Martin (1992: 376-7):
Carter also reports on Francis's (1985) study of what she terms anaphoric nouns (A-nouns). These are used in conjunction with anaphoric reference items to refer to preceding discourse. … Carter (1987: 80) lists the following examples of Francis's A-nouns. All, it can be noted, are grammatical metaphors, reflecting the fact that congruent English reconstructs discourse as a rhetorical process, not as a product or thing.
retrospective Examples from Francis (A-nouns) accusation consideration interpretation report admission criticism judgement repudiation allegation declaration observation retort answer definition point revelation argument denial prediction statement assumption description proposal stipulation belief diagnosis proposition suggestion challenge estimate reading threat complaint evidence reasoning theory conclusion examination reference viewpoint confession hypothesis refusal
Blogger Comments:
[1] To be clear, these 'anaphoric nouns' are nominalisations that name types of verbal and mental projections. Any anaphoric function is realised by the reference item that marks its identity as recoverable in the preceding discourse.
[2] The congruent construes experience; the metaphorical reconstrues experience.
[3] In SFL theory, 'discourse as process' is theorised as logogenesis: the unfolding of text through the instantiation of potential.
[3] In SFL theory, 'discourse as process' is theorised as logogenesis: the unfolding of text through the instantiation of potential.