Tracking Systems

Martin & Rose (2007: 183-4):

As for tracking, presumed information can be recovered either on the basis of communal understandings (the Truth Commission, Mandela) or situational presence, as shown in Figure 5.4. Within a situation, information can be presumed from either verbal (endophora) or non-verbal modalities (exophoric). Reference to the co-text can point forward or back: if back, then direct reference can be distinguished from inference; if forward, then reference from a nominal group to something following that group can be distinguished from reference that’s resolved within the same nominal group. Terminologically, we can refer to bridging as a type of anaphora; but forward reference within (esphora) is so much more common than forward reference beyond the nominal group that it’s probably best to reserve the term cataphora for reference beyond.

Blogger Comments:

[1] As previously observed, the misunderstanding of reference as tracking leads to absurdities such as speakers using I, me, my, mine to keep track of themselves.

[2] As previously noted, homophoric reference — as in the Truth Commission —is 'self-specifying; there is only one – or at least only one that makes sense in the context' (Halliday & Matthiessen 2014: 631). Homophoric reference is not textually cohesive.

[3] As previously explained, the use of names, such as Mandela, is reference in the sense of ideational denotation, not textual reference in which a reference item presumes an identity to be resolved elsewhere.

[4] As previously explained, in SFL Theory, a 'situation' is an instance of context, the culture as semiotic system, which is realised in language. Inconsistent with theory, Martin & Rose here use it to refer to both the perceptual field of the interlocutors (phenomena) and their projected text (metaphenomena) that realises a situation.

[5] To be clear, this is the first use of 'modalities' in the chapter. Endophoric reference is reference to within the text, exophoric reference is reference to outside text. Both verbal and non-verbal modalities (eg. pictures) can be referred to either endophorically or exophorically. For example, endophoric reference to a 'non-verbal modality' is to a diagram within the same text; exophoric  reference to a 'verbal modality' is reference to a different text.

[6] As previously demonstrated here, bridging (inference/indirect reference) is a confusion of reference with lexical cohesion.

[7] To be clear, in SFL Theory, this is the distinction between non-structural cataphora, which is cohesive, and structural cataphora ("esphora") which is not.