parataxis: parataxis
The parataxis relation (from Greek for “place side by side”) is a relation between a word (often the main predicate of a sentence) and other elements, such as a sentential parenthetical or a clause after a “:” or a “;”, placed side by side without any explicit coordination, subordination, or argument relation with the head word. Parataxis is a discourse-like equivalent of coordination, and so usually obeys an iconic ordering. Hence it is normal for the first part of a sentence to be the head and the second part to be the parataxis dependent, regardless of the headedness properties of the language. But things do get more complicated, such as cases of parentheticals, which appear medially.
An inventory of constructions to which parataxis has been applied
Treatment of reported speech
For this reported speech example:
Тот парень , сказал Вася , ушёл рано утром . \n The guy , said Vasya , left early in-the-morning .
parataxis(ушёл, сказал)
parataxis(left, said)
There are paraphrases that convey essentially the same meaning but with a different syntactic structure. When the reported speech is embedded in a subordinate clause (with or without an overt complementizer что “that”), the subordinate clause is a ccomp of the speech verb. When the reported speech follows the speech verb and is separated by a colon, the reported speech forms a main clause that attaches to the preceding main clause with a parataxis relation, hence with the speech verb as its head. However, when the speech verb occurs as a medial or final parenthetical, the relation is reversed and the speech verb is treated as a parataxis of the reported speech. This analysis is not uncontroversial but follows many authorities, such as Huddleston and Pullum (2002), The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (see chapter 11, section 9).
Вася сказал , что тот парень ушёл рано утром . \n Vasya said , that the guy left early in-the-morning .
ccomp(сказал, ушёл)
ccomp(said, left)
Вася сказал : " Тот парень ушёл рано утром . " \n Vasya said : " The guy left early in-the-morning . "
parataxis(сказал, ушёл)
parataxis(said, left)
" Тот парень ушёл рано утром , " сказал Вася . \n " The guy left early in-the-morning , " said Vasya .
parataxis(ушёл, сказал)
parataxis(left, said)
" Тот парень , " — сказал Вася , — " ушёл рано утром . " \n " The guy , " — said Vasya , — " left early in-the-morning . "
parataxis(ушёл, сказал)
parataxis(left, said)
An argument for this analysis is that in the cases analyzed as embedding, the entire clause can be further embedded (I was taken aback when John said the guy left early in the morning.), while this is not possible with medial or final placement of the speech verb (*I was taken aback when the guy left early this morning, John said.).
News article bylines
The parataxis relation should be used to connect the parts of a news article byline.
There does not seem to be a better relation to use.
Вашингтон ( CNN ) :
parataxis(Вашингтон, CNN)
Treebank Statistics (UD_Russian)
This relation is universal.
601 nodes (1%) are attached to their parents as parataxis.
580 instances of parataxis (97%) are left-to-right (parent precedes child).
Average distance between parent and child is 11.342762063228.
The following 39 pairs of parts of speech are connected with parataxis: ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/VERB (291; 48% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/VERB (72; 12% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/NOUN (43; 7% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/NOUN (34; 6% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/VERB (26; 4% instances), ru-pos/PROPN-ru-pos/VERB (26; 4% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/ADJ (26; 4% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/PROPN (8; 1% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/ADJ (7; 1% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/PROPN (6; 1% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/ADP (5; 1% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/NOUN (4; 1% instances), ru-pos/ADP-ru-pos/VERB (4; 1% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/ADJ (4; 1% instances), ru-pos/PROPN-ru-pos/PROPN (4; 1% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/ADP (3; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/SYM (3; 0% instances), ru-pos/NUM-ru-pos/NUM (3; 0% instances), ru-pos/NUM-ru-pos/VERB (3; 0% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/ADP (3; 0% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/NUM (3; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/NOUN (2; 0% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/ADV (2; 0% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/NUM (2; 0% instances), ru-pos/PROPN-ru-pos/PUNCT (2; 0% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/ADV (2; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/ADV (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADP-ru-pos/ADJ (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADP-ru-pos/ADP (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADP-ru-pos/NOUN (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/ADJ (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/VERB (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/DET-ru-pos/VERB (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/PUNCT (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/NUM-ru-pos/PROPN (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/PROPN-ru-pos/ADJ (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/PROPN-ru-pos/NOUN (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/SYM-ru-pos/VERB (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/X (1; 0% instances).
