Textual Equivalence:

Cohesion
Cohesion, Reference, Substitution, Ellipsis, and
Lexical Cohesion
Objectives
• Define the linguistic/stylistic terms presented.

• Explain the concepts of linguistic/stylistic terms

presented.

• Give examples related to the concepts discussed.

Introduction
• Each language has its own patterns to convey the
interrelationships of persons and events; in no language may
these patterns be ignored, if the translation is to be
understood by its readers (Callow 1974:30).
Cohesion
• Cohesion is the network of lexical, grammatical and
other relations which provide links between various
parts of a text.
• These relations or ties organize and, to some extent, create
a text, for instance by requiring the reader to interpret
words and expressions by reference to other words and
expressions in the surrounding sentences and
paragraphs.
Cohesion
• Cohesion is a surface relation; it connects together the
actual words and expressions that we can see or hear.

• The topic of cohesion ... has always appeared to me the

most useful constituent of discourse analysis or text
linguistics applicable to translation (Newmark
1987:295).
Cohesion
• Halliday and Hasan identify five main cohesive devices in
English:
 reference;
 substitution;
 ellipsis;
 conjunction; and
 lexical cohesion.
A. Reference
• The term reference is traditionally used in semantics for
the relationship which holds between a word and what
it points to in the real world.

• In Halliday and Hasan’s model of cohesion, reference is used

in a similar but more restricted way.
A. Reference

Mrs. Thatcher has resigned. She announced her

decision this morning.
A. Reference
• The resulting cohesion ‘lies in the continuity of reference,
whereby the same thing enters into the discourse a
second time’ (Halliday and Hasan 1976:31).
A. Reference

Mrs. Thatcher has resigned. This delighted her

opponents.
A. Reference
• Reference, then, is a device that allows the reader or hearer
to trace participants, entities, events and so on in a
text.
A. Reference
Hercule Poirot sat on the white sand and looked out across the
sparkling blue water. He was carefully dressed in a dandified
fashion in white flannels and a large panama hat protected his
head. He belonged to the old-fashioned generation which
believed in covering itself carefully from the sun. Miss Pamela
Lyall, who sat beside him and talked carelessly, represented the
modern school of thought in that she was wearing the barest
minimum of clothing on her sun-browned person.

(Christie 1936: 196)

A. Reference
• There’s a boy climbing that tree.
a. The boy’s going to fall if he doesn’t take care.
(repetition)
b. The lad’s going to fall if he doesn’t take care.
(synonym)
c. The child’s going to fall if he doesn’t take care.
(superordinate)
A. Reference
• There’s a boy climbing that tree.
d. The idiot’s going to fall if he doesn’t take care.
(general word)
e. He’s going to fall if he doesn’t take care.
(pronominal reference)
B. Substitution
• In substitution, an item (or items) is replaced by another
item (or items):
I like movies.
And I do.
B. Substitution

You think Joan already knows? – I think everybody does.

(Does replaces knows)

My axe is too blunt. I must get a sharper one.

(One replaces axe)
B. Substitution

You think Joan already knows? – I think everybody does.

(Does replaces knows)

My axe is too blunt. I must get a sharper one.

(One replaces axe)
B. Substitution

A: I’ll have two poached eggs on toast, please.

B: I’ll have the same.

(The same replaces two poached eggs on toast).

B. Ellipsis
• Ellipsis involves the omission of an item.

• In other words, in ellipsis, an item is replaced by nothing.

This is a case of leaving something unsaid which is
nevertheless understood.
B. Ellipsis
• It does not include every instance in which the hearer or
reader has to provide missing information, but only
those cases where the grammatical structure itself
points to an item or items that can fill the slot in
question.
B. Ellipsis
Joan brought some carnations, and Catherine some sweet
peas.
(ellipted item: brought in second clause)

Here are thirteen cards. Take any. Now give me any three.
(ellipted items: card after any in second clause and cards
after any three in third clause)
Does Agatha sing in the bath?

(a) No, but I do.

(b) Yes, she does.

(c) Yes, she does it to annoy us, I think.

C. Conjunctions
• Conjunction involves the use of formal markers to relate
sentences, clauses and paragraphs to each other.

• Conjunction signals the way the writer or speaker wants

the reader or hearer to relate what is about to be said to
what has been said before.
C. Conjunctions
(a) additive: and, or, also, in addition, furthermore, besides,
similarly, likewise, by contrast, for instance;

(b) adversative: but, yet, however, instead, on the other

hand, nevertheless, at any rate, as a matter of fact;

(c) causal: so, consequently, it follows, for, because, under

the circumstances, for this reason;
C. Conjunctions
(d) temporal: then, next, after that, on another occasion, in
conclusion, an hour later, finally, at last;

(e) continuatives (miscellaneous): now, of course, well,

anyway, surely, after all
D. Lexical Cohesion
• Lexical cohesion refers to the role played by the selection
of vocabulary in organizing relations within a text.

• Halliday and Hasan divide lexical cohesion into two main

categories: reiteration and collocation.
D. Lexical Cohesion
• Reiteration, as the name suggests, involves repetition of
lexical items.

• A reiterated item may be a repetition of an earlier item, a

synonym or near-synonym, a superordinate, or a general
word.
D. Lexical Cohesion
• Reiteration is not the same as reference, however, because
it does not necessarily involve the same identity.
D. Lexical Cohesion (Collocation)

Various kinds of oppositeness of meaning: e.g. boy/girl;

love/hate; order/obey.

Associations between pairs of words from the same ordered

series: e.g. Tuesday/Thursday; August/December;
dollar/cent.
D. Lexical Cohesion (Collocation)
Associations between pairs of words from unordered lexical sets:
e.g.
part–whole relations: car/brake; body/arm; bicycle/wheel;
part–part relations: mouth/chin; verse/chorus;
co-hyponymy: red/green (colour); chair/table (furniture).
D. Lexical Cohesion (Collocation)
Associations based on a history of co-occurrence: e.g. rain,
pouring, torrential, wet; hair, comb, curl, wave; etc.
Conclusions
• Different languages have different preferences for using
specific devices more frequently than others or in specific
combinations which may not correspond to English
patterns of cohesion.

• Cohesion can also be established between textual and non-

textual elements, including visual material, layout, and
search and retrieval elements such as hypertext links on
the internet.
Conclusions
• Finally, the overall level of cohesion may vary from one
language to another; even within the same language,
different texts will vary in the density of their cohesive ties.
Reference
Baker, M. (2011). In Other Words: A course book on
translation, Second edition. Routledge. New York City.
Thank You for Listening!