noun[ C ]languagespecializeduk/ˈæn.ə.fɔːr/us/ˈæn.ə.fɔːr/
前指代项（如Joe dropped a glass and it broke一句中的it）
a word or phrase that refers to a word or phrase used earlier in a text and replaces it, for example the word "it" in the sentence "Joe dropped a glass and it broke."
In the sentence "I arrived, but nobody saw me" the pronoun "me" is an anaphor.
An anaphor refers back to an antecedent.
Compare: cataphor
更多例句
An anaphor might be understood using information from earlier in the text.
In this sentence the child replaced the object with an anaphor.
An anaphor can be a word, phrase or ellipsis, for example the verbal ellipsis in "Maria likes coffee, and Anna, tea."