SnowyChimera78
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Hi there, I was just wondering what's the difference between a lexical chain and tautology, and what makes lexical chains good yet the opposite for tautologies.
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Difference between lexical chain and tautology? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter SnowyChimera78
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ExtremelyBoredUser
Bored Uni Student
Both are similar in that they are sequences of similar words however I would say that tautology is more of in quick succession, such as between sentences whereas Lexical Chain can also reference similar words over paragraphs.
Don't quote me though, might be wrong but that's how I interpret both of them. Tautology is only in quick succession whereas Lexical Chain can be similar words linking over paragraphs.
SnowyChimera78
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oh thanks, but what makes tautology bad but lexical chains good?
ExtremelyBoredUser
Bored Uni Student
I wouldn't consider any technique to be bad?.. maybe overused? I would consider repetition overused since its easy to pull off and generally people use it out of just placing a technique - but can be impactful if used correctly like anaphora or epizeuxis which is different variations of repetition.
To answer your question, I presume lexical chain is referring to deliberate implementation of similar words (in a lexical field) which is more impactful since it can be used for symbolism, recurring motif and greater impact over text whereas tautology, like repetition, can be placed unintentionally and not add any substance to the story/argument.
Take this with a grain of salt though, just my speculation.
The main difference is that a lexical chain is beneficial, whereas a tautology can be detrimental to, or have no effect on your writing at best. Let's take a look at what each of those concepts entails:
Lexical chain:
A lexical chain is a sequence of semantically related lexical terms, independent of the grammar structure of the text. Consider the following example:
As you can see, the writer varies the terms used throughout this paragraph, although they are essentially referring to the same thing, yet using different terms. Consider the terms highlighted in green ("Macbeth", "the play", "this text", "piece of theatre"). While the author is referring to the same thing (i.e. Macbeth), they are doing so using a variety of terms, which gives their paragraph sophisticatedness, instead of using terms like "Macbeth" every time you wish to refer to this play.
The same concept applies to the terms highlighted in yellow and those highlighted in pink.
Tautology:
A tautology is a needless repetition of a single concept. It is considered to be a fault relating to writing style. Examples of sentences/expressions where tautology applies include:
In the case of the second sentence, we can omit the word "over" as one already knows that exaggeration is excessive, meaning that the word "over" does not add much meaning/useful information to the sentence.
Tautology may occur in essay writing, particularly if a student wishes to increase their word count. For example, writing "depreciates in value" instead of simply writing "depreciates" may constitute tautology.
I hope this helps!
Lexical chain:
A lexical chain is a sequence of semantically related lexical terms, independent of the grammar structure of the text. Consider the following example:
As you can see, the writer varies the terms used throughout this paragraph, although they are essentially referring to the same thing, yet using different terms. Consider the terms highlighted in green ("Macbeth", "the play", "this text", "piece of theatre"). While the author is referring to the same thing (i.e. Macbeth), they are doing so using a variety of terms, which gives their paragraph sophisticatedness, instead of using terms like "Macbeth" every time you wish to refer to this play.
The same concept applies to the terms highlighted in yellow and those highlighted in pink.
Tautology:
A tautology is a needless repetition of a single concept. It is considered to be a fault relating to writing style. Examples of sentences/expressions where tautology applies include:
- "An armed gunman"
- "She always over exaggerates"
In the case of the second sentence, we can omit the word "over" as one already knows that exaggeration is excessive, meaning that the word "over" does not add much meaning/useful information to the sentence.
Tautology may occur in essay writing, particularly if a student wishes to increase their word count. For example, writing "depreciates in value" instead of simply writing "depreciates" may constitute tautology.
I hope this helps!