Tautology (rhetoric)
Encyclopedia
Tautology is an unnecessary or unessential (and sometimes unintentional) repetition of meaning, using different and dissimilar words that effectively say the same thing (often originally from different languages). It is considered a fault of style
and was defined by Fowler
as "saying the same thing twice", if it is not apparently necessary or essential for the entire meaning of a phrase to be repeated. If a part of the meaning is repeated in such a way that it appears as unintentional, or clumsy, then it may be described as tautology. On the other hand, a repetition of meaning
which improves the style of a piece of speech or writing is not necessarily described as tautology.
A rhetorical tautology can also be defined as a series of statements that comprise an argument, whereby the statements are constructed in such a way that the truth of the proposition is guaranteed or that the truth of the proposition cannot be disputed by defining a term in terms of another self-referentially. Consequently, the statement conveys no useful information regardless of its length or complexity making it unfalsifiable. It is a way of formulating a description such that it masquerades as an explanation when the real reason for the phenomena cannot be independently derived. A rhetorical tautology should not be confused with a tautology
in propositional logic, since the inherent meanings and subsequent conclusions in rhetorical and logical tautologies are very different.
are not the same thing. Pleonasm is the use of an unnecessary word that is implicit in the word it describes: A round circle. A big giant. Tautology is a repetition of the same idea in different words: A huge great big man. Say it over again once more. (Say it over. Say it again. Say it once more.) The crucial difference is that "Repeat it again" is a pleonasm, because again is inherent to "repeat". Repeat and again do not simply mean the same thing, which means that this is not a tautological repetition of the same thing in a different word – just as tuna and fish are not the same thing.
In some phrases such as "I can see it with my own eyes" or "I made it with my own hands" the tautology is a rhetorical device that adds emphasis, as double negatives used to do. Expressions such as "all in all" or being able to "read and write" (to have literacy
) are not strictly tautological and are instead referred to as siamese twins
.
" is Turkish for "rice"),"chai tea" (tea tea), shrimp scampi ("scampi" is Italian for shrimp),"the La Brea Tar Pits
" (the The tar Tar Pits), "the hoi polloi
" (the the many), "Sierra Nevada mountain range" (Snowy Mountain mountain range), "Sahara Desert" (Deserts Desert), "Gobi Desert
" (Desert Desert), "shiba inu
dog" (little bush dog dog), "shiitake
mushroom" (shii mushroom mushroom), "Koi carp" (carp carp), Jirisan
Mountain" (Jiri mountain mountain), "Mississippi River
" (Great-river river), "Rio Grande
river" (big river river), "cheese quesadilla
" (cheese cheesy-thing), "salsa
sauce" (sauce sauce),"Lake Tahoe
" (Lake Lake), "Faroe Islands
" (Sheep Island Islands), "with Au jus
juice" (with with juice juice), and "Angkor Wat
temple" (Angkor Temple temple). "Breedon on the Hill
" in Leicestershire
is a similar example; its name means "hill-hill on the hill". Possibly the most extreme example is "Torpenhow Hill
" (Hill-hill-hill Hill, in four languages).
The tautological status of these phrases is somewhat subjective and can be harder to detect than monolingual varieties, since they are only perceived as tautologous by people who understand enough of each of the involved languages, and because of the way that words change meaning as they drift from one language to another. For example, chai is Hindi for "tea", but in the United States, where the phrase "chai tea" is common, what is referred to as "chai" is more precisely "Masala chai
."
Similar examples of repetitions occur when multiple languages are used in the same geographic area, even when the populations are generally well aware of the meaning of the redundant words. In bilingual (French
and English
) areas of Canada
, for example, people may refer to the "Pont Champlain Bridge
" (Bridge Champlain Bridge). Tautologies like these may come into spoken English when written language compresses a bilingual presentation (e.g., from the expected "Pont Champlain / Champlain Bridge" to "Pont Champlain Bridge"), a technique commonly used in Canada, Belgium
, New Mexico
and other bilingual areas to save space on road signs, grocery packaging, etc., and particularly convenient when one language usually uses adjectives and modifiers before the noun and the other after, as the English/French, Dutch/French and English/Spanish pairs do.
In New Mexico is the La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe
(The Inn Hotel). Both Las Cruces, New Mexico
and Tucson, Arizona
have a Picacho Peak (peak peak).
