coreference: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples

No, but they are closely related. Anaphora is the use of a word (like a pronoun) that refers back to a previous word. Coreference is the relationship where both expressions refer to the same entity. Not all anaphora involves coreference (e.g., 'John lost his key' vs. 'Every man lost his key'), and not all coreference involves anaphora (e.g., two different names for the same person).

No, it is a highly specialised technical term. In everyday situations, you would simply say 'they refer to the same thing' or 'it's the same person'.

It is a major task in computational linguistics and natural language processing where a computer program automatically identifies all expressions in a text that refer to the same real-world entity.

No, the standard noun is 'coreference'. The verb 'to corefer' exists in technical linguistics, but the verb form is much less common than the noun. In general usage, it is safer to use the noun or a phrase like 'are in coreference'.

A grammatical relationship where two or more expressions in a text refer to the same person or thing.

Coreference is usually academic/technical (linguistics, computational linguistics, philosophy of language) in register.

Coreference: in British English it is pronounced /ˌkəʊˈrɛfərəns/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˌkoʊˈrɛfərəns/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.