Textual equivalence: 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 pharagraphs. Cohesions is a surface relation: if connects together the actual words and expressions that we can see or hear. Halliday and Hasan identify five main cohesive devices in English: reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction, and lexical cohesion.

1.      Reference

      The tren reference is tratidionally used in semantics for the relationshiip which holds between a word and what it points to in the real word. The reference of chair would therefere be a particular chair that is being identified on a particular occasion. In halliday and Hasan’s model of cohesion, reference is used in a similar but more restricted way instead of demoting a direct relationship between words and extra- linguistic objects, reference is limited here to the relationship of identify which holds between two linguistic expressions. For example,Mrs Thatcher has resigned. She announced her decision this morning.

      So, reference is a device which allows the reader/hearer to trace participants, entities, events, etc. In a text. One of the most common patterns of establishing chains of reference in english and a number of other language is to mention a participant explicitly in the first instance, foe example by name or litle, and then use a pronoun to refer back to the same partichipant in the immediate context

2.      Substitution and Ellipsis

      Unlike reference, substitution and ellipsis are grammatical rather than semantic relationship. In substitution, an item is replaced by another item(or items):

·         I like movies

·         And i do

            In the above example, do is a substitute for like moves. Item commonly used in subtitution in english include do, one, and the same, as in the following examples from halliday and Hasan:

You think Joan already knows?

I think everybody does. (does replaces knows).

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

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

B: I’ll have the same.

            Elipsis involves the omission of an item. In other word, inellipsis on item is replaced by nothing. This is a case of leaving something unsaid which is nevertheles understood. It does not include every instance in which the hearer or reader has to supply missing information. but only those cases where the grammatical structure itself points to an item or items that can fill the slot in question. Here are some examples of ellipsis.

·         Joan brought some carnations, and cathrine some sweet peas.

·         Here are thirteen card. Take any now give me any three.

·         Have you been swimming?yes i have.

            Halliday and hasan give a detailed description of several types of subsitution and ellipsis in english. Since subsitution and ellipsis are purely grammatical relations which hold between linguistic forms rather than between linguistic forms and their meanings, the details are highly language specific and are therefore not worth going into here.

            Note that the boundary lines between tof cohesive device.he three types of cohesive device. A question such as does agatha sing in the bath? May elicit three answer, of which answer (a) is an example of subsitution. (b) of ellipsis, and answer (c) of refere of ellipsis of nces.answer (b) is an example of ellipsis because does cannot be said to substitute for sing in the above question.

3.      Conjunction

      Conjunction involves the use of formal markes to relate sentence, clauses and paragraphs to each other. Unlike reference, substituation, and for it elipsis, the use of cionjuction does not instruct the reader to supply missing information either by looking for it elsewhere in the text or by filling structural slots. Innstead, conjunction signals the way the writer wants the reader to relate what is about to be said to what has been said before.  Conjunction express one of a small number of general realation. The main relation are summarized below with examples of conjunctions which can or typically realize each relation.

a.    Additive  : and, or, also, in addition, furthermore,beside, 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, consequenyly, if follows, for, because, under the cirkumtances, for this reason.;

d.      Temporal : then, next, after, that, on another occasion, in conclusion, an hour later, finally, at last;

e.       Continuatives (miseellancous) : now, of course, well, anyway, surely, after all;

         A number of points need to be borne in mind here. Firts, the same conjuction may be used to signal different relatins, depending on the context. Second, the relations can be expressed by a variety of means; the use of a conjuction is not the only devise for expressing a temporal or causal relation, for instance. In english a temporal relation may be expressed by means of a verb such as follow or precede, and a causal relation is inherent in the meanings of verbs such as cause and lead to. In fact, language user will often recognize a semantic relation such as time sequence even when no explitcit signal of such a relationship exists in the text. Third, conjunctive relations do not just refflect relations which are internal to the text or communicative situatio. For instance, temporal relations relation are not restricted to sequence in real time; they may reflect stages in the unfolding text. A good example is the use of firts, second, and third in this paragraph.

There is some uncertainty in the literature as to whether conjunctions which occur whitin sentences can be considered cohesive, since cohesion is considered by some linguists to be a ). This relation between sentences rather than whitin sentences (see Halliday and Hasan, 1976;232; see also note 2 at the end of this chapter). This means that subbordinators are not, sricly speaking. Considred are type of conjunction. Fpr example, Halliday and Hasan do not consider after a conjuction.

