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In English grammar, anaphora is the use of a pronoun or other linguistic unit to refer back to another word or phrase. Adjective: . Also called anaphoric reference or backwards anaphora.

The word that gets its meaning from a preceding word or phrase is called an anaphor. The preceding word or phrase is called the antecedent, , or .

Some linguists use anaphora as a generic term for both forward and backward reference.

The term forward(s) anaphora is equivalent to cataphora. Anaphora and cataphora are the two main types of endophora--that is, reference to an item within the text itself.

For the rhetorical term, see anaphora (rhetoric).

Etymology

From the Greek, "carrying up or back"

Examples and Observations

In the following examples, anaphors are in italics and their antecedents are in bold.

"The following example illustrates what an anaphor is in the grammatical sense of the word:
Susan plays the piano. She likes music.
In [this] example, the word she is an anaphor and refers back to a preceding expression, in this case Susan. As can be seen in this example, an anaphor is an item that commonly points backwards...

"The linguistic element or elements to which an anaphor refers is called an 'antecedent.' The antecedent in the preceding example is the expression Susan. The relationship between anaphor and antecedent is termed 'anaphora' . . . . 'Anaphora resolution' or 'anaphor resolution' is the process of finding the correct antecedent of an anaphor."
(Helene Schmolz, Anaphora Resolution and Text Retrieval: A Linguistic Analysis of Hypertexts. Walter de Gruyter, 2015)

"If a man has talent and can't use it, he's failed."
(Thomas Wolfe)

"If a man has talent and can't use it, he's failed."
(Thomas Wolfe)

"No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother."
(Margaret Sanger, Woman and the New Race, 1920)

"In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons."
(Herodotus)

"Laws are like sausages; it is better not to see them being made."
(Attributed to Otto von Bismarck)

"Well, knowledge is a fine thing, and mother Eve thought so; but she smarted so severely for hers, that most of her daughters have been afraid of it since."
(Abigail Adams, letter to Mrs. Shaw, March 20, 1791)

Pronominal Anaphora
"The most widespread type of anaphora is that of pronominal anaphora. . . .
"The set of anaphoric pronouns consists of all third person personal (he, him, she, her, it, they, them), possessive (his, her, hers, its, their, theirs) and reflexive (himself, herself, itself, themselves) pronouns plus the demonstrative (this, that, these, those) and relative (who, whom, which, whose) pronouns both singular and plural... Pronouns first and second person singular and plural are usually used in a deictic manner...
(Ruslan Mitkov, Anaphora Resolution. Routledge, 2013)

An Extremely Good Probe
"In contemporary linguistics [anaphora] is commonly used to refer to a relation between two linguistic elements, wherein the interpretation of one (called an anaphor) is in some way determined by the interpretation of the other (called an antecedent). Linguistic elements that can be employed as an anaphor include gaps (or empty categories), pronouns, reflexives, names, and descriptions.
"In recent years, anaphora has not only become a central topic of research in linguistics, it has also attracted a growing amount of attention from philosophers, psychologists, cognitive scientists, and artificial intelligence workers. . . . In the first place anaphora represents one of the most complex phenomena of natural language. . . . Secondly, anaphora has for some time been regarded as one of the few 'extremely good probes' in furthering our understanding of the nature of the human mind/brain and thus in facilitating an answer to what Chomsky considers to be the fundamental problem of linguistics, namely the logical problem of language acquisition. . . . Thirdly anaphora . . . has provided a testing ground for a number of competing hypotheses concerning the relationship between syntax, semantics, and pragmatics in linguistic theory."
(Yan Huang, Anaphora: A Cross-Linguistic Approach. Oxford University Press, 2000)

Pronunciation: ah-NAF-oh-rah

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Pointing Backwards: Anaphora in English Grammar

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In English grammar, anaphora is the use of a pronoun or other linguistic unit to refer back to another word or phrase. Adjective: . Also called anaphoric reference or backwards anaphora. The word that gets its meaning from a preceding word or phrase is called an anaphor.

