جامعة أصفهان بحوث في اللغة العربية 2821-0638 18 34 2026 04 01 A Study of Cohesion Strategies in Nizar Qabbani's Poem "I Want to Live" from a Systemic Functional Linguistics Perspective دراسة إستراتيجيات خلق التماسك في قصيدة أريد أن أعيش لنزار قباني من منظور اللسانيات الوظيفية النظامية 141 154 30386 10.22108/rall.2025.144434.1574 AR مهدي فرحاني أستاذ مساعد في قسم اللغة العربية وآدابها بجامعة ولايت، إيرانشهر، إيران Journal Article 2025 02 20 One of the linguistic theories currently used to analyze literary texts is Halliday’s systemic functional theory. In this approach, language is the primary means of transmitting culture, and each element is presented based on a specific role within the overall language system. This text-centric approach includes various tools for demonstrating coherence in a text to better convey the speaker's mental concepts. This theory has several components, one of which is the factors of textual cohesion. The main objective of discussing textual cohesion is to examine how an author organizes his diverse and wide-ranging content and creates coherence in his work. Nizar Qabbani, a Syrian diplomat and poet (1923-1998), is best known for his romantic poems that address national sentiment and Arab women's issues; women and love are the main themes of Qabbani's poetry. In this study, one of Nizar Qabbani's short lyrical poems, I Want to Live, is studied based on Halliday and Hassan's theoretical criteria, along two axes: vertical and horizontal. After evaluating the components of this theory and searching for examples of it in his poetry using a descriptive-analytical approach, it was concluded that this poem by Nizar Qabbani exhibits a high capacity for focusing on elements of grammatical and lexical cohesion. All of its words are linked together like a chain; its lexical cohesion is much greater than its grammatical cohesion. Most examples of grammatical cohesion in this poem are linked to personal references. Speakers of any language, when reading a text in that language, notice the presence or absence of cohesion. This point demonstrates that understanding cohesion in practice is not a difficult task. However, although this procedure is easy in a series of sentences, it becomes more difficult when it is supposed to be explained to others and its diagnostic criteria are presented. In 1976, Halliday and Hassan, in their presentation of the theory of textual cohesion, identified the criteria for diagnosing, interpreting, and describing it. A text can be spoken or written, prose or poetry, a conversation or a monologue, from a single phrase to a full-fledged discourse, from a passing cry for help to a full-fledged group discussion (Halliday & Hassan, 1976, p. 1). A text is a semantic unit, not a grammatical or formal unit; its connection to a sentence or phrase is not due to its size or appearance, but rather to its perception within the sentence; that is, a text is not composed of sentences, but is realized or recorded in sentences (ibid., p. 1). Halliday and Hassan called the relationships between sentences in a text textual cohesion and defined it as follows: "Cohesion is a semantic concept that refers to the semantic relationships in a text and distinguishes it as a text from a non-text" (ibid., p. 4). When the propositions of a text are organized in the reader's mind in a way that makes sense, the text is coherent. Coherent relationships between the propositions of a text are formed in the reader’s mind with the help of linguistic and verbal cues. A sign or marker is a clear word, phrase, sentence, or feature that guides the reader in interpreting the main ideas of a text and creates a connection between the text's issues and their relationship to higher-level general units, such as the overall theme of the text. There are different types of relationships between sentences in a text that lead to better cohesion. This research aims to evaluate cohesion and coherence in the text of Nizar Qabbani's poem I Want to Live based on the developed version of Halliday and Hassan's systematic theory. It ultimately aims to answer the following two research questions: What are the textual cohesion factors in Nizar Qabbani's poem I Want to Live? Considering the function of cohesion factors in textual coordination, to what extent is Nizar Qabbani's poem I Want to Live coherent? To answer the above research questions, the nature of cohesion and cohesion factors are first examined from the perspective of these two linguists. Then, based on the required data, the cohesion and its level are evaluated in Nizar Qabbani's poem I Want to Live. This research is based on Halliday and Hassan's (1985) coherence theory and their joint book, Nonstructural Coherence. Before entering into the analysis of the main topic, the background and theoretical concepts of the research are discussed. Cohesion and Coherence Theory Cohesion in language means unity and stability. It is a characteristic of writing that connects its constituent parts. Cohesion in a sentence stem from the logical connection between words and phrases, and, in the entire effect, from the arrangement of sentences. Michael Halliday and Ruqayya Hassan called the relationships between sentences in a text textual