Tautological stock phrases like are especially common in legal English
, often pairing an Anglo-Saxon word with a Latin or French synonym, as in "will and testament".
is commonly used in conjunction with a word which is actually part of the shortened form. One of the better known examples of this is "PIN number
", which is often used when explaining the concept. Other common examples include ATM
machine, ISBN number, HIV
virus, UPC
code, VIN
number, DVD
disk, MIDI interface, RAID
array, and RAM
memory. This phenomenon is humorously, self-referentially
referred to as RAS syndrome
(Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome).
is by definition free of charge, but one might talk about a "free gift" to emphasize that there is no small print
, be it money or an expectation of a return, or that the gift is being given by volition
.
This is related to the rhetorical device of hendiadys
, where one concept is expressed through the use of two, for example "goblets and gold" meaning wealth, or "this day and age" to mean the present time. Superficially these expressions may seem tautologous, but they are stylistically sound because the repeated meaning is just a stylized way to emphasise the same idea.
Much Old Testament
poetry
is based on parallelism
: the same thing said twice, but in slightly different ways (Fowler puts it as pleonasm
).
Understanding the difference between intention and delight, or deceit and mislead is trivial, unless taken out of context.
But the emphasis on this is changed, because in the first the sole, the individual is emphasised (from ) but in the second the pleasure is, though more or less the same thing is being said. This can be found very frequently in the Psalms
, the Books of the Prophets, and in other areas of the Bible as well. One explanation of this is that when the Bible was translated into Anglo-Saxon
, Norman French was still common among the aristocracy, so expressions like "save and except" were translated both for the commoners and the aristocrats; although in this case both "save" and "except" have a French or Latin origin.
Fowler
makes a similar case for double negative
s; in Old English they intensified the expression, did not negate it back to being a positive, and there are plenty of examples in authors before the eighteenth century, such as Shakespeare. In Modern French
, for example, the "ne-pas" formation is essentially a double negative, and in many other Western European latinate languages the same applies, with "ni" or "no", mutatis mutandis
, emphasising instead of negating the initial negative. In common French, the "ne" is quite typically dropped, as it was believed to have been in Vulgar Latin
.
Stylistics (linguistics)
Stylistics is the study and interpretation of texts from a linguistic perspective. As a discipline it links literary criticism and linguistics, but has no autonomous domain of its own...
and was defined by Fowler
Fowler's Modern English Usage
A Dictionary of Modern English Usage , by Henry Watson Fowler , is a style guide to British English usage, pronunciation, and writing...
as "saying the same thing twice", if it is not apparently necessary or essential for the entire meaning of a phrase to be repeated. If a part of the meaning is repeated in such a way that it appears as unintentional, or clumsy, then it may be described as tautology. On the other hand, a repetition of meaning
Repetition (rhetorical device)
Repetition is the simple repeating of a word, within a sentence or a poetical line, with no particular placement of the words, in order to emphasize. This is such a common literary device that it is almost never even noted as a figure of speech...
which improves the style of a piece of speech or writing is not necessarily described as tautology.
A rhetorical tautology can also be defined as a series of statements that comprise an argument, whereby the statements are constructed in such a way that the truth of the proposition is guaranteed or that the truth of the proposition cannot be disputed by defining a term in terms of another self-referentially. Consequently, the statement conveys no useful information regardless of its length or complexity making it unfalsifiable. It is a way of formulating a description such that it masquerades as an explanation when the real reason for the phenomena cannot be independently derived. A rhetorical tautology should not be confused with a tautology
Tautology (logic)
In logic, a tautology is a formula which is true in every possible interpretation. Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein first applied the term to redundancies of propositional logic in 1921; it had been used earlier to refer to rhetorical tautologies, and continues to be used in that alternate sense...
in propositional logic, since the inherent meanings and subsequent conclusions in rhetorical and logical tautologies are very different.
Tautology and pleonasm
Tautology and pleonasmPleonasm
Pleonasm is the use of more words or word-parts than is necessary for clear expression: examples are black darkness, or burning fire...
are not the same thing. Pleonasm is the use of an unnecessary word that is implicit in the word it describes: A round circle. A big giant. Tautology is a repetition of the same idea in different words: A huge great big man. Say it over again once more. (Say it over. Say it again. Say it once more.) The crucial difference is that "Repeat it again" is a pleonasm, because again is inherent to "repeat". Repeat and again do not simply mean the same thing, which means that this is not a tautological repetition of the same thing in a different word – just as tuna and fish are not the same thing.