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This post explains an important aspect of the marking structure of the IELTS exams. Cambridge exams like IELTS, FCE, CAE and many others have strict guidelines about what makes a 5.5 or a 60%. Here are the guidelines for marking/assessing IELTS Task 1 and IELTS Task 2 writing.

One of the columns is labelled Cohesion & Coherence. This is one of the ways the writing is assessed: i s the composition cohesive, is the composition coherent? (Cohesion is the noun, cohesive is the adjective; coherence is the noun, coherent is the adjective.) This is the focus on this post.
What is Cohesion & Coherence?
Cohesion and coherence aren't too difficult to explain. Cohesion refers to connectivity in a text. Coherence refers to how easy it is to understand the writing.

Cohesion & Coherence

" My favourite colour is blue. I like it because it is calming and it relaxes me. I often go outside in the summer and lie on the grass and look into the clear sky when I am stressed. For this reason, I'd have to say my favourite colour is blue."

This sentence is both coherent and cohesive, but let's focus on the cohesion first. I've highlighted the ways that each sentence is connected to the sentence before.

Cohesion with NO Coherence

Now, here is a sentence that has cohesion but is not coherent.

" My favourite colour is blue. Blue sports cars go very fast. Driving in this way is dangerous and can cause many car crashes. I had a car accident once and broke my leg. I was very sad because I had to miss a holiday in Europe because of the injury."

As you can see, there is plenty of cohesion here. The sentences connect clearly together but if you read the paragraph, it really makes no sense - I start talking about blue and I finish talking about a holiday in Europe. There is no coherence in this sentence.

Coherence with NO Cohesion

Now, let's take a look at a sentence that is coherent but not cohesive.

" My favourite colour is blue. I'm calm and relaxed. In the summer I lie on the grass and look up."

This is more difficult to understand but basically this lack of cohesion means a lack of sufficient connectors to join the ideas together. If I try hard I can understand what the person is saying: a short answer, an explanation, an example; however the sentences don't fit together.

Cohesion & Coherence in Conversation

Now, in spoken discourse, the easiest example I can think of is a Cambridge First Certificate speaking exam, part 3: the students' conversation. Two students are asked to talk about some pictures but if they do not respond to what each other is saying and make no attempt to reference each other then the conversation can be coherent but can completely lack cohesion. For example:

A. " I think these people are having a good time."

B. " It appears these people are enjoying themselves."

A. " They seem to be on holiday."

B. " It looks like they are on vacation."

Obviously there is no connection between A and B in this conversation. We understand them and they are coherent. What is missing is cohesion. They are not connected. A is not listening to B and B is not listening to A.

On the other hand, take a look at this example:

A. " I think these people are having a good time."

B. " Time is difficult to manage. I am always late for my social appointments like when I have a date with a girl."

A. " I like girls with long, dark hair and brown eyes."

B. " My dog has brown eyes and a long tail."

This example shows that there is cohesion but the conversation makes no sense and therefore it is missing coherence.

Next time you are looking at a piece of writing; a newspaper, an essay you wrote, another student's essay, a web article like this one, you should consider the cohesion and coherence of the composition. It is worth 25% of your IELTS mark and it is an important factor in the other Cambridge exams as well.

Hope this helps you. Comments are welcome.

Related Posts : CAE, Coherence, Cohesion, CPE, Essay Writing, Exams, IELTS, Speaking, Writing

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What is Cohesion & Coherence? (Cambridge Testing Explained)

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This post explains an important aspect of the marking structure of the IELTS exams. Cambridge exams like IELTS, FCE, CAE and many others have strict guidelines about what makes a 5.5 or a 60%. Here are the guidelines for marking/assessing IELTS Task 1 and IELTS Task 2 writing.

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"My favourite colour is blue.  I like it because it is calming and it relaxes me.  I often go outside in the summer and lie on the grass and look into the clear sky when I am stressed.  For this reason, I'd have to say my favourite colour is blue."

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"My favourite colour is blue.  Blue sports cars go very fast.  Driving in this way is dangerous and can cause many car crashes.  I had a car accident once and broke my leg.  I was very sad because I had to miss a holiday in Europe because of the injury."

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"My favourite colour is blue.  I'm calm and relaxed.  In the summer I lie on the grass and look up."