parataxis
/ˌparəˈtaksɪs
/noun [mass noun] Grammar
The placing of clauses or phrases one after another, without words to indicate coordination or subordination, as in Tell me, how are you? Contrasted with hypotaxis.A qualitative analysis of the two texts revealed a number of differences in discourse structure, including different patterns of hypotaxis and parataxis....
- In a fundamental conflict between constative force and performative possibility, the assuring parataxis itself begins to serve as a resistant marker of performatives that potentially contradict its simple narrative.
- The relation of coordination may be that of clause-chaining, parataxis, or conjunction.
Derivatives
paratactic
/ adjective ...- One of the ideas put forth by many poets in the public talks and readings of the early 80s, for example, was that paratactic sentence structure in paragraphs rather than line breaks should be used by everyone, even uniformly.
- In the paratactic flow of the passage, the pronoun ‘she’ is progressively distanced from a fixed and isolatable antecedent.
- This is in part because its form is paratactic (a chain of separable links) and can therefore seem like a loose assemblage of small pieces without a coherent shape.
paratactically
Origin
Mid 19th century: from Greek parataxis, from para- 'beside' + taxis 'arrangement' (from tassein 'arrange').