The flesh and the bones of cohesive devices: towards a comprehensive model

Abstract

Building on a 1976 model of cohesive devices, this article probes the literature on these linguistic tools with the aim of generating a comprehensive model of cohesion that can be used as an instrument for textual analysis across different text types. This article addresses two main questions: (1) what are the linguistic tools that can be incorporated into the 1976-model of cohesive devices in the creation of an operational model? and (2) what would such a comprehensive model of cohesive devices look like? The contributions of various scholars are examined to determine which elements might be considered as cohesive devices, apart from those introduced in the 1976 model. For almost all the categories within the lexico-grammar taxonomy presented in 1976, more elements are found that can play various cohesive roles in texts and that can be integrated into the 1976 model to form a more all-embracing one. To further illustrate this claim, examples from English and Arabic are used to present a new model of analysis applicable to various languages.