Certain estimates involving the derivative $f\mapsto f'$ of a meromorphic function play key roles in the construction and applications of classical Nevanlinna theory. The purpose of this study is to extend the usual Nevanlinna theory to a theory for the exact difference $f\mapsto ��f=f(z+c)-f(z)$. An $a$-point of a meromorphic function $f$ is said to be $c$-paired at $z\in\C$ if $f(z)=a=f(z+c)$ for a fixed constant $c\in\C$. In this paper the distribution of paired points of finite-order meromorphic functions is studied. One of the main results is an analogue of the second main theorem of Nevanlinna theory, where the usual ramification term is replaced by a quantity expressed in terms of the number of paired points of $f$. Corollaries of the theorem include analogues of the Nevanlinna defect relation, Picard's theorem and Nevanlinna's five value theorem. Applications to difference equations are discussed, and a number of examples illustrating the use and sharpness of the results are given.

19 pages