Texts ‘hang together’

“A text is best regarded as a semantic unit: a

unit not of form but of meaning….. A text does
not consist of sentences; it is REALIZED BY, or
encoded in, sentences.”
“A text has texture and this is what distinguishes
it from something that is not a text. It derives
this texture from the fact that it functions as a
unity…”
Halliday and Hasan (1976) Cohesion in English
 Cohesion and Coherence
Coherence - the overall "understandability" of a
text. A text is coherent if it makes sense. 

Cohesion - explicit formal grammatical and

lexical ties, where one item provides the source
of the interpretation of another. A text is
cohesive if its elements are linked together.
 Is this a text?
(In other words, is it coherent and cohesive?)
Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Goldilocks. 
She  went for a walk in the forest.  Pretty soon, she came
upon a house.  She knocked and, when no one answered,
she walked right in.
At the table in the kitchen, there were three bowls of
porridge.  Goldilocks was hungry.  She tasted the porridge
from the first bowl.
"This porridge is too hot!" she exclaimed.
So, she tasted the porridge from the second bowl.
 Is this a text?
(In other words, is it coherent and cohesive?)
Once upon a time, there was a little girl named
Goldilocks.  She  went for a walk in the forest.  Pretty soon,
she came upon a house.  She knocked and, when no one
answered, she walked right in.
At the table in the kitchen, there were three bowls of
porridge.  Goldilocks was hungry.  She tasted the porridge
from the first bowl.
So, she tasted the porridge from the second bowl.
 
• she = personal reference
• Goldilocks, porridge, bowl = lexical repetition
• So = causal conjunction
 Do these items add to the coherence
of the text?

She  went for a walk in the forest.  Pretty soon, she came upon a
house.  She knocked and, when no one answered, she walked
right in.
At the table in the kitchen, there were three bowls of porridge. 
 Do these items add to the coherence
of the text?
She  went for a walk in the forest.  Pretty soon, she came upon a
house.  She knocked and, when no one answered, she walked
right in.
At the table in the kitchen, there were three bowls of porridge. 

We know that houses :

• have doors you can knock on
• have kitchens
We know that
• you can walk through doors
We know that kitchens
• have tables you can put food on
 Are these texts?
• A: There’s the doorbell
B: I’m in the bath
 Are these texts?
• A: There’s the doorbell
B: I’m in the bath

They are coherent, but not cohesive!

 Is this a text?
• I went home very late last night. At night, owls
come out and hunt. Harry Potter uses an owl
to have his mail delivered. The mail was very
erratic over the Christmas holidays. The
holidays were too short, and short indeed is
this paragraph
 Is this a text?
• I went home very late last night. At night, owls
come out and hunt. Harry Potter uses an owl
to have his mail delivered. The mail was very
erratic over the Christmas holidays. The
holidays were too short, and short indeed is
this paragraph.

Lots of lexical repetition,

but the text doesn’t make
sense!
All authentic texts are coherent.
Almost all texts are cohesive
 What do you know about cohesion?
Two articles to read:

• Teaching the recognition of cohesive ties

• Principles of teaching cohesion in the English
language classroom

If your start reading articles

on the suggested reading
list they will help you get
ideas for your dissertation.
 Three types of tie
John rode his bicycle.
X Intraclausal
 Interclausal
Some people rode bicycles and others walked.

 Intersentential
Some people rode bicycles. Others walked.
 Three types of tie
John got a bicycle for his birthday
X Intraclausal
 Interclausal
Some people rode bicycles and others walked.

 Intersentential
Some people rode bicycles. Others walked.

A clause is already
held together by
syntax, so we are not
very interested in ties
within the clause!
 Three types of tie
John got a bicycle for his birthday
X Intraclausal
 Interclausal
Some people rode bicycles and others walked.

 Intersentential
Some people rode bicycles. Others walked.

(Traditional
grammar doesn’t
look beyond the
We’re interested in sentence)
ties that hold clauses
and sentences
together.
Halliday & Hasan (1976)
Halliday & Hasan (1976)

Lexical or
grammatical
cohesion?
Halliday & Hasan (1976)

Lexical
cohesion
Halliday & Hasan (1976)

Lexical or
grammatical
cohesion?
Halliday & Hasan (1976)

Grammatical
cohesion
Halliday & Hasan (1976)

Repetition of
meaning
 collocation repetition

synonym

reiteration superordinate

general noun

personal
reference anaphoric
demonstrative
Cohesive ties cataphoric
substitution comparative
nominal
verbal
clausal
ellipsis additive (and)

adversative (but)
Text
connectors / conjunction causal (so)
discourse
markers temporal (then)
 Halliday & Hasan’s conjunctions
(also called discourse markers, linking adverbials or ‘transitions’)

They specify the meaning relationship between

two meaning units – two clauses, two
sentences, or two paragraphs.

Because hydrogen is the simplest element, it will leak from any

container, no matter how strong. For this reason, hydrogen in
storage tanks will always evaporate.
What conjunctions can you think of in each of
Halliday and Hasan’s four categories?

» Additive - adding points

» Adversative – contrasting comparing and conceding points
» Causal - signalling reasons or consequences
» Temporal - signalling time, sequence or transition
Which of these
categories do you
think is likely to
be most common,
and why?
The function can be expressed in a number
of different ways:
One word (an adverb), e.g. so
• An adverb phrase, e.g. even so
• A finite clause, e.g. it follows
• A non-finite clause, e.g. that being the case
• A prepositional phrase, e.g. to this end
 Where can conjunctions go in the
sentence?
Initial? (at the beginning However, this is not always
of the sentence) the case.

