This study examines forms and functions of higher-order anaphora in a corpus of Italian news reports. Quantitative analysis shows a correlation between the size of the text and the subtype of anaphora (anaphoric encapsulation is more frequent in shorter texts, strict coreference in longer ones). A very common pattern of encapsulation is realised by the clitic lo as the topical object of a verb of saying, with the function of ascribing the news to an external source. As far as lexical encapsulations are concerned, information structure and syntactic form display unexpected results: non-topical and definite NPs outnumber topical and demonstrative ones. Finally, the relation between anaphora and the logical dimension of texts is highlighted through the analysis of relational encapsulations.
La coesione testuale dei lanci di agenzia: Uno studio delle anafore di ordine superiore
Revue Romane. Langue et littérature. International Journal of Romance Languages and Literatures 50, 2, 222 - 278 (2015); http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/rro.50.2.03pec