antecedent

=**Antecedent:**= [an-//tuh//-**seed**-nt] The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. media type="file" key="Antecedent.wav" width="300" height="50"

=**Examples of Antecedent:**= Note: The **bold** indicate the antecedent and //italics// the anaphor



//Jack and Jill, By Mother Goose//
And Jill came tumbling after. Up got Jack, and home did trot as fast as he could caper, He went to bed and bound his head, With vinegar and brown paper.
 * Jack and Jill** went up the hill to fetch a pail of water,
 * Jack** fell down and broke //his// crown,

In the first line of Jack and Jill, the antecedent stands alone, sometimes an antecedent will not be followed by a anaphor, but will be implied by syntactic principles called __zero anaphors__. In the second line of Jack and Jill, the antecedent is followed by an anaphor; //Jack// is the antecedent followed by the pronoun //his//.



//Julius Ceasar, By William Shakepeare//
...Come I to speak in **Caesar's** funeral. //He// was my friend, faithful and just to me; But **Brutus** says //he// was ambitious, And Brutus is an honorable man. (Act III, Secne II)

In the first two lines of this portion of Antony's speech (monologue) he refers to Caesar, which is the antecedent, then that he was his friend, he being the anaphor (the pronoun following the antecedent). In the next two lines from this speech Antony refers to Brutus and that he was ambitious; Brutus being the antecedent and he being the anaphor following after. question... doesn't the "he" in line 4 refer to Caeser, NOT Brutus?



//The Happy Prince, By Oscar Wilde//
High above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the **Happy Prince**. //He// was gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes //he// had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glowed on //his// sword-hilt.

In the first line you see the antecedent Happy Prince and in the second line follows the anaphors he and his. The antecedent and the anaphors are seperated by two sentences, but still subject to eachother.

=Attributions:=

Jalic. Inc. "The Happy Prince." __The Literature Network__. 2000-2007. 26 September 2007. 

Lexico Publishing Group. "Antecedent." __Dictionary.__ 2007. 26 September 2007. 

Theatrehistory. "Julius Caesar." __Theatrehistory.__ 2000. 26 September 2007. 

Wikimedia. "Antecedent." __Wikipedia, The Online Encyclopedia.__ 1 October 2007. 26 September 2007. < [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antecedent_(grammar)]>

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