/
❑ concession
❑

Collocational patterns /ˌkɒləˈkeɪʃnl/ ADJ+N / N+V / V+N / ADV+ADJ / V+ADV / V+PREP

❑ direct repetition
❑ lexical relations
 synonymy /sɪˈnɒnɪmi/
Lexical
 antonymy /ænˈtɒnəmi/
cohesive Reiteration /riːˌɪtəˈreɪʃn/
 hyponymy /haɪˈpɒnɪmi/
devices
 meronymy /məˈrɒnəmi/
❑ instantial relations /ɪnˈstænʃl/

Discourse-organizing words
Structural
Parallelism /ˈpærəleˌlɪz(ə)m/
cohesion

Grammatical cohesive devices

Reference

Exophoric Vs Endophoric reference

Outward or exophoric reference is not text-internal but it is an equally important part of the
addressee’s active role in creating coherence. Exophoric reference may direct us to what is
assumed by the addresser to be part of a shared world (area of convergence, common ground)
with the addressee outside of the text, either in terms of knowledge or experience.

In English, the determiners often act in this way:

The government are to blame for unemployment.

She was using one of those trimmers to get rid of the weeds.

The same sort of exophoric reference is seen in phrases such as the Queen, the Pope, the
army, and in sentences such as ‘We always take the car since we can just put the kids, the dog
and the luggage into it.’

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Culture-bound reference may be outside the schema of the language learner and the heavy
referential burden may impair interpretation.

Inward or endophoric reference can be defined as the internal connections a text has.
Where referents can be confirmed by looking back in the text, this is called anaphoric reference.
Where referents are withheld (generally to engage the addressee’s attention), this is called
cataphoric reference.

Referring expressions, then, are words or phrases whose meaning can

only be retrieved by moving:
 to other parts of the co-text* (endophoric reference) or
 to elements of the context** (exophoric reference).
** co-text: the actual text surrounding any given lexical item.
** context: the situation in which the discourse is produced. (context of culture and of situation)

TASKS
[1] Decide whether the following examples illustrate anaphoric or cataphoric reference.

They pressed round him in ragged fashion to take their money. Andy, Dave,
Phil, Stephen and Bob.

Do you like the idea of deterring burglars with a big, ferocious hound –
but can’t stand dogs? For around ₤45 you can buy an automatic dog barking
unit – Guard God, or the Boston Bulldog, both available by mail order from
catalogues like the ones you’re sent with credit card statements. You plug
it in near the front door and its built-in microphone detects sharp noises.

[2] Identify the cataphoric reference item and its referent in this extract.

It has often been compared to New Orleans’s Mardi Gras as an outdoor

celebration. Certainly New York’s Mulberry Street and surrounding blocks
have been crowded over the last few days as Royal and Bourbon Streets in
the French Quarter are for the Mardi Gras. More than 3 million people are
estimated to have celebrated the 61st annual Feast of the San Gennaro down
in Greenwich Village since it began on Thursday.

Pronominals (personal and objective pronouns)

TASKS
[1] Highlight pronouns and their referents in the following examples:

1) If the buyer wants to know what is covered by the guarantee, he has to read
the fine print and consult a lawyer.

2) Jane asked her to sing and so Mary sang.

[2] Survival International is a charity organisation that is deeply concerned about the effects of the
development and destruction of the tropical rainforests on the tribal peoples who have lived
there for thousands of years. Read Survival International’s appeal below and find instances of
exophoric and endophoric reference (pronouns only) in the appeal below.

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IF YOU IGNORE THEIR PROBLEMS, THEY’LL DISAPPEAR.

The Yanomami Indians have lived in the Brazilian rainforest for over ten
thousand years. Now, illicit gold mining is poisoning their rivers with mercury.
Rainforest is being turned into malarial swamp-land. Tuberculosis is rife. Their
children are dying.
Please, help us to help. Or the Yanomami and their problems will disappear.
Forever.
Your donation will enable us to plead their case with the Brazilian government
and in the international courts of justice. Please send cheques to Survival
International …

Demonstratives

Time and distance: THIS/THESE versus THAT/THOSE

▪ We use this and these to refer to things that are closer in time or distance. We use that
and those for more distant things:
E.g. In those days people only had radios, whereas these days everybody watches TV.
▪ The word we use may depend on how close or distant we ‘feel’ to the thing we are talking
about:
E.g. ‘What do you think of these new digital televisions?’
‘Oh, those are a waste of money.’

