COHESION AND COHESIVE DEVICES
In the field of text linguistics, cohesion is the concept denoting grammatical and lexical
relationships instrumental in linking various segments of a text, thereby enhancing its
coherence and comprehensibility. This encompasses a range of linguistic tools and techniques
employed to interconnect sentences and paragraphs.
Cohesion differs from coherence, in that the former deals with the connectivity of sentences in
a text, while the latter deals with the connectivity of ideas.
According to Halliday and Hansan 1979, There have 5 types of Cohesive devices
1. Reference:
This occurs when a word or phrase refers back to something mentioned earlier in the text.
Pronouns like he, she, or it are common examples of reference. For instance, in the sentence
John went to the store. He bought some milk, the pronoun he refers back to John.
Manners of Reference
1. Endophoric or Endophora
[Link] or Exphora
Endophoric reference:
Endophoric is a term or an expression which refers to something already stated in the same
text i.e intra-linguistics.
For example:
The weather is dull today, it was really bright yesterday.
Here, it substitutes for the weather, in the sentence above.
Exophoric reference :
Unlike the former, Exophoric reference is a term which refers to things known as a result of the
context of situation. It has not been stated physically within the text but it is already known by
context of the environment.
For example:
I saw the children writing on those walls.
Those here, can refer to something already mentioned about those walls. It could also refer to
something already obvious i.e known, as a result of the context situation-but it is not stated
with the text. Pronouns are usually found in this category.
2. Substitution:
This happens when a word or phrase is replaced by a pronoun, a different word, or a phrase.
For example, The weather is beautiful today. It makes me happy.
Here, it substitutes for the weather, in the sentence above.
3. Ellipsis:
This refers to the omission of a word or phrase that is already clear from the context.
For instance:
Mary likes to swim, and Sarah does too.
In this example, the verb likes to swim is elided in the second clause.
4. Conjunction:
Conjunctions, such as and, but, however, therefore, etc., connect different sentences or
phrases to show a relationship between them.
For example:
She studied hard, but she failed the test.
5. Lexical cohesion:
This involves using words within the same lexical field or semantic category to create cohesion.
Types of Lexical Cohesion
1. Reiteration
2. Collocation
Reiteration:
This form of lexical cohesion involves the direct repetition of a word, the use of synonyms or
near synonyms e.g subordinates(a group of things or people within it e.g congregation) and the
use of a general word.
For example:
Corruption is rampant in Nigeria. Corruption takes the lives of the people by throat and hurls
them toward a cycle of of endless suffering.
Collocation:
Simply put, this is a form of lexical cohesion that refers to lexical items that tend to co-occur in
a text.
For example:
Good/ evil
Toothbrush/toothpaste
Body/Lotion
Boys/girls
Cohesion plays a pivotal role in facilitating the logical progression of ideas and preserving clarity
in both written and spoken communication.