DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

ENGL:4101

2 HOURS PER WEEK

1.1 Definition of the term discourse

To explain the term discourse, we will use one easy definition of the concept by Cook
(1989). Cook (1989: 6) defines discourse as “language in use”. Language is used to
communicate something and it is actually felt to be unified (cohesive) and meaningful
(coherent). On the basis of this definition, consider the following two stretches of
language and answer the subsequent questions:

Stretch A

A man is driven mad by his intense sense of nationalism. He starts off as sane as ever
when he demands authorisation from the inspector of police to match to the state house
to meet with the president to explain to him what is wrong with his presidency. He meets
very uncompromising opposition from state house security until they get convinced that
he is mad. …

Stretch B

A man is driven mad by his intense sense of nationalism. I believe John Chilembwe is
the most famous nationalist of all times in our country. Other countries have many
sources of foreign exchange. For example, the tiger can jump a stretch of five meters at
one goal. Yohane Banda has so far scored two goals for his team.

a) Which of the two stretches of language communicates something?

b) Which one is felt to be unified?

c) Which one is felt to be meaningful?

d) Therefore, which one is discourse?

e) Why does the other stretch of language not qualifying as discourse?

You must have identified Stretch A as the answer to questions a) to d) because it
makes sense unlike Stretch B. As you read the sentences in Stretch A, you actually feel
that one sentence is connected to the other not only because you get the impression
that the sentences are talking about the same person; but also because of the meaning
contained in each of them. You can even guess what kind of text it may be without
getting the whole story. For instance, you can see that the first sentence is talking about
a man going insane because of his sense of nationalism. For it to make sense, you will
know that the second sentence must continue from there. This is actually observed in
the following sentences where you are told the man demands police authority to meet
the president for him to explain what is wrong with his presidency and how he meets
opposition from the security personnel. You can identify this text as an extract from a
short story.

Such connections are completely absent in Stretch B. Each sentence is about its own
subject and gives a totally different meaning from that given by another. For instance,
sentence one talks about nationalism; sentence three about sources of foreign
exchange, three a tiger jumping five meters at one goal while the following sentence
talks of Yohane scoring two goals. As you can see these sentences have no unified
topic.

As such, the stretch is actually felt to be disjointed. It also lacks structural (ie,
grammatical) connections between sentences such as ‘firstly’, furthermore or ‘however’
just to mention a few. Thus, it does not qualify as discourse. You cannot even guess
what kind of text it could be.

There are two important points that you need to take note of regarding the definition of
discourse as a concept. The first one is that the difference between discourse and other
stretches of language is more of a question of how one thinks about a stretch of
language than the way it is in itself (Cook, 1989). That is to say, your decision about
whether a stretch of a language is discourse will depend on the meaning that you
decipher from it. If you are able to create meaning out of it, you will say it is discourse,
but if you see it as not making any sense to you, then you will say it is something else,
not discourse.

However, you cannot tell whether a stretch of a language was actually used in
interaction or simply invented; especially written texts. Just to illustrate this point, do you
think the stretch which you identified as discourse above was actually used in
interaction or it was merely created for purposes of this module? Why do you say so? Is
there anything in the stretch that can support your answer? Compare your answer to
this question with that of your friend.

The other point that you need to take note of is that discourse may be formed of
grammatically correct sentences or not. In other words, what matters for a stretch of
language to qualify as discourse is not conformity to grammar, but the fact that it is
recognised by its receiver as unified (cohesive) and that it communicates (coherence).
Cohesive and coherence are two important elements that discourse analysts try to
explain.

Activity 1

Critically examine the following text and answer the questions that follow:

We are at the filling station then. I had just catching up with you, not nowing that
simuleteneously, I am caughting up with doom’s day. At first I was thought and said to
meself that ‘we are talking about the class we are each coming from; or may be it’s the
story that she said she was writing about at home; or may be it’s just…’ You didn’t allow
me to complete the imaging that you yourself had hatched, did you? Your voice carryed
even much highest now. It losted all the romantics that it was always graced with. I
couldn’t even believe that it was still you I was with now. Neither could me believe that
you were still talking to I myself. But somehow sometimes it was evident that I myself
was the odience of yourself. You pressing the needle much harder; as if it had been
refused to penetrating. Not like with the gentlemanness that the angels of the earth use
when they does it. Whoever took the liberty of declaring my grief tank empty, I am not
know. And I can’t imagination who transformed you from the darling darling baby that I
always known you to be and so much cheerished, into a grief attendant. Not to mention
who had been given the powers to remake infrastructures. Fill in my heart you did- fully
tank. You must have being an OILCOM in your own configuration then. I could have
said thank you, but how could?

(Extracted and adapted from the short story It’s over by Chimwemwe Kamanga,
unpublished)

1. Does the text make sense? Why?

2. What scenario is the story depicting?

3. Explain how you come up with this explanation.

4. Do you consider this text as discourse? Why?

5. Underline all the grammatical mistakes in the text.

6. Correct the mistakes based on the sense that you get from it.

7. What conclusion about discourse can you draw from this exercise?
1.2 Definition of the term grammar

Lets look at the sentences below:

1. On Holiday Chimwemwe and Chikondi are.

2. Chimwemwe going to school always.

Are sentences 1 and 2 correct? The answer is obviously no. Why are we saying the
sentences are not right? The answer to this question is that there are rules in English
which allow us to put words together in certain ways, but which do not allow others.
These rules are acquired when one is learning a language. In case of our native
language, we may not actually describe the rules but we subconsciously know where to
put what in a sentence. Such set of rules are what we call grammar. Grammar is
defined as the rules of any language that show how sentences are formed, or how
words are inflected.

1.2.1 Descriptive versus prescriptive grammar

Descriptive grammar involves describing the grammatical constructions that are used in
a language without making any evaluative judgment about their standing in society. The
descriptive grammar would explain what the language is like. For example English
language is described as a Subject Verb Object language, thus almost all sentences in
English have a subject followed by a verb and then an object.

For example:

1. The man (s) saw (v) a cow (o)

2. The dog (s) is running (v)

Prescriptive grammar on the other hand focuses on construction where usage is divided
and lays down rules governing the socially correct use of a language. It aims at telling
people how they should speak and write – to give advice on how to use the language.
The prescriptive grammar would tell you how to avoid mistakes when using it. Not
making mistakes would mean using the language in a way that is agreed with the
descriptive account. For example in your secondary English you learnt that when you
are writing a formal letter, you should not use contractions like can’t, wouldn’t, shouldn’t,
don’t and aren’t just to mention a few. If you use these, it means you are wrong. You
were also taught that when your sentence contains adjectives and nouns, adjectives
should be written before the noun. What it means is that there is “good” and “bad”
grammar and the teachers do their best to teach you good grammar.
You have done a lot of prescriptive grammar at primary and secondary school. This
module will help you to experience the other type of grammar. For you to be able to
write sentences that are both coherent and cohesive, you will need to use both
prescriptive and descriptive grammar.