# visual-style 6 bgColor:blue
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# visual-style 1 bgColor:blue
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# visual-style 1 6 parataxis color:blue
1 Озвучивает _ VERB VBC Aspect=Imp|Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres 0 root _ _
2 Пётр _ PROPN NNP Animacy=Anim|Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing 1 nsubj _ _
3 Иващенко _ PROPN NNP Animacy=Anim|Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing 2 name _ _
4 ( _ PUNCT ( _ 6 punct _ _
5 ранее _ ADV RBR _ 6 advmod _ _
6 озвучивал _ VERB VBC Aspect=Imp|Gender=Masc|Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Tense=Past 1 parataxis _ _
7 Юрий _ PROPN NNP Animacy=Anim|Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing 6 nsubj _ _
8 Мазихин _ PROPN NNP Animacy=Anim|Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing 7 name _ _
9 ) _ PUNCT ) _ 6 punct _ _
10 . _ PUNCT . _ 1 punct _ _
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# visual-style 7 fgColor:white
# visual-style 3 bgColor:blue
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# visual-style 3 7 parataxis color:blue
1 Нечайка _ PROPN NNP Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _
2 -- _ PUNCT - _ 3 punct _ _
3 река _ NOUN NN Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing 0 root _ _
4 в _ ADP IN _ 5 case _ _
5 России _ PROPN NNP Animacy=Inan|Case=Loc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing 3 nmod _ _
6 , _ PUNCT , _ 3 punct _ _
7 протекает _ VERB VBC Aspect=Imp|Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres 3 parataxis _ _
8 в _ ADP IN _ 10 case _ _
9 Оренбургской _ ADJ JJL Animacy=Inan|Case=Loc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing 10 amod _ _
10 области _ NOUN NN Animacy=Inan|Case=Loc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing 7 nmod _ _
11 . _ PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _
# visual-style 5 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 5 fgColor:white
# visual-style 1 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 1 fgColor:white
# visual-style 1 5 parataxis color:blue
1 См. _ VERB VBC Aspect=Imp|Mood=Imp|Number=Plur|Person=2 0 root _ _
2 также _ CONJ CC _ 1 cc _ _
3 : _ PUNCT : _ 1 punct _ _
4 Красная _ ADJ JJL Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing 5 amod _ _
5 армия _ NOUN NN Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing 1 parataxis _ _
Treebank Statistics (UD_Russian-SynTagRus)
This relation is universal.
21201 nodes (2%) are attached to their parents as parataxis.
11866 instances of parataxis (56%) are left-to-right (parent precedes child).
Average distance between parent and child is 5.7990660817886.
The following 83 pairs of parts of speech are connected with parataxis: ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/VERB (3823; 18% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/NOUN (3269; 15% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/ADV (2950; 14% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/NOUN (2204; 10% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/VERB (2109; 10% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/ADV (1048; 5% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/VERB (835; 4% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/ADV (664; 3% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/NOUN (648; 3% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/ADJ (520; 2% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/ADJ (413; 2% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/VERB (301; 1% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/ADV (287; 1% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/PART (254; 1% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/NOUN (209; 1% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/SCONJ (174; 1% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/ADJ (159; 1% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/NUM (133; 1% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/CONJ (122; 1% instances), ru-pos/PRON-ru-pos/NOUN (98; 0% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/PART (84; 0% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/CONJ (65; 0% instances), ru-pos/PRON-ru-pos/VERB (56; 0% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/SCONJ (55; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/PART (50; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/SCONJ (45; 0% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/SYM (43; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/PART (40; 0% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/PRON (40; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/ADJ (37; 0% instances), ru-pos/NUM-ru-pos/NOUN (34; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/CONJ (33; 0% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/PRON (28; 0% instances), ru-pos/PART-ru-pos/VERB (28; 0% instances), ru-pos/PRON-ru-pos/ADV (26; 0% instances), ru-pos/PRON-ru-pos/PART (21; 0% instances), ru-pos/PART-ru-pos/ADV (18; 0% instances), ru-pos/NOUN-ru-pos/INTJ (17; 0% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/INTJ (17; 0% instances), ru-pos/NUM-ru-pos/VERB (15; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/NUM (13; 0% instances), ru-pos/CONJ-ru-pos/PART (12; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/CONJ (11; 0% instances), ru-pos/SCONJ-ru-pos/ADV (10; 0% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/NUM (10; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/SYM (9; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/PRON (9; 0% instances), ru-pos/SYM-ru-pos/NOUN (9; 0% instances), ru-pos/VERB-ru-pos/SYM (9; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/NUM (8; 0% instances), ru-pos/PART-ru-pos/NOUN (8; 0% instances), ru-pos/SYM-ru-pos/VERB (8; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/PRON (7; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/SCONJ (7; 0% instances), ru-pos/CONJ-ru-pos/VERB (7; 0% instances), ru-pos/PART-ru-pos/PART (7; 0% instances), ru-pos/PRON-ru-pos/ADJ (7; 0% instances), ru-pos/PRON-ru-pos/PRON (7; 0% instances), ru-pos/NUM-ru-pos/ADV (6; 0% instances), ru-pos/SCONJ-ru-pos/VERB (6; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/INTJ (5; 0% instances), ru-pos/PART-ru-pos/INTJ (5; 0% instances), ru-pos/SYM-ru-pos/ADJ (5; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADJ-ru-pos/INTJ (4; 0% instances), ru-pos/CONJ-ru-pos/ADV (4; 0% instances), ru-pos/NUM-ru-pos/ADJ (4; 0% instances), ru-pos/PRON-ru-pos/CONJ (4; 0% instances), ru-pos/ADV-ru-pos/SYM (3; 0% instances), ru-pos/CONJ-ru-pos/NOUN (3; 0% instances), ru-pos/PRON-ru-pos/INTJ (3; 0% instances), ru-pos/SYM-ru-pos/ADV (3; 0% instances), ru-pos/CONJ-ru-pos/ADJ (2; 0% instances), ru-pos/NUM-ru-pos/PART (2; 0% instances), ru-pos/PART-ru-pos/ADJ (2; 0% instances), ru-pos/SYM-ru-pos/CONJ (2; 0% instances), ru-pos/INTJ-ru-pos/NOUN (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/INTJ-ru-pos/VERB (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/NUM-ru-pos/SCONJ (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/SCONJ-ru-pos/NOUN (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/SCONJ-ru-pos/PART (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/SYM-ru-pos/NUM (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/SYM-ru-pos/SCONJ (1; 0% instances), ru-pos/SYM-ru-pos/SYM (1; 0% instances).