Examples of common tautological expressions
| Expression | Why it is usually a tautology | Why it may not be a tautology |
|---|---|---|
| "added bonus" | "bonus" is an added extra, thus "added bonus" is actually "added added extra". | May be used when referring to an additional bonus. For example: "Buy two and receive a bonus pencil sharpener, buy five and receive another free as an added bonus." |
| "cheapest price" | "cheapest" means "lowest priced", thus "cheapest price" is actually "lowest priced price". Also it is almost a non-sense, as a price is not to be bought. |
Using "cheapest" on its own may imply "low price, low quality", whereas "cheapest price" emphasizes that the sale price is the lowest without connotations of poor quality. |
| "faster speed" | "Faster" means "with greater speed", so "faster speed" is actually "speed with greater speed". | When comparing two unequal speeds, the greater speed is properly called "the faster speed". Also, "faster" may refer to either an absolute magnitude of speed (e.g. 90 km/h), or the time taken by an event. Mapping software is an example which allows for specification of preference. Unless referencing true physics, where faster deceleration is also acceptable. |
| "first introduced" | "introduced" generally implies that it is the first time that someone or something has been presented. | A speaker may be introduced to different audiences on different occasions. It would be correct to refer to the first such occasion as being when that person was "first introduced". |
| "forward planning" or "planning ahead" | "planning" is always done in advance. | May be used to differentiate the usual planning from a different form of planning done well in advance. For example: "Besides planning this week's meeting in detail, we should also do some forward planning of next week's meeting." |
| "free gift" | "gift" is, by definition, something given without charge. | May be used to emphasize the fact that there is no hidden expectation of reciprocity. |
| "intended purpose" | "purpose" is, by definition, an intended result. | This expression is commonly used by manufacturers of consumer goods to indicate their ordinary use. |
| "new innovation" | "innovation" is defined as something new. | In context, there might have been previous innovations. |
| "over-exaggerate" | "exaggerate" means "overstate", thus "over-exaggerate" means "over overstate". | May be used to differentiate regular exaggeration from excessive exaggeration. For example: "Exaggerate the size of it a little bit if you like, but don't over-exaggerate it, otherwise you won't seem credible." Proper exaggeration would simply be emphasis, compared to overemphasis. May also be used to show that the exaggeration is done to make the subject seem greater than it is as opposed to "under-exaggerate" |
| "safe haven" | "haven" is, by definition, a place of refuge and safety. | The word Haven derives from the same origins as Harbour, and usage may hark back to those times. |
| "short summary" | a "summary" is a "shortened" version of a text | May be used to differentiate a very short summary from one of average length. |
| "the reason why" or "the reason is because" | "reason" is already by definition a description of why something happens. | "Reason" implies a deeper insight into the cognitive cause for action. "Why did he cross the street there?" - "There was a crosswalk." vs. "What was the reason why..." subtly demands further explanation into the significance for the individual. Note: This use only pertains to cognitive (reasoning) entities. |
In some phrases such as "I can see it with my own eyes" or "I made it with my own hands" the tautology is a rhetorical device that adds emphasis, as double negatives used to do. Expressions such as "all in all" or being able to "read and write" (to have literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
) are not strictly tautological and are instead referred to as siamese twins
Siamese twins (English language)
Siamese twins in the context of the English language refers to a pair or grouping of words that is used together as an idiomatic expression or collocation, usually conjoined by the words and or or. The order of elements cannot be reversed...
.
Repetitions of meaning in mixed-language phrases
Repetitions of meaning sometimes occur when multiple languages are used together, such as: "rice pilaf" ("pilafPilaf
Pilaf is a dish in which rice is cooked in a seasoned broth . In some cases, the rice may also attain its brown color by being stirred with bits of cooked onion, as well as a large mix of spices...
" is Turkish for "rice"),"chai tea" (tea tea), shrimp scampi ("scampi" is Italian for shrimp),"the La Brea Tar Pits
La Brea Tar Pits
The La Brea Tar Pits are a cluster of tar pits around which Hancock Park was formed, in the urban heart of Los Angeles. Asphaltum or tar has seeped up from the ground in this area for tens of thousands of years. The tar is often covered with water...
" (the The tar Tar Pits), "the hoi polloi
Hoi polloi
Hoi polloi , an expression meaning "the many", or in the strictest sense, "the majority" in Greek, is used in English to denote "the masses" or "the people", usually in a derogatory sense. Synonyms for "hoi polloi" include ".....
" (the the many), "Sierra Nevada mountain range" (Snowy Mountain mountain range), "Sahara Desert" (Deserts Desert), "Gobi Desert
Gobi Desert
The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...
