Apposition: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Modifying noun phrases by placing them next to each other}}
{{about|the grammatical construction}}

Traditionally, appositionsappositives were called by their [[Latin language|Latin]] name ''appositio'', although the English form is now more commonly used. It is derived from the Latin: ''ad'' ("near") and ''positio'' ("placement"), although the English form is now more commonly used.

Apposition is a figure of speech of the [[scheme (linguistics)|scheme]] type, and often results when the verbs (particularly verbs of being) in supporting clauses are eliminated to produce shorter descriptive phrases. ThisThat makes them often function as [[hyperbaton]]s, or figures of disorder, because they can disrupt the flow of a sentence. For example, in the phrase: "My wife, a nursesurgeon by training, ...", it is necessary to pause before the parenthetical modification "a nursesurgeon by training".

A '''restrictive appositive''' provides information essential to identifying the phrase in apposition. It limits or clarifies that phrase in some crucial way, andsuch that the meaning of the sentence would change if the appositive were removed. In English, restrictive appositives are not set off by [[comma (punctuation)|comma]]s. The sentences below use restrictive appositives. Here and elsewhere in this section, the relevant phrases are marked as the ''appositive phrase''^A or the ''phrase in apposition''^P.

If there is any doubt that the appositive is non-restrictive, it is safer to use the restrictive formpunctuation.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}} In the example above, the restrictive first sentence is still correct even if there is only one brother.

A [[restrictiveness|relative clause]] is not always an appositive.

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* JohnRen and BobStimpy, ''both friends of mine'', are starting a band. <small>– Provides context on my relation to JohnRen and BobStimpy.</small>

* [[DeanAretha MartinFranklin]], ''a very popular singer'', will be performing at the [[SandsWhite HotelHouse]]. <small>– Explains why DeanAretha MartinFranklin is performing at that venue.</small>

* ''A staunch supporter of democracy'', RobAnn campaigned against the king's authoritarian rule. <small>– Indicates the reason for RobAnn's actions.</small>

A kind of appositive is the [[false title]], is a kind of restrictive phraseappositive, as in "''Noted biologist'' Jane Smith has arrived".", whereHere the phrase ''Notednoted biologist'' isappears usedwithout an article as anif informalit were a title. The usegrammatical correctness of false titles is [[False title#Controversy|controversial]].

In several languages, the same syntax that is used to express such relations as possession can also be used appositively. Examples include:

** "Appositive oblique", a prepositional phrase with ''of'' as in: ''the month of December'', ''the sin of pride'', or ''the city of New York''. ThisThat has also been invoked as an explanation for the [[English possessive#Double genitive|double genitive]]: ''a friend of mine''.<ref>Chapter 5, §14.3 (pages 447–448), Rodney Huddleston, Geoffrey K. Pullum, ''The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0-521-43146-8}}</ref>

** The ending ''-'s'' as in "''[[In Dublin's Fair City]]".'', Thiswhich is uncommon.

* In classicalClassical Greek:

** "Genitive of explanation" as in {{lang-gr|italic=yes|ὑὸς μέγα χρῆμα|hyòs méga chrêma}}, "a monster (great affair) of a boar" ([[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories of Herodotus]], 1.36);, where ὑὸς, the word for ''boar'' is inflected for the genitive singular<ref>§1322 (pages 317–318), [[Herbert Weir Smyth]], revised by Gordon M. Messing, ''Greek Grammar'', Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 1956 [httphttps://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0007&query=head%3D%23366 Perseus Digital Library]</ref>

** Postpositive ''no'' as in: {{lang-ja|italic=yes|ふじの山|Fuji no Yama|[[Mount Fuji#Variations|the Mountain of Fuji]]}};<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/nounparticles|title=Noun-related Particles {{!}} Learn Japanese|website=www.guidetojapanese.org|access-date=2016-05-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=A dictionary of basic Japanese Grammar|publisher=The Japan Times|year=1986|isbn=4-7890-0454-6|location=|pages=312}}</ref>

**[[Hebrew grammar#Noun construct|Construct]], "genitive of association" as in: {{lang-he|גַּן עֵדֶן|Gan 'Ēden}}, "the ''[[Garden of Eden]]''."<ref>§9.5.3h (p. 153), [[Bruce K. Waltke]] and [[Michael Patrick O'Connor]], ''An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax'', Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1990. {{ISBN|0-931464-31-5}}</ref>

* [httphttps://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0001%3Asmythp%3D282 Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, §282]