1. A linguistic device in which a word or phrase refers forward to another word or phrase that appears later in the text or discourse
In the sentence 'Before he arrived, John was nervous,' the pronoun 'he' is a cataphor referring to 'John' which comes later.
Na frase 'Antes dele chegar, João estava nervoso,' o pronome 'dele' é uma catáfora referindo-se a 'João' que aparece depois.
2. The act or instance of a linguistic element anticipating its referent
The use of cataphor is less common in English than anaphora, but it creates stylistic effects.
O uso de catáfora é menos comum em inglês do que anáfora, mas cria efeitos estilísticos.
Cataphor is a specialized term primarily used in linguistic and grammatical education. It is not commonly used in everyday conversation in either English-speaking or Portuguese-speaking countries, but is essential terminology in university-level language studies and literary analysis. The concept is more frequently discussed in European linguistic traditions than in American English instruction.