Constructio ad sensum
Construction according to the meaning ((older) also Constructio ad sensum , Constructio kata synesin , ancient Greek κατὰ σύνεσιν , synesis or synesis ) is the designation for a syntactic construction that formally violates the rules of grammatical congruence , but is correspondingly correct.
Occurrence
The construction according to the meaning occurs, among other things, when the grammatical gender of a word (e.g. "the girl", "the woman") differs from the natural gender of the object (or person) or when the The number of pronouns and verbs (usually plural) are different from that of the noun they refer to (usually a collective in the singular). It is so common - even among respected writers - that it is viewed as a stylistic device rather than a mistake.
Examples
- "He loved the girl and wanted to marry her." (Formally correct would be: "... and wanted to marry her.");
- “The whole bunch rushed towards him. They threw him in hot tar and then cushioned him. ”(Formally correct would be:“ He threw him ... ”)
- "About a third of the employees went out of work." (Formally correct would be: "put ...")
literature
- Hermann Paul : Principles of the history of language. 10th unchanged edition. Study edition. Niemeyer, Tübingen 1995, ISBN 3-484-22005-8 ( Concepts in Linguistics and Literature 6).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Duden: The grammar: Indispensable for correct German. 8th edition, 2009, page 946. Quotation: "One also speaks of» construction according to the meaning «(older technical terms with the same meaning:» constructio ad sensum «;» construction kata synesin «)."