Coherence (linguistics)
Encyclopedia
Coherence in linguistics
is what makes a text semantically
meaningful.
It is especially dealt with in text linguistics
. Coherence is achieved through syntactical features such as the use of deictic, anaphoric
and cataphoric elements or a logical tense structure, as well as presupposition
s and implications connected to general world knowledge. The purely linguistic elements that make a text coherent are subsumed under the term cohesion
.
However, those text-based features which provide cohesion in a text do not necessarily help achieve coherence, that is, they do not always contribute to the meaningfulness of a text, be it written or spoken. It has been stated that a text coheres only if the world around is also coherent.
Robert De Beaugrande
and Wolfgang U. Dressler
define coherence as a “continuity of senses” and “the mutual access and relevance within a configuration of concepts and relations”. Thereby a textual world is created that does not have to comply to the real world. But within this textual world the arguments also have to be connected logically so that the reader/hearer can produce coherence.
"Continuity of senses" implies a link between cohesion and the theory of Schemata initially proposed by Bartlett in 1932 which creates further implications for the notion of a "text". Schemata, subsequently distinguished into Formal and Content Schemata (in the field of TESOL
by Carrell & Eisterhold in 1983) are the ways in which the world is organized in our minds. In other words, they are mental frameworks for the organization of information about the world. It can thus be assumed that a text is not always one because the existence of coherence is not always a given. On the contrary, coherence is relevant because of its dependence upon each individual's content and formal schemata.
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
is what makes a text semantically
Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, such as words, phrases, signs and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotata....
meaningful.
It is especially dealt with in text linguistics
Text linguistics
Text linguistics is a branch of linguistics that deals with texts as communication systems. Its original aims lay in uncovering and describing text grammars. The application of text linguistics has, however, evolved from this approach to a point in which text is viewed in much broader terms that go...
. Coherence is achieved through syntactical features such as the use of deictic, anaphoric
Anaphora (linguistics)
In linguistics, anaphora is an instance of an expression referring to another. Usually, an anaphoric expression is represented by a pro-form or some other kind of deictic--for instance, a pronoun referring to its antecedent...
and cataphoric elements or a logical tense structure, as well as presupposition
Presupposition
In the branch of linguistics known as pragmatics, a presupposition is an implicit assumption about the world or background belief relating to an utterance whose truth is taken for granted in discourse...
s and implications connected to general world knowledge. The purely linguistic elements that make a text coherent are subsumed under the term cohesion
Cohesion (linguistics)
Cohesion is the grammatical and lexical relationship within a text or sentence. Cohesion can be defined as the links that hold a text together and give it meaning. It is related to the broader concept of coherence...
.
However, those text-based features which provide cohesion in a text do not necessarily help achieve coherence, that is, they do not always contribute to the meaningfulness of a text, be it written or spoken. It has been stated that a text coheres only if the world around is also coherent.
Robert De Beaugrande
Robert de Beaugrande
Robert-Alain de Beaugrande was a text linguist and discourse analyst, one of the leading figures of the Continental tradition in the discipline. He was one of the developers of the Vienna School of text linguistics, and published the seminal Introduction to text linguistics in 1981, with Wolfgang...
and Wolfgang U. Dressler
Wolfgang U. Dressler
Wolfgang U. Dressler is an Austrian professor of linguistics at the University of Vienna. Dressler is an eminent scholar who has contributed to various fields of linguistics, especially phonology, morphology, text linguistics, clinical linguistics and child language development...
define coherence as a “continuity of senses” and “the mutual access and relevance within a configuration of concepts and relations”. Thereby a textual world is created that does not have to comply to the real world. But within this textual world the arguments also have to be connected logically so that the reader/hearer can produce coherence.
"Continuity of senses" implies a link between cohesion and the theory of Schemata initially proposed by Bartlett in 1932 which creates further implications for the notion of a "text". Schemata, subsequently distinguished into Formal and Content Schemata (in the field of TESOL
TESOL
TESOL may refer to:* The acronym "Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages", used in English as a Foreign or Second Language * TESOL Inc., a professional organization based in the United States for people working in this field...
by Carrell & Eisterhold in 1983) are the ways in which the world is organized in our minds. In other words, they are mental frameworks for the organization of information about the world. It can thus be assumed that a text is not always one because the existence of coherence is not always a given. On the contrary, coherence is relevant because of its dependence upon each individual's content and formal schemata.
See also
- Cohesion (linguistics)Cohesion (linguistics)Cohesion is the grammatical and lexical relationship within a text or sentence. Cohesion can be defined as the links that hold a text together and give it meaning. It is related to the broader concept of coherence...
- M.A.K. Halliday
- Systemic functional linguistics
- Coh-MetrixCoh-MetrixCoh-Metrix is a computational tool that produces indices of the linguistic and discourse representations of a text. Coh-Metrix calculates the coherence of texts on many different measures.-CohMetrix Measurements:...
Sources
- Bußmann, Hadumod: Lexikon der Sprachwissenschaft. Stuttgart, 1983. S. 537
- De Beaugrande, Robert /Dressler, Wolfgang: Introduction to Text Linguistics. New York, 1996. P. 84 – 112