# visual-style 7 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 7 fgColor:white
# visual-style 10 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 10 fgColor:white
# visual-style 10 7 parataxis color:blue
1 Ее ЕЕ DET _ _ 2 det _ _
2 уход УХОД NOUN _ Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing 10 nsubj _ _
3 под ПОД ADP _ _ 4 case _ _
4 воду ВОДА NOUN _ Animacy=Inan|Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing 2 nmod _ _
5 , , PUNCT , _ 4 punct _ _
6 как КАК SCONJ _ _ 7 mark _ _
7 полагал ПОЛАГАТЬ VERB _ Aspect=Imp|Gender=Masc|Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin|Voice=Act 10 parataxis _ _
8 Жиров ЖИРОВ NOUN _ Animacy=Anim|Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing 7 nsubj _ _
9 , , PUNCT , _ 8 punct _ _
10 происходил ПРОИСХОДИТЬ VERB _ Aspect=Imp|Gender=Masc|Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin|Voice=Act 0 root _ _
11 в В ADP _ _ 13 case _ _
12 два ДВА NUM _ Animacy=Inan|Case=Acc|Gender=Masc 13 nummod _ _
13 этапа ЭТАП NOUN _ Animacy=Inan|Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing 10 nmod _ _
14 . . PUNCT . _ 10 punct _ _
# visual-style 4 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 4 fgColor:white
# visual-style 1 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 1 fgColor:white
# visual-style 1 4 parataxis color:blue
1 История ИСТОРИЯ NOUN _ Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing 0 root _ _
2 - - PUNCT - _ 1 punct _ _
3 памятные ПАМЯТНЫЙ ADJ _ Case=Nom|Degree=Pos|Number=Plur 4 amod _ _
4 даты ДАТА NOUN _ Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Plur 1 parataxis _ _
5 мирового МИРОВОЙ ADJ _ Case=Gen|Degree=Pos|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing 8 amod _ _
6 и И CONJ _ _ 5 cc _ _
7 российского РОССИЙСКИЙ ADJ _ Case=Gen|Degree=Pos|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing 5 conj _ _
8 альпинизма АЛЬПИНИЗМ NOUN _ Animacy=Inan|Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing 4 nmod _ _
9 . . PUNCT . _ 1 punct _ _
# visual-style 1 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 1 fgColor:white
# visual-style 7 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 7 fgColor:white
# visual-style 7 1 parataxis color:blue
1 Итак ИТАК ADV _ Degree=Pos 7 parataxis _ _
2 , , PUNCT , _ 1 punct _ _
3 сочинения СОЧИНЕНИЕ NOUN _ Animacy=Inan|Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Plur 7 nsubj _ _
4 по ПО ADP _ _ 5 case _ _
5 искусству ИСКУССТВО NOUN _ Animacy=Inan|Case=Dat|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing 3 dobj _ _
6 счёта СЧЕТ NOUN _ Animacy=Inan|Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing 5 dobj _ _
7 назывались НАЗЫВАТЬСЯ VERB _ Aspect=Imp|Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin|Voice=Act 0 root _ _
8 Алгоритмами АЛГОРИТМ NOUN _ Animacy=Inan|Case=Ins|Gender=Masc|Number=Plur 7 dobj _ _
9 . . PUNCT . _ 7 punct _ _
parataxis in other languages: [bg] [cs] [de] [el] [en] [es] [eu] [fa] [fi] [fr] [ga] [he] [hu] [it] [ja] [ko] [sv] [u]