Page 28 - Makino,Tsutusi.DictionaryOfIntermediateJGrammar

Special Topics in Intermediate Japanese Grammar

1. Discourse Grammar

(1) Mechanism of Cohesion: Inter-sentential Reference
When two or more sentences are recognized as a cohesive sequence (i.e.,
discourse) rather than a collection of unrelated sentences, in many instances
the discourse involves certain linguistic mechanisms to maintain cohesiveness
between sentences.* Among such mechanisms, inter-sentential reference is
one of the most common ones.**
Inter-sententid reference (ISR) is a kind of reference in which an element in
a sentence refers to something or someone mentioned in another sentence.
Specifically, when reference is made to an entity mentioned in a previous
sentence, it is called "anaphoric reference" or "anaphora." Anaphora is the
most common ISR. Examples of anaphora are given in (1). In this discourse
the bold-faced parts (i.e., anaphoric elements or anaphors) refer to persons or
things mentioned in previous sentences.
Cba -c 9. rb Dl ' fi/u -? L Zt vr &,br
(1) 2 hW?$%%kgi;j &%kE!& k a;"%%&&, LOMiflc@H%%pi@k

*Cohesiveness is also maintained by the information each sentence carries. In general,
a sequence of sentences is recognized as a cohesive unit when the sentence contains a
"common thread" in terms of the information they carry. For example, a set of sen-
tences is recognized as a cohesive unit if the sentences have a common topic. Simi-
larly, if sentences are put together to perform a common function (e.g., making a
request), they are recognized as a cohesive unit.
**Another mechanism to maintain cohesiveness between sentences is the conjunction.
As a matter of fact, conjunctions (or conjunction equivalents) such as those shown in
(i) create a cohesive sentence sequence by connecting sentences directly.
b531S3
(i) -? L T (and (then)); -? 2 T (therefore); Ld' L (however); -77 (on the other
hand); %I 2 lf (for example); 7 bl T ts 73% l; (incidentally); t 0 %k (as the
result of that)
(+Appendix 4. Conjunctions)