Chapter-5---Syntactic-Overregularity.

1Chapter5SyntacticOverregularityDefinition:therepetitionofcertainlinguisticunitsofatextandinparallelism,wheresomefeaturesvarywhileothersarekeptconstant.Namely,itincludesrepetitionandparallelism.Repetitionisrestrictedtomeanthecaseofexactcopyingofacertainpreviousunitinatext,suchasword,phraseorevenasentence,whichsubsumesimmediaterepetitionandintermittentrepetition.2AImmediaterepetition:therepeatedunitimmediatelyfollowtheinitialunit.Forexample:Donotgogentlyintothatgoodnight,Oldageshouldburnandraveatcloseofday,Rage,rageagainstthedyingoflight.Notes:Rageisrepeatedeighttimesinthispoem,thusgreatemphasisisattachedontheitem,andalsoonthewholethemeofthepoem:oneshouldstruggleviolentlyagainstdeath.Therepetitionservestocombinethelinestogetherandgiveunitytotheideaexpressed.3Example2Gold!Gold!Gold!Gold!Brightandyellow,hardandcold,Molten,graven,hammer’dandroll’d,Heavytogetandlighttohold.(ThomasHood)“Gold”isrepeatedfourtimesandreinforcedbythecapitalizationofthefirstletterandtheexclamationmark.Itimplicatesthepoet’sgreatintensityoffeelingwhentalkingaboutgold.4Example3Thewoodsarelovely,darkanddeep,ButIhavepromisetokeep,AndmilestogobeforeIsleep.AndmilestogobeforeIsleep.Heretherepetitionimplies“thereisalongwaytogobeforeIdie.”andtheauthorisratherwearyofthejourneyhetakes.5B.IntermittentrepetitionDefinition:ploce(间隔性重复)intraditionalrhetoricExample:O,howthatnamebefitsmycomposition,OldGauntindeed,andgauntinbeingold.Herethespeakerispunningonhisownname.Therepetitionherevividlycapturestheemotionalstateofthespeaker:hisutterdespairofhisoldageandhishealthcondition.62ParallelismDefinition:theexactrepetitioninequivalentposition.Itdiffersimplerepetitioninthattheidentitydoesnotextendtoabsoluteduplication.It“requiressomevariablesfeatureofthepattern—somecontrastingelementswhichareparallelwithrespecttotheirpositioninthepattern.”(Leech,1969:66)Type:large-scaleandsmall-scaleparallelism7A.Large-scaleparallelismDefinition:thekindwhichconsistsofmorethantwojuxtaposedunits.MyheartleapsupwhenIbeholdArainbowinthesky,Sowasitwhenmylifebegan;SowasitnowIamaman;SobeitwhenIshallgrowold,Orletmedie!ThechildisfatheroftheMan;AndIcouldwishmydaystobeBoundeachtoeachbynaturalpiety.(Wordsworth)8ExplainInthispoem,thepoethassuccessfullyexpressedhisgreatreverencefornaturewhichgoesbeyondtheboundsofthepast,presentandfuture.Thethemeisbroughtoutchieflybytheparallelismwhichexistsinlines3,4and5.Firstly,thesamenessofstructureimpliesthesamenessinmeaning.Thisshowsthatthespeakerhopesthathisresponsetoseeingarainbowremainsthesamethroughoutthelife.Secondlyandmoreimportantly,theemotionalfeelingexpressedgetsstrongeraftereachjuxtaposedunit,reachingitsclimaxinthefinalparallelunit.9Reinforcedbytheimperativemoodandthemeaningofthelinefollowingit,line5mosteffectivelyexpressedthespeaker’sstrongdeterminationforcontinuingtoholdadeeploveandrespectfornature.Icame,Isaw,Iconquered.First,thethreeclausesareshortinlengthandsimpleinstructureandarrangedinchronologicalorder.Thisgeneratesafeelingthattheactofcoming,seeingandconqueringweresimpleandcompletedoneafteranotherinquicksuccession.Secondly,thethreeclauseshavethesamestructure,i.e.theyformaparallelism.Thestructuralequationofthethreeclauses11Suggestsanequationofmeaning.Caesar’sstatementthusimpliesthatforhimtheconqueringwasaseasyascomingandseeing.ThisthenexhibitsCaesar’smajesticarrogance.Large-scaleparallelisminfictionalproseHestoodbehindhisdeskinthefarendofthedimroom.Thewifelikedhim.Shelikedthedeadlyseriouswayhereceivedanycomplaints.Shelikedhisdignity.Shelikedthewayhewantedtoserveher.Shelikedthewayhefeltaboutbeingahotelkeeper.Shelikedhisold,heavyfaceandhisbighands.(Hemingway：CatintheRain)13Thepilingupoftheparallelsentenceemphasizesthepointthatshelikedthehotel-keeperinmanyways.Thepointthatthewifelikedaboutthecatarejustwhatwaslackinginherhusband.14B.Thesmall-scaleparallelismDefinition:thecasewhichconsistsofonlytwojuxtaposedunits.Intraditionalrhetoricissometimescalledantithesis.Toerrishuman,toforgivedivine.O,myluveislikeared,redrose.That’snewlysprunginJune.O,myluveislikethemelodieThat’ssweetlyplay’dintune.PippaPassesRobertBrowningTheyear’satthespringAndday’satthemorn;Morningisatseven;Thehillside’sdew-pearled;Thelark’sonthewing;Thesnail’sonthethorn;God’sinhisheaven—All’srightwiththeworld!16Patterningisevidentateverylevelofthepoem,andatthesametimewecanseehowpatternsarevariedtoavoidmonotony.Oneofthemostobviouscohesivepatternhereisthesyntax—eachlineisasingleclauseconsistingofnoun+’s+X,andXconsistsofprepositionalphraseeverywhereexceptinline4andline8wherethepatternsisvaried(butnoteherethisvariationitselfiscohesive,inthatitoccursatthesamepointinbothcases.).17Withonthewingandonthethorn,syntacticandlexicallikelinessinterplaywithsemanticdifference(onehasthesameformbutdifferentmeaningineachcase).Inlineseven,Godisforciblyincorporatedintothepatternandthusunexpectedlyplacedonthesamelevelofexistenceaslarkandsnail,whilethechangeofpropositionsfromontoitkeepstheparallelismfrombeingcomple