Languages vary iremendously in the type of conjuctions they prefer to use as well as the frequency with which they use such items. Also, since conjuction is a devise for signalling relations between chunks of information, it is naturally bound up with both the chunking of information, how much to sain one go, and with how the relatuions between such chunks of information are perceived and signalled. In fact, the use of conjuction provides an insight into the whole logic of discourse.

The translator of the  above passage attemps, as most translations do in practice, to strike a batance between accurancy and naturalness. At the level of cohesion, natulaness is enchaneed by usingtypical Arabic conjuntions such as wa and a, sometimes at the expense of accuracy for instance, using wa rather than something closen to english however (third sentence in the english text), rads smoothly in Arabic but sasacrifices some of the preciesion of the english conjunction. On the other hand the direct translation of after all (fourth sentence in english text) into after all considerations, which is a paraphrase of the meaning of after all rather than an established conjunction in Arabic, represent a sacrifice of naturalness for the sake of accurancy.

Adjusting patterns of conjunction in line with target language general and spesific text type preferences in less straighforward than adjusting patterns of references. Trhe problem with conjunction is that it reflects the theoric pf a text and controls in interpretation. This suggest that adjustments in relation will often affect both the content and the line of argumentatio. The english source text considt of six paragraphs, the German translation, on the other hand, consist of six paragraphs. This rechunking of the text may be and idiosyneratic adjustment on the part of the German translator, as it appears that German does not generally favour more breaks than english generally speaking, rechunking is done for two main reasons (a) the source text is divided into chunks (whether suctions, paragraph, sentences, or clauses) that are either too long or too short in terms or target language average chunking of similar material, or (be) the nature of the target audience is difference in terms of level of specialization, age, etc. A text addressing and audience of specialist will tend to group informnation into larger chunk than one addressing layment or children.

4.      Lexical cohesion

      Lexical cohesion refers to the role played by the selection by the selection of vocabulary in organinizing relation within a text. A given lexical item cannot be said to have a cohesive function perse (of reference conjuntion), but any lexical item can enter into cohesive relation with other items in a text. Whereas on encountering a pronoun such as he or they the reader will automatically look for a link between an item such as socialism and other item in the following example (from the book jacket of arab Political Humour Kishtainy.1985)

      Ready suppliets of fun throughout the thirties were the decadent pseduo-sovereign regirnes of the West. More recently people have turned fast for their targets reclecting the new contact with communist countries and also the growing disenchanment socialism.

      And yet, one intovely recognia sort of lexical chain which links socialism with communist and East. Morever this chain stands in some kind of opposition to the West and, for some people, to decadent as well. We could say then that lexical cohesion covers any instance in which the use of a lexical item recalls the sense of an earlier one.

      Halliday and hasan devide lexical cohesion into two main categories : relation and collocation. Realation, as the name suggest, involves repetition of lexical item, a synonym or near-synonym, a superodinate, or a general word. In this sense, it represents the same continuum presented .

                    Three’s a boy climbing that tree.

a.          The boy is going to fall if be 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 (superurdinate)

d.         The idiot’s going to fall if he doesn’t take care (general word)

        Relation is not the same as reference, however, because it does no neccessarily involve the same identity. If the above sentence is followed by a statement such as ‘ Boys can be so silly’     the repetition of boy → boys would like still be an instance of reitation, even though the two item would not be refering refering to the same individual(s).Collocation, as a sub-class of lexical cohesion in Haliday and Hasan’s model, covers any instance which invola pair of lexical items that are aassiciated whic each other in the language in some way. Halliday and Hasan offer the following types of association as examples, but admit that there are other instances where the association between lexical items cannot reaily be given a name but is nevertheles felt to exist. In the final analysis, they suggest, it does not matter what the relation is as long as we are aware of it and react to it as a cohesive device.

        Lexical cohesion is not relation between pairs of words as the above discussion might suggest. On the contrary, lexical cohesion typically operates throught lexical chains (such as socialism, communist, East) that run throught a text and are linked to each other in various ways. The following example shows how patterns of lexical  cohesion might be traced in relatively straightfoward piee of text. Sentences are numbered for casde of reference in the following discussion. 

 CONCLUSION

           Cohesion is the network of lexical, grammatical, and other rellations 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 pharagraphs. Cohesions is a surface relation: if connects together the actual words and expressions that we can see or hear. Halliday and Hasan identify five main cohesive devices in English: reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction, and lexical cohesion.