Anaphoric reference: THIS, THAT, THESE

▪ We use this and that to refer back to previously stated ideas. In writing, this is more
common than that. We use this especially when we want to say more about the subject
and develop a point:
E.g. Television was invented by Baird. This is news to most people who assume that television just invented
itself.
▪ However, that’s why is more common than this is why:
E.g. I hate television. That’s why I haven’t got one.
▪ If a preceding paragraph contains several points, we commonly use this as a pronoun
rather than these to summarise the general idea of the paragraph:
E.g. In the 1950s and 60s, watching television had a sense of occasion. The whole family would gather round
the black and white set, waiting for it to warm up. There were no remote controls, and only one or two
channels were available. This has changed now.
▪ We use these more often as a determiner:
E.g. All these shortcomings have now become history.

The definite article

▪ It is used before nouns referring to something unique (the North Pole), or before a noun
which is mentioned a second time.
E.g. One afternoon a big wolf waited in a dark forest for a little girl to come along carrying a basket of food to
her grandmother. (…) ‘Are you carrying that basket to your grandmother?’ asked the wolf. The little girl
said yes, she was.

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▪ Remember that the definite article also signals exophoric reference.
E.g. I was late and we decided to call a taxi. Unfortunately, the driver spent a long time finding our house.

Here the use of the definite article with ‘driver’ is quite appropriate even though he is mentioned
for the first time. This is because our ‘taxi schema’ contains a ‘taxi driver’, and we assume that
a taxi that arrives at our house has a driver. It is as though he has already been mentioned.

Such

▪ “Very” is used when we are simply giving information. “Such” is mainly used to refer to
information which has already been given, which is already known, or which is obvious.
E.g. The weather was very cold during my stay at Aspen. I wasn’t expecting such weather.
▪ We can use such before a noun to refer back to a fact, activity or concept, meaning ‘like
this/that’. With countable singular nouns, such is followed by a/an:
E.g. Computers may eventually replace television, though such a move seems a long way off.
There are various ways of composing secret messages. Such systems are called codes or ciphers.
▪ We can modify such with few/all/many or a number:
E.g. People are predicting many things about the future of technology. Few such predictions become reality.
▪ Common phrase: ‘Did you get a pay rise?’ ‘No such luck’

Ellipsis and Substitution

Ellipsis

It is the omission of otherwise expected elements because they are understood as being easily
retrievable (recoverable) from the text or the context.
▪ Auxiliary verbs can stand for verbs or whole clauses
E.g. I thought I’d have a nightmare, but I didn’t (have a nightmare)
‘Have you finished?’
‘Yes I have (finished)
If you’re not prepared to lend me the money, then I’m sure Jeffrey is (prepared to lend me the money).

▪ “To” can stand for a complete infinitive or a phrase. Remember: if a verb is followed by
an infinitive with to, we include to but omit the verb.
E.g. ‘Are you going to win the race?’
‘We hope to (win the race)’
‘Shall I help you carry that pile of rubbish over to the dump?’
‘I’d love you to (help me carry that pile of rubbish over to the dump)’
There’s no need to stay if you don’t want to (stay)

▪ In informal speech, it is common to apply ellipsis to the beginnings of certain phrases

when it is clear who or what is being referred to. This often happens with:
 Imperative be: (Be) careful! (Be) quiet!

 Pronouns: (I) don’t think so. (I) don’t know.

 Pronouns + be: (It’s) nice to meet you. (I’m) sorry.

 Pronouns + be + articles (It’s a) nice day. (It’s a) pity. (It’s) a good thing you were here to help.

 Auxiliary verbs + pronouns: (Have you) got the time? (Are you) coming? (Have you) finished?

