Chapter III.—Figures

A Figure, in grammar, is an intentional deviation from the ordinary spelling, formation, construction, or application, of words. There are, accordingly, figures of Orthography, figures of Etymology, figures of Syntax, and figures of Rhetoric. When figures are judiciously employed, they both strengthen and adorn expression. They occur more frequently in poetry than in prose; and several of them are merely poetic licenses.

Section I.—Figures of Orthography.

A Figure of Orthography is an intentional deviation from the ordinary or true spelling of a word. The principal figures of Orthography are two; namely, Mi-me'-sis and Ar'-cha-ism.

Explanations.

I. Mimesis is a ludicrous imitation of some mistake or mispronunciation of a word, in which the error is mimicked by a false spelling, or the taking of one word for another; as, "Maister, says he, have you any wery good weal in you vâllet?"—Columbian Orator, p. 292. "Ay, he was porn at Monmouth, captain Gower."—Shak. "I will description the matter to you, if you be capacity of it."—Id.

"Perdigious! I can hardly stand." —LLOYD: Brit. Poets, Vol. viii, p. 184.

II. An Archaism is a word or phrase expressed according to ancient usage, and not according to our modern orthography; as, "Newe grene chese of smalle clammynes comfortethe a hotte stomake."—T. PAYNEL: Tooke's Diversions, ii, 132. "He hath holpen his servant Israel."—Luke, i, 54.

"With him was rev'rend Contemplation pight,
Bow-bent with eld, his beard of snowy hue."—Beattie.

OBS.—Among the figures of this section, perhaps we might include the foreign words or phrases which individual authors now and then adopt in writing English; namely, the Scotticisms, the Gallicisms, the Latinisms, the Grecisms, and the like, with which they too often garnish their English style. But these, except they stand as foreign quotations, in which case they are exempt from our rules, are in general offences against the purity of our language; and it may therefore be sufficient, just to mention them here, without expressly putting any of them into the category of grammatical figures.

Section II.—Figures of Etymology.

A Figure of Etymology is an intentional deviation from the ordinary formation of a word. The principal figures of Etymology are eight; namely, A-phoer'-e-sis, Pros'-the-sis, Syn'-co-pe, A-poc'-o-pe, Par-a-go'-ge, Di-oer'-e-sis, Syn-oer'-e-sis, and Tme'-sis.

Explanations.

I. Aphæresis is the elision of some of the initial letters of a word: as, 'gainst, for against; 'gan, for began; 'neath, for beneath; 'thout, for without.

II. Prosthesis is the prefixing of an expletive syllable to a word: as, _a_down, for down; _ap_paid, for paid; _be_strown, for strown; _ev_anished, for vanished; _y_clad, for clad.

III. Syn'copè is the elision of some of the middle letters of a word: as, med'cine, for medicine; e'en, for even; o'er, for over; conq'ring, for conquering; se'nnight, for sevennight.

IV. Apoc'opè is the elision of some of the final letters of a word: as, tho' for though; th', for the; t'other, for the other; thro', for through.

V. Parago'gè is the annexing of an expletive syllable to a word: as, Johnny, for John; deary, for dear; withouten, for without.

VI. Diæresis is the separating of two vowels that might be supposed to form a diphthong: as, coöperate, not cooperate; aëronaut, not æronaut; or'thoëpy, not orthoepy.

VII. Synæresis is the sinking of two syllables into one: as, seest, for sëest; tacked, for tack-ed; drowned, for drown-ed; spoks't, for spok-est; show'dst, for show-edst; 'tis, for it is; I'll, for I will.

VIII. Tmesis is the inserting of a word between the parts of a compound, or between two words which should be united if they stood together: as, "On which side soever."—Rolla. "To us ward;" "To God ward."—Bible. "The assembling of ourselves together."—Id. "With what charms soe'er she will."—Cowper. "So new a fashion'd robe."—Shak. "Lament the live day long."—Burns.

