Cohesive substitution in English and German 217
The thematic principle of ‘given before new’ applies in all cases of (19), but with
the pro-forms, it seems to have the status of a grammatical rule, thus distinguish-
ing given from new information and assigning the reference item as given, but the
substitute as new, which is to be expected, because only the cohesively referring
pro-noun refers to (referentially) given information. As the last variant of the
follow-up in (19) shows, the substitute can even be premodified in a restricted way.
The most common of all forms of substitution in the English subcorpora is
the singular form one. In the German subcorpora far fewer instances of the corre-
sponding ein(r,s)e could be identified. The variation in the corresponding expres-
sions in German point to a more varied use of linguistic constructions to express
similar meaning relations, substitution in (20), ellipsis in (21) and lexical cohesion
in (22):
(20) This was a problem. But not one I chose to deal with. [ETRANS_FICTION]
Das war ein Problem. Aber keins, mit dem ich mich auseinandersetzen wollte.
[GO_FICTION]
(21) Gerd crushed out the cigarette and lit a new one. [ETRANS_FICTION]
Gerd drückte die Zigarette aus und zündete sich eine neue an. [GO_FICTION]
(22) As with other grand visions, it is not surprising that this one has taken time
to achieve. [EO_ESSAY]
Es überrascht nicht, dass die Verwirklichung dieser Vision ebenso wie
die Verwirklichung unserer anderen großen Visionen Zeit braucht
[GTRANS_ESSAY]
As Example (23) illustrates, a nominal substitute like welche may be employed
in German in cases where a nominal ellipsis like some is used in English, that is
to say with either plural, or else non-countable referents (see Halliday & Hasan
1976: 101):
(23) Darf ich heute früh Puddingsuppe? – Ja, ja. – Koch mir welche! [GO_FICTION]
Can I have pudding soup for breakfast? – Yes, yes. – Make me some!
[Etrans_FICTION]
Some occurrences of welche found in our German spoken corpus INTERVIEW
seem to require different cohesive devices in English, especially when employed
in interrogative constructions:
(24) Und haben jetzt insbesondere also so umweltpolitische Schwerpunkte, was
wären das für welche? [GO_INTERVIEW]
Which kinds would that be?