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TASKS
[1] Identify examples of ellipsis in this extract:

Most students start each term with an award cheque. But by the time
accommodation and food are paid for, books are bought, trips taken home and
a bit of social life lived, it usually looks pretty emaciated.

[2] Ellipsis is effective as long as the meaning of a text is not obscured. Write the following sentences
in full so that they are easier to understand:

1- The police stated that the victim should be heard and witnesses looked for.
2- Emma and Mark began an exotic dance which was applauded wildly and after plenty of
encouragement from the audience danced a brilliant tango.
[3] Consider the following sentence. Identify the ambiguity resulting from inappropriate ellipsis and
remove the ambiguity.

The policewoman informed us that the suspect had revealed his whereabouts
at the time of the crime but would say no more.
[4] Rewrite the following sentences, leaving out as much as possible.

1- Many women today will move into a wider range of professions than their mothers’
generation could have hoped to move into.
2- In some countries, almost as many women go out to work as men go out to work,
which is causing problems for childcare.
3- British evidence suggests that staying at school improves girls’ employment
prospects more than staying at school improves boys’ employment prospects.
4- The reporter said that many women should have top jobs in the future and that
many women should be earning more than their husbands.

Substitution
In substitution, one word stands for a word, phrase, clause, or element of the context. These
general-purpose substitute words or ‘proforms’ belong to a closed set: one/ones, do/does/did,
so/not, same, there, then, that.

‘How about a swim?’ ‘Let’s meet at the station.’

‘I’d like that.’ ‘OK, see you there.’
Joe thinks it’s time to go and I do too. Those look nice. Can I have one?
‘Do you think we’ll win?’ ‘I got married in 1986.’
‘I hope so.’ ‘How old were you then?’
Do you need a lift? If so, wait for me; if not, I’ll see you there.
Nobody could tell whether Mary had taken that letter. She might have done so.
She chose the roast duck; I chose the same.

▪ Auxiliary verbs do, does and did replace verbs and other parts of the sentence.
E.g. The word processor works. The printer does too.
We enjoyed the holiday. My parents did too.

▪ We can use do, so and that as substitutes to avoid repeating a verb and its object or
complement.
E.g. I asked him to give me a contract, but he wasn’t prepared to do so.
‘Could you fix my bike?’
‘I’ll do that at once.’
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Spot and account for the mistake in the following sentence:

If you were to require further information on the applicant, I would be pleased to do so.

▪ So can be used to replace adjectives or noun phrases after a link verb in common
combinations (become so, remain so)
E.g. I was very happy but my wife was rather less so.
He was an enormous influence on me as a student and remained so in later life.

▪ So and not are used as substitutes for that clauses, especially after be, appear and seem,
and the following reporting verbs: believe, expect, hope, imagine, say, think, suppose, guess,
reckon

E.g. ‘I hope that you have a nice journey.’ ‘I hope so too.’

‘Have you got the flowers?’ ‘I’m afraid not.’
‘You’re in big trouble.’ ‘Who says so?’
‘Have we got enough bread? ‘I think so.’
‘We’re not going to be in time.’ ‘No, I suppose not.’
I may be free this evening. If so, I’ll come round and see you.

▪ We say I don’t expect so and I don’t think so rather than I expect not or I think not. On the
other hand, we say I hope not and can’t say I don’t hope so.

▪ In responses we can use some transitive verbs without so or an object:

E.g. I know. I understand.

▪ We can use so at the beginning of a phrase in these types of sentence:

‘He’s late again.’ ‘So it seems/appears./So it would seem/appear.’

We were convinced we would win and so it turned out.
‘They’re here.’ ‘So they are!’

▪ So replaces a whole sentence with the meaning also. Auxiliary-Subject inversion is applied.
E.g. We are leaving on Friday and so are the Flynns. (The Flynns are leaving on Friday, too. Or The Flynns are also
leaving on Friday)

▪ Neither/nor replaces negative sentences. Auxiliary-Subject inversion is applied.

