Examples of Textual Cohesion

Textual cohesion

The cohesion It is the property of a text that allows an easy and fast understanding thanks to the organization of ideas. It is one of the desirable properties of any text, along with coherence (non-contradiction) and adequacy (use of appropriate formulas for the context of communication).

The cohesion It is an internal property of the text, that is, it refers to the way in which different fragments relate to each other, and not necessarily to an external referent to the text itself.

There are different mechanisms that allow the cohesion of a text:

Lexical cohesion

Within a text the words and their references are related to each other when talking about the same topic.

Example:

Conifers are evolutionarily very old trees or shrubs that appeared hundreds of millions of years before broadleaf trees. The word coniferous derives from the Greek: “conus” and “ferre”, which translates to “carry cones”, alluding to the main characteristic of the Coniferópsidas; possess reproductive structures called cones or more commonly cones. The plants that make up this collection are the dominant forest species in cold and high mountain climates.

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In the example we see words from the same referential field such as trees, shrubs, plants, forest. That is, lexical cohesion occurs when an entire text talks about the same topic or derived topics.

Discursive mechanisms

Connectors: They are words that allow joining different sentences or parts of sentences, with a specific relationship. Depending on the relationship they establish, they can be:

• Tradeoffs: They are the coordinating links (o, u) and other expressions that indicate a separation or opposition of ideas internal to the text.

The moments that we live can be moments of a process that started before O well inaugurate a new process referred in some way to the past. (Paulo Freira, "Pedagogy of hope")

• Causal: They indicate a cause-effect relationship.

They always grew up under the tutelage of their grandmother, counting on her care and affection. So, parting with her was very difficult.

• Concessive: They set a limit to what has already been said, and can also signal an opposition.

Even if have been issued official announcements on the subject, a large part of the population remains ignorant.

• Temporary: They can indicate a relationship of prior (before, long ago, at the beginning), of simultaneity (meanwhile, at the same time, currently) or of posteriority (later, after, then). They allow to temporarily relate the different events described in the text.

In a beginning, the company offered to bear all production costs. However, the client preferred to outsource production and therefore at the moment the company is solely responsible for marketing.

• Locative: They allow relating different objects according to their position in space, near or far. To facilitate understanding of the text, they are mainly used in descriptions.

Although it is now used as a hotel, the palace still retains the layout it had in times when it belonged to the count's family: at the entrance, a spacious reception room that made two rooms on the sides of it, and a ladder at the bottom. At the bottom of the stairs, on the first floor a corridor is located along which the rooms are located.

• Clarifications: They allow to relate a concept or idea and its more detailed explanation.

Many young people at the beginning of their university training find new experiences, both as soon as to your social life like as to academic content.

• Argumentative: They allow to relate the different parts of a logical explanation or argumentation. They are connectors as indeed, of course, for example, in particular. They are found in academic texts and essays, as they are the texts that argue for or against a position.

“The difference between the internal history proposed by Christianity and the history proposed by philology, a relatively new discipline, was precisely what made modern philology possible, and Renan knew perfectly well. IndeedWhenever "philology" is spoken of in the late seventeenth and early nineteenth centuries, we must understand the new philology, the major successes of which included the comparative grammar, the new classification or grouping of languages ​​into families and the rejection of the divine origins of language. " (Edward Said, "Orientalism")

Pronouns: The subjects and objects of the sentences can be replaced by pronouns, establishing a relationship between the different sentences, since some refer to others. In addition, this avoids unnecessary repetition. Example:

Tomorrow would be Christmas, and as the three of them headed to the spacecraft station, the mother and father were worried. It was the boy's first flight through space, his first rocket trip, and they wanted it to be as pleasant as possible. When customs forced them to leave the gift because it passed a few kilos of the maximum weight allowed and the little tree with its beautiful white candles, they felt that something very important was taken away from them to celebrate that party. The boy was waiting for his parents at the terminal. When they arrived, they were murmuring something against the interplanetary officers. (Ray Bradbury, "A Christmas Carol")

In the example, possessive pronouns are used (“was its first trip ”) and demonstrative (“ when these they arrived ”).