" (Desert Desert), "shiba inu
Shiba Inu
The is the smallest of the six original and distinct breeds of dog from Japan.A small, agile dog that copes very well with mountainous terrain, the Shiba Inu was originally bred for hunting. It is similar in appearance to the Akita, though much smaller in stature...
dog" (little bush dog dog), "shiitake
Shiitake
The Shiitake is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is cultivated and consumed in many Asian countries, as well as being dried and exported to many countries around the world. It is a feature of many Asian cuisines including Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai...
mushroom" (shii mushroom mushroom), "Koi carp" (carp carp), Jirisan
Jirisan
Jirisan is a mountain in the southern region of South Korea. It is often considered one of the three most important mountains in South Korea , with Hallasan and Seoraksan being the other two....
Mountain" (Jiri mountain mountain), "Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
" (Great-river river), "Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
river" (big river river), "cheese quesadilla
Quesadilla
A quesadilla is a flour or corn tortilla filled with a savoury mixture containing cheese and other ingredients, then folded in half to form a half-moon shape. This dish originated in Mexico, and the name is derived from the Spanish word queso ....
" (cheese cheesy-thing), "salsa
Salsa (sauce)
Salsa may refer to any type of sauce. In American English, it usually refers to the spicy, often tomato based, hot sauces typical of Mexican and Central American cuisine, particularly those used as dips. In British English, the word typically refers to salsa cruda, which is common in Mexican ,...
sauce" (sauce sauce),"Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
" (Lake Lake), "Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
" (Sheep Island Islands), "with Au jus
Au jus
Au jus is French for "with [its own] juice"; jus is the juice itself.In American cuisine, the term is mostly used to refer to a light sauce for beef recipes, which may be served with the food or placed on the side for dipping...
juice" (with with juice juice), and "Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation – first Hindu,...
temple" (Angkor Temple temple). "Breedon on the Hill
Breedon on the Hill
Breedon on the Hill is a village and civil parish about north of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in North West Leicestershire, England. The parish adjoins the Derbyshire county boundary and the village is only about south of the Derbyshire town of Melbourne. The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 958...
" in Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
is a similar example; its name means "hill-hill on the hill". Possibly the most extreme example is "Torpenhow Hill
Torpenhow Hill
Torpenhow Hill is an alleged hill, whose main claim to fame is that its name is supposed to be a quadruple tautology: "Tor", "pen", and "how" are all said to mean "hill" in different languages , so that a literal translation of "Torpenhow Hill" would be "Hillhillhill Hill"...
" (Hill-hill-hill Hill, in four languages).
The tautological status of these phrases is somewhat subjective and can be harder to detect than monolingual varieties, since they are only perceived as tautologous by people who understand enough of each of the involved languages, and because of the way that words change meaning as they drift from one language to another. For example, chai is Hindi for "tea", but in the United States, where the phrase "chai tea" is common, what is referred to as "chai" is more precisely "Masala chai
Masala chai
Masala chai is a beverage from the Indian subcontinent made by brewing tea with a mixture of aromatic Indian spices and herbs.-Terminology:-Plain chai:...
."
Similar examples of repetitions occur when multiple languages are used in the same geographic area, even when the populations are generally well aware of the meaning of the redundant words. In bilingual (French
Canadian French
Canadian French is an umbrella term referring to the varieties of French spoken in Canada. French is the mother tongue of nearly seven million Canadians, a figure constituting roughly 22% of the national population. At the federal level it has co-official status alongside English...
and English
Canadian English
Canadian English is the variety of English spoken in Canada. English is the first language, or "mother tongue", of approximately 24 million Canadians , and more than 28 million are fluent in the language...
) areas of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, for example, people may refer to the "Pont Champlain Bridge
Champlain Bridge (Ottawa)
The Champlain Bridge crosses the Ottawa River about west of Parliament Hill, joining the communities of Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. It is the westernmost link between the two cities....
" (Bridge Champlain Bridge). Tautologies like these may come into spoken English when written language compresses a bilingual presentation (e.g., from the expected "Pont Champlain / Champlain Bridge" to "Pont Champlain Bridge"), a technique commonly used in Canada, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and other bilingual areas to save space on road signs, grocery packaging, etc., and particularly convenient when one language usually uses adjectives and modifiers before the noun and the other after, as the English/French, Dutch/French and English/Spanish pairs do.
In New Mexico is the La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
(The Inn Hotel). Both Las Cruces, New Mexico
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Las Cruces, also known as "The City of the Crosses", is the county seat of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 97,618 in 2010 according to the 2010 Census, making it the second largest city in the state....
and Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
have a Picacho Peak (peak peak).
