View source for Tautology (language)

{{Short description|In literary criticism, repeating an idea}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}

In [[literary criticism]] and [[rhetoric]], a '''tautology''' is a statement that repeats an idea using near-synonymous [[morpheme]]s, words or phrases, effectively "saying the same thing twice".<ref name="Fowler">{{cite book|last=Fowler|first=Henry Watson|author-link=Henry Watson Fowler|editor-last=Gowers|editor-first=Sir Ernest|title=Modern English Usage|edition=2nd|isbn=978-0-19-281389-3|date=1 April 1983|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Bryson|first=Bill|title=The Mother Tongue: The English Language|isbn=978-0-14-014305-8|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]|date=29 July 1999}}</ref> Tautology and [[pleonasm]] are not consistently differentiated in literature.<ref>{{cite book|first=Bogdan|last=Szymanek|chapter=Remarks on Tautology in Word-Formation|editor-first1=Laurie|editor-last1=Bauer|editor-first2=Lívia|editor-last2=Körtvélyessy|editor-first3=Pavol|editor-last3=Štekauer|title=Semantics of Complex Words|series=Studies in Morphology|year=2015|volume=3|pages=143–161|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-14102-2_8|isbn=978-3319141022|url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-14102-2|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Like pleonasm, tautology is often considered a fault of [[stylistics|style]] when unintentional. Intentional repetition may emphasize a thought or help the listener or reader understand a point.<ref name="bascom">{{cite book|first=John|last=Bascom|title=Philosophy of Rhetoric|url=https://archive.org/details/philosophyrheto00bascgoog/page/n246|page=241|publisher=Boston, Crosby and Ainsworth|year=1866|via=Internet Archive|ol=OL1853537W}}</ref> Sometimes [[logical tautologies]] like "Boys will be boys" are conflated with language tautologies, but a language tautology is not inherently true, while a logical tautology always is.<ref name="bascom"/>

==Etymology==

The word was coined in [[Koine Greek]] from {{lang|grc|ταὐτός||the same}} ('the same') plus {{lang|grc|λόγος}} ('word' or 'idea'), and transmitted through 3rd-century Latin {{lang|la|tautologia}} and French {{lang|fr|tautologie}}. It first appeared in English in the 16th century. The use of the term [[logical tautology]] was introduced in English by [[Wittgenstein]] in 1919, perhaps following [[Auguste Comte]]'s usage in 1835.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]]|edition=3rd|year=2014|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/198205|url-access=subscription|title=Home : Oxford English Dictionary}}</ref>

==Examples==
* "Only time will tell if we stand the test of time", from the [[Van Halen]] song "[[Why Can't This Be Love]]"
* "After we change the game it won't remain the same." from the [[Blackalicious]] song "Blazing Arrow"
* "That tautological statement has repeated an idea."
* "There once was a fellow from Perth<br />Who was born on the day of his birth.<br />He got married, they say<br />On his wife's wedding day,<br />And died when he quitted the earth."
* "...A [[forget-me-not]], to remind me to remember not to forget." from the [[Benny Hill]] song "My Garden of Love"
* "Assless chaps" – [[chaps]] by definition are ''separate'' leg-coverings; a similar garment joined at the seat would instead be called a pair of [[trousers]].
* "{{lang|de|...und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, dann leben sie noch heute}}" (and if they have not died, then they are still alive today), traditional German formula to end a fairy tale (like "they lived happily ever after").
* "Former alumni" – alumni means those who are former members of an institution, group, school etc.
* "Wandering planet" – the word ''planet'' comes from the Greek word {{lang|el|'πλανήτης|italic=no}} ({{lang|el-latn|planḗtēs}}), which itself means "wanderer".
* "If you know, you know", a common English phrase.
* "What's for you won't go by you", a Scottish proverb that is tautological
*"{{lang|hu|[[Örökrangadó]] derby}}", the name of a football match contested between [[MTK Budapest FC|MTK Budapest]] and [[Ferencvárosi TC|Ferencváros]] in Hungary. The name literally translates as "Derby Derby" in Hungarian.