OBS.—In all our pronunciation, except that of the solemn style, such verbal or participial terminations as can be so uttered, are usually sunk by synæresis into mere modifications of preceding syllables. The terminational consonants, if not uttered with one vowel, must be uttered with an other. When, therefore, a vowel is entirely suppressed in pronunciation, (whether retained in writing or not,) the consonants connected with it, necessarily fall into an other syllable: thus, tried, triest, sued, suest, loved, lovest, mov'd, mov'st, are monosyllables; and studied, studiest, studi'dst, argued, arguest, argu'dst, are dissyllables; except in solemn discourse, in which the e is generally retained and made vocal.

Section III.—Figures of Syntax.

A Figure of Syntax is an intentional deviation from the ordinary construction of words. The principal figures of Syntax are five; namely, El-lip'-sis, Ple'-o-nasm, Syl-lep'-sis, En-al'-la-ge, and Hy-per'-ba-ton. EXPLANATIONS.

I. Ellipsis is the omission of some word or words which are necessary to complete the construction, but not necessary to convey the meaning. Such words are said, in technical phrase, to be understood; because they are received as belonging to the sentence, though they are not uttered.

Of compound sentences, a vast many are more or less elliptical; and sometimes, for brevity's sake, even the most essential parts of a simple sentence, are suppressed; as, "But more of this hereafter."—Harris's Hermes, p. 77. This means, "But I shall say more of this hereafter." "Prythee, peace."—Shak. That is, "I pray thee, hold thou thy peace."

There may be an omission of any of the parts of speech, or even of a whole clause, when this repeats what precedes; but the omission of mere articles or interjections can scarcely constitute a proper ellipsis, because these parts of speech, wherever they are really necessary to be recognized, ought to be expressed.

Examples of Ellipsis Supplied.

1. Of the ARTICLE:—"A man and [a] woman."—"The day, [the] month, and [the] year."—"She gave me an apple and [a] pear, for a fig and [an] orange."—Jaudon's Gram., p. 170.

2. Of the NOUN:—"The common [law] and the statute law."—"The twelve [apostles]."—"The same [man] is he."—"One [book] of my books."—"A dozen [bottles] of wine."—"Conscience, I say; not thine own [conscience], but [the conscience] of the other."—1 Cor., x, 29. "Every moment subtracts from [our lives] what it adds to our lives."—Dillwyn's Ref., p. 8. "Bad actions mostly lead to worse" [actions].—Ib., p. 5.

3. Of the ADJECTIVE:—"There are subjects proper for the one, and not [proper] for the other."—Kames. "A just weight and [a just] balance are the Lord's."—Prov., xvi, 11. True ellipses of the adjective alone, are but seldom met with.

4. Of the PRONOUN:—"Leave [thou] there thy gift before the altar, and go [thou] thy way; first be [thou] reconciled to thy brother, and then come [thou] and offer [thou] thy gift,"—Matt., v, 24. "Love [ye] your enemies, bless [ye] them that curse you, do [ye] good to them that hate you."—Ib., v. 44. "Chastisement does not always immediately follow error, but [it] sometimes comes when [it is] least expected."— Dillwyn, Ref., p. 31. "Men generally put a greater value upon the favours [which] they bestow, than upon those [which] they receive."—Art of Thinking, p. 48. "Wisdom and worth were all [that] he had."—Allen's Gram., p. 294.

5. Of the VERB:—"The world is crucified unto me, and I [am crucified] unto the world."—Gal., vi, 14. "Hearts should not [differ], though heads may, differ."—Dillwyn, p. 11. "Are ye not much better than they" [are]?—Matt., vi, 26. "Tribulation worketh patience; and patience [worketh] experience; and experience [worketh] hope."—Romans, v, 4. "Wrongs are engraved on marble; benefits [are engraved] on sand."—Art of Thinking, p. 41. "To whom thus Eve, yet sinless" [spoke].—Milton.

6. Of the PARTICIPLE:—"That [being] o'er, they part."—"Animals of various natures, some adapted to the wood, and some [adapted] to the wave."—Melmoth, on Scripture, p. 13.

"His knowledge [being] measured to his state and place,
His time [being] a moment, and a point [being] his space."—Pope.

