Lexical Cohesion

 The sentence connectedness of the lexical items or units in a paragraph is simply known as lexical cohesion. It can be said semanticity of a text. It can be introduced by using some connectives and by repeating the key words and sentences. lexical cohesion is the result of chains of related words that contribute to the continuity of lexical meaning. Lexical cohesion is the cohesion that arises from semantic relationships between words. All that is required is that there be some recognizable relation between the words. The lexical chains also provide a semantic context for interpreting words, concepts, and sentences. Determining the structure of text is an essential step in determining the deep meaning of the text.Halliday and Hasan have provided a classification of lexical cohesion based on the type of dependency relationship that exists between words. There are five basic classes:

 1. Reiteration with identity of refere

 Example: 1.Mary bit into a peach. 2. Unfortunately the peach wasn't ripe.

2. Reiteration without identity of reference:

Example 2 

1. Mary ate some peaches. 2. She likes peaches very much.

3. Reiteration by means of superordinate:

Example 3 

1. Mary ate a peach. 2. She likes fruit. 

4. Systematic semantic relation (systematically classifiable): 

Example 4 

1. Mary likes green apples. 2. She does not like red ones.

5. Nonsystematic semantic relation (not systematically classifiable): 

Example 5 

1. Mary spent three hours in the garden yesterday. 2. She was digging potatoes.

    The above mentioned two types of cohesion cannot be said to be the unique classification because we donot have, to some extent, airtight demacration to do so. Further more, the same cohesive devices can be used to introduce both grammatical and lexical cohesion. In fact, cohesive devices are the means by which parts of a text are put closely together to maintain unity in writing.