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PARATAXIS

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language | 1998 | | Copyright

PARATAXIS [Stress: ‘pa-ra-TA-xis’].
1. Placing together phrases, clauses, and sentences, often without conjunctions, often with and, but, so, and with minimal or no use of subordination. A paratactic style is common in orature (oral literature) and in fast-moving prose, especially if intended for young listeners or readers:
Not always was the Kangaroo as now we do behold him, but a different Animal with four short legs …. He was grey and he was woolly, and his pride was inordinate: he danced on a sandbank in the Middle of Australia, and he went to the Big God Nqong. He went to Nqong at ten before dinner-time, saying: ‘Make me different from all other animals; make me popular and wonderfully run after by five this afternoon.’

( Rudyard Kipling, ‘The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo’, Just So Stories, 1902).

2. Punctuating two or more sentences as if they were one, as in I came, I saw, I conquered (translating Latin Veni, vidi, vici) and Come on, let's get going! See COMMA, COORDINATION.

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TOM McARTHUR. "PARATAXIS." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "PARATAXIS." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-PARATAXIS.html

TOM McARTHUR. "PARATAXIS." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-PARATAXIS.html

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parataxis

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

parataxis (gram.) placing of propositions or clauses side by side without connecting words. XIX. — Gr. parātaxis, f. paratássein place side by side; see PARA-1.
So paratactic XIX.

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T. F. HOAD. "parataxis." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "parataxis." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-parataxis.html

T. F. HOAD. "parataxis." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-parataxis.html

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parataxis

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | | Copyright

parataxis is the absence of relative or dependent clauses (subordination), as in ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’. The adjectival form is ‘paratactic’. See hypotaxis.

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "parataxis." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "parataxis." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-parataxis.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "parataxis." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-parataxis.html

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