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Standard instances of answer ellipsis occur in answers to questions. A question is posed, and the answer is formulated in such a manner to be maximally efficient. Just the constituent that is focused by the question word is uttered. The elided material in the examples in this article is indicated using a smaller font and subscripts:
Answer ellipsis involves question-answer pairs. The question focuses on an unknown piece of information, often using an interrogative word (e.g., who, what, when etc.). The corresponding answer provides the missing information and in so doing, the redundant information that appeared in the question is elided, e.g.: Q: Who has been hiding the truth?
In rhetoric, zeugma (/ ˈ zj uː ɡ m ə / ⓘ; from the Ancient Greek ζεῦγμα, zeûgma, lit. "a yoking together" [1]) and syllepsis (/ s ɪ ˈ l ɛ p s ɪ s /; from the Ancient Greek σύλληψις, súllēpsis, lit. "a taking together" [2]) are figures of speech in which a single phrase or word joins different parts of a sentence.
Sluicing is illustrated with the following examples. In each case, an embedded question is understood though only a question word or phrase is pronounced. (The intended interpretations of the question-denoting elliptical clause are given in parentheses; parts of these are anaphoric to the boldface material in the antecedent.)
In linguistics, ' Verb phrase ellipsis ' (VP ellipsis or VPE) is a type of grammatical omission where a verb phrase is left out (elided) but its meaning can still be inferred from context. For example, " She will sell sea shells , and he will <sell sea shells> too " is understood as " She will sell sea shells, and he will sell sea shells too ...
Rhetorical question: asking a question as a way of asserting something. Asking a question that already has the answer hidden in it, or asking a question not to get an answer, but to assert something (or to create a poetic effect). Satire: humoristic criticism of society. Sesquipedalianism: use of long and obscure words.
(See Answer ellipsis.) Also many (but not all) languages have words that function like the English 'yes' and 'no', used to give short answers to yes–no questions. In languages that do not have words compared to English 'yes' and 'no', e.g. Chinese, speakers may need to answer the question according to the question.
Rhetorical question – a question asked to make a point instead of to elicit a direct answer. Rhetorical situation – a term made popular by Lloyd Bitzer; it describes the scenario that contains a speech act, including the considerations (purpose, audience, author/speaker, constraints to name a few) that play a role in how the act is produced ...