cataphoric reference
[/ˌkætəˈfɔrɪk ˈrɛfərəns/]
nounpl: cataphoric references
referência catafórica
1. A linguistic phenomenon where 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 called his mother,' the pronoun 'he' is a cataphoric reference to 'John' which appears later.
Na frase 'Antes de ele chegar, João ligou para sua mãe', o pronome 'ele' é uma referência catafórica para 'João' que aparece depois.
2. A grammatical cohesion device where a linguistic element anticipates and refers to information that follows
The cataphoric reference in 'This is important: you must submit the form by Friday' uses 'this' to point forward to the following clause.
A referência catafórica em 'Isto é importante: você deve enviar o formulário até sexta-feira' usa 'isto' para apontar para a cláusula seguinte.
This is a specialized linguistic and grammatical term primarily used in academic contexts, language studies, and linguistics courses in both Brazil and Portugal. It is fundamental to understanding text cohesion and discourse analysis. The term is borrowed from Greek (kata- meaning 'down' or 'forward' and -phora meaning 'carrying'). It's less commonly used in everyday conversation but essential in education, translation studies, and rhetoric.
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