Coherence (linguistics)

In linguistics, the concept of coherence describes the connection between successive sentences or speech acts , through which they become a text or a conversation and can fulfill a certain communicative function.

Coherence means

The coherence of a sequence of sentences required for a text does not depend on the typographical means used. On the grammatical level, the coherent structure of sentence sequences of a text cannot be described solely by the expressly given syntactic relationships - such as reference and resumption - between elements of different sentences. The semantic links of terms that are implicitly present on the content side and any rhetorical stylistic devices used are also essential for coherence . In addition, the thematic references and the respective context are important in order to establish a connection between the expressed sentence contents and to recognize the context of the text. The fact that a recipient can ultimately construct such coherence depends not least on his or her ability to interpret and understand.

Coherence in the narrow and broad sense

Cohesion is often distinguished from coherence, rather than related to a superficial cohesion, such as the syntactic form, and less to the context of content. The concept of coherence in a broader sense, however, encompasses all means that connect sentences in a text with one another, including those that can be understood under cohesion.

Transtextual coherence

The coherence of a conversation can be seen, for example, in the fact that certain reactions can be expected in situations that can or should follow from previous speech acts. A greeting can be expected again after a greeting, or an answer to a question. Coherence therefore also plays a role in pragmatics .

Concepts:

Isotopy ,
Presupposition ,
Script ,
Frame ,
Topic-Rhema structure ,
Networking pattern

literature

Klaus Brinker : Linguistic Text Analysis. 5th revised and supplemented edition. Erich Schmidt, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-503-04995-9 . For coherence: Chapter Analysis of the text structure .
Helmut Glück (Ed.): Metzler Lexicon Language. 4th, updated and revised edition. JB Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2010, ISBN 978-3-476-02335-3 , article: Coherence .

Web links

Wiktionary: Coherence - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

↑ Klaus Brinker, Hermann Cölfen, Steffen Pappert: Linguistic Text Analysis - An Introduction to Basic Concepts and Methods . Ed .: Christine Lubkoll, Ulrich Schmitz, Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf, Klaus-Peter Wegera. 9th edition. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-503-17760-8 , pp. 24 .

↑ Dietrich Busse: Text coherence and text understanding. 1992, PDF. Klaus Brinker, Hermann Cölfen, Steffen Pappert: Linguistic Text Analysis - An Introduction to Basic Concepts and Methods . Ed .: Christine Lubkoll, Ulrich Schmitz, Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf, Klaus-Peter Wegera. 9th edition. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-503-17760-8 , pp. 24 .

[1] Klaus Brinker, Hermann Cölfen, Steffen Pappert: Linguistic Text Analysis - An Introduction to Basic Concepts and Methods . Ed .: Christine Lubkoll, Ulrich Schmitz, Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf, Klaus-Peter Wegera. 9th edition. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-503-17760-8 , pp. 24 .

[2] Dietrich Busse: Text coherence and text understanding. 1992, PDF. Klaus Brinker, Hermann Cölfen, Steffen Pappert: Linguistic Text Analysis - An Introduction to Basic Concepts and Methods . Ed .: Christine Lubkoll, Ulrich Schmitz, Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf, Klaus-Peter Wegera. 9th edition. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-503-17760-8 , pp. 24 .