Syntax Flashcards
active
of an individual’s vocabulary, that part which is actually used
clause
a word with no fully agreed definition, but used to mean units of syntax larger than a word or phrase and smaller than a sentence. It is possible, however,
for a sentence to have only one clause. Sub-, relative, and main clauses are (among others) distinguished.
delayed
of a verb, withheld from its ‘normal’ place in the syntax to fall in a significant formal position (as the end of a sentence or line).
epic catalogue
a formal (as much as long) catalogue of something, typically
intended (in epic as elsewhere) enumeratively to express a large number or high degree. The seminal example is Homer’s 300+ line catalogue of ships and
commanders in book II of the Iliad.
epic simile
a simile endowing a subject with glory and/or significance by
comparing it (usually at elaborate and digressive length) to a incident, person, or topos from classical epic ; a favourite resource of Milton’s in Paradise Lost.
grammar
the rules governing the cases of words and the ‘permissible’ syntax
of any given language.
L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poetry
a highly theorised poetics and method of poetic composition that emerged in New York and San Francisco in the early 1970s.
main clause
those dealing directly with or continuing the principal action
of a sentence ; distinguished from sub-clauses.
metonymy
a rhetorical figure in which an attribute of something is substituted for the thing itself (as ‘the stage’ for ‘the acting profession’).
passive
of an individual’s vocabulary, the whole range of words that is known
period
a classical rhetorically defined unit of syntax and argument, composed of cola and commata ; closer to the modern paragraph than the modern sentence ; latterly and in the USA, a full-stop
plosive
of letters, requiring for their pronunciation that the vocal tract be closed and then opened, producing a small explosion of breath/sound.
relative clause
one that gives additional but syntactically inessential information about a subject, verb, or object ; commonly signalled by ‘who’, ‘which’, or ‘that’.
sentence
in modern use, the largest unit of syntax, composed of one or more
clauses and normally containing at least one grammatical subject, one transitive or intransitive verb, and if appropriate an object ; typographically, sentences
begin with a capital letter and end with a full-stop.
sub-clause
any that is not a main clause, including all relative clauses, parenthetical clauses, etc