Activity 2

What is the difference between descriptive linguistics and prescriptive linguistics?

1.3 The rationale for studying discourse grammar

We have learnt in section 1.2 that grammar guides speakers on how to properly
construct sentences. The sentences are then joined together by a completely different
set of (discourse) principles into a coherent piece of discourse. Discourse is therefore
the product of the use of grammar in particular natural contexts. Discourse simply picks
up where grammar leaves off. Grammar and discourse therefore complement each
other. Discourse and grammar work hand and hand and they are like horse and
carriage which always go together. Moreover, discourse reflects grammar because it
contains only grammatical language products. To come up with discourse, you need to
use grammar selectively, that is, you need to choose just those grammatical forms
which suit your specific discourse goals. Furthermore, grammar also reflects discourse.
Grammar likewise uses discourse selectively. Grammar chooses some but not other
discourse patterns in order to come up with constructions that are grammatically
correct. In other words, there is constant feedback between grammar and discourse,
each one of them simultaneously taking the active role of the horse, as well as the
passive role of the carriage.

Now the question worth asking is why we study discourse grammar instead of studying
discourse or grammar independently. The answer to this question is that in order to
understand language use wholly, discourse should not be studied disjointedly from
grammar and vice versa. Language use can only be explained effectively in terms of
units larger than the individual sentence. Most aspects of grammar require an analysis
which takes the wider linguistic context into consideration. This is the reason why the
teaching of English language in Malawi has taken an integrated approach. In view of
this, students learn grammar points from a short story or a novel. In other words,
teachers make use of discourse in order for the students to learn grammar points. For
instance, a language teacher can use discourse or text that is used in Activity 1 for the
students to learn more about grammatical aspects.

Since you are a prospective language teacher, it is very important for you to study
discourse grammar because it will provide you with insights into the problems and
processes of language use and language learning (Cook, 1989). Discourse grammar
can draw attention to the skills that are needed for your students to put this knowledge
into action. Your students will need to be knowledgeable in grammar and discourse in
order to be able to write proficiently. Once they master such knowledge, they will be
able to achieve successful communication, whether in oral or written form. For instance,
they will be able to write essays that meet grammar and discourse requirements. They
will also be able to engage in conversations with others using language that conforms to
grammar and discourse requirements.

Unit 2: Cohesion

2.1 Cohesion in discourse

Cohesion is the grammatical and lexical linking within a text or sentence that holds a
text together and gives it meaning. It is related to the broader concept of coherence.
Surface texts are the exact words that people see or hear. Cohesion concerns the ways
in which the components of the surface text are connected within a sequence.
Grammatical forms and conventions are adhered to by surface components and
therefore cohesion rests upon grammatical dependencies. The grammatical
dependencies in surface texts are major signals for sorting out meanings and uses.
Cohesion encompasses all of the functions that can be used to signal relations among
surface elements. For efficient communication to take place there must be interaction
between cohesion and other standards of textuality because the surface alone is not
decisive. Consider the following text:

It was 2.00 pm that Chisomo’s phone rang. She sat up startled because she was in
deep thought and did not normally receive phone calls except from her mother who also
usually calls at 7.00. ‘Hello’ she answered the call. ‘Hello, what is your name and where
do you stay?’ said the female voice on the other end. ‘Chisomo Banda and I stay in
Mzuzu’ Chisomo grumbled clearly showing irritation at somebody who calls and asks
such questions as if they don’t exactly know who they were calling. ‘I am Agness Chirwa
from Airtel Malawi’ the woman said. ‘I just wanted to let you know that you are the first
winner for Airtel 2 million kwacha promotion.’

We are sure you found the underlined words to be ties and connections that bind the
text together. For instance, you will agree that the words phone, call, and hello are
related. You may also have noticed that the first she in the sentence refers to Chisomo
and finally that the words the female voice, Agness Chirwa and the woman in line 3 are
also connected. You can therefore conclude that the text above is cohesive because it
has words that are connected or tied to each other.

2.1 Grammatical cohesion

There are two main types of cohesion: grammatical cohesion which is based on
structural content, and lexical cohesion which is based on lexical content and
background knowledge. Reference, substitution, ellipsis and conjunction are the various
types of grammatical cohesion. Lexical cohesion (see section 2.2 below) is realized
through repetition of lexical items, synonyms, superordinates and general words.
Halliday and Hasan (1976) distinguish between the two major categories of lexical
cohesion: reiteration and collocation.

The focus below is on the following types of grammatical cohesion: reference,

substitution and ellipsis.

2.1.1 Reference or referring expression

A reference is also known as a referring expression. A reference or a referring

expression is a cohesive relationship in which the meaning of one element of the
cohesive tie can only be discovered by referring to the other element of the tie. A
reference is the cohesion which is created when an item in one sentence refers to an
item in another sentence. In order to interpret the sentence, one has to look to the
referent in another sentence. A reference can also be described as a relation of an
expression to a real world object or situation. Furthermore, a reference is an act by
which a speaker (or writer) uses language to enable a listener (or reader) to identify
something.

The most common example of references or referring expressions is the pronoun;

especially third person pronouns. In the example; Mbumba is my brother. He is the
second born in our family; the meaning of the pronoun he can only be discovered by
referring to the name Mbumba. Explain how the meaning of the other pronoun our is
deciphered.

There are two types of references based on the procedure through which meaning is
deciphered. These are exophoric and endophoric references. You will now look at these
two.

2.1.1.1 Exophoric references

Exophoric means outside. Exophoric references are those references whose

interpretation is done by reference to information outside of the language used in a text.
In other words, exophoric reference points outwards from the text, linking the text to the
environment. In view of this, one must look to the environment in which the text occurs
to interpret the meaning of the reference. This type of reference is also known as
situational reference. It refers to a thing as identified in the context of the situation. In
this case, the referent is not given in the text. When this happens, we assume they exist
in the situation. However, if we do not share that situation with those around us we
cannot understand the text.
Imagine that you asked somebody to buy you a drink. The person comes to you with the
drink and asks: “Where shall I put it?” What would you interpret the pronoun it to refer
to? Where do you get this information from? Does it come from any of the words used in
the utterance? Definitely, it does not come from within the language; it comes from
something outside. This is what we mean by exophoric referring expressions. You will
be able to tell that it refers to the drink that the person is holding in her or his hand
because you know you asked her or him to bring you one earlier.

