parataxis

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`parataxis`: parataxis

The parataxis relation (from Greek for “place side by side”) is a relation between a word (often the main predicate of a sentence) and other elements, such as a sentential parenthetical or a clause after a “:” or a “;”, placed side by side without any explicit coordination, subordination, or argument relation with the head word. Parataxis is a discourse-like equivalent of coordination, and so usually obeys an iconic ordering. Hence it is normal for the first part of a sentence to be the head and the second part to be the parataxis dependent, regardless of the headedness properties of the language. But things do get more complicated, such as cases of parentheticals, which appear medially.

An inventory of constructions to which parataxis has been applied

Treatment of reported speech

For this reported speech example:

Тот парень , сказал Вася , ушёл рано утром  . \n The guy , said Vasya , left early in-the-morning .
parataxis(ушёл, сказал)
parataxis(left, said)

There are paraphrases that convey essentially the same meaning but with a different syntactic structure. When the reported speech is embedded in a subordinate clause (with or without an overt complementizer что “that”), the subordinate clause is a ccomp of the speech verb. When the reported speech follows the speech verb and is separated by a colon, the reported speech forms a main clause that attaches to the preceding main clause with a parataxis relation, hence with the speech verb as its head. However, when the speech verb occurs as a medial or final parenthetical, the relation is reversed and the speech verb is treated as a parataxis of the reported speech. This analysis is not uncontroversial but follows many authorities, such as Huddleston and Pullum (2002), The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (see chapter 11, section 9).

Вася сказал , что тот парень ушёл рано утром . \n Vasya said , that the guy left early in-the-morning .
ccomp(сказал, ушёл)
ccomp(said, left)

Вася сказал : " Тот парень ушёл рано утром . " \n Vasya said : " The guy left early in-the-morning . "
parataxis(сказал, ушёл)
parataxis(said, left)

" Тот парень ушёл рано утром , " сказал Вася . \n " The guy left early in-the-morning , " said Vasya .
parataxis(ушёл, сказал)
parataxis(left, said)

" Тот парень , " — сказал Вася , — " ушёл рано утром . " \n " The guy , " — said Vasya , — " left early in-the-morning . "
parataxis(ушёл, сказал)
parataxis(left, said)

An argument for this analysis is that in the cases analyzed as embedding, the entire clause can be further embedded (I was taken aback when John said the guy left early in the morning.), while this is not possible with medial or final placement of the speech verb (*I was taken aback when the guy left early this morning, John said.).

News article bylines

The parataxis relation should be used to connect the parts of a news article byline. There does not seem to be a better relation to use.

Вашингтон ( CNN ) :
parataxis(Вашингтон, CNN)

Treebank Statistics (UD_Russian)

This relation is universal.

539 nodes (1%) are attached to their parents as parataxis.

511 instances of parataxis (95%) are left-to-right (parent precedes child). Average distance between parent and child is 11.3710575139147.

The following 36 pairs of parts of speech are connected with parataxis: ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/VERB (257; 48% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/VERB (63; 12% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/NOUN (35; 6% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/NOUN (30; 6% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/VERB (23; 4% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/ADJ (23; 4% instances), ru-pos/PROPN-ru-pos/VERB (21; 4% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/NUM (8; 1% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/PROPN (8; 1% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/PROPN (6; 1% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/ADV (6; 1% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/ADJ (5; 1% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/ADP (5; 1% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/NOUN (4; 1% instances), ru-pos/NUM-ru-pos/NUM (4; 1% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/ADP (3; 1% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/SYM (3; 1% instances), ru-pos/ADP-ru-pos/VERB (3; 1% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/ADJ (3; 1% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/ADV (3; 1% instances), ru-pos/NUM-ru-pos/VERB (3; 1% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/ADP (3; 1% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/ADJ (2; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/NOUN (2; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/VERB (2; 0% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/NUM (2; 0% instances), ru-pos/PROPN-ru-pos/PROPN (2; 0% instances), ru-pos/PROPN-ru-pos/PUNCT (2; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADP-ru-pos/ADJ (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADP-ru-pos/NOUN (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/PUNCT (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/NUM-ru-pos/PROPN (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/PRON-ru-pos/VERB (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/PROPN-ru-pos/ADJ (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/PROPN-ru-pos/NOUN (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/SYM-ru-pos/VERB (1; 0% instances).

# visual-style 8	bgColor:blue
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# visual-style 4 8 parataxis	color:blue
1	В	В	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	дипломата	ДИПЛОМАТ	NOUN	NN	Animacy=Anim|Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
3	не	НЕ	PART	NEG	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	стреляли	СТРЕЛЯТЬ	VERB	VBC	Aspect=Imp|Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	в	В	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	него	ОН	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3	8	obl	_	_
8	попал	ПОПАДАТЬ	VERB	VBC	Aspect=Perf|Gender=Masc|Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
9	мусор	МУСОР	NOUN	NN	Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_

