anaphor
noun[C]
languagespecializeduk/ˈæn.ə.fɔːr/us/ˈæn.ə.fɔːr/a word or phrase that refers to a word or phrase usedearlierin atextandreplacesit, forexamplethe word "it" in thesentence"Joedroppedaglassand itbroke.":
In thesentence"Iarrived, but nobodysawme" thepronoun"me" is an anaphor.
An anaphor refers back to anantecedent.
Compare
cataphor
- An anaphor might beunderstoodusinginformationfromearlierin thetext.
- In thissentencethechildreplacedtheobjectwith an anaphor.
- An anaphor can be a word, phrase orellipsis, forexampletheverbalellipsisin "Marialikescoffee, and Anna,tea."
Linguistic terms & linguistic style
- affricate
- allophone
- allophony
- anaphora
- anaphoric
- chatty
- colloquial
- double entendre
- downtoner
- emphatic
- entailment
- etymological
- etymologically
- flowery
- oxymoron
- philological
- polysemy
- portmanteau word
- prescriptivism
- prescriptivist