2.1.1.1 Endophoric references

Endophoric references are the other category of references. If exophoric means

outside, then endophoric means within. The key to differentiate these two categories of
references lies in the prefixes exo- and endo- respectively. Endophoric references are
referred to as such because their interpretation is done by reference to information
within the language of the text itself. When the reference points inwards to the text;
interpreting the meaning of a reference requires looking elsewhere within the text. In
other words, we need to utilize textual reference to come up with the meaning of a
reference.

There are two types of endophoric reference: anaphoric and cataphoric.

a) Anaphoric references

Anaphoric reference occurs when the writer refers back to someone or something that
has been previously identified, to avoid repetition. Some examples: replacing "the taxi
driver" with the pronoun "he" or "two girls" with "they". Another example can be found in
formulaic sequences such as "as stated previously" or "the aforementioned".

Other examples of anaphoric references are as follows:

i) The use of a pronoun to refer back to an already-mentioned noun, e.g. My sister

is on the phone. She says she needs the drill that she lent us.

ii) The use of the definite article to qualify a noun that has been already been
introduced with the indefinite article, e.g. When I looked out of the window yesterday I
saw a man and a woman standing by the gate. The man was wearing a hooded jacket
and the woman was carrying a baseball bat.

In a) ‘she’ refers back to ‘my sister’ while ‘that’ refers back to ‘drill’ whereas in b) ‘the’
refers back to ‘a man’ and ‘a woman’ respectively. These two examples are illustrating a
typical example in communication, whereby the identity of a member of a cohesive tie is
given at the beginning of a conversation or text, and thereafter, it is referred to using a
pronoun. However, note that not all anaphoric expressions are in the form of a pronoun
as we have seen in example ii).

Activity 1

Underline all the anaphoric expressions in this text and explain how they come to get
their meaning.

“Mario thought, should I tell her or shouldn’t I? The question spun round and round in
his head and it slowly started to push every other logical argument to the sides, like a
massive centrifuge. Slowly, though, he started to see the answers he needed. They
were all lined up in neat little lists. And the first one was no, he shouldn’t!”

If you cannot understand the phenomenon of anaphora after doing the activity above,
try another text that contains referring expressions until you do. Remember, the idea is
that at first the true identity is given; thereafter, a pronoun is used instead.

b) Cataphoric references

Cataphoric reference is the opposite of anaphora: a reference forward as opposed to

backward in the discourse. Cataphoric reference is a procedure whereby a member of a
cohesive tie is identified by a pronoun initially, and thereafter, the true identity of the
member is given. Compare the examples i) and ii) above to the following one where
cataphora is employed:

She has never tried to defend her position in public. It is for this reason that many
people do not understand her. The only person who can do so is perhaps herself.
Almost everybody agrees that Beatrice is very difficult to understand.

Underline all the referring expressions in the text and explain how each one of them
comes to get its meaning. You will notice that the text is introduced with the pronoun
she whose identity is revealed to be Beatrice later on in the text. Try this with as many
texts as you need in order to understand the phenomenon. After everything, what you
need to understand is that in cataphora, a hearer or reader is kept in suspense about
the identity of a member of a cohesive tie until some point in the discourse.

Other examples of cataphoric references are as follows:

iii) Here he comes, our award-winning host... it's John Doe!

iv) Perhaps I shouldn't tell you this, but when I was young I had hair down to my
waist!
v) Please send your reply to the following address.

In examples iii), iv) and v) above, the cataphoric references are ‘he’, ‘this’ and ‘following’
respectively. However, as we saw with anaphoric expressions above, not all cataphoric
expressions are in the form of a pronoun as we have seen in example v).

Note the following points:

• Anaphora is quite common whereas cataphora is much rarer and mostly used for
stylistic purposes.

• It is endophoric reference which creates cohesion since endophoric ties provide

the internal texture of the text.

• Exophoric reference contributes to the texts’ situational coherence.

2.1.2 Substitution

In the case of substitution, there is a relationship between sentences through the

substitution of words like do and so for a word or group of words that have already been
mentioned based on the understanding that the initial mention will make the substitution
clear. Substitution is one of the linguistic processes that enable language users to make
long utterances shorter. Substitution is therefore a replacement of a word or a group of
words by another. There are different kinds of substitution which are explained below.

2.1.2.1 Nominal Substitution

In nominal substitution, the most typical substitution words are: ‘one’ and ‘ones’ and
they substitute nouns. The nominal substitute one(s) is always the head of the nominal
group and can substitute only for an item which is itself the head of the nominal group.
The presupposed noun in nominal substitution must always be a countable noun. The
nominal substitute usually takes on the meaning of the presupposed nominal group
only, repudiating the modifiers, replacing the repudiated modifiers with its own
modifiers. See examples below.

i) This car is mine, but that one is yours.

ii) Let's go and see the bears. The polar ones are over on that rock. iii) Maria:
This mango is rotten.

Yohane: Why don’t you take the one in the basket, then?
In example i), the word ‘car’ has been replaced by ‘one’ whereas in example ii) the word
‘bears’ is replaced by ‘ones’ and finally in example iii) the word ‘mango’ is replaced by
‘one’.

There are different kinds of nominal substitution words. These are explained below. a)
Substitute

In this kind of substitution, a word or a group of words is replaced by ‘one’. If your friend
uttered a statement such as ‘I have lost my copy of Cohesion in English’, you would
respond by saying ‘there is a new one in the library’. This means there is a new copy of
the lost book in the library.

b) Personal pronoun

A word such as ‘person’ can be replaced by ‘one’. In this case, ‘one’ is used as a
personal pronoun. In response to your friend’s statement ‘I have lost my copy of
Cohesion in English’, you would say, ‘one always loses what one needs’ which means a
person always loses what she/he needs.

c) Cardinal numeral

This is the kind of substitution whereby a word or group of words is replaced by a

cardinal numeral. When your friend utters the statement used in a) and b) above, ‘I have
lost my copy of Cohesion in English’, you would respond by saying ‘there is only one in
the library’. This means there is only one copy of Cohesion in English in the library.

d) Indefinite article

A phrase can be replaced by ‘one’ as in ‘I think I saw one in the library’ which you can
say in response to the statement ‘I have lost my copy of Cohesion in English’. In this
case the response means I think I saw a copy in the library. Therefore, the word ‘one’ in
the response ‘I think I saw one in the library’ acts as an indefinite article. In this example
‘one’ replaces the whole phrase ‘a copy of Cohesion in English’.

