修辞手法(Rhetoric Techniques)系列之四十 Parallelism (排比)
2014-01-27 23:23阅读：
修辞手法(Rhetoric
Techniques)系列之四十
Parallelism
(排比)
Ⅰ.
In
Grammar
In grammar, parallelism, also
known as parallel structure or parallel construction, is a balance
within one or more sentences of similar phrases or clauses that
have the same grammatical structure. The application of parallelism
improves writing style and readability, and is thought to make
sentences easier to process.
Parallelism is often achieved
using antithesis, anaphora, asyndeton, climax, epistrophe, and
symploce.
Examples
Compare the following
examples:
•
Lacking parallelism:
She likes cooking, jogging, and to read.
•
Parallel: She likes cooking, jogging, and
reading.
• Parallel: She
likes to cook, jog, and read.
In the above example, the first
sentence has two gerunds and one infinitive. To make it parallel,
the sentence can be rewritten with three gerunds or three
infinitives.
•
Lacking parallelism: The dog ran across the yard,
jumped over the fence, and down the alley he
sprinted.
•
Parallel: The dog ran across the yard, jumped over
the fence, and sprinted down the alley.
Note that the first nonparallel
example, while inelegantly worded, is grammatically correct:
'cooking,' 'jogging,' and 'to read' are all grammatically valid
conclusions to 'She likes.' The second nonparallel example is not
grammatically correct: 'down the alley he sprinted' is not a
grammatically valid conclusion to 'The dog.'
•
Lacking parallelism: Mr. Killinger admires people
with integrity and who have character.
•
Parallel: Mr. Killinger admires people 'with
integrity and character.'
•
Parallel: Mr. Killinger admires people 'who have
integrity and character.'
Ⅱ.
In
Rhetoric
In rhetoric, parallelism means
giving two or more parts of the sentences a similar form so as to
give the passage a definite pattern.
Parallelisms of various sorts
are the chief rhetorical device of Biblical poetry and in
the poetry of many cultures around the world, particularly in oral
traditions. Robert Lowth coined the term 'parallelismus membrorum
(parallelism of members, i.e. poetic lines) in his 1788 book,
Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrew Nation. Roman Jakobson
pioneered the secular study of parallelism in poetic-linguistic
traditions around the world, including his own Russian
tradition.
In addition, Chinese poetry uses
parallelism in its first form. In a parallel couplet not only must
the content, the parts of speech, the mythological and historico-
geographical allusions, be all separately matched and balanced, but
most of the tones must also be paired reciprocally. Even tones are
conjoined with inflected ones, and vice versa.
Parallelisms in artistic speech
are common in some languages of Mesoamerica, such as Nahuatl
(Aztec). It has also been observed in a language of Indonesia (that
Fox imprecisely referred to as 'Rotinese') and Navajo. Other
research has found parallelisms in the languages of the Ural-Altaic
area (including Finnish-Karelian folk poetry and the epics and
songs of the Turkic and Mongolian peoples) and Toda, suggesting
wider distribution among Dravidian languages.
Parallelisms in proverbs are
very common in languages around the world. In such a structure, the
listener/hearer has to compare the parallel elements and deduce the
point.
•
Wounds caused by knives will heal, wounds caused by
words will not heal. (Mongolian proverb)
•
The truth has legs and ran away; the lie has no
legs and must stay. (Yiddish proverb)
•
When there is food in the house, what matter if a
guest arrives? When there is faith, what is death? (Pashto
proverb)[9]
•
The cow which leaves first will be broken at the
horn; the cow which remains in the back will be broken at the tail.
(Alaaba proverb)
Examples
'We charge him with having
broken his coronation-oath - and we are told that he kept his
marriagg given up his people to the merciless inflictions of the
most hard-hearted of prelates - and the defense is that he took his
little son on his knee and kissed him. We censure him for having
violated the Petition of Right - and we are informed that he was
accustomed to hear prayers at six o'clock in the morning.'
(Macaulay)
“Veni, vidi, vici
(I came, I saw, I conquered).” (Julius Caesar)
'The inherent vice of capitalism
is the unequal sharing of blessing; the inherent virtue of
socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.'
(Churchill)
'But let judgment run down as
waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.'
(Amos)
'What you see is what you get.'
English proverb
