Prof .
Muhammad Yasin Shahid
Ulla Connor defines cohesion as "the use of
explicit linguistic devices to signal relations
between sentences and parts of texts." These
cohesive devices are phases or words that help
the reader associate previous statements with
subsequent ones.
A text may be cohesive without necessarily
being coherent: Cohesion does not spawn
coherence. "Cohesion," Connor writes, "is
determined by lexically and grammatically
overt intersentential relationships, whereas
coherence is based on semantic relationships."
Discourse is a communicative event in which
language plays a prominent role. It minimally
requires a sender (writer, speaker), a receiver
(reader, listener), and a message that is being
communicated. This message is not just a
concatenation of clauses; it forms a unified,
coherent whole. Both the sender and receiver
normally have the implicit agreement that the
message being communicated is coherent.
The term cohesion has been defined in various
ways. Some researchers apply the term
cohesion to the surface structure of the text
and the term coherence to the concepts and
relations underlying its meaning. Cohesion has
sometimes been applied to smaller units of
language in the text, and coherence, to some
general overall interrelatedness in the text.
Other researchers have defined cohesion as
continuity in word and sentence structure, and
coherence as continuity in meaning and
context.
A piece of language is said to be coherent
(therefore discourse) if it has a discernible,
unified meaning.
A piece of discourse is said to be cohesive if its
components (i.e. sentences/phrases/words) are
bound together through linguistic and non-
linguistic features to form a unified whole.
The linguistic features used to link one
word/phrase/sentence to another are called
formal links.
Some common formal links are:
Verb form
parallelism
Referring Expressions
Repetitions & Lexical chains
Substitutions
Ellipsis
Connectives
Verb form: Cohesion is attained in a piece of
discourse by the forms of the verbs used. The
form of the verb in one sentence limits the
choice of verbs form in the next. Depending on
the time frame to which the piece of discourse
alludes, the verbs used in it need to conform to
the particular tense. e.g.
Muaz: Right, who’s going to arrange the
transport?
Well, someone’s gotta do it.
Rifat: I’m not going to.
Muaz: Come on, will you?
All the verbs are in the present. There is an
apparent degree of formal connection between
them, a way in which the first tense conditions
all the others.
It would be quite strange if the conversation
had been:
Muaz: Right, who’s going to arrange the
transport?
Well, someone had gotta do it.
Rifat: I shan’t have been going to.
Muaz: Don’t! Come on, will you?
Another link in discourse is created by
parallelism, a device which affects a connection
simply by repeating the form of the
sentences/clauses, e.g.
Working women get emotional very easily. They
get emotional if you raise your voice at them.
They get emotional if you do something
romantic. They get emotional if you notice they
are eating lots. They get emotional if you tell
them they look beautiful. They get emotional if
you are too protective. They get emotional if you
are not protective enough.
What links the sentences in the above discourse?
Similarity of structure in a pair or a series of
related words, phrases, or clauses. Eg.
parallelism of words:
She tried to make her pastry fluffy, sweet, and
delicate.
parallelism of phrases:
Singing a song or writing a poem is joyous.
parallelism of clauses:
Perch are inexpensive; cod are cheap; trout are
abundant; but salmon are best.
Parallelism is often used in speeches, prayers,
poetry and advertisements. It can have a
powerful emotional effect, and it is also very
useful as a memory aid.
Parallelism, which achieves cohesion by an
echo of form, is not restricted to grammatical
form. e.g.
Ali: We would like to take this opportunity to
wish you the best of luck
Ahmad: Go break a leg man!
Parallelism may be a sound parallelism: as in
rhyme, rhythm, and other sound effects of
verse including alliteration, etc.
Semantic parallelism means where two
sentences are linked because they mean the
same thing.
Syntactic parallelism means the repetition of
same structure of clauses and sentences.
The most obvious example of formal link is
third person pronouns
In a piece of language, cohesion is achieved by
using these referring expressions that direct
the hearer/reader to look elsewhere for their
interpretation.
Reference expressions can be:
Endophoric
Anaphoric
Cataphoric
Exophoric
Endophoric references are linguistic references to
something within the same text.
There are two types of endophoric references:
Anaphoric references refer back to another unit
that was mentioned before. e.g. Amna asked Ali to
buy her a diamond ring.
Cataphoric references refer ahead to another unit
that is mentioned later. e.g. Waving at him happily,
Ali saw Amna come out.
Exophoric references refer to entities outside the
text, in the context of the utterance or speaker
e.g.That is where Amna first saw the football
match. (said while pointing to the place)
Repetition of a key term or phrase in the text
helps to focus your ideas and to keep your
reader/listener on track. e.g. The problem with
modern art is that it is not easily understood by
most people. Modern art is deliberately
abstract, and that means it often leaves the
viewer wondering what she is looking at.
Lexical chains are also a form of repetition but
without repeating the exact same phrase/word.
i.e. use different words that are lexically
related (e.g. hypernyms)
e.g. Myths are an important part of a country’s
heritage. Such traditional narratives are, in
short, a set of beliefs that are a very real force
in the lives of the people who tell them.
Elegant repetition means avoiding the
repetition of words that catch the reader's
attention—that hang in the mind long enough
that the reader realizes you've repeated
yourself. Eg. The fireball flew across the room.
Ahmad dodged the blaze, but Aisha didn't;
flames washed across her face and her hair
began to burn. She tried to put out the fire with
her hands, but her coat-sleeves ignited with a
burst of smoke and light...
Cohesion is often achieved by substituting
special words for ones that have already been
used.
The most common substitutes used in English
are: one, do, so
Each of these are used to substitute for a
different type of clause
‘one’ is used to substitute for nouns / noun
phrases:
◦ I left the school in Karachi and went to the
one in Lahore.
There are 4 basic types of connectives:
Addition connectives (AC)
◦ adds on to the idea presented before (also,
and)
Opposition connectives (OC)
◦ contrasts with the idea presented before (but,
nevertheless )
Cause connectives (CC)
◦ shows a causal connection with the ideas
presented before (therefore, since)
Time connectives (TC)
◦ shows a sequence or simultaneous actions
(first, finally)
Verbs are substituted with ‘do’.
Since do is a verb (and an irregular one at that)
it also has the forms does, did, done and
doing.
I have not finished yet, when I do you can
start.
I like coffee and so does he.
The word ‘so‘ is often used to substitute for a
whole clause:
Ali: “We’ll be watching you close, smart guy.”
Haadi: “I hope so. You might learn
something.”
Ali: “I think we have got rid of him for good.”
Amna: “You really think so?”
In certain contexts it is possible to leave out a
word/phrase rather than repeat it. This device
is called ellipsis.
A child learns to speak almost ‘by chance’. He
imitates his parents without knowing why<>.
Students continue to wear faded jeans to
class even after being told not to <>.
Connectives are words/phrases used to
indicate a specific connection between
different parts of a text.
Various kinds of words and phrases can
function as connectives:
Conjunctions: It posed several problems for
me, but it was all worthwhile.
Adverbs: It posed several problems for me;
nevertheless, it was all worthwhile.
Prepositions: In spite of the severe problems it
posed for me, it was all worthwhile.