Tautological stock phrases like are especially common in legal English
Legal doublet
A legal doublet is a standardized phrase used frequently in English legal language which consists of two or more words which are near synonyms. The origin of the doubling — and sometimes even tripling — often lies in the transition of legal language from Latin to French. Certain words were simply...
, often pairing an Anglo-Saxon word with a Latin or French synonym, as in "will and testament".
Redundant expansion of acronyms
In some cases an acronym or abbreviationAbbreviation
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase...
is commonly used in conjunction with a word which is actually part of the shortened form. One of the better known examples of this is "PIN number
Personal identification number
A personal identification number is a secret numeric password shared between a user and a system that can be used to authenticate the user to the system. Typically, the user is required to provide a non-confidential user identifier or token and a confidential PIN to gain access to the system...
", which is often used when explaining the concept. Other common examples include ATM
Automated teller machine
An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...
machine, ISBN number, HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
virus, UPC
Universal Product Code
The Universal Product Code is a barcode symbology , that is widely used in North America, and in countries including the UK, Australia, and New Zealand for tracking trade items in stores. Its most common form, the UPC-A, consists of 12 numerical digits, which are uniquely assigned to each trade item...
code, VIN
Vehicle identification number
A Vehicle Identification Number, commonly abbreviated to VIN, is a unique serial number used by the automotive industry to identify individual motor vehicles. VINs were first used in 1954...
number, DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
disk, MIDI interface, RAID
RAID
RAID is a storage technology that combines multiple disk drive components into a logical unit...
array, and RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
memory. This phenomenon is humorously, self-referentially
Self-referential humor
Self-referential humor or self-reflexive humor is a type of comedic expression that—either directed toward some other subject, or openly directed toward itself—intentionally alludes to the very person who is expressing the humor in a comedic fashion, or to some specific aspect of that...
referred to as RAS syndrome
RAS syndrome
RAS syndrome , also known as PNS syndrome or RAP phrases , refers to the use of one or more of the words that make up an acronym or initialism in conjunction with the abbreviated form, thus in effect repeating one or more words...
(Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome).
Intentional repetition of meaning
Intentional repetition of meaning intends to amplify or emphasize a particular thing about what is being discussed: to repeat it because one cares about it. A giftGift
A gift or a present is the transfer of something without the expectation of receiving something in return. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is meant to be free. In many human societies, the act of mutually exchanging money, goods, etc. may contribute to...
is by definition free of charge, but one might talk about a "free gift" to emphasize that there is no small print
Small Print
Small Print is the debut album by English singer Sam Wedgwood, released in 2006. The album was mastered at Little Tardis Studios and clearly illustrates Sam’s varied, extensive musical tastes and influences, combining a modern acoustic vibe with some funky jazz beats, some dance numbers and real...
, be it money or an expectation of a return, or that the gift is being given by volition
Volition (psychology)
Volition or will is the cognitive process by which an individual decides on and commits to a particular course of action. It is defined as purposive striving, and is one of the primary human psychological functions...
.
This is related to the rhetorical device of hendiadys
Hendiadys
Hendiadys is a figure of speech used for emphasis — "The substitution of a conjunction for a subordination". The basic idea is to use two words linked by a conjunction to express a single complex idea....
, where one concept is expressed through the use of two, for example "goblets and gold" meaning wealth, or "this day and age" to mean the present time. Superficially these expressions may seem tautologous, but they are stylistically sound because the repeated meaning is just a stylized way to emphasise the same idea.
Much Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
is based on parallelism
Parallelism (rhetoric)
Parallelism means giving two or more parts of the sentences a similar form so as to give the whole a definite pattern.Parallelisms of various sorts are the chief rhetorical device of Biblical poetry in Hebrew. In fact, Robert Lowth coined the term "parallelismus membrorum Parallelism means giving...
: the same thing said twice, but in slightly different ways (Fowler puts it as pleonasm
Pleonasm
Pleonasm is the use of more words or word-parts than is necessary for clear expression: examples are black darkness, or burning fire...
).
Understanding the difference between intention and delight, or deceit and mislead is trivial, unless taken out of context.
But the emphasis on this is changed, because in the first the sole, the individual is emphasised (from ) but in the second the pleasure is, though more or less the same thing is being said. This can be found very frequently in the Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
, the Books of the Prophets, and in other areas of the Bible as well. One explanation of this is that when the Bible was translated into Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
, Norman French was still common among the aristocracy, so expressions like "save and except" were translated both for the commoners and the aristocrats; although in this case both "save" and "except" have a French or Latin origin.
