An Introduction to

Pragmatics and Discourse

Lecture 2
 Topics of the previous lecture

• What is pragmatics?
• What is discourse analysis?
 Topics of this lecture

•Texture
•Coherence
•Cohesion
• Lexical cohesion
• Grammatical cohesion
 Key question

How is language used to organize and

connect information beyond sentence
level?
 Texture
• It is the most salient property of texts:
sentences are linked together
• Two key concepts are cohesion and coherence
• Cohesion refers to the connections explicitly
present in discourse
• Coherence refers to the connections which can
be made by the participants on the basis of
their knowledge about the world
 Example

1. Bill was ill.

2. He took a day off.
•Cohesion: He co-refers with Bill;
•Coherence: causal connection  his taking
a day off was a consequence of his being ill.
 Cohesion

Grammatical Lexical
cohesion cohesion

Reference Repetition
Substitution Synonymy
Ellipsis Hyperonymy
Conjunction Collocation
 Lexical words
• Lexical words are the main carriers of meaning in a
text. In speech they are generally stressed. They are
characteristically the words that remain in the
information-dense language of telegrams, lecture
notes, headlines, etc.:
• Arriving tomorrow (telegram)
• Family killed in fire (newspaper headline)
 Function words
• While lexical words are the main building blocks of
texts, function words provide the mortar which binds
the text together.
• Function words often have a wide range of meanings
and serve two major roles: they signal
• relationships between lexical words or larger units
• the way in which a lexical word or larger unit is to be
interpreted.
Lexical word classes and function word classes

Lexical words Function words

Lexical verbs Auxiliary verbs

Nouns Pronouns

Adjectives Determiners
Prepositions
Adverbs Conjunctions
 Lexical cohesion
• Links between content words establish the aboutness of
a text (i.e. its area of focus)
• Different types of links:
• Similarity (repetition and synonymy)
• Contrast (antonymy)
• Class-subclass (co-hyponymy, hyponymy and general
words)
• Part-whole (meronymy and co-meronymy)
• Collocation
 Which aspect of lexical cohesion is at work in each
example?
A. We need more jobs. B. …
1. More jobs are critical for the Italian economy
2. A higher level of occupation is fundamental for the
economy.
3. Fighting unemployment is key to improve the economy of
the country
4. We need more jobs: doctors, teachers, engineers.
5. Doctors, teachers, engineers are people who can play a
critical role in economic development
6. Increasing levels of occupation are necessary for Europe, and
for Italy in particular.
7. This problem has plagued our economy for decades.
Which aspect of lexical cohesion is at work in each example?

A. We need more jobs. B. …

1. More jobs are critical for the Italian economy

2. A higher level of occupation is fundamental for the
economy.
3. Fighting unemployment is key to improve the economy of
the country
4. We need more jobs: doctors, teachers, engineers.
5. Doctors, teachers, engineers are people who can play a
critical role in economic development
6. Increasing levels of occupation are necessary for Europe, and
for Italy in particular.
7. This problem has plagued our economy for decades.
 Repetition
A given lexical item is repeated:

1. A: We saw about a hundred seals on the beach.

B: How many seals did you see?
2. Men gave themselves governments that derive
their just authority from the consent of the governed
 Cohesion thru repetition in a recipe
Chicken Nuggets
Rinse chicken with cold water and dry with paper towels.
Cut into 1x1x1/2 inch pieces. Fill a deep fryer with corn
oil, no more than 1/3 full. Heat to medium heat. Place egg
and water in a small bowl and mix well. Add the flour,
sesame seeds and salt, stirring until a smooth batter is
formed. Dip chicken pieces in batter and drain off any
excess. Add battered chicken, a few pieces at a time, to the
hot oil. Fry about 4 minutes or until golden brown and
done (remove chicken from oil to test). Drain on paper
towels.
 Repetition in a recipe

Lexical words 62
(repeated) (30)

Function words 36
Total 98
 Synonymy
A: What happened to your lad?
B: My boy joined the army. He couldn’t
stand being unemployed.
A: What was the weather like yesterday?
B: Horrible!
C: Dreadful!
 cohesion thru synonymy in a history text
The Turkish National Movement encompasses the
political and military activities of the Turkish
revolutionaries that resulted in the creation of the
Republic of Turkey, as a consequence of the defeat of
the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I.
The Turkish people gradually united around the
leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha and the authority of
the Turkish Grand National Assembly set up in Ankara,
which pursued the Turkish War of Independence.
 Antonymy

The sense of one expression is incompatible

with that of other expressions
• dead v. alive;
• parent/child;
• summer/fall/winter/spring;
• hot/…/cold
 cohesion thru antonymy in a political speech
We conservatives are for the individual, not
the state, for choice, not direction, for
ownership, not dependence, for liberty, not
for control. These are the cornerstones of our
beliefs. […] So when you go home ask the
people on the doorstep: would taxes be
higher or lower under Labour, would we be
richer or poorer …
 Class-subclass
• A word may refer to a large class of entities. This large
class subsumes various subclasses.
1. A: There’s a wolf outside!
B: Be careful! The animal may be dangerous.