7. Of the ADVERB:—"He can do this independently of me, if not [independently] of you."

"She shows a body rather than a life;
A statue, [rather] than a breather."
—Shak., Ant. and Cleo., iii, 3.

8. Of the CONJUNCTION:—"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, [and] joy, [and] peace, [and] long suffering, [and] gentleness, [and] goodness, [and] faith, [and] meekness, [and] temperance."—Gal., v, 22. The repetition of the conjunction is called Polysyndeton; and the omission of it, Asyndeton.

9. Of the PREPOSITION:—"It shall be done [on] this very day."—"We shall set off [at] some time [in] next month."—"He departed [from] this life."—"He gave [to] me a book."—"We walked [through] a mile."—"He was banished [from] the kingdom."—W. Allen. "He lived like [to] a prince."—Wells.

10. Of the INTERJECTION:—"Oh! the frailty, [oh!] the wickedness of men."—"Alas for Mexico! and [alas] for many of her invaders!"

11. Of PHRASES or CLAUSES:—"The active commonly do more than they are bound to do; the indolent [commonly do] less" [than they are bound to do].—"Young men, angry, mean less than they say; old men, [angry, mean] more" [than they say].—"It is the duty of justice, not to injure men; [it is the duty] of modesty, not to offend them."—W. Allen.

Observations.

OBS. 1.—Grammarians in general treat of ellipsis without defining it; and exhibit such rules and examples as suppose our language to be a hundred-fold more elliptical than it really is. This is a great error, and only paralleled by that of a certain writer elsewhere noticed, who denies the existence of all ellipsis whatever. (See Syntax, Obs. 24th on Rule 22d.) Some have defined this figure in a way that betrays a very inaccurate notion of what it is: as, "ELLIPSIS is when one or more words are wanting to complete the sense."—Adam's Lat. and Eng. Gram., p. 235; Gould's, 229. "ELLIPSIS is the omission of one or more words necessary to complete the sense."—Bullions, Lat. Gram., p. 265. These definitions are decidedly worse than none; because, if they have any effect, they can only mislead. They absurdly suggest that every elliptical sentence lacks a part of its own meaning! Ellipsis is, in fact, the mere omission or absence of certain suggested words; or of words that may be spared from utterance, without defect in the sense. There never can be an ellipsis of any thing which is either unnecessary to the construction or necessary to the sense; for to say what we mean and nothing more, never can constitute a deviation from the ordinary grammatical construction of words. As a figure of Syntax, therefore, the ellipsis can only be of such words as are so evidently suggested to the reader, that the writer is as fully answerable for them as if he had written them.

OBS. 2.—To suppose an ellipsis where there is none, or to overlook one where it really occurs, is to pervert or mutilate the text, in order to accommodate it to the parser's or reader's ignorance of the principles of syntax. There never can be either a general uniformity or a self-consistency in our methods of parsing, or in our notions of grammar, till the true nature of an ellipsis is clearly ascertained; so that the writer shall distinguish it from a blundering omission that impairs the sense, and the reader or parser be barred from an arbitrary insertion of what would be cumbrous and useless. By adopting loose and extravagant ideas of the nature of this figure, some pretenders to learning and philosophy have been led into the most whimsical and opposite notions concerning the grammatical construction of language. Thus, with equal absurdity, Cardell and Sherman, in their Philosophic Grammars, attempt to confute the doctrines of their predecessors, by supposing ellipses at pleasure. And while the former teaches, that prepositions do not govern the objective case, but that every verb is transitive, and governs at least two objects, expressed or understood, its own and that of a preposition: the latter, with just as good an argument, contends that no verb is transitive, but that every objective case is governed by a preposition expressed or understood. A world of nonsense for lack of a definition!

II. PLEONASM is the introduction of superfluous words; as, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it."—Gen., ii, 17. This figure is allowable only, when, in animated discourse, it abruptly introduces an emphatic word, or repeats an idea to impress it more strongly; as, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."—Bible. "All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth."—Id. "There shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down."—Id. "I know thee who thou art."—Id. A Pleonasm, as perhaps in these instances, is sometimes impressive and elegant; but an unemphatic repetition of the same idea, is one of the worst faults of bad writing.

