What is "anaphora"

Anaphora \A*naph"o*ra\, n. [L., fr. Gr. 'anafora`, fr. 'anafe`rein to carry up or back; 'ana` + fe`rein to carry.] (Rhet.)

1. A repetition of a word or of words at the beginning of two or more successive clauses.

2. the use of a substitute word, such as a pronoun, in reference to a something already mentioned in a discourse; also, the relation between the substitute word and its antecedent. It is contrasted with cataphora, the use of a pronoun for a word or topic not yet mentioned.

   Note: Thus, in the sentence ``John was tall but he was not very heavy.'' the ``he'' is an anaphora for John, or an anaphoric reference to John.

"repetition of a word or phrase in successive clauses," 1580s, from Latin, from Greek anaphora "reference," literally "a carrying back," from anapherein "to carry back, to bring up," from ana "back" (see ana-) + pherein "to bear" (see infer).

n. 1 (context rhetoric English) The repetition of a phrase at the beginning of phrases, sentences, or verses, used for emphasis. 2 (context linguistics English) An expression that can refer to virtually any referent, the specific referent being defined by context. 3 (context linguistics English) An expression that refers to a preceding expression. 4 (plural of anaphor English)Category:English plurals 5 (plural of anaphora English)Category:English plurals

1. n. using a pronoun or other pro-word instead of repeating a word

2. repetition of a word or phrase as the beginning of successive clauses [syn: epanaphora]

In rhetoric, an anaphora (, "carrying back") is a rhetorical device that consists of repeating a sequence of words at the beginnings of neighboring clauses, thereby lending them emphasis. In contrast, an epistrophe (or epiphora) is repeating words at the clauses' ends. The combination of anaphora and epistrophe results in symploce.

In linguistics, anaphora is the use of an expression whose interpretation depends upon another expression in context (its antecedent or postcedent). In a narrower sense, anaphora is the use of an expression that depends specifically upon an antecedent expression and thus is contrasted with cataphora, which is the use of an expression that depends upon a postcedent expression. The anaphoric (referring) term is called an anaphor. For example, in the sentence Sally arrived, but nobody saw her, the pronoun her is an anaphor, referring back to the antecedent Sally. In the sentence Before her arrival, nobody saw Sally, the pronoun her refers forward to the postcedent Sally, so her is now a cataphor (and an anaphor in the broader, but not the narrower, sense). Usually, an anaphoric expression is a proform or some other kind of deictic (contextually-dependent) expression. Both anaphora and cataphora are species of endophora, referring to something mentioned elsewhere in a dialog or text.

Anaphora is an important concept for different reasons and on different levels: first, anaphora indicates how discourse is constructed and maintained; second, anaphora binds different syntactical elements together at the level of the sentence; third, anaphora presents a challenge to natural language processing in computational linguistics, since the identification of the reference can be difficult; and fourth, anaphora tells some things about how language is understood and processed, which is relevant to fields of linguistics interested in cognitive psychology.

The Anaphora is the most solemn part of the Divine Liturgy, or the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, during which the offerings of bread and wine are consecrated as the body and blood of Christ. This is the usual name for this part of the Liturgy in Greek-speaking Eastern Christianity. In western Christian traditions which have a comparable rite, the Anaphora is more often called the Eucharistic Prayer. When the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church had a single Eucharistic Prayer (between the Council of Trent and Vatican II in 1962) it was referred to as the Canon of the Mass.

"Anaphora" is a Greek word meaning a "carrying back" (hence its meaning in rhetoric and linguistics) or a "carrying up", and so an "offering" (hence its use in reference to the offering of sacrifice to God). In the sacrificial language of the Greek version of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint, (prosphora) is used of the offerer bringing the victim to the altar, and is used of the priest offering up the selected portion upon the altar (see, for instance, , , , ).

Anaphora may refer to:

• Anaphora (rhetoric), a rhythmic device
• Anaphora (linguistics), a referential pattern in linguistics
• Anaphora (liturgy) a part of the Eucharistic liturgy in Christianity