parenthesis

Parenthesis ( ancient Greek παρένθεσις parénthesis , German 'insert' ) is the grammar term for a part of an utterance that occurs within a (different) sentence but is not integrated into its syntactic structure. The term also describes a rhetorical figure in which an entire sentence is interrupted by an insertion.

Parentheses can be single words or, in turn, complete sentences. A parenthesis, which is a whole sentence, is also known as a switching sentence in German grammar .

Identification of parentheses

Parentheses must be marked in the spelling with punctuation marks. The inset is usually enclosed in dashes or separated from the rest of the sentence by brackets or commas - this is why the corresponding characters themselves are often referred to as parentheses .

The clauses that enclose a parenthesis are called a matrix clause . If the intention of the parenthesis differs from that of the matrix sentence, for example if the parenthesis is a question and the matrix sentence is an exclamation, then the final sentence sign expressing the intention is placed in front of the final comma or dash.

Examples

The parentheses are shown in italics :

"So I ask - it was a mistake, nothing more - for this quick act you forgive." ( Heinrich von Kleist : Penthesilea )
"Eduard - that's what we call a rich baron in his prime - Eduard had spent the most beautiful hour of an April afternoon in his tree nursery, bringing freshly preserved grafts onto young trees." ( Johann Wolfgang von Goethe : Die Wahlverwandationen )
"In this regard - I want to say this very clearly - I am very concerned about whether we will come to an internationally coordinated exit strategy - in a similar way to the economic stimulus packages." ( Angela Merkel , speech at the international financial market conference, Berlin, May 20, 2010)

"Do you like it here - just tell us! - something wrong? "

literature

Duden. The grammar. 8th edition. Dudenverlag, Mannheim 2009, ISBN 978-3-411-04048-3 .
Helmut Glück (Ed.): Metzler Lexicon Language . 4th updated and revised edition. JB Metzler, Stuttgart a. a. 2010, ISBN 978-3-476-02335-3 .
Renate Lachmann : The parenthesis and its grip. In: punctuation marks. Scenes of writing (Festschrift for Bettine Menke ). Edited by Helga Lutz, Nils Plath, Dietmar Schmidt. Kadmos, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-86599-364-9 , pp. 36–39.
Henrike Lähnemann , Michael Rupp: Parenthesis. In: Historical dictionary of rhetoric . Edited by Gert Ueding. Vol. 6: Must-Pop. Max Niemeyer, Tübingen 2003, ISBN 3-534-12024-8 , Sp. 573-576.

Web links

Wiktionary: Parenthese - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Wiktionary: circuit set - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

↑ Dudengrammatik 2009, p. 1025.
^ ^A ^b Peter Gallmann: Punctuation. In: Hartmut Günther, Otto Ludwig (Ed.): Writing and writing: an interdisciplinary handbook of international research. Half volume 2 (= handbooks for linguistics and communication studies. Volume 10.2). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1996, ISBN 3-11-014744-0 , pp. 1456–1466, here p. 1458.
↑ Wording on the Federal Government's website , accessed on June 20, 2015.

[1] Dudengrammatik 2009, p. 1025.

[gallmann-2] A ^b Peter Gallmann: Punctuation. In: Hartmut Günther, Otto Ludwig (Ed.): Writing and writing: an interdisciplinary handbook of international research. Half volume 2 (= handbooks for linguistics and communication studies. Volume 10.2). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1996, ISBN 3-11-014744-0 , pp. 1456–1466, here p. 1458.

[3] Wording on the Federal Government's website , accessed on June 20, 2015.