cohesion and defined it as follows: “Cohesion is a semantic concept that refers to the semantic relationships in a text and distinguishes it as a text from a non-text” (Halliday & Hassan, 1976, p. 4). These two theorists believe that the existence of textual cohesion depends on the expression and interpretation of textual elements, which depend on the expression and interpretation of other elements. They consider them part of the linguistic system. In the language system, meaning is conveyed to the audience through words, and words are expressed through phonemes or letters. However, at the same time, the language system also receives assistance from the grammatical system and syntax. Cohesion also follows the same pattern as language, meaning that part of it is expressed through vocabulary and partly through grammar. Accordingly, they divided cohesion into two general categories: syntactic cohesion and lexical cohesion. The two theorists divided cohesion factors in English into five groups: reference, substitution, ellipsis, relational factors, and lexical cohesion (Halliday & Hassan, 1985, p. 32). Reference, substitution, and ellipsis are grammatical devices, while lexical cohesion also belongs to two groups: grammatical and lexical, meaning it helps hold a text together through grammar and vocabulary. Lexical cohesion factors can be classified as: repetition, semantic synonymy, semantic contrast, and semantic inclusion. Halliday and Hassan's theory of cohesion was first used to analyze cohesion factors in English, but it can be applied to different languages, even though their cohesion patterns may differ. The presence of cohesion factors in a text does not complete the analysis of cohesion; it is also necessary to examine the internal interaction of these cohesive nodes and chains, which is called "cohesive coordination". What establishes cohesion in a sentence is the "node". A node connects one element of a sentence to another element in another sentence. Halliday and Hassan emphasized the importance of the node, in other words, being two elements that bring together a pair of elements related to each other in terms of cohesion. Cohesive coordination brings together lexical and syntactic cohesion factors based on chains of unity and similarity; therefore, cohesive coordination is how a text achieves continuity by grouping them into chains and their mutual connection with each other. The vertical relationship of chains depends on taking the cohesive elements into similar chains. Cohesion Tools Halliday and Hassan first divided text cohesion factors into three general groups: syntactic cohesion, lexical cohesion, and relational cohesion. They then examined the subcategories of each of these cohesion factors (Halliday & Hassan, 1985, p. 82). The following is an explanation and clarification of cohesion factors and tools and their subcategories: Syntactic Factors Reference Reference is the interpretive return of a pronoun to a word from the words before or after it in the text, helping the reader understand and recognize that word (Mohajer & Nabavi, 1997, p. 64). Reference refers to the process by which a word that has no meaning on its own, such as the pronoun "he", refers to another word in the text to find meaning. Reference is not just a pronoun; pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, and relative pronouns in Arabic are also referential elements and create cohesion between phrases. Reference is divided into extratextual and intratextual. Substitution and reference are similar in that, in both processes, a linguistic element replaces another preceding one in the text. However, the difference between them is that substitution is not as restrictive and is largely context-dependent. Substitution Substitution is another tool for textual cohesion. Substitution means replacing one linguistic element with another; that is, a word or phrase can replace a word, phrase, sentence, or part of the text (see: Halliday & Hassan, 1976, p. 88). Substitution occurs in various forms, such as nominal, verbal, clause, and syllabic in speech. Since it refers the reader's mind to the previous one, it causes different parts of speech to connect. Elision Elision is the reduction of one or more words or elements in a sentence compared to the preceding elements and words, which appear as nouns, verbs, or clauses (Foruzandeh & Bani Talebi, 2014, p. 113). Elision can be verbal, semantic, or physical. We can say that the process of deletion is the same as the process of substitution; because information that can be retrieved from previous parts of the text is removed, but nothing can replace it (see: Shabanloo et al., 2008, p. 172). We should know that fluency and ease of speech are a result of coherence, and the coherence of a text leads to fluency. Therefore, we can conclude that deletion is one of the basic factors of textual coherence. Lexical Factors Repetition Repetition is the repetition of elements from previous sentences in a text in subsequent sentences. Repetition can occur in various ways, such as repeating the same word, repeating a synonym, repeating a word with a greater meaning than the preceding word, and repeating common words, prepositions, conjunctions, and