2.1.2.2 Verbal substitution

Substitute is the verb “do” which is sometimes used in conjunction with “so” as in “do
so”. Do is the verbal substitute replacing the lexical verb of the presupposed verbal
group. ‘Do’ can substitute for either the verb alone or the verb plus other elements. It
may maintain or repudiate the tense of the presupposed verbal group. See examples
below.
i) Did Mary take that letter? She might have done.

In example i), ‘done’ replaces ‘taken that letter’. If substitution were not used, what do
you think should have been the complete response?

ii) Maria: Is James leaving for Lilongwe today? Yohane: a. He has done
already

b. Yes, he is doing so

c. He did yesterday

In example ii), a), b) and c) are possible responses to the question asked by Maria. If
substitution were not used, what do you think should have been the complete
responses to Maria’s question?

There are different kinds of ‘do’. These are discussed below.

a) Substitute

‘Do’ can act as a substitute of a verb. In response to your friend’s utterance such as ‘the
wicked stepmother exploits Chimwemwe’, you would say ‘her terrible stepsisters do so
too’ instead of ‘her terrible sisters exploit her too’.

b) Verbal operator

The verbal operator is the auxiliary verb which marks the present simple or past simple
tense in their emphatic, negative or interrogative forms. There are two possible
responses to the utterance used in a) above, that is ‘the wicked stepmother exploits
Chimwemwe’. These are ‘she really does’ and ‘she doesn’t’. These two responses are
used instead of ‘she really exploits her’ and ‘she doesn’t exploit her’. c) c. Lexical verb

‘Do’ is used as a lexical verb (that is, a main verb). ‘Do’ as a lexical verb has several
meanings such as, ‘perform’, ‘accomplish’. In response to the utterance ‘the wicked
stepmother exploits Chimwemwe’, you would possibly say ‘she has to do all the
unpleasant jobs at home’ or ‘it’s making her do badly at school’. From these responses,
you can rightly see that ‘do’ replaces a lexical verb such as ‘perform’ or ‘accomplish’.

d) General verb

‘Do’ replaces a more specific verb. In response to the utterance ‘the wicked stepmother
exploits Chimwemwe’, you would possibly say ‘the poor girl has no time to do her
studying or her assignments’ which stands for ‘the poor girl has no time to study or write
her assignments’. In this case, ‘do’ replaces a specific verb ‘study’ or

‘write’.

2.1.2.3 Clausal substitution

In clausal substitution, an entire clause is substituted by ‘so’, or ‘not’. See how an entire
clause is being substituted by ‘so’ or ‘not’ in the examples i), ii) and iii) below.

i) Maria: If you’ve seen them so often, you get to know them very well.

Yohane: I believe so.

ii) Everyone thinks he’s guilty. If so, no doubt he’ll resign.

iii) Maria: We should recognise him when we see him.

Yohane: Yes, but supposing not: what do we do?

Identify the clauses that are replaced by ‘so’ or ‘not’ in the examples i), ii) and iii) above.

Situations that allow the use of clausal substitution

a) Reports

Clausal substitution is allowed in the context of reports but not in the contexts of facts.
Reports take the form of statements, whether these are true or false and the substitute
indicates an attitude to the reports. Facts are statement of truth and as such can be
followed by reference ties or ellipsis.

b) Condition

Clausal substitutes ‘so’ and ‘not’ follow the conjunctions ‘if’, ‘assuming’ or ‘suppose’ or
‘supposing’. For example, in the sentence below, ‘not’ is used after the conjunction ‘if’.

Is Susan coming to the party tonight? If not, I am not going to bother go.

What clause has been substituted by ‘not’ in the example above?

c) Modality
Modality provides an environment for clausal substitution through the use of adverbs
such as ‘perhaps’, ‘possibly’ and ‘certainly on the likelihood of an event or action. See
how the entire clause is substituted by ‘so’ in the example below because the adverb
‘perhaps’ has provided the environment for clausal substitution.

Mary: The chances are that you will fail your exams.

Yohane: Perhaps so.

Yohane may also respond by saying ‘certainly not’. ‘Certainly’ is another adverb which
provides the environment for clausal substitution.

Activity 2

What is that use of ‘so’ in the following expressions:

a) I took Kachenga minibus last night. I have never been so squashed before.

b) Chimwemwe: Was Mary happy?

Yohane: She seemed so.

c) Chimwemwe: Have you ever driven a car past mid night?

Yohane: I haven’t done so yet.

d) Her husband didn’t understand, so she asked him for a divorce.

e) Chimwemwe: I hear the president visited the academy.

Yohane: So he did.

2.1.3 Ellipsis

This is a type of formal link that is similar to substitution in that it also involves leaving
out some words in an utterance. However, in ellipsis part of a sentence is omitted on the
assumption that an earlier sentence or the context will make the meaning clear. Ellipsis
is therefore the omission of elements normally required by the grammar which the
speaker or writer assumes are obvious from the context and therefore need not be
raised. It does not involve substitution of a word for part of a sentence as is the case
with substitution. Ellipsis is also referred to as zero substitution.
Imagine that you are asked the following question:

‘Would you like to come with Susan?’

Would you respond to it by saying ‘Yes I would like to come with Susan?’ Definitely you
would not. You are more likely to respond by simply saying any of the following:

‘Yes I would’

‘Yes please’

‘Yes’

‘No, I would not (wouldn’t)’

‘No’

In each of these cases, the phrase ‘like to come with Susan’ is omitted. This is done
because the question makes this phrase clear. So you do not need to repeat it in your
response.

Activity 3

What words have been omitted in the following sentences? Note that these sentences
still make sense without the omitted words. This is what ellipsis does.

a) Do you want to hear another song? I know twelve more [….].

b) Sue brought roses and Jackie […..] lilies.

c) I ran 5 miles on the first day and 8 [….] on the second.

2.1.3.1 Types of ellipsis

2.1.3.1.1 Nominal ellipsis

Nominal ellipsis is ellipsis within a nominal group, but only one having a common noun
as its head, because the nominal group has to be modified to allow repudiation of
modifiers in the presupposed nominal group by the presupposing nominal group. When
the head is omitted any one of the pre-modifiers can function as the head of the elliptical
nominal group. See examples below.
a) I accept the first argument, but reject the other two.

b) Those were your dreams. Kim’s was a nightmare.

c) How are my two large white silk scalves?

i) where are yours?

ii) I used to have three.