E.g. I’m not leaving on Friday and neither/nor are Patrick and Jane. (Patrick and Jane are not leaving on Friday,
either.)

▪ An auxiliary verb can be used as a substitute for a complete verb phrase.

E.g. ‘Give my love to Granny.’ ‘I will.’

▪ One is used to replace count nouns in the singular and the plural.
E.g. I don’t want a wooden table. I want a plastic one.
I don’t want blue balloons. I want red ones.

▪ One is usually necessary with an adjective.

E.g. I don’t need a new television. My old one is perfectly OK.

▪ If one is used without an adjective, no indefinite article is included.

E.g. I’m looking for a new raincoat but I don’t want one with a belt.

▪ One is not used with uncountable nouns.

E.g. I haven’t got time today, but I’ve got some tomorrow. (not …one tomorrow)

▪ One is not used after possessive adjectives.

E.g. That’s not your bag. It’s mine (not …my one)
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▪ ‘s acts as a replacement word by itself and it is not necessary to add one

E.g. ‘Whose bag is that?’ ‘It’s Joan’s.’

▪ Common phrases: That’s that. We’ve finished.

That’s it! I quit!
‘What have you been doing?’ ‘Oh, this and that.’
Sea levels are rising, or so they say
If you insist on doing it your way, so be it. (= be my guest)

TASKS
[1] Rewrite the following sentences applying substitution:

1- Women have long found it easy to pick up work when economies boom. Now they are
picking it up fast even in hard times.
2- The dangers of single-sex education for boys have often been stated, and there
has long been an assumption that girls benefit from co-education in the same way
as boys benefit from it.
3- ‘I hope Daniel will pass his driving test this time.’ ‘I hope Daniel will pass
his driving test this time, too.’
4- ‘I’ll probably go shopping this afternoon.’ ‘Well, if you go shopping, could
you get me some coffee?’
5- ‘Was it this ring you wanted to look at, madam?’ ‘No, it was the ring at the
front, with the rubies in it.’
6- I didn’t expect Fran to pick me up, but she picked me up from the station.
7- ‘We went to Paris last weekend.’ ‘We went to Paris last weekend, too! Where
were you staying?’
8- ‘We didn’t understand a word of what he said.’ ‘I didn’t understand a word,
either. Nobody told me he only speaks Hungarian,’
9- ‘Do these trousers look OK?’ ‘I think the white linen trousers would look better
with the blue jacket.’
10- ‘My friend Josef works in the same building as you.’ ‘I know he works in the
same building as me – I met him in the lift the other day.’
11- ‘That man who just went by was the presenter from The Breakfast Show.’
‘I thought he was the presenter from The Breakfast Show. His face looked
familiar.’

[2] From the passage below, find an example of: substitution of a noun, substitution of a clause,
ellipsis of a noun, ellipsis of a verbal form, ellipsis of a clause. Indicate the substituted or omitted
part.

In the early 1990s, airlines were required to introduce stricter

safety regulations. Most of the larger airlines did so but some of
the smaller ones were unable to follow suit for economic reasons.
As a result, people came to the mistaken belief that travelling
on the larger airlines was safer than on the smaller. In fact, most
airlines are well within the agreed international safety limits – the
American and European airlines certainly are. If not, they are usually
restricted to flying on domestic routes.

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[3] Rewrite the article below, using ellipsis and substitution as appropriate.

HOW SAFE IS RAIL TRAVEL?

Unlike air travel, which is regulated internationally, rail travel is in many cases
controlled nationally. The degree of safety of rail travel is therefore highly
variable from country to country, depending on the degree of regulation and
the quality of regulation in the country concerned. In Britain and the United
States, rail passenger deaths work out at an average of less than 10 rail
passenger deaths per year. Unfortunately, the rail passenger deaths per year
statistics in the less developed parts of the world are considerably higher than
the rail passenger deaths per year statistics are in the western world.
In the UK, over the last 25 years, there has been an average of one train
accident for every million miles run. Because individual trains carry such a large
number of passengers compared with the number of passengers carried in cars,
buses and planes, this actually means that the degree of risk is, comparatively,
one which is almost non-existent.
By far the greatest cause of railway accidents is human error, either in
controlling or responding to signals. Recent improvements in the numbers of
accidents are in large measure due to the introduction of automatic and
computerised signalling equipment. Radio communication systems between
drivers and control centres have also proved influential in reducing accidents.
With the continuing development of radio communication systems and
automatic signalling systems, we can look forward to further reductions in what
are already impressively low accident rates.

