Quora Answer: How is Syntactic Parallelism Defined?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How is syntactic parallelism defined?”

Parallelism in rhetoric, and literature, is the repetition of adjacent sentences and clauses.  This is used to emphasise a central theme, by reiterating a point for example, or for contrast.  In the field of linguistics, syntax refers to the structure of a sentence.  Syntactic parallelism is this parallel sentence structure, and utilises various rhetorical, or literary devices to create this effect.

We use syntactic parallelism to construct a more appealing argument.  It is not enough that an argument for, or against, a proposition be coherent, and cogent.  It needs to have a certain elegance to appeal to the aesthetics of the audience, and make it more readily recallable.  This reiteration of points, and repetition of clauses, allows the audience, or reader, to absorb the message, both consciously, and unconsciously, and has greater sway on them.  Poetry, and song, for example, heavily use syntactic parallelism.

At its very basic, syntactic parallelism utilises two clauses, or sentences.  This is known as an isocolon, which literally means “equal member”.  When there is three, it is called a tricolon.  All other parallel syntactic structures tend to be variations of this theme.

When it is used with an alliteration, it may be found in many nursery rhymes and tongue twisters.  An example would be “She sells seashells, by the sea shore.”

When it is used with the beginning words or phrase being the same, it is called an anaphora.  This may be found in Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill’s “Never Surrender” speech, where he begins every sentence in the body of the speech with “We will fight …”  It is a feature of many significant, and great speeches.

When syntactic parallelism is used with successive clauses that contrast with each other, and espouse opposites, it is known as an antithesis.  For example, “Love is blind, but marriage is an eye opener.”

When the words have increasing intensity of meaning, it is known as a climax, or emphasis.  For example, a poetic translation of the first two line of the Gospel according to John:

John 1:1-2

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

When the words rhyme at the end, instead of at the beginning of the sentence, it is known as an epiphora, or an epistrophe.  William Shakespeare’s plays are replete with epiphora’s in isocolon, which is his favoured sentence structure.  For example, Friar Laurence, in Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, scene 3, says:

“Fie, fie, thou shamest thy shape, thy love, thy wit,

Which, like a userer, abound’st in all,

And uses none in that true sense indeed

Which should bedeck thy shape, thy love, thy wit.”

Sometimes, for artistic effect, sentences leave out the conjunctions to have a compact, succinct sentence.  This is known as an asyndeton.  An example would be Julius Caesar’s “Vini, vidi, vici.”

There are further, more complex forms of syntactic parallelism that utilise anadiplosis, chiasmus, symploce, and antimetabole, among many other rhetorical, and literary, devices.