What words are omitted in examples a, b) and c? If you cannot find the answers, you
need to go back to the beginning of the ellipsis section so that you understand these
examples.

2.1.3.1.2 Verbal ellipsis

Verbal ellipsis is ellipsis within the verbal group. Within a verbal group, two different
kinds of ellipsis can occur: lexical and operator ellipsis. Lexical ellipsis involves ellipsis
of the lexical verb, leaving the finiteness (finite or non-finite), polarity (affirmative or
negative), voice (active or passive) and tense of the elliptical verbal group intact. See
examples of lexical ellipsis below.

1. Maria: Are you laughing?

Yohane: Yes, I am [laughing].

2. Maria: Are you working on the assignment this afternoon?

Yohane: Yes, I am [working].

3. Maria: Have you been swimming?

Yohane: Yes, I have [been swimming].

In the examples above, we see that the lexical verbs ‘laughing’, ‘working’ and
‘swimming’ have been omitted. The fact that they have been placed inside square
brackets tells us that the sentences still make sense without these lexical verbs. In
these examples, no change has been made to the tense of the elliptical verbal group;
the tenses in the verbs ‘am’ and ‘have’ remain intact.

2.1.3.1.3 Operator ellipsis

Operator ellipsis involves ellipsis of those very elements that are left intact in lexical
ellipsis leaving only the lexical verb. Operator ellipsis is the opposite of verbal ellipsis.

Activity 4

i) Yohane: What are you doing this afternoon?

Maria: Working on my assignment ii) Yohane: Are you eating dinner?

Maria: No, washing up iii) Yohane: What have you been doing?

Maria: Swimming.

a) What has been left out in each of the dialogues a), b) and c) above?

b) Does this confirm that operator ellipsis is the opposite of verbal ellipsis?

2.1.3.1.4 Clausal ellipsis

Clausal ellipsis happens when the whole clause is omitted. The difference between
verbal and clausal ellipsis is very small and the difference between what is elliptical and
what is not in clauses is even smaller. See the examples below. Take note of the
clauses that are omitted.

a) Yohane: What are you doing tonight?

Mary: Studying (operator ellipsis only ‘I am’ omitted) Yohane: Not

drinking?

Mary: No, studying (Clausal ellipsis ‘I am not drinking’ is omitted)

b) Yohane: What are you drinking tonight?

Mary: Wine (clausal ellipsis ‘I am drinking’ has been omitted)

Yohane: Not beer?

Mary: No, wine

The clearest instances of clausal ellipsis are found in spoken language in question and
answer. Thus, in questions that lead to yes/no answers, the entire clause may be
omitted. For example, the answer to the question ‘have you been studying’ may be ‘yes’
or ‘no’ (thus the entire clause is left out, ‘yes, I have been studying’ or ‘no, I haven’t
been studying’). In spoken language, we normally prefer giving brief answers. In so
doing, the whole clause is omitted. In this case, an answer to wh- questions only
focuses on what the question interrogates about (‘why are you going away?’ ‘because
it's late’ instead of ‘I am going away because it’s late’). Also, some elements in wh-
questions are left out (‘Leave those alone’ ‘Why?’ instead of ‘why should I leave those
alone?’).

2.2 Lexical cohesion

The focus in section 2.1 above was on grammatical cohesion, one of the two main types
of cohesion. Our focus in the section below is going to be on lexical cohesion, another
type of cohesion. We explained earlier on that lexical cohesion is based on lexical
content and background knowledge. Lexical cohesion occurs when two words in a text
are semantically related. It denotes links between words which carry meaning: verbs,
nouns, adjectives. Two types of lexical cohesion are differentiated, namely: reiteration
and collocation.

2.2.1 Reiteration

Reiteration is a form of lexical cohesion which involves the repetition of a lexical item in
four basic ways:

i) Synonymy: use of words that have similar meanings e.g. ‘close’ and

‘near’.

ii) Repetition: the use of the same word in a sentence e.g. ‘he walked and walked
and walked’.

iii) Hyponymy: use of a general word versus specific word (superordinate versus
subordinate) e.g. animal (general) versus dog (specific animal). iv) Antonym: use of
words that have opposite meanings e.g. ‘come’ versus

‘go’.

2.2.2 Collocation

A collocation is made up of two or more words that are commonly used together in
English. There are four categories of collocation.

i) Complementary word such as boy and girl, stand up and sit down, ii)
Converses such as behind and in front, borrow and lend
iii) Ordered series of words, such as the days of the week and months of the year

iv) A part to the whole or part to part relations such as nose and face (part to whole)
or neck and limbs (part to part).

Activity 5

Provide two examples of words that reveal each of the following relationships:

a) Part and whole relationship

b) Complementary relationship

Unit 3: Conjunction

3.1 Conjunction

Apart from references, substitutions, ellipses, reiterations and collocations, conjunctions

also provide formal links in discourse. Conjunctions help to create unity and
meaningfulness in discourse. How did you define the term conjunction in your grammar
lessons in secondary school? Here, the definition is slightly different. For purposes of
our discussion here, a conjunction will be defined as a cohesive device that links items
of a cohesive tie by referring backward and forward, and by specifying a meaning
relationship between the two items. It is unlike other cohesive devices which link
information by referring either backward or forward. Apart from that, the other cohesive
devices do not specify a meaningful relationship between the two items in a cohesive
tie.

3.2 Categories of conjunction

According to Chimombo (1986), there are two main categories of conjunction which are
further divided into different types of conjunction. Let us start with the categories.

3.2.1 Conjunctive adjuncts

These are words or phrases that are used to connect sentences together. In other
words, conjunctive adjuncts are sentence connectors. The example below illustrates
this.

The wedding was officiated. Afterwards, there was a reception.

In this example, there are two propositions (the wedding officiation and the reception)
that are connected by the word afterwards. Each one of these propositions appears in
an independent sentence of its own. There is no structural relationship between the two
propositions. That is, the basic quality that distinguishes conjunctive adjuncts from the
other category of the conjunction.

3.2.2 Conjunctions

These are words or phrases that are used to connect clauses within sentences. Put
differently, conjunctions are clause connectors. You can see the basic differences
between these two categories of the conjunction, can’t you? Do not get confused. Let us
have an example of a conjunction. For you to see the difference clearly, I will use the
same propositions used in the above example on conjunctive adjuncts. The two
propositions can also be connected in the following way: There was a reception after
the wedding was officiated. Or After the wedding was officiated, there was a reception.