OBS.—Strong passion is not always satisfied with saying a thing once, and in the fewest words possible; nor is it natural that it should be. Hence repetitions indicative of intense feeling may constitute a beauty of the highest kind, when, if the feeling were wanting, or supposed to be so, they would be reckoned intolerable tautologies. The following is an example, which the reader may appreciate the better, if he remembers the context: "At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down; at her feet he bowed, he fell; where he bowed, there he fell down dead."—Judges, v, 27.

III. SYLLEPSIS is agreement formed according to the figurative sense of a word, or the mental conception of the thing spoken of, and not according to the literal or common use of the term; it is therefore in general connected with some figure of rhetoric: as "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us, and we beheld his glory."—John, i, 14. "Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them."—Acts, viii, 5. "The city of London have expressed their sentiments with freedom and firmness."—Junius, p. 159. "And I said [to backsliding Israel,] after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me; but she returned not: and her treacherous sister Judah saw it."—Jer., iii, 7. "And he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder."—Mark, iii, 17.

"While Evening draws her crimson curtains round."—Thomson, p. 63.

"The Thunder raises his tremendous voice."—Id., p. 113.

Observations.

OBS. 1.—To the parser, some explanation of that agreement which is controlled by tropes, is often absolutely necessary; yet, of our modern grammarians, none appear to have noticed it; and, of the oldest writers, few, if any, have given it the rank which it deserves among the figures of syntax. The term Syllepsis literally signifies conception, comprehension, or taking-together. Under this name have been arranged, by the grammarians and rhetoricians, many different forms of unusual or irregular agreement; some of which are quite too unlike to be embraced in the same class, and not a few, perhaps, too unimportant or too ordinary to deserve any classification as figures. I therefore omit some forms of expression which others have treated as examples of Syllepsis, and define the term with reference to such as seem more worthy to be noticed as deviations from the ordinary construction of words. Dr. Webster, allowing the word two meanings, explains it thus: "SYLLEPSIS, n. [Gr. syllæpsis.] 1. In grammar, a figure by which we conceive the sense of words otherwise than the words import, and construe them according to the intention of the author; otherwise called substitution. 2. The agreement of a verb or adjective, not with the word next to it, but with the most worthy in the sentence."—American Dict.

OBS. 2.—In short, Syllepsis is a conception of which grammarians have conceived so variously, that it has become doubtful, what definition or what application of the term is now the most appropriate. Dr. Prat, in defining it, cites one notion from Sanctius, and adds an other of his own, thus: "SYLLEPSIS, id est, Conceptio, est quoties Generibus, aut Numeris videntur voces discrepare. Sanct. l. 4. c. 10. Vel sit Comprehensio indignioris sub digniore."—Prat's Lat. Gram., Part ii, p. 164. John Grant ranks it as a mere form or species of Ellipsis, and expounds it thus: "Syllepsis is when the adjective or verb, joined to different substantives, agrees with the more worthy."—Institutes of Lat. Gram., p. 321. Dr. Littleton describes it thus: "SYLLLEPSIS [sic—KTH],—A Grammatical figure where two Nominative Cases singular of different persons are joined to a Verb plural."—Latin Dict., 4to. By Dr. Morell it is explained as follows: "SYLLEPSIS,—A grammatical figure, where one is put for many, and many for one, Lat. Conceptio."—Morell's Ainsworth's Dict., 4to, Index Vitand. IV. Enállagè is the use of one part of speech, or of one modification, for an other. This figure borders closely upon solecism; and, for the stability of the language, it should be sparingly indulged. There are, however, several forms of it which can appeal to good authority: as,

1. "You know that you are Brutus, that say this."—Shak.

2. "They fall successive[ly], and successive[ly] rise."—Pope.

3. "Than whom [who] a fiend more fell is nowhere found."—Thomson.

