{"id":90,"date":"2024-09-15T08:07:34","date_gmt":"2024-09-15T06:07:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linguistica.info\/b\/lei\/?page_id=90"},"modified":"2025-06-26T15:21:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T13:21:07","slug":"10-4-is-cohesion-coherence","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/linguistica.info\/b\/leiwp\/toc\/10-text-linguistics\/10-4-is-cohesion-coherence\/","title":{"rendered":"10.4 Is cohesion coherence?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some linguists argue that the distinction between coherence and cohesion is an artificial and unnecessary one and that we could use the term coherence<\/em> for all phenomena described. In this view, cohesive devices are just one way of creating coherence, like information structure and the unity of the topic discussed in a particular stretch of language.<\/p>\n

In a way, this is a terminological issue \u2014 as long as we have more specific terms like information structure<\/em> and conjunction<\/em>, it does not seem to matter too much whether we group all phenomena discussed under a single label or not \u2014 especially as coherence and cohesion correlate very highly in natural language use: coherent texts tend to contain lots of cohesive devices and cohesive devices tend to occur only in coherent texts. However, keeping the levels of textual meaning (coherence) and textual forms (cohesion) separate is useful, as it is possible to have just one or the other.<\/p>\n

In Text 5, all cohesive devices have been removed from the Text 1 \u2014 pronouns, the linking adverbs also<\/em> and then<\/em>, the subordinating conjunction when<\/em>, definiteness (as far as possible) and ellipsis. Every sentence has been rephrased so that it could stand by itself. The result is a text that is a bit irritating to read, but you probably agree that it is still a coherent text (as opposed to Text 2, where we mixed up the individual clauses).<\/p>\n

\n

Text 5<\/h4>\n

Apple corer<\/p>\n

An apple corer is a device for removing a core and pips from an apple. An apple corer may be used for apples or fruits similar to an apple such as pears or quince.<\/p>\n

Some apple corers consist of a handle with a circular cutting device at the end of the apple corer. Apple corers with a handle and a circular cutting device at the end of the apple corer can be pushed through an apple. A circular cutting device at the end of an apple corer removes a core from an apple to the diameter of the circular cutting device. An apple core can be removed from an apple corer.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In contrast, Text 6 contains all the cohesive devices also present in Text 1, but it has been created by randomly picking clauses and phrases with these devices from different texts. The result is a stretch of language that we would hesitate to call a text because it lacks all coherence.<\/p>\n

\n

Text 6<\/h4>\n

Apple corer<\/p>\n

(1)<\/span> An apple corer is a device for removing the core and pips from an apple. (2)<\/span> It may also be used to determine the need for heart surgery, such as tennis or swimming.<\/p>\n

(3)<\/span> Some areas consist of bare limestone rock without sufficient soil covering to support vegetation. (4)<\/span> When pushed into a wooden board, it removes the distress of jealousy and failure. (5)<\/span> The laundry can then be dried according to routine procedures.<\/p>\n

(6)<\/span> Another type of medication can be tried and drilled through. (7)<\/span> This both helps and hinders the technician. (8)<\/span> This is also often known as Pascal’s identity.<\/p>\n

(9)<\/span> A pneumatic multiplexer is often used when many pneumatic signals need to be interfaced, such as when playing jump rope or interrogating the entire database.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

However, when reading it, we do<\/em> get a sense of connectedness \u2014 we attempt to make connections wherever possible, for example, between the pronoun it<\/em> in sentence (2) and the noun phrase apple corer<\/em> in sentence (1), leading us to think about how an apple corer could be used to determine the need for heart surgery. In a similar way, we treat the adverb also<\/em> as linking the first and the second clause, further supporting the idea that apple corers are somehow used in cardiac surgery. We also attempt to find an antecedent for the pronoun it<\/em> in sentence (4), and we can make tentative connections to the noun phrases bare limestone rock<\/em>, soil<\/em> and vegetation<\/em> in sentence (3). Given the context of pushing something into a wooden board, we might even agree that limestone rock<\/em> is a more likely antecedent than the other two candidates. We also interpret sentence (5) as telling us that the laundry can be dried only after we have pushed limestone rock into a wooden board, based on the adverb then<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In other words, we can see connections between the individual sentences even though they do not make any sense \u2014 there is cohesion, but no coherence.<\/p>\n

Look for other connections in Text 6 that we can make based on the cohesive devices used.<\/div>\n

This may seem like an academic exercise \u2014 texts like Text 6 do not normally occur in actual language use. The point is that cohesive devices will lead us to try to find connections. In fact, they signal to us quite clearly that there must be a connection, even if we cannot see it. In other words, they may help us to establish coherence in situations where the information provided by a stretch of language does not allow us to do so.<\/p>\n

So, while coherence and cohesion typically occur together and while there are phenomena (like information structure) that play a role in both, it is best, for analytic purposes, to treat them as separate dimensions of what we intuitively call text.<\/p>\n

\u2190<\/span> Previous section<\/a><\/span> Next section \u2192<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0, Written by Anatol Stefanowitsch<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some linguists argue that the distinction between coherence and cohesion is an artificial and unnecessary one and that we could use the term coherence for all phenomena described. In this view, cohesive devices are just one way of creating coherence, like information structure and the unity of the topic discussed in a particular stretch of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":24,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-90","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguistica.info\/b\/leiwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/90","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguistica.info\/b\/leiwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguistica.info\/b\/leiwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguistica.info\/b\/leiwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguistica.info\/b\/leiwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/linguistica.info\/b\/leiwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/90\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2055,"href":"https:\/\/linguistica.info\/b\/leiwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/90\/revisions\/2055"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguistica.info\/b\/leiwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguistica.info\/b\/leiwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}