Unlike in the previous case, there is a structural relationship between the two
propositions that are connected by the word after. The difference between conjunctions
and conjunctive adjuncts must be clear to you now. If it is still not clear, try to come up
with many constructions in which conjunctive adjuncts are used and then try to change
the constructions by connecting them using conjunctions instead. List down some of the
changes that have to be put in place in order for this to take place.

Chimombo (1986) observes that the difference between conjunctive adjuncts and
conjunctions is a source of problems to second language learners of English. This is
because second language learners of English tend to use conjunctive adjuncts and
conjunctions interchangeably, which makes their language sound bad. As you must
have noticed already, when you use a conjunctive adjunct in place of a conjunction, the
construction is ungrammatical. For instance, if you say any of the following:

*The wedding was officiated. After, there was a reception.

*There was a reception afterwards there was a wedding.

*Afterwards there was a wedding, there was a reception.

In the examples above, explain why each of the constructions is ungrammatical. If you
have challenges in answering this question, go back to sections 3.1.1 and 3.1.2 and
read again the explanations provided for the two categories of conjunctions and their
examples.

3.2.2.1 Types of conjunction

As already mentioned above, the two categories of the conjunction are further divided
into different types of conjunction. Each type consists of both conjunctive adjuncts and
conjunctions. Remember the basic difference between conjunctive adjuncts and
conjunctions. You will now look at these different types of conjunction.

3.2.2.1.1 Additive

Additive conjunctive adjuncts or additive conjunctions are used to add information to

what has already been said. Examples of these include the following: and, furthermore,
added to that, moreover, plus, also, and in addition to that. As you can see from this list,
some of the words or phrases are conjunctive adjuncts, while others are conjunctions.
Can you separate these words and phrases on the basis of the two categories? You
may have to use them in constructions in order for you to see the differences clearly. Do
this for all the rest of the types of conjunction that follow.

Here is one example where and is used as a conjunction:

Yohane and Maria went to town yesterday.

In this example, the word is used to add information in the sense that it is not only
Yohane who went to town, Maria too. Other examples of additive conjunctions include
the following:

a) Simple negative relation – is expressed by ‘nor’ or ‘and … not’. These add

together two negative propositions. For example:

Chisomo did not want to go. Nor did I, for that matter.

Chisomo did not want to go. And I didn’t (either), for that matter.

b) Simple alternative relation is expressed by ‘or’ or ‘or else’. For example: You
would better study hard. Or else you will fail the exams.
c) Complex emphatic conjunctive adjunct include ‘furthermore’ ‘moreover’ ‘in
addition’ and ‘besides’ to express an additive relation and ‘alternatively’ to express and
alternative. For example:

I really want to buy a tape recorder, so I may draw my savings out of the bank.
Alternatively, I may ask my father to lend me the money.

d) The de-emphatic afterthought is expressed by ‘incidentally’ or ‘by the way’

e) Conjunctive adjuncts that express apposition include the expository ‘that is’ ‘I
mean’ or ‘in other words’ and the exemplificatory ‘for example’ ‘for instance’ and ‘thus’.

f) The categories of similar and dissimilar comparison are expressed by the

following conjunctive adjuncts: ‘likewise’ ‘similarly’ or ‘in the same (a similar) way’ and
‘on the other hand’ or ‘by contrast’

Activity 1

Construct a sentence using a conjunction falling under each of the following categories
of additive conjunctions:

a) simple alternative relation

b) complex emphatic conjunctive adjunct

c) the de-emphatic afterthought

d) conjunctive adjunct that expresses apposition

e) the category of similar and dissimilar comparison

3.2.2.1.2 Temporal

Temporal conjunctive adjuncts or temporal conjunctions relate information to what has

already been said in terms of time. The following are some of the examples under this
type: formerly, then, in the end, finally, next, while, when, meanwhile and whilst. One
example using meanwhile as a conjunctive adjunct will do.

At nine o’clock yesterday, we were all sitting in the hall listening to the Vice Chancellor’s
presentation. Meanwhile, meals were being prepared by the kitchen sfaff.
The conjunctive adjunct meanwhile is connected to two forms of information in terms of
time in that as the people were listening to the Vice Chancellors presentation at that
same time the kitchen staff were preparing meals. Other examples of temporal
conjunction include the following:

a) Sequential: ‘then’, and ‘and then’, next, afterwards, after that, subsequently

b) Simultaneous in time: (just) then, at the same time, simultaneously. For example:
I was peeling the potatoes for supper. At the same time, Tina was preparing the
pumpkin leaves.

c) Previous: earlier, before that, previously. For example: I must go to the market to
buy some bananas, but before that I have to buy stamps.

d) Conclusive: finally, at last, in the end, eventually.

e) Correlative: first, at first, first of all, to begin with’, given any of these, the
exception is that an item such as ‘then’, ‘second’ ‘in the end’ or ‘finally’. For example: At
first, Tadala did not write very good essays, but in the end his essays were the best in
the class.

f) Summary temporal relations: These are common in written discourse or in formal

spoken discourse, but not in informal speech. The summarizing relation is expressed by
‘to sum up’, ‘in short’ or briefly and the resumptive relation by ‘to resume’, or ‘to return to
the point’.

Activity 2

Identify the correct temporal conjunction that you can use to fill in the gaps in each of
the sentences below.

a) He came home …………. me.

b) ……………….. the firefighters arrived, the building had already burnt down.

c) I was asleep ……………. she called me.

d) ……………. my mother was cleaning the floor, my brother was playing with his
toys.

e) …………… I see Ted, he complains about something.

f) I have been interested in science …………… my childhood.

3.2.2.1.3 Adversative

Adversative conjunctive adjuncts or adversative conjunctions contrast new information

to what has already been said. These include but, however, on the other hand, despite,
in spite of, conversely, nevertheless and notwithstanding. The following sentence
illustrates this using in spite of as a conjunction:

In spite of all the efforts by the organisers to dissuade him, Mystic still came out tops in
the competition.

In spite of has been used to contrast new information. You will notice that even though
Mystic was dissuaded from joining the competition, he went ahead and won. This
contrasting information is joined by the word in spite of. Other examples of adversative
conjunctions are as follows:

a) The simple adversatives are as follows: ‘yet’, ‘though’, or ‘only’. See the example
below.