[4] The following extract is from a travel book, whose style should be hard-hitting, economical and
fast. Achieve this effect by applying ellipsis and substitution whenever possible.

“Let’s Go Italy” is the best book for anyone who is travelling on a budget.
Here is the reason why this is so. No other guidebook has as many budget
listings as this one. In Rome we list dozens of places to stay for less
than $7 a night; in the countryside we list hundreds more places to stay at
for much less than $7 a night. We tell you how to get there the cheapest
way you can get there, whether you get there by bus, or whether you get
there by train, or whether you get there by plane or whether you get there
by thumb, and we tell you where to get an inexpensive meal and a satisfying
meal once you’ve arrived. There are hundreds of money-saving tips for
everyone plus there are lots of information on special student discounts.

[5] Here are some excerpts where there has been ellipsis. Insert the omitted segments:

1) ‘Sometimes the isle was thick with savages, with whom we fought; sometimes full
of dangerous animals that hunted us; but in all my fancies nothing occurred to
me so strange and tragic as our actual adventures.’
Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson

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2) ‘Harry was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the
rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble. It was
as if Snape had started handing out sweets.’
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling

3) ‘How dared anyone suggest that it was lack of policemen that had resulted in
those two very nasty and well-publicised murders? Or that the government should
have somehow foreseen the freak hurricane in the West Country that had caused
so much damage to both people and property?’
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling

4) ‘The preparations for the Hate Week were in full swing, and the staffs of all
the Ministries were working overtime. Processions, meetings, military parades,
lectures, waxworks, displays, film shows, telescreen programmes all had to be
organised; stands had to be erected, effigies built, slogans coined, songs
written, rumours circulated, photographs faked.’
Nineteen eighty-four, by G. Orwell

[6] Rewrite the following sentence using substitution:

‘He was memorising their appearance, but he felt no interest in them, or appeared to
feel none.’ Nineteen eighty-four, by G. Orwell
[7] Complete each of the sentences with so, such, that, this, these or those.

1- You were told to wear a tie. Why didn’t you do __________?

2- I’m always out when my favourite TV programme is on. _________’s why I’ve bought a VCR.
3- Different channels seem to have different weather forecasts. How can __________ things happen?
4- Channel 4 is supposed to be for people who like documentaries while Channel 3 is for ______ who enjoy soap operas.
5- Cheap programmes, amateur production values, unimaginative programming: __________ are just some of the
reasons for the channel’s failure.
6- Videotape is a thing of the past – or __________ they say.
7- Commercial television needs to satisfy the advertisers with its programming. State television has no ______ obligation.
8- Satellite and cable have led to a massive increase in the number of channels. Many would say that __________
has also led to a reduction in quality.
9- ‘It looks like digital television will be taking over.’ ‘It certainly seems __________.’

[8] Match the five sentences 1 – 5, with the most appropriate response a – e.
1- Will it be all right to borrow his paper?
2- Thanks for putting me up at such short notice.
3- Would they dare to put us on a three-day working week?
4- They’re finally going to get married then.
5- Sorry, we’ve decided to give the job to Anna and not you.
a- That’s all right, dear.
b- I should think so
c- That’s that, then.
d- I sincerely hope not.
e- So it seems.

[9] Match the five sentences 1 – 5, with the most appropriate response a – e.
1- I’ve been here for a year now.
2- You’ve got a stain on your sleeve.
3- What are you up to this weekend?
4- So you didn’t win the lottery then?
5- He can’t have left the office yet, can he?
a- This and that.
b- So have I.
c- So I have.
d- I wouldn’t have thought so.
e- No such luck.
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Conjunction

A conjunction explicitly signals a relationship between segments of discourse. It is not at all easy
to list definitively all the items that perform the conjunctive role in English.

