A solecism is a
phrase
In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...
that transgresses the rules of grammar.
The term is often used in the context of
linguistic prescription
Linguistic prescription, or prescriptive grammar, is the establishment of rules defining preferred usage of language. These rules may address such linguistic aspects as spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax, and semantics. Sometimes infor ...
; it also occurs
descriptively in the context of a lack of
idiomaticness.
Etymology
The word originally was used by the Greeks for what they perceived as grammatical mistakes in their language. The word was used to indicate ''to reduce something to absurdity''. Ancient
Athenians
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
considered the dialect of the inhabitants of
Soli, Cilicia to be a
corrupted form of their pure
Attic
An attic (sometimes referred to as a ''loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...
dialect, and labelled the errors in the form as "solecisms" (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: σολοικισμοί, ''soloikismoí''; sing.: σολοικισμός, ''soloikismós''). Therefore, when referring to similar grammatical mistakes heard in the speech of Athenians, they described them as "solecisms" and that term has been adopted as a label for grammatical mistakes in any language; in Greek there is often a distinction in the relevant terms in that a mistake in
semantics
Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...
(i.e., a use of words with other-than-appropriate meaning or a neologism constructed through application of generative rules by an outsider) is called a ''barbarism'' ( ''barbarismos''), whereas ''solecism'' refers to mistakes in syntax, in the construction of sentences.
[.]
Examples
See also
*
Catachresis
*
Disputed English grammar
* ''
English as She Is Spoke''
* ''
Fowler's Modern English Usage
''A Dictionary of Modern English Usage'' (1926), by Henry Watson Fowler (1858–1933), is a style guide to British English usage, pronunciation, and writing. Covering topics such as plurals and literary technique, distinctions among like wor ...
''
*
Malapropism
A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed t ...
*
Prescription and description
Linguistic prescription, or prescriptive grammar, is the establishment of rules defining preferred usage of language. These rules may address such linguistic aspects as spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax, and semantics. Sometimes infor ...
*
Error (linguistics)
*
Zeugma, a rhetorical use of solecism for effect
References
External links
*{{Wiktionary-inline, solecism
Grammar
English grammar
Ancient Greek
Linguistic error
Sociolinguistics
es:Solecismo