He gets 10 hours of sleep every night. He always seems tired though.

b) The emphatic adversatives include the following: ‘however’, ‘nevertheless’ or

‘despite this’. For example:

Today we are easily convinced that the earth is round. It is not difficult, however, to
understand why the ancients believed that it was flat.

c) Contrastive adversatives include ‘in fact’ ‘actually’ and ‘as a matter of fact’ ‘but’,
‘on the other hand’, or ‘at the same time’. For example:

Very few teachers vary the activities they expect students to engage in, in their
classrooms. In fact many just continue with ‘chalk and talk’ regardless or other
possibilities.

d) The adversatives of correction ‘on the contrary’, ‘instead’ ‘rather’ are used to
correct the meaning of the previous proposition, not to show dissimilarity. See how ‘on
the contrary’, ‘instead’ and ‘rather’ are used in the following sentences:

i. New highways do not necessarily bring benefits to the citizens of a community.

On the contrary, they can do real harm by introducing more traffic into a district and
increasing air pollution.
ii. The players should have tried even harder to score a goal after half time. Instead
they just gave up and the other team had an easy time.

iii. Many English people, even those who have lived abroad for many years, are
incapable of doing without tea. At least that is what they claim.

iv. Most Europeans don’t mind the heat in Africa. Rather, it’s the humidity that they don’t
like.

e) Dismissive adversative is expressed by the closed ‘in either case’ ‘whichever way
it is’ or ‘either way’ or by the open-ended ‘in any case’ ‘anyhow’ or ‘at any rate’. See the
following examples:

i. You can sleep in the sitting room or in our son’s bedroom. Either way, you will be
comfortable.

ii. The player gave up trying in the second half. Anyhow, the other team had scored
so many goals by half time that there was no way they could win.

Activity 3

Join each of the following sets of sentences using one of the following conjunctions:

‘nevertheless’, ‘yet’, ‘however’, ‘still’, and ‘but’.

a) The rope was thin. It was strong.

b) He is rich. He is miserable.

c) I was annoyed. I kept quiet.

d) There was little chance of success. He persevered.

e) I can’t support your plan. I will not oppose it.

3.2.2.1.4 Causative or causal

Causative conjunctive adjuncts or causative conjunctions add information to what has

already been said in terms of cause. Included in this type are so, consequently,
because, for this/that reason, and as a result of this/that. The following example makes
use of consequently as a conjunctive adjunct:
The university does not have adequate funding this year. Consequently, it has been
agreed that there be no staff training this year.

In the example, having no staff training is caused by the university not having enough
funds. The conjunctive adjunct consequently therefore shows this relationship. Other
examples of causative or causal conjunction include the following:

a) Simple general causal relation is expressed by ‘so’, ‘then’, ‘hence’ and

‘therefore’. For example: Chikondi failed one course. So he has to write supplementary
exam.

b) The emphatic general causal conjunctive adjunct include ‘consequently’ and

‘because of this’. For example: Once the crops have been harvested, the land becomes
a communal grazing area until it is time for the next planting season. Consequently,
there is widespread soil erosion.

c) Specific causal conjunction are three: reason which is expressed by ‘for this
reason’ ‘on account of this’ ‘it follows’ or ‘on this basis’; result, which is expressed by ‘as
a result’ ‘in consequence’ or ‘arising out of this’; and purpose which is expressed by ‘for
this purpose’, ‘with this in mind’ or ‘to this end’. See the example below.

Patrick desperately wanted to be selected to go to secondary school. To this end, he

studied day and night in the last term of standard 8.

d) The conditional causal relation includes ‘then’, ‘in that case’ ‘in such an event’,
‘that being so’, ‘under the circumstances and ‘otherwise’. See the examples i) to iv)
below.

i. Yohane: I really need two-inch nails for this job.

Maria: What if they are not in stock?

Yohane: Then I will have to make do with the next size.

ii. Yohane: It’s pouring with rain now.

Maria: In that case, I am going to let you play outside.

iii. Lucy lost her father just before she started writing her exams.

Under the circumstances, it’s amazing that she did so well.

iv. You must work harder. Otherwise, you will be sacked.

e) The respective causal relation is expressed either by the direct

‘in this respect’, ‘in this regard’ or ‘with reference to this’ or by reverse polarity ‘in other
respect’ or ‘aside/apart from this’. See the example below.

We went to Blantyre last week and had two flat tyres on the way. Apart from that we had
a good time.

Activity 4

Choose the correct conjunction to fill in the gaps in each of the following sentences.

a) Luka bought the shoes ……… they were perfect. (owing to / since)

b) ……… it was really cold, I put on my gloves and my hat. (for / as)

c) She couldn't come …………. she had to work. (due to / because)

d) ………… its high price, we didn't rent the flat. (owing to / because)

e) ………… his great cooking, we love going to dinner at Taka's house.

(because of / since)

3.2.2.1.5 Continuative

Continuative conjunctive adjuncts or continuative conjunctions are used to indicate

some type of communication that shows a connection between two pieces of
information. The conjunction may indicate a new departure or a summary for example.
Some of the most common continuatives are anyway, by the way, well, to sum up, now,
of course, surely, right and after all. After presenting a lecture for some time, a lecturer
may say:

To sum up, let me say the following:…

In this instance, the lecturer uses the continuative ‘To sum up’ as a conjunctive adjunct.
That is not to imply that the continuative can also be used as a conjunction.

NB
Some of the conjunctions can be used both as conjunctive adjuncts and as
conjunctions, while others can only be used under one category. What is most important
in cases where a conjunction can appear in both categories is the punctuation of the
construction. For instance, with some conjunctions, while the comma appears before
the conjunction if it used as a conjunction, it appears after it if it used as a conjunctive
adjunct. The following examples illustrate this respectively:

Yankho bought milk yesterday, but he never used it.

Yankho bought milk yesterday. But, he never used it.

Activity 5

Construct a sentence using each of the following continuative conjunctive adjuncts or

continuative conjunctions:

a) Anyway

b) By the way

c) To sum up

d) After all

e) surely

Unit 4: Coherence and texture

4.1 Texture in discourse

Texture in discourse refers to meaning relationships (cohesive relationships) between

parts in discourse. The cohesive relationships within discourse are set where the
interpretation of some element in the discourse is dependent on the interpretation of
that of another. That is to say that the one presupposes the other in the sense that it
cannot be effectively decoded except by recourse to it. Look at the following example to
see this point:

Get me two mangoes. Put them in a basin of water.

