Chapter  II   SENTENCE(S)


Lesson  11   Anaphora

 11-1  [Repetition and Equi Rules #1#3] 
     When an expression is repeated in English, at least one of the following three rules apply.  Examples are all those of repeated nouns.
    (i) Repeating the same expression. [Equi Rule #1]
       (1) John ordered a Big Mac and two cokes. Mary had a Big Mac/
           *it and one coke.
       (2) You don't need sulfur for drying apricots;sulfur(=/=it)
           ruins the flavor.           (Bolinger,1979,p.291)
    (ii) Using a substitute form.  [Equi Rule #2]
      (3) John works for Baskin-Robbins.  He likes ice cream.
      (4) Susan believed in herself.
   (iii) Deleting the repeated part leaving a gap(ø). [Equi Rule #3]
      (5) A novel was written ø by the computer.     (cf.15-2)
      (6) The fish that John caught ø was big.        (cf.27-2)
     In English, generally, simple repetition is considered inept.  Thus, Equi Rule #2 and/or Equi Rule #3 are common.  Gaps as in (5) and (6) will be discussed further in 15-2 and 27-2 respectively.

 11-2  [Equi Rule #2 and Anaphoric Form] 
     In this section we will examine Equi Rule #2 as in (3).
    (7) a.  John works for Baskin-Robbins. *John likes ice cream.
        b.  John works for Baskin-Robbins. He likes ice cream.(=(3))
        c.  John works for Baskin-Robbins. *ø likes ice cream.
When "He" and "John" are the same person, neither sentence (7a) nor (7c) is acceptable.  In English, when a simple repetition is clumsy, a substitute form is often used.  The substitute form is called an anaphoric form.  The anaphoric form is, in other words, a substitute form made by applying Equi Rule #2.
     As we claim that the anaphoric form is triggered by an N EPD{Anaphora} or ANA, what occurs in (7b) is
    (8)    ANA + John    He
     Diagram:
    (9)    (He)
             N
            
    EPD[ANA]     N
              (John)
 11-3  [N EPD {Anaphora}(ANA) and Gender/Number/Person] 
     Anaphoric forms correspond to gender, number, and person.
    (10) a.  Mary works for Baskin-Robbins;she/*he likes ice cream.
                                    (Gender)
         b.  Jim and Mary work for Baskin-Robbins;they/*he like ice
             cream.
                                    (Number)
         c.  I work for Baskin-Robins;I/*you like ice cream.
                                    (Person)
     The anaphoric form of a noun(N) often changes its form according to whether it precedes a verb(V) or not.  When a verb pattern is "VZ + N" or when a sentence pattern is "N0 + VZ + N1", the anaphoric form will sometimes take a different form as in:
    (11) a.  John likes Mary; he/*him likes tall girls.  (Case)
         b.  John is a nice boy; everybody likes him/*he.
Anaphoric forms in N0 position are often called subjective case, while those in N1 position are often called objective case.
     After N-A(D) CVTs like "of", "on", "with", etc., the noun takes the objective case, not the subjective case.
    (12)  John and Mary are a nice couple; everybody speaks well of
          them/*they.
     The anaphoric forms in the above are produced by the EPD {Anaphora}, or ANA, as follows.
    (13) a.  ANA  +  Mary       she
         b.  ANA  +  John and Mary    they
         c.  ANA  +  I       I
         d.  ANA  +  John     he
         e.  ANA  +  John     him
         f.  ANA  +  John and Mary     them
     The following table shows the anaphoric forms of nouns.
          <Anaphoric Forms of Nouns(to be revised)>
    (14)
     

  ANA + N0(subjective case)
  ANA + N1(objective case)
1st-person Sg
Pl
I
we
me
us
2nd-person Sg
Pl
you
you
you
you
3rd-person Sg
Pl
he, she, it
they
him, her, it
them

     In the above table, there are five pairs which have different anaphoric forms in the subjective case and in the objective case: "I-me", "we-us", "he-him", "she-her", and "they-them".

 11-4  [-self/-selves] 
     When anaphoric identification occurs in between two nouns in a sentence(S), the second noun goes in "-self/selves" form as follows.
    (15)  Susan believed in herself/*her/*Susan. (=(4))
    (16)  Max and Dex gave a Christmas gift to themselves/*them
          /*Max and Dex.
     Thus, within a sentence, anaphoric forms change again as follows.
     (17)a.  me   myself
         b.  us   ourselves
         c.  you  yourself/yourselves
         d.  him  himself
         e.  her  herself
         f.  it   itself
         g.  them   themselves
As a result, the table (14) should be revised as follows:
         <Anaphoric Forms of Nouns (revised)>
    (18)
     

ANA + N0(subjective case)
ANA + N1(objective case)
1st-person Sg
Pl
I
we
me/myself
us/ourselves
2nd-person Sg
Pl
you
you
you/yourself
you/yourselves
3rd-person Sg


Pl
he, she, it


they
him/himself,
her/herself,
it/itself
them/themselves

 11-5  [Other Anaphoric Forms] 
     Additional anaphoric forms for nouns are:
   (i) <ANA+N>
    (19)  Jack and Mary loved each other.
    (20)  I lost my watch. I have to buy a new one.
    (21)  What's the difference between the education system in
          Japan and that in the U.S.?
     Anaphoric forms for other categories:
   (ii) <ANA+A>
    (22)  A: Are you tired?
          B: Less so than yesterday.
    (23)  This book has twenty mistakes on as many pages.
    (24) a. Ann introduced a tall man but I don't remember his name.
         b. We visited the new couple, Dex and Sue. They kindly 
            showed us around their new house.

   (iii) <ANA+V>
    (25)  A: Will you drop in at my office?
          B: I'll be glad to do so.

    (iv) <ANA+AD>
    (26)  A: Will you speak a little more slowly?
          B: I'm trying to do so.
    (27)  Bill moved to Denver in 1970 and he met Mary then and
          there.
 11-6  [Backward Anaphora] 
     Anaphora usually goes from front to back.  In a few cases, however, it can reverse.
    (28)  It's delicious, this coffee.
     What is called the backward anaphora as in the above is sometimes optional.
    (29) a.  It's expensive to live in a big city.
         b. =To live in a big city is expensive.
    (30) a.  It's obvious that John told a lie.
         b. =That John told a lie is obvious.
But sometimes it's obligatory.
    (31) a.  It seems that John is ill in bed.
         b. *That John is ill in bed seems.

Copyright(C) 2004 Masaya Oba. All rights reserved.