In linguistics, cataphora (/kəˈtæfərə/; from Greek, καταφορά, kataphora, “a downward motion” from κατά, kata, “downwards” and φέρω, pherō, “I carry”) is the use of an expression or word that co-refers with a later, more specific, expression in the discourse.[1] The preceding expression, whose meaning is determined or specified by the later expression, may be called a cataphor. Cataphora is a type of anaphora, although the terms anaphora and anaphor are sometimes used in a stricter sense, denoting only cases where the order of the expressions is the reverse of that found in cataphora.
An example of cataphora in English is the following sentence:
- When he arrived home, John went to sleep.
