Talk:cataphora

I think the definitions in wiktionary.org for "cataphor" and "cataphora" may be incorrect.

According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, Second Edition:

cataphor |ˈkatəfər; -ˌfôr| noun Grammar a word or phrase that refers to or stands for a later word or phrase (e.g., in when they saw Ruth, the men looked slightly abashed, the word they is used as a cataphor for the men). ORIGIN late 20th cent.: back-formation from cataphora.

cataphora |kəˈtafərə| noun Grammar the use of a word or phrase that refers to or stands for a later word or phrase (e.g., the pronoun he in he may be 37, but Jeff behaves like a teenager). Compare with anaphora . DERIVATIVES cataphoric |ˌkatəˈfôrik| adjective cataphorically |ˌkatəˈfôrik(ə)lē| adverb ORIGIN 1970s: from cata- on the pattern of anaphora.

http://www.cataphora.com/company/name/ seems to agree but names cataphora as the plural of cataphor which NOAD does not explicitly do but which makes sense.

NOAD also does not list "cataphoras" (wiktionary lists it as plural form of the singular "cataphora") as a word.

I have also seen one source (The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary) define one other sense (medical context) for "cataphora" meaning, "Semicoma. Somnolence marked by periods of partial consciousness."

I'm new here at wiktionary though and so I thought I'd better talk about this first before making any changes.

Usage note

In a sentence with two coordinated clauses such as:

   He was exhausted but J worked on

it is averred by some that he and John must refer to different people. In other words, he cannot be a cataphoric reference to John in a coordinated sentence. https://www.eltconcourse.com/training/inservice/phrases_clauses_sentences/subordination.html JMGN (talk) 15:20, 17 August 2023 (UTC)