Concept in Definition ABC

This term comes from the Greek, specifically from the word anakólouthon, which means that which has no continuity or is inconsistent. This word is used to indicate that in a text there is a lack of agreement in some sense or that some word has been misused.

This is an error in the syntax and is quite common in the language oral and to a lesser extent in language written.

While this is technically a mistake, some writers deliberately make it to reproduce the typical mistakes of the communication oral. Consequently, the anacoluto can be interpreted in two ways: as a typical incorrectness of poorly trained people or as a Figure of speech. The anacoluto is also known by another term, solecism.

Illustrative examples

The sentence "My farm is close to yours "is incorrect, as it should be" My farm is close to yours ".

"All afternoon we were from site to site" is also a mistake, since the correct thing would be "All afternoon we were from site to site".

The statement "The benefits will be short-term" is wrong, since the correct thing would be "The benefits will be short-term."

The sentence "You have to tell him" is correct, while "All you have to do is tell him" is wrong.

There are two types of anacolutos: those in which the agreement is inadequate and those in which a preposition is misused.

Although language vices impoverish communication, they sometimes play a role in communication

Anacoluto or solecism is one of the most common language mistakes. The set of linguistic errors or inaccuracies are considered language vices. Some of them are the following:

1) amphibology consists of using phrases that can be interpreted in different ways,

2) when an outdated or obsolete word is used an archaism is produced,

3) when a word is said or misspelled, a barbarism is committed,

4) there is a cacophony when certain sounds are repeated in an exaggerated way in a sentence,

5) laconism consists in speaking or to write in an exaggeratedly brief way,

6) the neologism it is a language vice when words from another language are used in a totally unnecessary way.

The list of language vices could continue with dequeism, redundancy or pleonasm, vulgarism, ultra-correction or fillers.

Worth the pain remember that the qualification "language vice" depends on the linguistic context in which the error occurs. In the case of the anacoluto, we have already indicated that many writers use it to reproduce the oral language of some speakers.

Photo: Fotolia - stmool

Topics in Anacoluto