Cohesive Function of Lexical Repetition in Text

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Abstract: Lexical repetition is the most direct form of lexical cohesion, which is the central device for making texts hang together. Although repetition is the most direct way to emphasize, it performs the cohesive effect more apparently.

Key words:lexical repetition; cohesive function; text

1　Introduction

First put forward by M.A.K Halliday, cohesion, the grammatical or lexical relationship between the different elements of a text, "is a semantic one; it refers to relations of meaning that exist within the text, and that define it as a text". (Halliday&Hasan, 1976:4). 

Halliday&Hasan divide lexical cohesion into two large categories. One is reiteration and the other is collocation. Reiteration includes repetition, synonym, near-synonym, superordinate, hyponym and general word. Repetition means some words (usually the key words) are repeated in a same text. The function of lexical repetition in a written text is both structural and semantic. "The repetition of the same lexical unit creates a relation simply because a largely similar experiential meaning is encoded in each repeated occurrences of the lexical unit" (Halliday&Hasan, 1985:81). 

2　Cohesive Function of Lexical Repetition in Text

It has been mentioned above that lexical repetition not only has the role of emphasis, but also makes the text cohesive by offering insight into how texts are structured and by balancing the old information and the new information. In the famous poem My Luve Is Like A Red Red Rose, lexical repetition is utilized to achieve cohesion.

My Luve Is Like A Red Red Rose is written by Burns as a traditional ballad, four verses of four lines each. What makes this poem unforgettable is the deliberate repetition of "red", which magically slows the rhythm and pace of the poem down at the very beginning, making the poem sounding like a song. What's more, the repetition of "red" bestows the poem with a sense of gravity, which otherwise would be lack of. 

There is also a subtle use of the word "And", at the beginning of the poetic line, first in the second stanza, "And I will luve thee still, my Dear,/Till a' the seas gang dry.", as if it is not enough that I love you so deep, but I have to love you long, long enough for "the seas gang dry"; and then in the third stanza "Till a' the seas gang dry, my Dear,/And the rocks melt wi' the sun!", as if it is not enough with "the seas gang dry", the rocks have to melt also in order to testify. Then in the last stanza, there is a carnival of "And", which effectively combines the whole poem together as well as echoes the central theme hereof. The first "And" implies that even after expressing his strong and forever love towards the heroine, the hero is still reluctant to say goodbye to his beloved one. The second "And" reinforces the hero's unwillingness of departing with his love, and once again echoes the theme, love. Furthermore, the last "And" makes the theme striking once again, creating the effect that the hero is so reluctant to say goodbye and so eager to come back. 

At last, there is one "My" every other line and in this 16-line poem, there are altogether 8 "My". The frequent appearance of "My" could be interpreted as an expression of pure passionate love, but also could, quite plausibly, be interpreted as male possessiveness and acquisitiveness, The hero desires a fast control over the woman he loves as if the word "love" or "dear" is meaningless without the umbrella of "My", which is somewhat echoed in the first stanza: she, the red rose, would not spring unless it is June; and she, the melodie, would not be sweet unless played in tune, which is a typical "instrumental" view of women. The poem can be called the poem of "repetition", on which much of its greatness depends, the repetition of the anchoring "red", the repetition of the sissy "And", the repetition of the controlling "My". 

To sum up, although such words like "luve" and "My" appear many times in the short poem, they don't make us feel boring. On the contrary, the lexical repetition in this poem, like a bridge, helps to integrate the whole poem together, endowing it with meaning as well as making it a cohesive whole.

3　Conclusion

To sum up, lexical repetition is the most direct form of lexical cohesion, the central device for making texts hang together. Lexical repetition plays a significant role in making the text cohesive. It is safe to say lexical repetition is one effective cohesive device and the good combination of it and other devices can let the texts achieve better cohesive effect.

Bibliography

[1]　Halliday, M.A.K. & Hasan, R. Cohesion in English[M]. London: Longman,1976.

[2]　Halliday, M.A.K?& Hasan, R. Language, Context, and Text[M]?Victoria: Deakin University Press,1985

[3]　管淑红.词汇重复与英语篇章[J].华东交通大学学报,2003,(6)

[4]　胡壮麟.语篇的衔接与连贯[M].上海:上海外语教育出版社,1994

第一作者简介：　张莉，女，河北保定人，华北电力大学（保定）外国语学院，教授，研究方向：英语语言文学；

第二作者简介：　卢沛沛，（1988-）女，河北石家庄人，华北电力大学（保定）外国语学院,硕士研究生，研究方向：英语语言文学。