Parallelism in English grammar

An important aspect of grammar which does not get so much attention in language teaching is parallelism. Parallelism is the balance between two or more similar words, phrases or clauses. Parallelism is also called parallel construction or parallel structure.

It is used to achieve sharpness and clarity in language use. Parallel elements involve a high pattern of repetition; they attract the attention of people, and they create a treasured effect. Aside from the existence of parallelism in aspects of grammar, parallel structures can also be observed at the phonological, graphological and semantic levels to infuse aesthetics into language use.

In consequence, this article will discuss these different levels of parallelism with a view to demonstrating how they help achieve clarity, finesse and consistency in writing and speech.

Phonological parallelism deals with the repetition of sounds. It is often used to achieve a melodic effect for the purpose of emphasis or impression in speech or writing. This sound emphasis can manifest in different ways. When it plays out through the repetition of initial consonant sounds in successive words, it is called alliteration, as in:

Bobby is a brave, bold, brilliant, budding banker.

When the emphasis is achieved through the repetition of median consonants in successive words or words in proximity, it is called consonance:

Akeem and Akande were accused of hacking into the account of the acclaimed archaeologist.

When the emphasis is achieved through the rhyming of vowel sounds, it is called assonance. For instance:

Laide likes lying.

Within semantic parallelism, we talk about sense relations. Sense relations refer to how words relate to one another in terms of the relationship in their meanings. Scholars have identified sense relations such as hyponymy, synonymy and antonymy.

Hyponymy is the sense relation in which the meanings of some words are embedded within a general word. Hyponymy splits into hypernyms and hyponyms. The word with a broad meaning constituting a category into which words with more specific meanings fall is called a hypernym while a hyponym is a word whose meaning is included in the meaning of another word.

For example, dog, donkey, bird, fish are hyponyms of the hypernym “animal”, while pigeon, crow, eagle and seagull are hyponyms of the hypernym “bird”. The hyponyms listed in the two categories provide an explanation for semantic parallelism.

Synonymy, antonymy and homonymy are other sense relations used in achieving parallelism. Synonymous words have similar meanings. This does not suggest that the words should be totally interchangeable in all contexts; but where synonyms are substituted, changes in the propositions and meanings of the sentence as a whole do not occur.

For instance, house, abode, shelter, habitation and home can serve as replacements for one another as context demands. Antonymy means having opposite meaning. Just as there are no absolute synonyms in natural languages, there are equally no absolute antonyms.

Two antonyms share a considerable degree of meaning just as synonyms do. For example, “hot” and “cold” refer to extremes of temperature while “full” and “empty” refer to the degree of fullness. Other pairs of adjectives like fat and thin, ugly and beautiful, old and young may be seen in terms of the degrees of the quality involved.

At the level of grammar, we can talk about lexical and structural parallelism. Lexical parallelism is required for items in a list. The example below shows how parallelism is deployed in listing:

The dictionary can be used to find word meanings, pronunciations and spellings (parallel construction).

The dictionary can be used to find word meanings, pronunciations and to check for spellings (unparallel construction).

Further to the aforementioned, parallelism should be deployed for words or phrases joined by coordinating conjunctions such as: and, but, yet, or, nor, for, so. This usage is exemplified below:

The man closed the door, opened the windows and threw himself on the couch (parallel construction).

The man closed the door, opened the windows and was wanting to throw himself on the couch (unparallel construction).

The man closed the door, was opening the windows and threw himself on the couch (unparallel construction).

Thompson lives on an appealing, massive and secure estate (parallel construction).

Thompson lives on an appealing, massive and secured estate (unparallel construction).

The foregoing sentence is adjudged unparallel because while “appealing” and “massive” are adjectives, “secured” is a verb.

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At the structural level, two major rules guide the realisation of parallel constructions:

First, put structurally equivalent verbs together:

James loves to eat rice on Sundays and loves to eat beans only on Saturdays (equivalent verbs).

James loves eating rice on Sundays and loves to eat beans only on Saturdays (nonequivalent verbs).

Second, use clauses or complete sentences consistently:

He was bruised for our iniquities and crushed for our transgressions (consistent clauses).

He was bruised for our iniquities, and they were always crushing him for all our transgressions (inconsistent clauses).

He was bruised for our iniquities and was also to be crushed for our transgressions (inconsistent clauses).

Parallelism is crucial to all aspects of language use. As such, this piece provides a simple and direct explanation for its deployment in writing and speech.