Horror aequi

Horror aequi,[a] or avoidance of identity,[2]: 100  is a linguistic principle that language users have psychological[3]: 266  or physiological[1]: 51  motives or limits on cognitive planning[1]: 51  to avoid repetition of identical linguistic structures.

The term originated in 1909 in Karl Brugmann,[4]: 219  who used it to explain dissimilation,[3]: 266  the tendency for similar consonants or vowels in a word to become less similar,[5]: 146  which can often be chalked up to simply "euphony".[4]: 219  Today, however, the term is usually applied instead to grammatical elements or structures.[4]: 219 

One of the most widely cited definitions[6]: 39 [7]: 71  is that of Günter Rohdenburg: "the horror aequi principle involves the widespread (and presumably universal) tendency to avoid the use of formally (near-)identical and (near-)adjacent (non-coordinate) grammatical elements or structures."[8]: 205 

In the study of phonology, such avoidance falls under the obligatory contour principle,[2]: 100  which holds that certain consecutive identical sounds are not permitted[9][10]: 383–84  (such as in Mandarin Chinese, where two third tones are not used consecutively[11]: 104 ).

The term horror aequi is sometimes extended to the stylistic preference to avoid repeating the same word in a given text.[12]

Horror aequi in English

One illustration of horror aequi in English is the use of and + verb rather than the typical to + verb following certain to-infinitive verbs such as wait, try and check in order to avoid repeating the to + verb pattern.[8]: 236–42  Thus, speakers typically use:

  • I'll try to find a solution.
  • I tried to open the door.
  • I'll wait to hear the answer.
  • I waited to start the process till the audience was assembled.

But following a to-infinitive, speakers will often use and instead of to:[8]: 236–42 

  • I'm going to try and find a solution.
  • I wanted to try and open the door.
  • I'm going to wait and hear the answer.
  • I wanted to wait and start the process.

In addition to using and instead of to in order to avoid horror aequi, another strategy is to delay the second infinitive verb with intervening words[8]: 236  or use an alternative infinitive clause. For example:

  • I wanted to wait before starting the process.

Another reason why diligent writers may avoid the second to + verb structure is that it can be ambiguous. Since it is commonly interpreted as an elision of the first prepositional phrase from "in order to" it will avoid the oxymoronic interpretation "to wait in order to start the process" given that waiting and starting the process are contradictory.[citation needed]

Other examples clearly demonstrate how horror aequi helps prevent confusion. Sentences with repetitive words or forms can be nearly incomprehensible even when adhering to grammatical rules.[2]: 101 

  • ?The boy whom the girl whom the other boy had hit had called came running.

Confusion here comes from both the repeated embedded who relative clauses and from the lack of semantic variety. Merely adding semantic difference can add some clarity:[2]: 101 

  • ?The number that the girl whom the horse had kicked had called was for animal control.

The horror aequi principle holds that both of these examples would be avoided.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ literally "fear of the same"[1]: 51  or "a dread of things that are equal" in Latin; cf. horror vacui

References

  1. ^ a b c Baumann, Andreas; Mühlenbernd, Roland (2022). Ravignani, Andrea; et al. (eds.). "Less of the Same: Modeling Horror Aequi and Extravagance as Mechanisms of Negative Frequency Dependence in Linguistic Diversification". The Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the Joint Conference on Language Evolution (JCoLE). Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS): 50–57. doi:10.17617/2.3398549. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Levshina, Natalia (2022). Communicative Efficiency: Language Structure and Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108898652. Archived from the original on 26 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b Malkiel, Yakov (1983) [1967]. "Multiple versus simple causation in linguistic change". From Particular to General Linguistics: Selected Essays, 1965-1978. Studies in Language Companion Series. Vol. 3. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing. pp. 251–268. ISBN 9789027230027. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Berlage, Eva (2014). Noun Phrase Complexity in English. Studies in English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107015128. Archived from the original on 26 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  5. ^ Brugmann, Karl (1909). "Das Wesen der lautlichen Dissimilationen". Abhandlungen der Philologisch-Historischen Classe der Königlich Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften (in German). 27. Königlich Sächsische Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften: 138–178. ISSN 2700-9505. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  6. ^ Szmrecsanyi, Benedikt (2006). Morphosyntactic Persistence in Spoken English: A Corpus Study at the Intersection of Variationist Sociolinguistics, Psycholinguistics, and Discourse Analysis. Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs. Vol. 177. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110197808. Archived from the original on 26 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  7. ^ Iyeiri, Yoko (2010). Verbs of Implicit Negation and Their Complements in the History of English. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 9789027211705. Archived from the original on 26 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d Rohdenburg, Günter (2003). "Cognitive complexity and horror aequi as factors determining the use of interrogative clause linkers in English". In Rohdenburg, Günter; Mondorf, Britta (eds.). Determinants of Grammatical Variation in English. Topics in English Linguistics. Vol. 43. Series editors: Bernd Kortmann, Elizabeth Closs Traugott. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 205–249. ISBN 9783110176476.
  9. ^ Leben, William R. (1973). Suprasegmental Phonology (PDF) (PhD thesis). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  10. ^ McCarthy, John J. (Summer 1981). "A Prosodic Theory of Nonconcatenative Morphology". Linguistic Inquiry. 12 (3): 373–418. ISSN 0024-3892. JSTOR 4178229. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  11. ^ Chen, Tsung-ying (June 2010). "Some Remarks on Contour Tone Units". Journal of East Asian Linguistics. 19 (2): 103–135. doi:10.1007/S10831-010-9057-9. ISSN 0925-8558. JSTOR 40928427. S2CID 120617163. Archived from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  12. ^ Sheldon, Neil (19 October 2021). "Horror aequi…". Statisticians React to the News. International Statistical Institute. Archived from the original on 26 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023. [Horror aequi…]…or fear of repeating a word is very common in the media. It's a journalistic compulsion that is detrimental to clear communication and understanding – but easy to avoid.

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