Cohesion and Discourse

高霞

【Abstract】：In the study of functional grammar， cohesion is one important subject. According Halliday and Hasan， cohesion can be achieved through two ways. One is lexical cohesion and the other is grammatical cohesion. Cohesion can be divided into reference； ellipsis and substitution； conjunction； lexical cohesion. Analysis and explanation as well as examples are provided in this paper to facilitate the reader's understanding and use of cohesion.

【Key Words】functional grammar； cohesion； analysis； explanation

1. The concept of Cohesion

Cohesion is one part of the study of texture， which considers the interaction of cohesion with other aspects of text organization. Texture， in turn， is one aspect of the study of coherence， which takes the social context of texture into consideration. The goal of discourse analysis in this tradition is to build the model that places texts in their social contexts and looks comprehensively at the resources which both integrate and situate them. [1]

Cohesion refers to the linguistic devices by which the speaker can signal the experiential and interpersonal coherence of the text， and is thus a textual phenomenon： we can point to features of the text which serve a cohesive function. On the other hand， coherence is in the mind of the writer and reader： it is a mental phenomenon and cannot be identified or quantified in the same way as cohesion. [2]

Cohesion can be defined as the set of resources for constructing relations in discourse which transcend grammatical structure （Halliday， 1994：309）. Halliday modeled cohesion as involving nonstructural relations above the sentence， within what he refers to as the texture metafunction（as opposed to ideational and interpersonal meaning）. In Halliday and Hasan （1976） the inventory of cohesion resources was organized as： reference； ellipsis and substitution； conjunction； lexical cohesion.

1.1 Reference

Reference refers to resources for referring to a participant or circumstantial element whose identity is recoverable. Reference is the set of grammatical resources which allow the speaker to indicate whether something is being repeated form somewhere else in the text， or whether it has not yet appeared in the text. A participant or circumstantial element introduced at one place in the text can be taken as a reference point for something that follows. For example：

① Francesca Johnson died in January of 1989. She was sixty-nine years old at the time of her death.

② Everyone was incredulous when it was reported that he had a vocation for the priesthood.

③ If you happened to meet the boy， dont tell him his mother is in hospital.

In①， the exact meanings of pronoun “she” and “her” are decided by the objects which its referred to. “She” and “her” refer to the same entity as “Francesca Johnson”. In②， “it” refers to “he had a vocation for the priesthood”. In③， “him” refers to “the boy”. That is use of pronouns， relative pronouns， etc. to achieve semantic reference of one part of the text to another.

1.2 Ellipsis

Ellipsis refers to resources for omitting a clause， or some part of a clause or group， in contexts where it can be assumed. In English conversation， rejoinders are often made dependent through omissions of this kind： Did they win？ Yes， they did.

Ellipsis occurs when something is structurally necessary is left unsaid. There is a sense of incompleteness associated with it. Like all cohesive agencies， ellipsis contributes to the semantic structure of the discourse. But unlike reference， which is itself a semantic relation， ellipsis sets up a relationship that is not semantic but lexicogrammatical—a relationship in the wording rather than directly in the meaning.[3] For instance，when we say“two glasses please”in a bar，the waiter will immediately understand that what we order are“two glasses of wine”. According to information theory，what is omitted is given information and the left is new or important information. Ellipsis is very common in some texts， such as note， advertisement， and the monologue of some character in a novel. Like substitution， ellipsis can also be classified into nominal ellipsis，verbal ellipsis and clausal ellipsis.

1.2.1 The clausal

Ellipsis in the clause is related to the question-answer process in dialogues； and it typically operates between adjacent clauses. This is at least partly because the message with ellipsis is formally incomplete： the hearer or reader is required to recall the actual words needed to fill out the clause.

As the conversation shows， one context in which cohesive ellipsis is particularly common is in answers and responses. ‘Yes and ‘No answers presuppose the wording form the preceding question or statement. For example：

A： “I am deeply sorry to have been the cause of it. Could you tell her so for me， with my fervent acknowledgements？”

B： “Yes， I could （tell her so for you）. I will （with your fervent acknowledgements）， if you ask it.”

A： “And， speaking of the science of life， have you got the cucumber sandwiches cut for Lady Bracknell？”

B： “Yes （I have got the cucumber sandwiches cut for Lady Bracknell）， sir.”

A： “I thought you said there was a sapphire on the head， dear？”

B： “No（I didnt say there was a sapphire on the head）， Lady Markby—a ruby.”

In response to a Wh-question， it is often just the missing element called for by the WH-word that is supplied in the answer； with everything else presupposed form the question：

A： “What did Tom say to you？”

B： “（He said） Nothing （to me）.”

If the answer cannot be supplied， the whole question is typically ellipsis：

A： “How long will you be in Beijing？”

B： “I dont know （how long I will be in Beijing）.”

1.2.2 The nominal group

The nominal ellipsis refers to the omission of an element other than the Thing could function as Head even the whole nominal group. For example：

①But Lily had a flash of reassurance. “If she hadnt come she would have sent me word—”

“She did； she telephoned me this afternoon to let you know.”

“I received no message.”

“I didnt send any （message）.”

