Tautology (language)

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". Tautology and pleonasm are not consistently differentiated in literature. 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. 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. 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. "Only time will tell if we stand the test of time", from the Van Halen song "Why Can't This Be Love" "After we change the game it won't remain the same." from the Blackalicious song "Blazing Arrow" "That tautological statement has repeated an idea." "There once was a fellow from Perth Who was born on the day of his birth. He got married, they say On his wife's wedding day, And died when he quitted the earth." "...A forget-me-not, to remind me to remember not to forget." from the Benny Hill song "My Garden of Love" Assless chaps. Chaps by definition are separate leg-coverings; a similar garment joined at the seat would instead be called a pair of trousers. "...und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, dann leben sie noch heute" (and if they are not dead, then they are still alive today), traditional German formula to end a fairy tale (like "they lived happily ever after"). "'Former alumni' - alumni means those who are former members of an institution, group, school etc. "'Wandering planet' - the word planet comes from the Greek word πλανήτης (planḗtēs), which itself means "wanderer".

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Pléonasme

Le pléonasme est une figure de style où l'expression d'une idée est soit renforcée soit précisée par l'ajout d'un ou plusieurs mots qui ne sont pas nécessaires au sens grammatical de la phrase, et qui sont synonymes. C'est un mode d'expression aussi fréquent dans la langue littéraire que dans le langage familier. Dans celui-ci, la figure est parfois involontaire comme dans l'expression « monter en haut » et cette faute devient une périssologie. Le contraire du pléonasme est l'oxymore.

Figure of speech

A figure of speech or rhetorical figure is a word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use in order 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. An example of a scheme is a polysyndeton: the repetition of a conjunction before every element in a list, whereas the conjunction typically would appear only before the last element, as in "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"—emphasizing the danger and number of animals more than the prosaic wording with only the second "and".

Rhétorique

thumb|Démosthène s'exerçant à la parole, toile de Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ (1842-1923). La rhétorique est l'art de l'action du discours sur les esprits. Le mot provient du latin rhetorica, emprunté au grec ancien , « technique, art oratoire ». Plus précisément, selon Ruth Amossy : . La rhétorique est d’abord l’art de l’éloquence. Elle a d’abord concerné la communication orale.