==Initialisms==
{{main|RAS syndrome|Pleonasm}}
Abbreviations whose last word is often [[RAS syndrome|redundantly repeated]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-tautology.html |title=Examples of Tautology: Meaning and Common Forms |website=yourdictionary }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.2classnotes.com/figures-of-speech/tautology-examples/ |title=Tautology Examples In Acronyms And Daily Usage |website=classnotes |date=March 1, 2019 }}</ref>

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*[[Automated teller machine|ATM]] machine
*[[COVID-19]] disease
*[[DC Comics]]
*[[DVD]] disc
*[[Electronic dance music|EDM]] music
*[[HIV]] virus
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*[[ICBM]] missile
*[[ISBN]] number
*[[JSON Web Token|JWT]] token
*[[LCD]] display
*[[PAT Test|PAT]] test <!-- intentional link to dab; applies to each listing there -->
*[[Personal identification number|PIN]] number
*Please [[RSVP]]
*[[RAS syndrome]]
{{col-break|width=33%}}
*[[Rapid antigen test|RAT]] test
*[[SARS]] syndrome
*[[SAT]] test
*[[SSD]] drive
*[[Universal Product Code|UPC]] code
*[[VIN]] number
*[[VIP]] person
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==Discussion==
Intentional repetition of meaning intends to amplify or emphasize a particular, usually significant fact about what is being discussed. For example, a [[gift]] is, by definition, free of charge; using the phrase "free gift" might emphasize that there are no hidden conditions or [[fine print]] (such as the expectation of money or reciprocation) or that the gift is being given by [[volition (psychology)|volition]].

This is related to the [[rhetorical device]] of [[hendiadys]], where one concept is expressed through the use of two descriptive words or phrases: for example, using "goblets and gold" to mean wealth, or "this day and age" to refer to the present time. Superficially, these expressions may seem tautological, but they are stylistically sound because the repeated meaning is just a way to emphasize the same idea.

The use of tautologies, however, is usually unintentional. For example, the phrases "mental telepathy", "planned conspiracies", and "small dwarfs" imply that there are such things as physical telepathy, spontaneous conspiracies, and giant dwarfs, which are [[oxymoron]]s.<ref name=Kallan>{{cite book|last=Kallan|first=Richard|title=Armed Gunmen, True Facts, and Other Ridiculous Nonsense: A Compiled Compendium of Repetitive Redundancies|year=2005|publisher=Pantheon Books|isbn=978-0-375-42352-9|page=x|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/armedgunmentruef00kall}}</ref>

[[Parallelism (rhetoric)|Parallelism]] is not tautology, but rather a particular stylistic device. Much [[Old Testament poetry]] is based on parallelism: the same thing said twice, but in slightly different ways (Fowler describes this as [[pleonasm]]).<ref name="Fowler"/> However, modern biblical study emphasizes that there are subtle distinctions and developments between the two lines, such that they are usually not truly the "same thing". Parallelism can be found wherever there is poetry in the Bible: [[Psalms]], the [[Books of the Prophets]], and in other areas as well.

==See also==
* {{annotated link|Pleonasm#Bilingual tautological expressions|Bilingual tautological expressions}}
* {{annotated link|Figure of speech}}
* {{annotated link|Grammar}}
* {{annotated link|Hyperbole}}
* {{annotated link|Lapalissade}}
* {{annotated link|List of tautological place names}}
* {{annotated link|No true Scotsman}}
* {{annotated link|Platitude}}
* {{annotated link|Redundancy (linguistics)}}
* {{annotated link|Tautophrase}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|tautology}}
* [http://www.figarospeech.com/it-figures/2005/8/23/negative-sunnis-are-not-very-positive.html Figures of Speech: Tautology]
* [http://www.literarydevices.com/tautology/ Tautology Explained]

{{Figures of speech}}

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[[Category:Sentences by type]]
[[Category:Rhetoric]]
[[Category:Linguistics]]
[[Category:Propositions]]
[[Category:Semantics]]