linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, synesis () is a traditional grammatical/rhetorical term referring to

agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus (disambiguation), a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of ...

(the change of a

word form In linguistics, morphology is the study of words, including the principles by which they are formed, and how they relate to one another within a language. Most approaches to morphology investigate the structure of words in terms of morphemes, wh ...

based on words relating to it) due to meaning. A ''constructio kata synesin'' () is a

grammatical construction In linguistics, a grammatical construction is any syntax, syntactic string of words ranging from Sentence (linguistics), sentences over phrase structure rules, phrasal structures to certain complex lexemes, such as phrasal verbs. Grammatical const ...

in which a

word A word is a basic element of language that carries semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguist ...

takes the

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

not of the word with which it should regularly agree, but of some other word ''implied'' in that word. It is effectively an agreement of words with the

sense A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditio ...

, instead of the

morphosyntactic In linguistics, morphology is the study of words, including the principles by which they are formed, and how they relate to one another within a language. Most approaches to morphology investigate the structure of words in terms of morphemes, wh ...

form, a type of form-meaning mismatch. Examples: :''One hundred dollars is the cost of rent.'' :''If the band are popular, they will play next month.'' Here, the plural pronoun ''they'' and the plural verb form ''are'' co-refer with the singular noun ''band''. One can think of the antecedent of ''they'' as an implied plural noun such as ''musicians''. Such use in

English grammar English grammar is the set of structural rules of the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, Sentence (linguistics), sentences, and whole texts. Overview This article describes a generalized, present-day Standar ...

is often called notional agreement (or notional concord), because the agreement is with the ''notion'' of what the noun means, rather than the strict grammatical ''form'' of the noun (the normative formal agreement). The term situational agreement is also found, since the same word may take a singular or plural verb depending on the interpretation and intended emphasis of the speaker or writer: :''The government is united.'' (Implication: it is a single cohesive body, with a single agreed policy). :''The government are divided.'' (Implication: it is made up of different individuals or factions, with their own different policy views). Other examples of notional agreement for collective nouns involve some uses of the words ''team'' and ''none''. Although notional agreement is more commonly used in

British English British English is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom, especially Great Britain. More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to ...

than in

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...

, some amount is

natural Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...

in any variety of English. American

style guide A style guide is a set of standards for the writing, formatting, and design of documents. A book-length style guide is often called a style manual or a manual of style. A short style guide, typically ranging from several to several dozen page ...

s give advice, for example, on notional agreement for phrases such as ''a number of'', ''a lot of'', and ''a total of''. The ''

AMA Manual of Style ''AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors'' is the style guide of the American Medical Association. It is written by the editors of ''JAMA'' (''Journal of the American Medical Association'') and the JAMA Network journals and is mo ...

'' says, "''The number'' is singular and ''a number of'' is plural" (thus ''the number of mosquitoes is increasing'' but ''a number of brands of mosquito repellent are available'') and "The same is true for ''the total'' and ''a total of''" (thus ''the total was growing'' but ''a total of 28 volunteers have submitted applications'' ot *''has submitted''. This is the same concept that is covered by Chicago style (16th ed) at "5.9 Mass noun followed by a prepositional phrase", but not all of the relevant nouns (including "number") are

mass noun In linguistics, a mass noun, uncountable noun, non-count noun, uncount noun, or just uncountable, is a noun with the syntactic property that any quantity of it is treated as an undifferentiated unit, rather than as something with discrete eleme ...

References

{{Reflist Grammatical gender Grammatical number Figures of speech

See also

References