Hyperonyms and hyponyms: The hyperonyms are words that refer to a class of objects or phenomena, while hyponyms they refer to something more specific. For example, "animal" is a hyperonym of "dog" but it is a hyponym of "living being". When writing a text, hyperonyms and hyponyms allow you to create lexical networks that facilitate understanding.

Crabs are certain crustaceans that are characterized by having five pairs of legs. That is to say that they are decapods (deca means five and podos means legs). Among the decapods are lobsters, prawns and shrimp. Crabs are also arthropods, that is, they have an exoskeleton formed by chitin, which gives them structure and protects them.

In the example the word "crab" is related to three hyperonyms: crustaceans, decapods and arthropods. In turn, "decapods" is related to other hyponyms: lobsters, prawns and shrimp. In other words, a lexical network is created that allows crabs to be logically related to other species.

Synonyms: Nouns can be replaced, in addition to pronouns, by other nouns or expressions that have the same or similar meaning. Example:

The morning is a pleasant moment for Delfina. The beginning of the day puts her in a good mood, like all beginnings, for the opportunities it offers in the future.

In the example, "beginning of the day" is used as a synonym for "tomorrow", which makes it possible to relate "tomorrow" with the concept "beginning".

Ellipse: It is the elimination of a part of the sentence. It is one of the cohesion mechanisms since the element that is eliminated is usually present in previous or subsequent sentences.

On the other side of the door is the compound of the beasts. During the night they sleep. A stream runs through there and they can drink water. Beyond, as far as the eye can see, apple trees stretch out. The trees follow one another to infinity like a sea of ​​vegetation. (Haruki Murakami, "The End of the World")

In the example the ellipsis is given by the tacit subject in the sentences after the mention of “the beasts”.

Repetition: In some cases, instead of avoiding repetition, it is deliberately sought, for stylistic reasons or to facilitate understanding. Example:

The valley, strictly speaking, was not such a valley but a dusty basin delimited by white and inhospitable tesos. The valley, strictly speaking, gave only two seasons: winter and summer, and both were extreme, sour, almost merciless. (Miguel Delibes, "The shroud")

Speech markers: They are linguistic units that remain unchanged and that fulfill syntactic functions in the relationship between sentences. In addition to connectors, which have been listed at the beginning of this list, speech markers can be:

Information structurers: They are those formulas that allow you to enter comments (well, having said that), point out openings of the speech (first to begin with) the continuity of the reasoning (with respect to that, on the other hand, also) or a closure (finally, Finally).

First I would like to thank my parents, who always supported and helped me even in the most difficult moments. On the other hand, colleagues I have met throughout my career have always given me good advice, even if we barely knew each other. By last, I want to emphasize the importance of the welcome that this institution has given me, favoring my professional development.

Reformulators: They can fulfill explanatory, rectifying, distancing or recapitulative functions. For example:

The witness maintained from the beginning that he had not seen the thief's face. HoweverHe pointed out without hesitation that he had a tattoo on his neck. In other wordsHe did not see the face specifically, but he did offer a piece of information necessary for his identification. In any case, his testimony is valuable for this investigation.

Argumentative operators: Can be used as reinforcement or concretion. Example:

The opinion that the press has tried to reflect is that there is not enough variety of products on the market, when actually The variety of both products and different qualities can be checked at the merchandise entrances to the market. In factCurrently there is a greater variety of brands than last year, in any of the areas analyzed.

Conversational bookmarks: They indicate the meta-discourses within the text, including possible opinions of the interlocutor.

The news about the diseases transmitted by mosquitoes have worried the population. Of course that mothers fear for the health of their children and indeed Precautions must be taken. ApparentlyThese precautions are being taken as sales of mosquito repellants have increased in recent months.

Grammatical mechanisms: No less important in textual cohesion is the grammatical agreement between nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. This is in combination with the use of pronouns according to the noun being replaced. Textual cohesion also requires that the same verb tense hold you throughout the entire text, unless the change is necessary to point to different moments in time.

The main concerns of the new government refer to the stabilization of the economy. The same has been seen severely affected by the recent global crises.