others (Foruzandeh & Bani Talebi, 2014, p. 115). One of the most important factors in sentence continuity is repetition, which links a series of sentences together and creates a unified content and theme (Khalili Jahantigh, 2001, p. 30). Repetition is therefore one of the tools of textual cohesion, through which elements from previous sentences are repeated in subsequent sentences. Collocation Coherence is another type of lexical cohesion. It refers to the combination of certain lexical elements within a text that are related in some way and belong to a specific semantic domain. Their combination leads to the emergence of a relationship between sentences in the text (Foruzandeh & Bani Talebi, 2014, p. 117). Collocation is the same as considering analogy, but in a broader sense; for example, the relationship between agate, ruby, and coral is a type of composition that may represent a proportional fit between the parts of a whole. It must be said that coherence is one of the most important factors in organizing and strengthening a text, creating interconnected meanings, and creating closeness and internal balance within the text. Elements of Relational Cohesion In Halliday's theory, the semantic and logical connection between sentences, syllables, and parts of speech is the primary and necessary factor for the coherence and continuity of a text. Without this factor, text formation is impossible. This type of relationship is called "relational cohesion". Relational cohesion in a text is formed through cohesive factors. Cohesive factors are the tools that connect sentences in a text. The mere presence of grammatical and lexical cohesion elements in sentences does not constitute cohesion; rather, there must be a logical and organized connection between them so that the reader can understand the text as a connected whole (see: Al-Khattabi, 1991, p. 23). This connection is achieved through various connectives, which Halliday and Hassan divided into three types: complementary, causal, and temporal. Connectives must be used at the beginning or between two independent clauses; in other words, relational factors that connect subsequent clauses to the main clauses do not have the property of creating cohesion. Conclusion Cohesion is greater in some parts of the poem, and the networks of connections between its elements are more cohesive in other parts. The degree of consistency and unity between the parts of the poem are not uniform to the point that a part can be easily removed, nor does this cause any disruption to its structure. However, Nizar Qabbani's poem possesses a special cohesion due to the poet's mastery of the language, his diverse vocabulary, and his familiarity with the grammatical and lexical capabilities of the Arabic language. Therefore, the methods of creating cohesion in the axes of grammatical and lexical cohesion in Nizar Qabbani's poem are striking and noteworthy. Grammatical cohesion in his poetry is achieved through techniques such as allusion, ellipsis, and substitution. Lexical cohesion techniques in his poetry include word repetition, synonymy, and contrast. Qabbani used lexical and grammatical cohesion techniques extensively in his poetry, such that several techniques in his poems always play a role side by side and complement each other in the process of cohesion. From this, it can be said that Nizar Qabbani is a poet, linguist, and lexicographer, possessing a remarkable ability to select words and phrases and combine them at a high level. His poetry is very coherent, and his sentences and phrases are intertwined and interconnected. However, their lexical coherence is much greater than their grammatical coherence. Most examples of grammatical coherence in this poem are linked to personal references. Therefore, it can be concluded that, based on what has been said and the abundance of textual coherence factors that indicate a strong connection between the sentences, the poem I Want to Live enjoys very good textual coherence. إحدى النظريات اللغوية المستخدمة في تحليل النصوص الأدبية في الوقت الحاضر هي نظرية هاليداي الوظيفية النظامية. في هذه المقاربة، تعد اللغة وسيلة رئيسة لنقل الثقافة، ويتم تقديم كل عنصر منها، بناءً على دور محدد في نظام اللغة العام. تحتوي هذه المقاربة التي تركز على النص، على أدوات مختلفة، لإظهار التماسك في النص لنقل المفاهيم العقلية للمتحدث بشكل أفضل. لهذه النظرية أجزاء مختلفة، أحدها هو عوامل تماسك النص. الهدف الرئيس في مناقشة تماسك النص هو دراسة كيفية تنظيم المؤلف لمحتواه المتنوع والواسع النطاق وإضفاء التماسك على عمله. إنّ نزار قباني، دبلوماسي وشاعر سوري (1923 ـ 1998م)، اشتهر بأشعاره الرومانسية التي تتضمن مشاعر الوطن وقضايا المرأة العربية، حيث إنّ المرأة والحب هما الموضوعان الرئيسان لشعره. في هذا المقال، تمت دراسة إحدى قصائد نزار قباني الغنائية القصيرة المعنونة بأريد أن أعيش، بناء على معايير نظرية هاليداي وحسن، في محورين رأسي وأفقي، وبعد تقييم مكونات هذه النظرية والبحث عن أمثلتها في شعره، وفقا للمنهج الوصفي ـ التحليلي، تم التوصل إلى أن هذه القصيدة تتمتع بقدرة عالية على الاهتمام بعناصر الترابط النحوي والمعجمي، وجميع كلماتها مرتبطة ببعضها البعض كالسلسلة، حيث إنّ تماسكها المعجمي أكثر بكثير من تماسكها النحوي، وأغلب أمثلة الترابط النحوي فيها ترتبط بالإرجاعات الشخصية.

https://rall.ui.ac.ir/article_30386_f9cac6ffe4f164927212592390e89e16.pdf