Definition & Bedeutung von "coreference"

What is "coreference"?

Coreference is a linguistic concept that occurs when two or more expressions in a sentence or discourse refer to the same entity. This often involves a pronoun and its antecedent, where the pronoun points back to the noun or phrase mentioned earlier. For example, in the sentence "Sarah lost her book, and she is looking for it," the pronoun "she" is in coreference with "Sarah," and "it" refers back to "the book." Understanding coreference is important for clarity in communication, as it helps ensure that the relationships between different expressions are clear and unambiguous.