4. "Sure some disaster has befell" [befallen].—Gay.

5. "So furious was that onset's shock, Destruction's gates at once unlock" [unlocked].—Hogg.

Observations.

OBS. 1.—Enallage is a Greek word, signifying commutation, change, or exchange. "Enallage, in a general sense, is the change of words, or of their accidents, one for another."—Grant's Latin Gram., p. 322. The word Antimeria, which literally expresses change of parts, was often used by the old grammarians as synonymous with Enallage; though, sometimes, the former was taken only for the substitution of one part of speech for an other, and the latter, only, or more particularly, for a change of modification—as of mood for mood, tense for tense, or number for number. The putting of one case for an other, has also been thought worthy of a particular name, and been called Antiptosis. But Enallage, the most comprehensive of these terms, having been often of old applied to all such changes, reducing them to one head, may well be now defined as above, and still applied, in this way, to all that we need recognize as figures. The word Enallaxis, preferred by some, is of the same import. "ENALLAXIS, so called by Longinus, or ENALLAGE, is an Exchange of Cases, Tenses, Persons, Numbers, or Genders."—Holmes's Rhet., Book i, p. 57.

"An ENALLAXIS changes, when it pleases,
Tenses, or Persons, Genders, Numbers, Cases."—Ib., B. ii, p. 50.

OBS. 2.—Our most common form of Enallage is that by which a single person is addressed in the plural number. This is so fashionable in our civil intercourse, that some very polite grammarians improperly dispute its claims to be called a figure; and represent it as being more ordinary, and even more literal than the regular phraseology; which a few of them, as we have seen, would place among the archaisms. The next in frequency, (if indeed it can be called a different form,) is the practice of putting we for I, or the plural for the singular in the first person. This has never yet been claimed as literal and regular syntax, though the usages differ in nothing but commonness; both being honourably authorized, both still improper on some occasions, and, in both, the Enallage being alike obvious. Other varieties of this figure, not uncommon in English, are the putting of adjectives for adverbs, of adverbs for nouns, of the present tense for the preterit, and of the preterit for the perfect participle. But, in the use of such liberties, elegance and error sometimes approximate so nearly, there is scarcely an obvious line between them, and grammarians consequently disagree in making the distinction.

OBS. 3.—Deviations of this kind are, in general, to be considered solecisms; otherwise, the rules of grammar would be of no use or authority. Despauter, an ancient Latin grammarian, gave an improper latitude to this figure, or to a species of it, under the name of Antiptosis; and Behourt and others extended it still further. But Sanctius says, "Antiptosi grammaticorum nihil imperitius, quod figmentum si esset verum, frustra quæreretur, quem casum verba regerent." And the Messieurs De Port Royal reject the figure altogether. There are, however, some changes of this kind, which the grammarian is not competent to condemn, though they do not accord with the ordinary principles of construction.

V. Hyperbaton is the transposition of words; as, "He wanders earth around."—Cowper "Rings the world with the vain stir."—Id. "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you."—Acts, xvii, 23. "'Happy', says Montesquieu, 'is that nation whose annals are tiresome.'"—Corwin, in Congress, 1847. This figure is much employed in poetry. A judicious use of it confers harmony, variety, strength, and vivacity upon composition. But care should be taken lest it produce ambiguity or obscurity, absurdity or solecism.

OBS.—A confused and intricate arrangement of words, received from some of the ancients the name of Syn'chysis, and was reckoned by them among the figures of grammar. By some authors, this has been improperly identified with Hyper'baton, or elegant inversion; as may be seen under the word Synchysis in Littleton's Dictionary, or in Holmes's Rhetoric, at page 58th. Synchysis literally means confusion, or commixtion; and, in grammar, is significant only of some poetical jumble of words, some verbal kink or snarl, which cannot be grammatically resolved or disentangled: as,

"Is piety thus and pure devotion paid?" —Milton, P. L., B. xi, l. 452.

"An ass will with his long ears fray
The flies that tickle him away;
But man delights to have his ears
Blown maggots in by flatterers."
—Butler's Poems, p. 161.