A solecism is a
phrase
In grammar, a phrasecalled expression in some contextsis a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English language, English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adject ...
that transgresses the rules of
grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...
.
The term is often used in the context of
linguistic prescription
Linguistic prescription is the establishment of rules defining publicly preferred Usage (language), usage of language, including rules of spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, etc. Linguistic prescriptivism may aim to establish a standard ...
; 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. Ancient
Athenians
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
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. It is also known as a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because they fill the space between the ceiling of a building's t ...
dialect and labelled the errors in the form as "solecisms" (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
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 of all kno ...
: 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 is the study of linguistic Meaning (philosophy), meaning. It examines what meaning is, how words get their meaning, and how the meaning of a complex expression depends on its parts. Part of this process involves the distinction betwee ...
(i.e., a use of words with other-than-appropriate meaning or a
neologism
In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...
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
* ''
English as She Is Spoke
, commonly known by the name ''English as She Is Spoke'', is a 19th-century book written by Pedro Carolino, with some editions crediting José da Fonseca as a co-author. It was intended as a Portuguese– English conversational guide or phras ...
''
* ''
Fowler's Modern English Usage''
*
Catachresis
Catachresis (from Greek , "misuse"), originally meaning a semantic misuse or error, is also the name given to many different types of figures of speech in which a word or phrase is being applied in a way that significantly departs from conventi ...
*
Disputed English grammar
*
Error (linguistics)
In applied linguistics, an error is an unintended deviation from the immanent rules of a language variety made by a second language learner. Such errors result from the learner's lack of knowledge of the correct rules of the target language varie ...
*
Malapropism
A malapropism (; also called a malaprop, acyrologia or Dogberryism) is the incorrect use of a word in place of a word with a similar sound, either unintentionally or for comedic effect, resulting in a nonsensical, often humorous utterance. An exam ...
*
Prescription and description
Linguistic prescription is the establishment of rules defining publicly preferred Usage (language), usage of language, including rules of spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, etc. Linguistic prescriptivism may aim to establish a standard ...
*
Zeugma, a rhetorical use of solecism for effect
* Se
Wiktionary: solecism, Noun 2.for secondary use.
References
External links
*
{{Figures of speech
Ancient Greek
English grammar
Grammar
Linguistic error
Sociolinguistics
es:Solecismo