Conjunctions may simply add more information to what has already been said (and, furthermore,
plus, in addition, moreover, besides) or elaborate or exemplify it (for instance, in other words,
namely, for example, that is to say). They may contrast new information with old information, or
put another side to the argument (but, on the other hand, however, conversely, nevertheless).
They may relate new information to what has already been given in terms of causes (so,
accordingly, because, for this reason) or in time (formerly, then, in the end, next) or they may
indicate a new departure or a summary (by the way, well, to sum up, anyway, in a nutshell, to cut
a long story short). There are many words and phrases which can be put into this category in
English and many different ways in which they can be classified.

Single-word conjunctions merge into phrasal and clausal ones. The following sentences signal
the cause-consequence relation in several ways:

o He was insensitive to the group’s needs. Consequently, there was widespread ill feeling. (single word
conjunction)
o He was insensitive to the group’s needs. As a consequence, there was widespread ill feeling. (adverbial phrase
as conjunction)
o As a consequence of his insensitivity to the group’s needs, there was widespread ill feeling. (adverbial phase
plus nominalisation)
o Widespread ill feeling was a consequence of his insensitivity to the group’s needs. (lexical item within the
predicate of the clause)

Language learners need to know both how and when to use conjunctions. Their presence or
absence often contributes to style, and some conjunctions can sound very pompous when used
inappropriately.

E.g. Owing to the lousy weather, we’ll have to call off the picnic. Damn!

TASKS
[1] Underline the conjunctions in the sentences below. Decide whether they express reason or
cause, purpose or consequence or result.

1- The bridge collapsed because it had been badly designed.

2- I missed the last bus, so I had to get a taxi home.
3- As she was constantly late, she lost her job.
4- He left early so that he could catch an early train home.
5- Since there’s no chance of finding our way home, we might as well set up camp here.
6- It had hardly rained for months, with the result that there was a serious water shortage.
7- I worded hard so as to pass my exams.

[2] Underline the prepositional phrases in the sentences below. Decide whether they express reason
or cause, purpose or consequence or result.

1- We have introduced new measures for the improvement of safety in factories.

2- Owing to adverse weather, your flight has been delayed.
3- She was sick as a result of excessive chocolate intake.
4- We have developed a new product for the plant’s faster growth.
5- As a consequence of the fog, the plane was late and we missed our connection.
6- We are unable to go on holiday this year on account of the expense.
7- We never go out in the day because of the heat.

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[3] Join the pairs of sentences below, using either a conjunction or a prepositional phrase. Make
any other changes that are necessary and mind register.

1- I bought a giant TV screen. I wanted to watch documentaries.

.....................................................................................
2- The contingent failed to visit The Louvre. They had a tight schedule and there was a shortage of couriers.

.....................................................................................
3- We didn’t go out. The weather was too bad.

.....................................................................................
4- There was a natural disaster in an undeveloped country. Médecins Sans Frontières were rushed to key
devastated points.

.....................................................................................
5- We’re going past your house anyway. It’s no trouble to give you a lift.

.....................................................................................
6- More guests than expected attended the reception. The catering was insufficient for latecomers.

.....................................................................................

Extension activities can be found on module IV.

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Lexical cohesive devices

Just as grammar has a direct role in welding clauses and sentences into discourse, so the choice
of vocabulary is of paramount importance to achieve unity in the discourse process.

Lexical cohesion is achieved by the use of related vocabulary items. The relations between
cohesive lexical items in texts may be of collocation and reiteration.

Collocation

Collocation is the probability that lexical items will co-occur. To put it simply, there are terms
which are often found together (heated argument, top model). Pedagogically speaking, it is
relevant to focus on the co-occurrence of words that students may not expect. For example, it
would be more convenient to draw attention to combinations such as heavy seas/smoker rather
than heavy loads/furniture.

