Asyndeton (, ; from the , sometimes called asyndetism) is a literary scheme in which one or several conjunctions are deliberately omitted from a series of related clauses. Examples include '' veni, vidi, vici'' and its English translation "I came, I saw, I conquered". Its use can have the effect of speeding up the rhythm of a passage and making a single idea more memorable. Asyndeton may be contrasted with

syndeton Syndeton (from the Greek ) or syndetic coordination in grammar is a form of syntactic coordination of the elements of a sentence (conjuncts) with the help of a coordinating conjunction. For instance, in a simple syndeton, two conjuncts are joined ...

( syndetic coordination) and

polysyndeton Polysyndeton (from Ancient Greek and ) is the deliberate insertion of conjunctions into a sentence in order to slow the rhythm of the prose so as to produce an impressively solemn note. In grammar, a polysyndetic coordination is a coordi ...

, which describe the use of one or multiple coordinating conjunctions, respectively. More generally, in

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 ...

, an asyndetic coordination is a type of

coordination Coordination may refer to: * Coordination (linguistics), a compound grammatical construction * Coordination complex, consisting of a central atom or ion and a surrounding array of bound molecules or ions ** A chemical reaction to form a coordinati ...

in which no coordinating conjunction is present between the conjuncts. ''Quickly, resolutely, he strode into the bank.'' No coordinator is present here, but the conjoins are still coordinated as adverbs applying to the same verb ("strode"). A syndetically coordinated rephrase of the sentence might be "Quickly and resolutely, he strode into the bank."

Examples

Omission of conjunction "and"

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

wrote in his ''

Rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

'' that this device was more effective in spoken oratory than in written prose: *"Thus strings of unconnected words, and constant repetitions of words and phrases, are very properly condemned in written speeches: but not in spoken speeches — speakers use them freely, for they have a dramatic effect. In this repetition there must be variety of tone, paving the way, as it were, to dramatic effect; e.g., 'This is the villain among you who deceived you, who cheated you, who meant to betray you completely'". Aristotle, ''Rhetoric'', Book III, Chapter 12 (trans. W. Rhys Roberts). Aristotle also believed that asyndeton can be used effectively in endings of works, and he himself employs the device in the final passage of the ''Rhetoric'': *"For the conclusion, the disconnected style of language is appropriate, and will mark the difference between the oration and the peroration. 'I have done. You have heard me. The facts are before you. I ask for your judgement'". Aristotle, ''Rhetoric'', Book III, Chapter 19 (trans. W. Rhys Roberts). Several notable examples can be found in American political speeches: *"...and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth".

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

Gettysburg Address The Gettysburg Address is a Public speaking, speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, U.S. president, following the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. The speech has come to be viewed as one ...

*"...that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

''Inaugural Address'', 20 January 1961. Another frequently used example is

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

's address, "

We shall fight on the beaches "We shall fight on the beaches" was a speech delivered by the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 4 June 1940. This was the second of three major speeches given around the ...

": *"We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. . ."

Omission of conjunction "or"

An asyndeton of "or" before a

of "and": * "A parson or what looked like one was laboring over the crest of the hill and coming toward them with one hand raised in blessing, greeting, fending flies. He was dressed in a dusty frockcoat and carried a walking stick and he wore a pair of octagonal glasses on the one pane of which the late sun shone while a watery eye peered from the naked wire aperture of the other." (

Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr.; July 20, 1933 – June 13, 2023) was an American author who wrote twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays, and three short stories, spanning the Western, post-apocalyptic, and Southern Got ...

, ''

Outer Dark ''Outer Dark'' is the second novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy and was published in 1968. The time and setting are nebulous, but it can be assumed to take place sometime around the turn of the twentieth century somewhere in Appalachia. T ...

'', 1968)

Footnotes

Sources

* Baldrick, Chris. 2008. ''Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms''. Oxford University Press. New York. * Corbett, Edward P. J. and Connors, Robert J. 1999. ''Style and Statement''. Oxford University Press. New York, Oxford. * Forsyth, Mark. 2014. ''The Elements of Eloquence''. Berkley Publishing Group/Penguin Publishing. New York.

External links