International Journal of Linguistics & Communication

Zero Anaphora and Topic Chain: A Cross-Linguistic Study
Ming-Ming Pu1 and Qinghong Pu

Abstract
A cognitive-functional framework is explored to account for the occurrence and distribution of zero anaphora and topic chain in discourse. Although traditionally regarded as a unique discourse device for topic-oriented languages, zero anaphora and topic chain seem to manifest cognitive constraints underlying discourse processing and may be governed by universal principles to a certain degree. Based on the cognitive-functional framework, the present study proposes a TOPIC-CHAIN PRINCIPLE, arguing that topic chain encodes a referent that is cognitively most accessible at the moment of discourse production, as enhanced by maximum discourse coherence of topic continuity and thematic coherence. The study demonstrates, using text data from the two historically unrelated, morphosyntactically different languages, Chinese and English, that cognitive accessibility and thematic coherence indeed warrant the use of topic chain in discourse. The structural differences found in the use of zero anaphora between syntactically different languages as discussed in previous studies may be more of clause-level than discourse-level phenomena.

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