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# visual-style 5	bgColor:blue
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# visual-style 5 12 parataxis	color:blue
1	Ковиде	КОВИДЕ	PROPN	NNP	Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	(	(	PUNCT	(	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	)	)	PUNCT	)	_	1	punct	_	_
4	--	--	PUNCT	--	_	5	punct	_	_
5	район	РАЙОН	NOUN	NN	Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	(	(	PUNCT	(	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	фрегезия	ФРЕГЕЗИЯ	NOUN	NN	Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing	5	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	)	)	PUNCT	)	_	7	punct	_	_
9	в	В	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	Португалии	ПОРТУГАЛИЯ	PROPN	NNP	Animacy=Inan|Case=Loc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
12	входит	ВХОДИТЬ	VERB	VBC	Aspect=Imp|Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
13	в	В	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	округ	ОКРУГ	NOUN	NN	Animacy=Inan|Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
15	Брага	БРАГА	PROPN	NNP	Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing	14	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_

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# visual-style 5	bgColor:blue
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# visual-style 5 11 parataxis	color:blue
1	Но	НО	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
2	дивидендов	ДИВИДЕНД	NOUN	NN	Animacy=Inan|Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
3	приобретения	ПРИОБРЕТЕНИЕ	NOUN	NN	Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	не	НЕ	PART	NEG	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	принесли	ПРИНЕСТИ	VERB	VBC	Aspect=Perf|Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
7	лишь	ЛИШЬ	PART	UH	_	11	discourse	_	_
8	15	15	ADV	AFX	_	11	amod	_	_
9	-	-	PUNCT	-	_	8	goeswith	_	_
10	е	Й	ADJ	ORD	Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing	8	goeswith	_	_
11	место	МЕСТО	NOUN	NN	Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing	5	parataxis	_	_
12	в	В	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	сезоне	СЕЗОН	NOUN	NN	Animacy=Inan|Case=Loc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
14	1993/94	1993/94	NUM	CD	Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|NumType=Card	13	nummod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_

Treebank Statistics (UD_Russian-SynTagRus)

This relation is universal.

19605 nodes (2%) are attached to their parents as parataxis.

11102 instances of parataxis (57%) are left-to-right (parent precedes child). Average distance between parent and child is 5.96597806681969.

# visual-style 7	bgColor:blue
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1	Ее	она	PRON	_	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3	2	nmod	2:nmod	_
2	уход	уход	NOUN	_	Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing	10	nsubj	10:nsubj	_
3	под	под	ADP	_	_	4	case	4:case	_
4	воду	вода	NOUN	_	Animacy=Inan|Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing	2	nmod	2:nmod	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	_	4	punct	4:punct	_
6	как	как	SCONJ	_	_	10	mark	10:mark	_
7	полагал	полагать	VERB	_	Aspect=Imp|Gender=Masc|Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin|Voice=Act	10	parataxis	10:parataxis	_
8	Жиров	жиров	PROPN	_	Animacy=Anim|Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing	7	nsubj	7:nsubj	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	_	8	punct	8:punct	_
10	происходил	происходить	VERB	_	Aspect=Imp|Gender=Masc|Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin|Voice=Act	0	root	0:root	_
11	в	в	ADP	_	_	13	case	13:case	_
12	два	два	NUM	_	Animacy=Inan|Case=Acc|Gender=Masc	13	nummod:gov	13:nummod:gov	_
13	этапа	этап	NOUN	_	Animacy=Inan|Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing	10	obl	10:obl	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	_	_	13	punct	13:punct	_

# visual-style 4	bgColor:blue
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# visual-style 1	bgColor:blue
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# visual-style 1 4 parataxis	color:blue
1	История	история	NOUN	_	Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing	0	root	0:root	_
2	-	-	PUNCT	_	_	1	punct	1:punct	_
3	памятные	памятный	ADJ	_	Case=Nom|Degree=Pos|Number=Plur	4	amod	4:amod	_
4	даты	дата	NOUN	_	Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Plur	1	parataxis	1:parataxis	_
5	мирового	мировой	ADJ	_	Case=Gen|Degree=Pos|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing	8	amod	8:amod	_
6	и	и	CCONJ	_	_	7	cc	7:cc	_
7	российского	российский	ADJ	_	Case=Gen|Degree=Pos|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing	5	conj	5:conj	_
8	альпинизма	альпинизм	NOUN	_	Animacy=Inan|Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing	4	nmod	4:nmod	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	_	_	8	punct	8:punct	_

# visual-style 1	bgColor:blue
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# visual-style 7	bgColor:blue
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# visual-style 7 1 parataxis	color:blue
1	Итак	итак	ADV	_	Degree=Pos	7	parataxis	7:parataxis	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	_	_	1	punct	1:punct	_
3	сочинения	сочинение	NOUN	_	Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Plur	7	nsubj	7:nsubj	_
4	по	по	ADP	_	_	5	case	5:case	_
5	искусству	искусство	NOUN	_	Animacy=Inan|Case=Dat|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing	3	nmod	3:nmod	_
6	счёта	счет	NOUN	_	Animacy=Inan|Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing	5	nmod	5:nmod	_
7	назывались	называться	VERB	_	Aspect=Imp|Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin|Voice=Mid	0	root	0:root	_
8	Алгоритмами	алгоритм	PROPN	_	Animacy=Inan|Case=Ins|Gender=Masc|Number=Plur	7	obl	7:obl	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	_	_	8	punct	8:punct	_