2. A: My Chrysler is not as fast as his BMW.

B: Stop talking about cars!
C: Yes. I don’t understand why men are always talking
about vehicles.
Sense relations: how many categories can
you organise these words into?
• chair • kite
• hammer • bed
• table • saw
• doll • football
• frisbee • electric drill
• screwdriver • Play Station
• cupboard • sofa
 Relationship between words

• Name of member of a category> hyponym

• DOLL is a hyponym of TOY
• TOY is a superordinate of DOLL
• DOLL, FOOTBALL, KITE etc. are co-hyponyms
 Hyponyms and superordinates

TOYS
• Supeordinate

• Hyponyms
football kite doll
 Networks of taxonomies
•

ANIMAL

Mammal
Reptile

Bat Whale
Dog

Terrier Bulldog Boxer

Words may also have more than one
superordinate

SPORTS
TOY equipment

football
 How are they typically used?
• In definition of words
–A kite is a toy which is flown in the air
–A doll is a child’s toy which looks like a small person
or baby
• As an alternative to certain words
–The British prime minister last night announced...
The statesman released the news ...
–A car belonging to a local official was severely
damaged... The vehicle was parked ....
 General words and cohesive nouns

• A set of nouns having generalized reference:

• They are either superordinates of major lexical sets or they
condense and re-define what was said before;
• They must be preceded by the definite article;
1. A: We could employ renewable energy sources by using the
power of wind and sea waves.
B: I like the idea.
2. The children were always fighting, but noone seemed
concerned about the problem.
 Can you spot the general word?
The recent film screening at the Tivoli cinema, to
which Council tenants and their children were
invited, provided an ideal and cost-effective way
for our housing service to get the views of tenants
and for tenants to get advice and information from
a range of organisations. … Sandra Hunt, Tenant
Involvement Coordinator, says “The event was a
great success and very cost-effective. We got to
ask our tenants and their families their opinion on
the service we provide. …” 
How many categories can you organise these
words into?
• finger • trunk
• steering wheel • nail
• root • boot
• leaf • knuckles
• thumb • twig
• exhaust pipe • bonnet
• windscreen wiper • bough
• palm • bark
 Meronymy
• Part-whole relationship:

• Holonym TREE

•Meronyms
Leaf
Branch

Trunk
 How are they used?
• Meronyms and holonyms often appear in
definitions of words and in texts
1. A blade is the part of a sharp object, such
as a knife, that you use to cut things.
2. A hoof is the part of a horse's foot that
touches the ground.
3.The study reveals the fuller genetic picture as laid
out in the nuclei of Oetzi's cells.
4.Recently refurbished Georgian house for rent. Two
large bedrooms, cosy lounge with fireplace, kitchen
fitted with brand new electrical appliances and
completely renovated bathroom. …
 Collocation

• Association between words which is based

on a tendency to co-occur

• Ex. Pipe/smoke; cold/ice; drive/car;

 Can you find instances of collocation?

There are more than 20 trenches like the

Mariana around the world, but most are in the
Pacific Ocean.
They are formed at the boundary of two tectonic
plates, where very heavy oceanic crust (in the
case of the Mariana Trench, the Pacific Plate)
dives underneath lighter continental plate - a
process called subduction.
But geologists now think these seismically active
zones could play a central role in some
earthquakes.
 Lexical cohesion at work (1)
'A ninety-nine-years' lease,' Mr Mileson's father had said,
'taken out in 1862 by my grandfather, whom of course
you never knew. Expiring in your lifetime, I fear. Yet
you will by then be in a sound position to accept the
misfortune. To renew what has come to an end; to keep
the property in the family.' The property was an
expression that glorified. The house was small and
useful, one of a row, one of a kind easily found; but the
lease when the time came was not renewable - which
released Mr Mileson of a problem. Bachelor, childless,
the end of the line, what use was a house to him for a
further ninety-nine years?
 Lexical cohesion at work (2)
William stands, beside his luggage, on the pigeon dung, in
the dust, in his brown suit, holding his mackintosh. He is
there, here. This is his beginning. He sniffs the smell, tastes
the air, of the town. It has a faded, dusty note, as if
generations of farmhands have shaken out their coveralls in
the little square. Around it are two-storey buildings in wood
and brick. There is a J. C. Penney, a Woolworth, a
Floresheim Shoe, a McDonald Hamburger, a gas station
with a sign saying 'We really are very friendly' and no
people, and seven parking meters. A big dog lopes down
the gutter. A cat comes out of J. C. Penney. A person laughs
somewhere in Lee's Diner.
 Grammatical cohesion
• Which aspects of lexical cohesion can you identify in the following rhyme?