Fowler
Fowler's Modern English Usage
A Dictionary of Modern English Usage , by Henry Watson Fowler , is a style guide to British English usage, pronunciation, and writing...
makes a similar case for double negative
Double negative
A double negative occurs when two forms of negation are used in the same sentence. Multiple negation is the more general term referring to the occurrence of more than one negative in a clause....
s; in Old English they intensified the expression, did not negate it back to being a positive, and there are plenty of examples in authors before the eighteenth century, such as Shakespeare. In Modern French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, for example, the "ne-pas" formation is essentially a double negative, and in many other Western European latinate languages the same applies, with "ni" or "no", mutatis mutandis
Mutatis mutandis
Mutatis mutandis is a Latin phrase meaning "by changing those things which need to be changed" or more simply "the necessary changes having been made"....
, emphasising instead of negating the initial negative. In common French, the "ne" is quite typically dropped, as it was believed to have been in Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin is any of the nonstandard forms of Latin from which the Romance languages developed. Because of its nonstandard nature, it had no official orthography. All written works used Classical Latin, with very few exceptions...
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Examples
- Lord PoloniusPoloniusPolonius is a character in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. He is King Claudius's chief counsellor, and the father of Ophelia and Laertes. Polonius connives with Claudius to spy on Hamlet...
used a tautology in Act 2, Scene 2 of HamletHamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
by William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
when he said the famous lines: "Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief: your noble son is mad: Mad call I it; for, to define true madness, What is't but to be nothing else but mad?" - The Tenth Amendment to the US ConstitutionTenth Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, was ratified on December 15, 1791...
: In New York v. United StatesNew York v. United StatesNew York v. United States, 505 U.S. 144 was a decision of the United States Supreme Court. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, writing for the majority, found that the "Take Title" provision of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985 exceeded Congress's power under the Commerce...
, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'ConnorSandra Day O'ConnorSandra Day O'Connor is an American jurist who was the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States. She served as an Associate Justice from 1981 until her retirement from the Court in 2006. O'Connor was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981...
stated, "The Tenth Amendment likewise limits the power of Congress, but this limit is not derived from the text of the Tenth Amendment itself, which, as we have discussed, is essentially a tautology." O'Connor reasoned that the Tenth Amendment simply reiterated what was already built into the structure of the Constitution generally: When the States consented to the Constitution they expressly delegated certain powers to the Federal government. Implicitly, what was not given was necessarily retained by the states as the exception that proves the ruleException that proves the rule"The exception [that] proves the rule" is a frequently confused English idiom. The original meaning of this idiom is that the presence of an exception applying to a specific case establishes that a general rule existed....
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See also
- English languageEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
- English usage
- Figure of speechFigure of speechA figure of speech is the use of a word or words diverging from its usual meaning. It can also be a special repetition, arrangement or omission of words with literal meaning, or a phrase with a specialized meaning not based on the literal meaning of the words in it, as in idiom, metaphor, simile,...
- Fowler's Modern English UsageFowler's Modern English UsageA Dictionary of Modern English Usage , by Henry Watson Fowler , is a style guide to British English usage, pronunciation, and writing...
- GrammarGrammarIn linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
- HyperboleHyperboleHyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally....
- LanguageLanguageLanguage may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
- Law of identityLaw of identityIn logic, the law of identity is the first of the so-called three classic laws of thought. It states that an object is the same as itself: A → A ; While this can also be listed as A ≡ A this is redundant Any reflexive relation upholds the law of identity...
- List of tautological place names
- No true ScotsmanNo true ScotsmanNo true Scotsman is an informal logical fallacy, an ad hoc attempt to retain an unreasoned assertion. When faced with a counterexample to a universal claim, rather than denying the counterexample or rejecting the original universal claim, this fallacy modifies the subject of the assertion to...
- OxymoronOxymoronAn oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines contradictory terms...
- PleonasmPleonasmPleonasm is the use of more words or word-parts than is necessary for clear expression: examples are black darkness, or burning fire...
- Redundancy (language)Redundancy (language)In linguistics, redundancy is the construction of a phrase that presents some idea using more information, often via multiple means, than is necessary for one to be able understand the idea....
- RhetoricRhetoricRhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
- Vacuous truthVacuous truthA vacuous truth is a truth that is devoid of content because it asserts something about all members of a class that is empty or because it says "If A then B" when in fact A is inherently false. For example, the statement "all cell phones in the room are turned off" may be true...