Linguistic Cohesion and Word Structure Analysis

Linguistic Cohesion: Anaphora and Cataphora

The anaphora is the relationship between an element called the antecedent and another which replaces it. The element that replaces the antecedent is usually a pronoun, a determiner, or an adverb of place. By replacing it, the author refers grammatically to characters and objects without having to repeat words. Anaphors of identity mean the pronoun does not refer exactly to the same object.

The cataphora is the relationship that exists between an element and one that appears later in the text. This role is often played by pronouns.

Understanding Ellipsis in Text

The ellipsis refers to the removal of a known element that appears very close in the text and is easily retrievable. Reference is the most common procedure. It can be:

• Sentence: You know who?
• Nominal: Students have better second time.
• Verbal: I have not read this novel.

The Structure of Words

You can define the word as an independent linguistic unit, consisting of one or more monemes. In writing, it appears bounded between two blank spaces. Hence, linguists use smaller units equipped with significance for lexical analysis: monemes.

• Unpresentable: im- (explicit negation), -present- (expresses the action to present), -able (expresses the ability to receive the action of the verb).
• Girls: young- (child who has not reached adolescence), -a (expressed as the word is feminine), -s (expressed as the word is plural).

Classes of Monemes

Monemes are minimal units of meaning and are classified by their meaning into lexemes and morphemes.

Lexemes

They form the core or root of nouns and adjectives. They provide the basic meaning or lexicon of these: chic-o, de-terr-ad-o.

Morphemes

These units serve to connect lexemes or modify their meaning:

• Independent Morphemes: They form words by themselves. These are the determinants, prepositions, conjunctions, and pronouns.
• Dependent Morphemes: They join lexemes to complete and modify their meaning:
  • Derivatives: These add meaning to the lexemes and include suffixes, prefixes, and infixes.
  • Inflectional: These always hold the final position of the word and serve to express grammatical gender, number, person, tense, and mode (e.g., book-s, am-as).