Collocational patterns

adjective + noun noun + verb verb + noun

auspicious occasion clocks strike the hour issue a warning

adverb + adjective verb + adverb verb + preposition

strictly speaking to affect deeply eke out

Reiteration

The main relation of lexical cohesion we will deal with is that of reiteration. Reiteration means
1- either restating an item by direct repetition
2- or asserting its meaning by exploiting the item’s lexical relations of
2.1. Synonymy (relation of sameness)
2.2. Antonymy (relation of oppositeness)
2.3. Hyponymy (relation of inclusion, as in cedar, birch, spruce, larch, oak …
in relation to tree)
2.4. Meronymy (relation of inclusion referring to parts of a whole, as in
branch, leaves, roots... in relation to tree)

TASK
[1] In the following two sentences, lexical cohesion by synonymy occurs. Where?

The meeting commenced at six thirty. But from the moment it began, it was clear that all was not well.

[2] What lexical relation is exploited in the following advertisement?

Timotei is both mild to your hair and to your scalp _ so mild you can wash your hair as
often as you like. Timotei cleans your hair gently, leaving it soft and shiny, with a fresh
smell of summer meadows.

Rose and flower are related by _________________ (rose is a hyponym of flower, flower is the
superordinate word). Eggplant and aubergine are related by _______________, regardless of the
geographical dimension of usage that distinguishes them.

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We must also be attentive to instantial relations, that is to say, lexical relations that are valid in
particular texts only, and whose interpretations may not correspond with dictionary definitions.
For example, ‘conservationist’ and ‘scientist’ are not antonyms if you look them up in the
dictionary. However, in a text that presents a man’s dilemma of whether to kill a rare bird to
prove he has discovered it or whether to set it free to preserve its species, the relation of
antonymy between ‘scientist’ and ‘conservationist’ becomes real. The two words are instantial
antonyms in the given text.

TASK
[1] In the following paragraph, cohesion by hyponymy occurs. Highlight the relevant words

There was a fine old rocking chair that his father used to sit in, a desk where he wrote
letters, a nest of small tables and a dark, imposing bookcase. Now all this furniture was to
be sold, and with it his own past.

In the case of reiteration by a superordinate word, we can often see a summarising or

encapsulating function in the choice of words, bringing various elements of the text together
under one, more general term. These various elements may form a lexical chain.

[2] Consider the two extracts from Earl Spencer’s tribute to his sister, Lady Diana Spencer, Princess
of Wales, in Westminster Abbey. Find lexical chains.

I stand before you today – the representative of a family in grief, in

a country in mourning, before a world in shock. (…)

(…) Diana was the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of

beauty. All over the world she was a symbol of selfless humanity. All
over the world, a standard-bearer for the rights of the truly
downtrodden, a very British girl who transcended nationality. Someone
with a natural nobility who was classless and who proved that she
needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of
magic. (…)
Your joy for life transmitted wherever you took your smile and
the sparkle in those unforgettable eyes. Your boundless energy, which
you could barely contain.
But your greatest gift was your intuition, and it was a gift you
used wisely. This is what underpinned all your other wonderful
attributes. (…)

Addresssers sometimes find themselves at a loss for synonyms and so they resort to the
reworking of lexical items or relexicalisation. The following sentence has been taken from an
article in which the writer:

▪ argues against the _____________, which is relexicalised as _____________________

▪ argues for the _________________, which is relexicalised as _____________________

If the right person were to set the lead and exchange his tin box traffic
jammer for an environmentally responsible set of two wheels, we would all
follow suit and some of our traffic problems would be solved at a stroke.

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[3] Describe sentence function and trace lexical reiterations in the following text. Can you find any
connections between sentence functions and lexical cohesive devices?

Somebody (and Harry had a very shrewd idea who) had set off what seemed to be an enormous
crate of enchanted fireworks. Dragons comprised entirely of green and gold sparks were soaring
up and down the corridors, emitting loud fiery blasts and bangs as they went; shocking-pink
Catherine wheels five feet in diameter were whizzing lethally through the air like so many flying
saucers; rockets with long tails of brilliant silver stars were ricocheting off the walls; sparklers
were writing swear words in midair of their own accord; firecrackers were exploding like mines
everywhere Harry looked. Instead of burning themselves out, fading from sight or fizzling to a
halt, these pyrotechnical miracles seemed to be gaining in energy and momentum the longer he
watched.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling

[4] Notice how lexical cohesion helps build topic development.

