#and then the very next day i had a spanish linguistics seminar on syntax where we were discussing when to use verb-object or object-verb | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

wistful-academia · 2 years ago

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i think it’s so beautiful how there are certain language features that we reserve purely for poetry and the like; there’s strict syntactical rules when speaking english day-to-day but if you want to play with them? bend them? break them? in the name of art? sure, go ahead. you can go a long way without impairing communication of your message, and on top of that—it just sounds prettier.

#i thought of this when reading some poem last week or the week before #and then i thought of it again listening to the mechs’ underworld blues #when heracles says ‘i came here your dog to seize’#and then the very next day i had a spanish linguistics seminar on syntax where we were discussing when to use verb-object or object-verb #and in translating examples noticed when it’s acceptable to switch them in english too #though of course it works differently #but like ‘a castle stood upon the hill’ vs ‘upon the hill there stood a castle’#that one’s only a mild example of this really though #not just restricted to poetry but common in prose too #of course there’s a lot of crossover and these rules are more lenient when writing prose than when speaking in daily life #but i’m more thinking of the absolute refusal to follow grammatical rules in favour of creating rhythm and rhyme that you find often #in poetry #i just love language #and this is just the standard rule breaking of poetry not even when people make a point of breaking rules as part of their art #poetry #language #dark academia #linguistics #english language

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