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Rhetorical question. A rhetorical question is a question asked for a purpose other than to obtain information. [1] In many cases it may be intended to start a discourse, as a means of displaying or emphasizing the speaker's or author's opinion on a topic. A simple example is the question "Can't you do anything right?"
Zeugma (often also called syllepsis, or semantic syllepsis): a single word is used in two parts of a sentence but must be understood differently in relation to each. [6][7][8][9] Example: "He took his hat and his leave." The type of figure is grammatically correct but creates its effect by seeming, at first hearing, to be incorrect by its ...
Hypophora, also referred to as anthypophora or antipophora, is a figure of speech in which the speaker poses a question and then answers the question. [1] Hypophora can consist of a single question answered in a single sentence, a single question answered in a paragraph or even a section, or a series of questions, each answered in subsequent paragraphs.
The history of English grammars[1][2] begins late in the sixteenth century with the Pamphlet for Grammar by William Bullokar. In the early works, the structure and rules of English grammar were based on those of Latin. A more modern approach, incorporating phonology, was introduced in the nineteenth century.
A famous example for lexical ambiguity is the following sentence: " Wenn hinter Fliegen Fliegen fliegen, fliegen Fliegen Fliegen hinterher. ", meaning "When flies fly behind flies, then flies fly in pursuit of flies." [39][circular reference] It takes advantage of some German nouns and corresponding verbs being homonymous.
The history of writing traces the development of writing systems [1] and how their use transformed and was transformed by different societies. The use of writing prefigures various social and psychological consequences associated with literacy and literary culture. Each historical invention of writing emerged from systems of proto-writing that ...
Laconic phrase. A laconic phrase or laconism is a concise or terse statement, especially a blunt and elliptical rejoinder. [1][2] It is named after Laconia, the region of Greece including the city of Sparta, whose ancient inhabitants had a reputation for verbal austerity and were famous for their often pithy remarks.
Linguistically, a question may be defined on three levels. At the level of semantics, a question is defined by its ability to establish a set of logically possible answers. [ 1 ] At the level of pragmatics, a question is an illocutionary category of speech act which seeks to obtain information from the addressee. [ 1 ]