In the above example， the word “message” is omitted because it has appeared in the dialogue. Another example：

②“I think I have heard you say， that their uncle is an attorney in Meryton.”

“Yes； and they have another （= another uncle）， who lives somewhere near Cheapside.”

“That is capital， added her sister， and they both laughed heartily.”

In the example， the modifiers word “another” means “another uncle” and become the Head position after omitting “uncle”.

③ Here are thirteen cards. Take any （card）. Now give me any three （cards）.

④ A： “How about a couple of eggs？”

B： “ （I） Can't eat a thing.”

⑤ A： “（Are you） Dizzy？”

B：“（I am） Just a bit （dizzy）.”

In above dialogues， the subjects and predicates are omitted.

1.2.3 The verbal group

Within the verbal group， Predicators can be substituted by ‘do under certain circumstances. For example：

①A： “Has he gone？”

B： “He might have done （=gone）.”

②A： Is Jenny coming to the party？

B： Yes， she is （coming）.

1.3 Substitution

Substitution refers to the replacement of one item by another. As a general rule， the substitute item has the same structural function as that for which it substitutes （Halliday and Hasan， 1976）. In English， the substitute may function as a noun，as a verb，or as a clause. To these correspond the three types of substitution： nominal， verbal，and clausal. For example：

①These pies are stale. Get some fresh ones.

In①，the word “ones” substitute the subject “pies” in the first sentence.

②A： “Do they buy their clothes at the local supermarket？ “

B： “No，but we do.”

In②， the word “do” substitute the verbal word “buy” in speakers words.

③A： “It looked to me like she was mighty glad to see us when we came.”

B：“I thought so，too.”

In③，use of another structure to substitute information given to avoid repetition. The word “so” substitute the clause “she was mighty glad to see us when we came”.

1.4 Conjunction

Conjunction refers broadly to the combining of any two textual elements into a potentially coherent complex semantic unit.We may understand the semantic relation between sentences through using conjunctive elements. Thus，conjunctive elements include not only the conjunction in syntactic grammar but also the adverbials reflected by the adverbs or preposition phrases which have conjunctive meaning， such as later， similarly and in this respect， etc. For example：

e.g. Speaking and writing are different in many ways. Speech depends on sounds； writing， on the other hand， uses written symbols. Speech was developed about 500 000 years ago， but written language is a recent development， invented only about six thousand years ago. Speech is usually informal， while the word choice of writing， by contrast， is often relatively formal. Although pronunciation and accent often tell where the speaker is from， they are ignored in wiring because a standard diction and spelling system prevails in most countries. Speech relies on gesture， loudness， and the rise and fall of the voice， but writing lacks these features. Careful speakers and writers are aware of these differences.

1.5 Lexical Cohesion

Use of other lexical means to show logical relations between different parts of a text. For example：

Japan opens English class to adults

English conversation schools in Japan are offering more courses for the middle-aged in an attempt to carve out a new market for people with relatively more time and money.Japan Today has reported.

①According to the Japanese government data，the gross turnover of Japans English conversation schools， compared with that of 2006， decreased in 2007 when the former largest language school chain Nova went bankrupt.As a result， a growing number of English conversation schools are putting more emphasis on attracting middle-aged people.Considering that many set off on trips abroad upon reaching retirement age.English conversation schools in Japan aim to give them the skills to communicate.

②A 55-year-old woman in Tokyo started taking an English conversation course last November after retirement.“I was able to speak English when was young.” she said， “But Ive forgotten quite a bit. I thought should study once again.” However， she was reluctant to study in a group of younger students because it made her feel embarrassed， so she attended a special course for the middle-aged. “Thanks to the lessons， I dont feel nervous.” she said.

Direct repetition： In the leads and paragraph①， the phrase， “English conversation school” existed for four times. “middle aged” and “middle aged people” existed for two times respectively in leads， paragraph①， ②. These uses could achieve textual coherence and avoid semantic confusion.

Lexical relations： Synonyms and near synonyms. “Language school” in paragraph① and “English conversation school”； “middle-aged” and “middle-aged people”； “course” and “lessons” in paragraph②. Such uses semantically complement each other and enrich the expressiveness of the article.

Superordinate and hyponym： “Adults” in the title is a superordinate of the “middle aged” or“middle-aged people”. But here in this article， “adults” are used to refer to this certain group of people.

Collocation：

（1）Lexical chain： In the leads， the word “schools” co-occurs with “courses” in paragraph①， “census” co-occurs with “number and percent” in paragraph②. “course” co-occurs with “study， students， lessons， textbooks， letters and pictures”.

（2）Antonym： The phrase “middle aged” and “younger students” in paragraph② can be treated as a pair of antonyms which makes the contrast of these two groups of people more evident.

References：

[1] Deborah Schiffrin， Deborah Tannen， Heidi Ehernberger Hamilton， The handbook of discourse analysis， Wiley-Blackwell， 2001

[2] Geoff Thompson， Introducing Functional Grammar， Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press & Edward Arnold（publishers） Limited， 2000：147

[3] M.A.K. Halliday， An Introduction to Functional Grammar （Second edition）， Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press & Edward Arnold（publishers） Limited， 2000：316