• I do not like thee, Dr Fell

The reason why, I cannot tell
But this I know, and know full well
I do not like thee, Dr Fell
• Now, who does ‘thee’ refer to?
• Which reason cannot the poet tell?
• Which sort of semantic relationship has been established
between the two propositions:
1. I cannot tell why I don’t like you
2. I know I don’t like you
 Grammatical cohesion

•I do not like thee, Dr Fell

The reason why [I do not like you], I cannot tell
But this I know, and know full well
I do not like thee, Dr Fell
•Thee co-refers with Dr. Fell
•The poet cannot tell the reason why he does not like Dr. Fell
•There is a semantic contrast between the two propositions:
1. I cannot tell why I don’t like you
2. BUT I know I don’t like you
 Reference
• It is the semantic relation between an item and
a preceding/following one; both refer to the
same extra-linguistic entity.
• Anaphoric:
• John is very tall. He is over 6 feet tall
• Cataphoric:
• As I turned the corner I almost stepped on
him. John was lying on the sidewalk, pale and
quivering.
 Why is it used?
• In general, it avoids unnecessary repetition.
• Cataphora is typically used to create suspence
and focus the addressee’s attention on certain
parts of a text.
• Though she had never had formal education
beyond primary school, Deledda became one of
the most acclaimed writers of her age.
 Substitution

• The replacement of an item by a dummy word:

1 A: Have you seen my yellow sweater?

B: I saw the red one.
2 A: Have you cleaned the bathroom?
B: I did it yesterday / I’ll do it tomorrow.
3 A: Has the train left?
B: I think so / I hope not.
 Ellipsis

The omission of an item:

1. A: Do you like strong tea?
B: Weak is better for me.

2. John has studied hard for the exam, but you

haven’t.

3. Can anyone here help me? You, John?

 Why is it used?
• It avoids repetition and depends on the
addressee being able to retrieve the missing
words from the surrounding co-text.
• Just as substitution, it can be used when there
is no ambiguity as to what is being substituted
or omitted
 Some exercises: identify examples of
reference, substitution, and ellipsis

1. The human memory system is remarkably efficient, but

it is of course extremely fallible. That being so, it makes
sense to take full advantage of memory aids to
minimize the disruption caused by such lapses.
2. We all tend to complain about our memories. Despite
the elegance of the human memory system, it is not
infallible, and we have to learn to live with its fallibility.
3. There were, broadly, two interrelated reasons for
this, the first relating to Britain's economic and Imperial
difficulties, the second to the internal dissension in all
three parties.
 Conjunction

• This phenomenon provides cohesive bonds beyond

sentence-level by means of adverbials, prepositional
phrases and conjunctions.
• These cohesive bonds can be categorized as
• Elaboration
• Extension
• Enhancement
 Elaboration
• Some element is re-presented by reformulation or by
means of an example.
• These formulations state the primary formal limitation
upon the judicial power, or, to put it another way, all
state the manner and form in which the judicial power is
exercised.
• Some element is summarized, made more precise or
clarified for purposes of the discourse.
• He was fatherly in his handling of all subjects with me
and tremendously wise in his counsel. In conclusion, he
wished me well and asked to be remembered to my wife
and children.
 Extension
• Some element is added in positive, negative or
adversative terms.
• The brush moves up and down and is small enough to
clean every dental surface. In addition, the motor has
the seal of approval of the Underwriters Laboratories.
• Some element is varied by offering a replacement or an
alternative.
• If you want to give your friends something out of the
ordinary, costing less than $ 20 per bottle, there is
Pineau Imperial from the Cognac region. Alternatively,
there is the more expensive - about $ 40 per bottle -
plum brandy from Yugoslavia and Hungary.
 Enhancement
• Some element is connected in terms of various
types of relationships:
• Spatio-temporal (ex. then, meanwhile, in the
end)
• Manner (ex. likewise, by such means)
• Causal-conditional (ex. therefore, as a result,
though)
• Matter (ex. in that respect, elsewhere)
 An exercise on conjunctions
1. I personally have no objections to these
and, as a matter of fact, have written all of the above
myself. 
2. I have a profound respect for people who are
celebrities. I mean, Barack is really famous.
3. I don' t think or believe that Mr. Obama supports
racism. However, the gentleman should have been
there.
4. The US justice system is much more efficient than the
Mexican system. Moreover, the levels of corruption are
much lower there.
5. This new survey shows that only 6 percent of journalists
say that. Similarly, more than 40 percent of the general
public feels that homosexuality should be discouraged
 Execise on conjunction in texts

Dr. Edward C. Tolman, after experimenting with rats

over a long period of years, found that rats that
learned to run a maze under the pressure of hunger
took much longer to learn the maze than rats that
learned under non-crisis conditions. [?] the learning
that did take place was of a narrow type. [?], after
learning the "right" route, these rats panicked if one
avenue were blocked off. They were not able to
survey the field to notice alternative routes. [?], when
the rats were permitted to learn under non-crisis
conditions, they later performed well in a crisis.
Can you identify the cohesive phenomena at work?

The student sighed as she handed in the assignment, at
 last it was finished. 
This was the most difficult pieceof writing which she 
had been set, but she had completed it. 
The ‘magnum opus’ was 10,000 words long. 
This project, though not quite a dissertation, was still th
e longest piece of academic  writing she had ever 
written. 
She had  thought she would never complete it and it 
had taken all her strength to do so.
 Conclusion

• From the viewpoint of DA, cohesion is a

system of formal devices which hold a text
together
• Each type of cohesive device clarifies which
kind of info is connected and the nature of
the semantic relations at work in a text