Cohesive devices are the linguistic mechanisms that create Cohesion, the explicit textual ties that connect sentences and clauses into a unified text. The foundational taxonomy was established by Halliday and Hasan (1976) in Cohesion in English.
Using pronouns, demonstratives, and comparatives to refer to something mentioned elsewhere in the text.
Reference can be anaphoric (backward-pointing: "John arrived. He looked tired.") or cataphoric (forward-pointing: "This is what I mean: we need to leave now."). See Anaphora and Cataphora.
Replacing a word or phrase with a substitute form to avoid repetition:
Omitting elements that are recoverable from context:
Ellipsis and substitution are closely related: ellipsis is "substitution by zero."
Explicit markers that signal logical relationships between clauses or sentences:
| Type | Function | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Additive | Adding information | and, furthermore, in addition, moreover |
| Adversative | Contrasting | but, however, yet, on the other hand, nevertheless |
| Causal | Explaining cause/result | so, therefore, because, consequently, as a result |
| Temporal | Sequencing in time | then, next, finally, meanwhile, subsequently |
These overlap significantly with Discourse Markers but are specifically defined by their cohesive function.
Vocabulary-based ties that connect parts of a text:
Lexical cohesion is the most frequent type in most texts and connects to broader work on Lexis and Collocation.
A text can be full of cohesive devices and still lack Coherence if the underlying ideas do not connect logically. Conversely, a text can be coherent with few explicit cohesive ties; context and shared knowledge supply the connection. Good writing balances explicit cohesion with implicit coherence.