What is the relationship between the two underlined words? They refer to the same
thing, don’t they? This is an example of meaning relationship. When items are related in
terms of meaning, they automatically get unified in terms of belonging. That is to say
that they stick together and are identified as belonging to the same text. Let us look at
another example in order to get a clearer picture of texture.

Critically examine the following two texts and decide which one has texture and why:

Text A

He got up early in the morning.

I have booked a place in the team.

I have put it in my school bag.

I will eat it tomorrow morning.

Text B

One day I was walking along the highway. While I was walking, I saw a little school boy.
When he saw me, he became agitated. I wondered why that was the case. But there
was no time for me to find out any more information. I went past without saying anything
to him.

You will notice that the second text has got certain continuatives that are absent in the
first. These structural continuatives are necessary for the unification of the utterances
that together make up the text. These continuatives include the following:

 School boy is referred to as he and him

 I refers to the same person as me

 The boy’s becoming agitated is referred to using the word that

Continuity is also created through the words or phrases one day, while, when and but,
which show the sequence of events in the story in the text.

When items in a text are related in terms of meaning, as is the case in text B, they
automatically get unified in terms of belonging. That is to say that they stick together
and are identified as belonging to the same text; hence there is texture in the text.

In the first text, although there is recurrence of the pronoun I, it is clear that each
instance the word appears in is a different situation. That is to say that the referent of
the word is different in each of the instances which it is used. The word it in the last two
sentences clearly supports this. Although you may at first sight think that it refers to the
place that has been booked, it is easy to realise that this is not the case when you look
at the meanings in the sentences. You know that a place cannot be put in a pocket and
neither can it be eaten. Therefore, the items in text A are neither related in terms of
meaning nor in terms of belonging; hence there is no texture in the text.

As Hassan (1985) points out, there are certain semantic (meaning) and
lexicogrammatical (words and grammar) patterns that are essential for the creation of
texture. The next two sections explain these elements.

4.1.1 Coherence

Coherence in discourse refers to the meaning or sense ties and connections that exist
within stretches of a language. The key to the concept of coherence is not something
that exists in the language, but something that exists in people’s minds. People make
sense of what they hear and read. They try to arrive at an interpretation that is in line
with their expectations of the way the world is. As such, interpreting language is a
matter of filling gaps in what is said or written. In other words, it is a matter of
experience. That is to say that people create meaning of a stretch of a language based
on the expectations of what normally happens.

Read the following conversation and think of what makes it discourse:

Yohane: Somebody is knocking at the gate.

Maria: I am in the toilet honey.

Yohane: Okay sweetie.

How can you explain this conversation as language in use (i.e. discourse)? What do you
normally do when somebody knocks at your door or gate? What do you do if you
happen to be busy that time and somebody else nearby is free? Your expectations
about what normally happens in such a situation should help you see how this
conversation becomes meaningful and unified.

There are no cohesive ties in this conversation, but it qualifies as discourse. That is, it is
meaningful and it is unified. The discoursity of this conversation can be explained as
follows:

Yohane requests Maria to perform the action of attending to someone at the gate. Maria
states the reason why she cannot perform the action (that is, that she is in the toilet).
Upon hearing that, Yohane undertakes to perform the action of attending to the person
at the gate himself. How does Yohane know that he has to perform the action even
though Maria did not produce the actual words such as ‘could you please attend to the
person at the gate since I am in the toilet?’

It is your knowledge of how conversation conventionally flows that enables you to

accept this sort of explanation of the discoursity of the above conversation. You, as a
language user, have a lot of knowledge of how conversational interaction works, which
is not simply “linguistic knowledge”. Part of this lot of knowledge that language users
have, about how conversational interaction works, is what is generally termed
background knowledge (the knowledge that people gain from experience). In section

4.2, you will look deeper into how this knowledge works.

Activity 1

Having looked at cohesion in the previous unit, what do you think is the difference
between coherence and cohesion?

4.1.2 Cohesive tie

A cohesive tie is a relationship of two items in a text in terms of meaning as explained

under the section on coherence. The two items are normally identified as A and B.
Remember however, that items that are related in terms of meaning automatically get
related in terms of belonging as explained in the section on cohesion. This meaning
relationship is represented as follows:

A B

The phenomenon of cohesive tie is based on the assumption that a text is a continuous
space in which individual messages follow each other. The items that function as the
two ends of the cohesive tie (A and B) are spatially separated from each other. That is
to say that they appear in different spatial positions in a text. However, they are tied
together through some meaning relation (semantic link) and this makes the two unified
in terms of belonging. According to Hassan (1985), there are three types of meaning
relations that exist between the two elements of a cohesive tie. You will now look at
each one of these.

4.1.2.1 Co-referentiality or co-reference

This is a relationship of situational identity of reference. That is to say that two different
items are used in such a way that they refer to the same thing because of the situation
in which they are used. For example, in the extract from a poem below, the items my
father and a man among men refer to the same person. So too do my father and he; a
man among men and he.

That is my father

A man among men

And not among a man made

Regardless of what other men do

Yes some men have done the X Y Z

But my father has done the A to Z

The alpha to the omega

He has done the A, the B, the C

The D, the E, the F the G, the H

My father has done that

(Extracted from “A man among men” by Chimwemwe Kamanga, unpublished)

4.1.2.2 Co-classification

This is a kind of meaning relation whereby things, processes or circumstances to which

the two members of the cohesive tie refer belong to an identical class. However, each of
the members refers to a distinct instance of the class. For example, look at the following
sentences:

Charles plays basketball. His girlfriend does too.

In these sentences, there is a co-classification relationship between the items plays

basketball and does. The playing of basketball that Charles does is different from the
playing of basketball that his girlfriend does. However, both are instances of the same
sport, basketball. This sort of meaning relation is commonly used in the linguistic
processes of substitution and ellipsis. These processes were already discussed in unit
two.
Activity 2

Use your knowledge of ellipsis, substitution and co-classification in order to analyse the
dialogue below.

Maria: Can I borrow your pen?

Yohane: Yes, but what happened to yours?

Maria: It got lost.

Yohane: Did it?

4.1.2.3 Co-extension

This is a term that Hassan (1985) coins for want of a better word to refer to a meaning
relation in which the two members of the cohesive tie refer to something within the
same general field of meaning. Look at the poem below to see this:

I had a little nut tree

Nothing would it bear

But a silver nutmeg

And a golden pea

(Adopted from Cook, 1989)

In this poem, the two items silver and golden refer to precious metal in general,
although their primary classes are different. As such, they can be said to be
coextensions of each other.