A group of people are talking about the ferry crossing on their recent holiday:

A: but it was lovely our one with the nightclub and we had, we

had a super cabin which was just below the nightclub, utterly

soundproof you know, when you think what houses are like,

when we shut out cabin door you wouldn’t k now there was

anything outside and yet there was a nightclub pounding music

away, just one immediately overhead and we were the cabin

next to it and you couldn’t hear at all

C: good heavens

B: that’s good, very good

A: and it’s, of course we could say to t he children we’ll just be

upstairs and they knew they just had to put their dresses

gown on and come up if they wanted us and that was super

C: were you, did you have a car with you?

(Crystal and Davy)

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Discourse-organising words

A distinction is often made between grammar words and lexical words in language. This
distinction also appears sometimes as function words versus content words, or empty words
versus full words. This distinction is a useful one: it enables us to separate off those words which
belong to closed systems in the language and which carry grammatical meaning, from those that
belong to open systems and which belong to the major word classes of noun, verb, adjective and
adverb. This, that, these and those in English belong to a closed system (as do the pronouns,
prepositions, etc.). Monkey, sculpture, noise and toenail belong to open-ended sets, which are
often thought of as the ‘creative’ end of language.

In between these two extremes there is another type of vocabulary that has recently been studied
by discourse analysts, a type that seems to share qualities of both the open and the closed-set
words. Let us consider a paragraph taken from an article in a learned journal:

Here I want to spend some time examining this issue. First I propose to look briefly at the history of
interest in the problem, then spend some time on its origins and magnitude before turning to an
assessment of the present situation and approaches to its solution. Finally, I want to have a short peek
at possible prospects.

These sentences tell us a lot about the structure of the article, but nothing about the author’s
subject matter. They tell us that a problem and its possible solutions will be examined, and that
another part of the text will deal with the past, another with the future. So the words in our
example do quite a bit of lexical work (they are not as ‘empty’ as grammar words are often said
to be), but, in another sense, we need to seek elsewhere in the text for their content.

In our mystery text,

▪ the ‘this’ of ‘this issue’ tells us that we can look in the ________________ paragraphs to find
out what the issue is; the lexical meaning of issue tells us to look for something problematic,
something that is a matter of public debate, etc.
▪ the word _______________works in a similar way.
▪ _______________ will identify with a portion of the text where something is being judged or
evaluated.
▪ _______________ will be matter which can be counter-posed to the problem, and so on.

The words that you completed the blanks with stand in place of segments of text (just as
pronouns can); a segment may be a sentence, several sentences or a whole paragraph, or more.
Addressees are expected to match the words with the segments, and if we have decoded the
text correctly, we can render an account of what the problem is, or what the prospects are,
according to the addresser.

We shall call words such as issue, problem and assessment discourse-organising words, since it
is their job to organise and structure the argument, rather than answer for its content.

TASK
[1] Insert the boxed discourse-organising words in sentences 1 – 7.

question (2), point, theme, topic (2), aspect (2), case, factor, problem, issue
1- Pollution is on the increase. The ___________ is worsening on a daily basis.
2- Should taxes be raised or lowered? This was the most burning ___________ in the election.
3- Whether the war could have been avoided is a ___________ that continues to interest
historians.
4- Let’s discuss crime. It’s always been an interesting ___________.
5- Punishment is only one ____________ of crime.
6- The scandal is the main ____________ of conversation in the country at the moment.
7- In the ____________ of that incident, the circumstances were entirely different.
8- The money involved was a major ____________ in my decision to agree to the deal.
9- My main ____________ is that I don’t think the idea will work.
10- The ____________ of whose fault it was never arose.
11- We discussed every ____________ of the problem thoroughly.
12- The way society has changed is a ____________ runs through the whole novel.

Language II - ELT Ariel Olmedo