Integrated Language Skills 1 Introduction to Textual Analysis Lesson 8 November 28, 2018
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Reference
The principal definition of ‘to refer’ would be ‘‘to seek information from elsewhere’. The principle of reference within texts is exactly that: it tells the reader that they can only make complete sense of the word or structure they are looking at if they look elsewhere in the text to get a fuller picture. 2
Personal pronoun reference
Personal pronouns are words that can substitute for nouns: Nominative case I, you (singular) he she it (singular) we you they (plural) one (indefinite)
Accusative case:
Me Him Her Us Them
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Possesive
My Your(s) His, her(s), its Our Your Their(s)
Reflexive
Myself Yourself Himself, herself, itself Ourself Yourself Themself
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Reference function
When a pronoun occurs in a text, the reader should link it with something, either a word that has already been mentioned or something that’s coming up. The fact that these pronouns are called personal pronouns gives an indication of their reference function they will mainly be referring to people. 5
However, the words ‘it’ and ‘they’/ ‘them’ can also be used to refer to:
non-human animates (animals) inanimate objects and abstract ideas.
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Types of pronominal reference ď Ž
ď Ž
If the pronoun is referring back to something, this is called anaphoric reference; if the pronoun is referring to something coming later, this is called cataphoric reference. Here is an example of each:
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Examples
Tom said that he was going home (anaphoric reference) I couldn’t believe it—the house was a complete wreck (cataphoric reference)
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Ambiguity
Much ambiguity is based on the workings of cohesion in a text—or rather, the lack of proper referencing:
Our kitchen floor is very damp. We have two children and would like a third. Could you please send someone round to do something about it? 9
Open reference
But lack of cohesion can also be very useful, in that it can throw reference open and make the reader work to locate the meaning: for example, for the word ‘it’ in the advertising slogan ‘COKE IS IT’ Also, making all the pronoun references link up is a skill that it takes children some time to learn in their mothertongue.This is as true in speech as it is in writing. 10
“ONE” as referring to “person”
One difficulty with the personal pronoun system as it exists in English is that there is no direct, neutral way to refer simply to ‘a person’, without specifying gender for them: ONE can sometimes carry suggestions of pretension, and is hardly a term in everyday use since it is mostly used in formal writing.
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“They” as referring to “person”
Nowadays, in order to get round the clumsiness of using ‘he or she’ every time we want to refer to ‘a person of either sex’, we use THEY very often in speech, and increasingly frequently in writing as well.
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Example “The principle of reference within texts is exactly that: it tells the reader that they can only make complete sense of the word or structure they are looking at if they look elsewhere in the text to get a fuller picture.�
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Royal WE (pluralis majestatis)
Although the use of a plural term to denote respect to one individual has died out in the system above, we still have some residue of this idea in the royal ‘WE’ to denote one powerful person in particular.
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History of the royal WE
The royal we has so far enjoyed popularity by monarchs, popes, and even university rectors. The origin of this pronoun has been traced variously to 1169, when the English king Henry II used it to mean “God and I,” and to King Richard I, whose use of the pronoun bolstered his claim to be acting in concert with the deity and to be the ruler by divine right. 15
A more recent example of the royal we would be Queen Victoria’s often quoted statement: “We are not amused.”
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Nowadays...
It’s amazing how easily politicians slide into this more majestic me, especially when they become presidents or prime ministers. In that case they usually mean not “God and I” but “my campaign and I” or, later, “my administration and I.” 17
Example
For example, Margaret Thatcher once went so far as to say “We have become a grandmother”
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ZE and ZIR as referring to “person”
Newly introduced (invented) personal pronouns which are gender-neutral:
ZE and ZIR.
It is not common practice to add new items to closed classes of words.
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Examples
Ze laughed. (nominative) I called zir. (accusative) That is zirs. (possesive) Ze likes zirself. (reflexive)
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Stepping out of the text ď Ž
Reference can also involve moving outside the text to find the appropriate center of information.
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Examples ď Ž
ď Ž
For example, the use of you in a text as a direct address to the reader tells that reader to use himself/herself as the reference point; The use of I in a text tells the reader that the writer (or the narrator) is being self- referential. 22
ď Ž
In both these cases, the pronouns are functioning as signposts leading out of the text and making the reader focus on the people who are producing and receiving the text.
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Types of textual reference ď Ž
ď Ž
Where a reference item moves us outside a text, so that we can only make full sense of the text by referring to its context, this is called an exophoric reference; Where we stay within the text, not needing any support from outside, this is called endophoric reference. 24
Demonstrative reference (deictics) ď Ž
Another type of reference which acts as a cohesive tie is carried by the following terms: ď Ž
the, this, that, these, those, here, there.
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These terms demonstrate where something is; they are deictic terms, or ‘verbal pointers’. As with personal pronouns, demonstrative reference can work backwards (anaphoric) or forwards (cataphoric). 26
Examples ď Ž
ď Ž
I went to Italy last year, and I want to go there again soon (anaphoric) But the problem is this. How can I afford it? (cataphoric).
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The terms above can be categorised according to how they position the writer and reader (or speaker and listener, since the terms are used frequently in speech, too). ‘This’, ‘these’, and ‘here’ all mean ‘near the writer/speaker’, while ‘that’, ‘those’, and ‘there’ all mean ‘away from the writer/speaker’. 28
Example
As well as placing aspects of the physical speech context, deictic items can also refer to ideas in another speaker’s utterance in order to make links with them. For example, imagine that the following speakers are having a discussion about their favourite meals, but that they are nowhere near any real food: 29
Speaker 1: I really like fish and chips. Speaker 2: That’s my favourite dinner, too. Speaker 3: What about pasta and pizza? Speaker 4: Those are nice, too.
In the utterances above, the words ‘that’ and ‘those’ point, not to any real dinner, but to the words that name the food. 30
Example
Even more removed from any physical reference is the use that sometimes occurs of the word ‘that’ to mean ‘the thing/person we all know about’. Here are some examples:
I’ve got that Friday feeling. That Beethoven was a genius. You’ve got that ‘know-it-all’ look on your face. 31