Medial? (after the This, however, is not always

grammatical subject) the case.

Final? (at the end of the This is not always the case,
sentence) however.

Which position(s) do you tend to use in your own writing? What

effect does this have on style?
 Other cohesive ties

Unlike conjunctions, the other grammatical

cohesive ties in Halliday and Hasan’s system
refer backwards or forwards to other parts of
the text.
 collocation repetition

synonym

reiteration superordinate

general noun

personal
reference anaphoric
demonstrative
Cohesive ties cataphoric
substitution comparative
nominal
verbal
clausal
Cohesive reference is
endophoric - ellipsis additive (and)
the meaning of the word is
determined by referring to adversative (but)
other parts of the text.
conjunction causal (so)

temporal (then)
 Reference in cohesion
Pointing
back to
somewhere
in the text

Pointing
forwards to
Note that these words don’t mean much by themselves. somewhere
They acquire meaning in relation to the text they refer to. in the text
The determiner “the” can also function in this way.
 If it doesn’t refer
Endophoric (intralinguistic) reference
backwards or forwards it
is extralinguistic
(exophoric) reference.
can be :
• "anaphoric" reference - a word refers back to
another word for its meaning.
or
• "cataphoric" reference - a word refers to
another word later in the text and you need to
look forward to understand what it means.
Which do you think is
more common –
anaphoric or
cataphoric reference?
 Anaphoric

Endophoric

Cataphoric
Reference

Exophoric

Pronouns do not usually have extralinguistic reference – but

sometimes they do….
 Exophoric (extralinguistic)?
Yes or no?
• What’s that? It’s my lunch!
• I’ve eaten my lunch. That’s good.
• This tastes nice.
• Has Mary arrived? Yes she has.
• I don’t know what time it is – ask him.
(pointing to someone)
 Exophoric (extralinguistic)?
Yes or no?
• What’s that? It’s my lunch! EXOPHORIC
• I’ve eaten my lunch. That’s good. ENDOPHORIC
• This tastes nice. EXOPHORIC
• Has Mary arrived? Yes she has. ENDOPHORIC
• I don’t know what time it is – ask him. (pointing
to someone) EXOPHORIC
 Anaphoric personal reference

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Goldilocks.  She 
went for a walk in the forest.  Pretty soon, she came upon a
house.  She knocked and, when no one answered, she walked
right in.
At the table in the kitchen, there were three bowls of porridge. 
Goldilocks was hungry.  She tasted the porridge from the first
bowl.
 
• she = anaphoric personal reference
Once upon a time there was a great king of China. This king had everything he
wanted. He had rare treasures, a beautiful palace, fine horses, the bravest
warriors and a people who loved him. But one thing the king lacked. He didn’t
have a wife. So one day he gathered seven of his most trusted warriors,
saddled his strongest horse, and departed in search of a wife. They travelled
many moons and called in at all the great palaces and cities on their way, and
met many beautiful princesses and great ladies, but nowhere did the king see a
lady who made his heart beat faster. After a long days’ ride the party arrived at a
lake, and the king decided to halt there and make a camp for the night. As he
was taking his supper he heard the faint strains of a tune coming from the
direction of the lake. He got up and walked towards the water. There he saw a
boat drifting by, and on the boat the figure of a woman. By the light of the moon
he saw her face and he knew immediately that here was the woman he had set
out to find. He called his warriors, and they waded into the water and pushed
the craft to the shore. The king helped the lady step onto the land and
introduced himself. He asked the lady to be his guest and join him for some
supper. The king stated the purpose of his quest, and asked the lady if there
was any reason why she could not travel back with him to his palace to be his
wife. The poor woman was taken somewhat aback, You wish to marry me, she
asked, when I am a complete stranger to you?
 collocation repetition

synonym

Don’t expect to find all kinds of cohesive

reiteration
tie in equal amounts in all kinds of texts! superordinate

general noun

personal
reference anaphoric
demonstrative
Cohesive ties cataphoric
substitution comparative
nominal
verbal
clausal
ellipsis additive (and)

Substitution and adversative (but)

ellipsis are not so
common in conjunction causal (so)
written texts.
temporal (then)
Nominal substitution = one / ones / the same
I start my holiday on Monday.
Lucky you! I could do with one too

Verbal substitution= do / did

Did anyone lock the door?
Someone must have done.

Clausal substitution = so / not

Is it going to rain?
I hope not.
Halliday & Hasan (1976)

Other words that

are likely to occur
Ways of
within the same
repeating
text – including
the same
words with
meaning
opposite
meanings
 collocation repetition

Lexical synonym
cohesion

reiteration superordinate

general noun

personal Flowerdew’s
reference anaphoric
‘signalling
demonstrative nouns’
Cohesive ties cataphoric
substitution comparative
nominal
verbal
clausal
ellipsis additive (and)

adversative (but)

conjunction causal (so)

temporal (then)
 Other names for Halliday & Hasan’s
‘general nouns’
advance labels (Tadros 1985)
anaphoric nouns (Francis 1986)
carrier nouns (Ivanic 1991)
enumerative and resultative nouns (Hinkel, 2001)
shell nouns (Hunston & Francis, 1999; Schmid, 2000)
signalling nouns (Flowerdew 2003).