Tautology (language)

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In literary criticism and rhetoric, a tautology is a statement that repeats an idea, using near-synonymous morphemes, words or phrases, effectively "saying the same thing twice". [1] [2] Tautology and pleonasm are not consistently differentiated in literature. [3] Like pleonasm, tautology is often considered a fault of style when unintentional. Intentional repetition may emphasize a thought or help the listener or reader understand a point. [4] Sometimes logical tautologies like "Boys will be boys" are conflated with language tautologies, but a language tautology is not inherently true, while a logical tautology always is. [4]

Contents

Etymology

The word was coined in Hellenistic Greek from ταὐτός ('the same') plus λόγος ('word' or 'idea'), and transmitted through 3rd-century Latin tautologia and French tautologie. It first appeared in English in the 16th century. The use of the term logical tautology was introduced in English by Wittgenstein in 1919, perhaps following Auguste Comte's usage in 1835. [5]

Examples

Initialisms

Abbreviations whose last word is often redundantly repeated. [6] [7]

Discussion

Intentional repetition of meaning intends to amplify or emphasize a particular, usually significant fact about what is being discussed. For example, a gift is, by definition, free of charge; using the phrase "free gift" might emphasize that there are no hidden conditions or fine print (such as the expectation of money or reciprocation) 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 descriptive words or phrases: for example, using "goblets and gold" to mean wealth, or "this day and age" to refer to the present time. Superficially, these expressions may seem tautological, but they are stylistically sound because the repeated meaning is just a way to emphasize the same idea.

The use of tautologies, however, is usually unintentional. For example, the phrases "mental telepathy", "planned conspiracies", and "small dwarfs" imply that there are such things as physical telepathy, spontaneous conspiracies, and giant dwarfs, which are oxymorons. [8]

Parallelism is not tautology, but rather a particular stylistic device. Much Old Testament poetry is based on parallelism: the same thing said twice, but in slightly different ways (Fowler describes this as pleonasm). [1] However, modern biblical study emphasizes that there are subtle distinctions and developments between the two lines, such that they are usually not truly the "same thing". Parallelism can be found wherever there is poetry in the Bible: Psalms, the Books of the Prophets, and in other areas as well.

See also

Related Research Articles

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A figure of speech or rhetorical figure is a word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use to produce a rhetorical effect. Figures of speech are traditionally classified into schemes, which vary the ordinary sequence of words, and tropes, where words carry a meaning other than what they ordinarily signify.

Antithesis is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introduced together for contrasting effect. This is based on the logical phrase or term.

Tautology may refer to:

Pleonasm is redundancy in linguistic expression, such as "black darkness" or "burning fire". It is a manifestation of tautology by traditional rhetorical criteria and might be considered a fault of style. Pleonasm may also be used for emphasis, or because the phrase has become established in a certain form. Tautology and pleonasm are not consistently differentiated in literature.

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In rhetoric, a rhetorical device, persuasive device, or stylistic device is a technique that an author or speaker uses to convey to the listener or reader a meaning with the goal of persuading them towards considering a topic from a perspective, using language designed to encourage or provoke an emotional display of a given perspective or action. They seek to make a position or argument more compelling than it would otherwise be.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAS syndrome</span> Acronym redundantly coupled with its word(s)

RAS syndrome is the redundant use of one or more of the words that make up an acronym in conjunction with the abbreviated form. This means, in effect, repeating one or more words from the acronym. Three common examples are "PIN number"/"VIN number" and "ATM machine". The term RAS syndrome was coined in 2001 in a light-hearted column in New Scientist.

In linguistics, a redundancy is information that is expressed more than once in linguistics.

A platitude is a trite, meaningless, or prosaic statement, often used as a thought-terminating cliché, aimed at quelling social, emotional, or cognitive unease. The statement may be true, but its meaning has been lost due to its excessive use.

Diacope is a rhetorical term meaning repetition of a word or phrase that is broken up by a single intervening word, or a small number of intervening words. It derives from a Greek word diakopḗ, which means "cut in two". Diacopae is used in writing to emphasize or describe something. Like other forms of repetition, diacope helps express strong emotions, or help give weight to the repeated word.

Figura etymologica is a rhetorical figure in which words with the same etymological derivation are used in the same passage. To count as a figura etymologica, it is necessary that the two words be genuinely different words and not just different inflections of the same word. For example, the sentence Once I loved, but I love no more is not a figura etymologica since although love and loved are obviously etymologically related, they are really just inflections of the same word.

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In mathematical logic, a tautology is a formula or assertion that is true in every possible interpretation. An example is "x=y or x≠y". Similarly, "either the ball is green, or the ball is not green" is always true, regardless of the colour of the ball.

A tautophrase is a phrase or sentence that repeats an idea in the same words. The name was coined in 2006 by William Safire in The New York Times.

Repetition is the simple repeating of a word, within a short space of words, with no particular placement of the words to secure emphasis. It is a multilinguistic written or spoken device, frequently used in English and several other languages, such as Hindi and Chinese, and so rarely termed a figure of speech.

In common usage and linguistics, concision is a communication principle of eliminating redundancy, such as using as few words as possible in a sentence while preserving its meaning. More generally, it is achieved through the omission of parts that impart information that was already given, that is obvious or that is irrelevant. Outside of linguistics, a message may be similarly "dense" in other forms of communication.

Verbosity, or verboseness, is speech or writing that uses more words than necessary. The opposite of verbosity is plain language.

In rhetoric, parallel syntax is a rhetorical device that consists of repetition among adjacent sentences or clauses. The repeated sentences or clauses provide emphasis to a central theme or idea the author is trying to convey. Parallelism is the mark of a mature language speaker.

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A lapalissade is an obvious truth—i.e. a truism or tautology—which produces a comical effect. It is derived from the name Jacques de la Palice, and the word is used in several languages.

References

  1. 1 2 Fowler, Henry Watson (1 April 1983). Gowers, Sir Ernest (ed.). Modern English Usage (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-281389-3.
  2. ↑ Bryson, Bill (29 July 1999). The Mother Tongue: The English Language. Penguin Books. ISBN   978-0-14-014305-8.
  3. ↑ Szymanek, Bogdan (2015). "Remarks on Tautology in Word-Formation". In Bauer, Laurie; Körtvélyessy, Lívia; Štekauer, Pavol (eds.). Semantics of Complex Words . Studies in Morphology. Vol. 3. pp. 143–161. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-14102-2_8. ISBN   978-3319141022.
  4. 1 2 Bascom, John (1866). Philosophy of Rhetoric. Boston, Crosby and Ainsworth. p. 241. OL   1853537W – via Internet Archive.
  5. ↑ "Home : Oxford English Dictionary" . Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). 2014.
  6. ↑ "Examples of Tautology: Meaning and Common Forms". yourdictionary.
  7. ↑ "Tautology Examples In Acronyms And Daily Usage". classnotes. 1 March 2019.
  8. ↑ Kallan, Richard (2005). Armed Gunmen, True Facts, and Other Ridiculous Nonsense: A Compiled Compendium of Repetitive Redundancies . Pantheon Books. p. x. ISBN   978-0-375-42352-9.
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