What is "anacoluthon"

Anacoluthon \An`a*co*lu"thon\, n. [Gr. ?, ?, not following, wanting sequence; 'an priv. + ? following.] (Gram.) A lack of grammatical sequence or coherence in a sentence; an instance of a change of construction in a sentence so that the latter part does not syntactically correspond with the first part.

Syn: anacoluthia

"want of grammatical sequence; changing constructions in mid-clause," 1706, from Latinized form of Greek anakoluthon, neuter of anakolouthos "inconsequent," from an- "not" (see an- (1)) + akolouthos "following," from copulative prefix a- + keleuthos "way, road, track, path" (see celerity).

n. 1 (context grammar English) A sentence or clause that is grammatically inconsistent, especially with respect to the type of clausal or phrasal complement for the initial clause. 2 (context rhetoric English) Intentional use of such a structure.

1. n. an abrupt change within a sentence from one syntactic structure to another [syn: anacoluthia]

2. [also: anacolutha (pl)]

An anacoluthon ( ; from the Greek anakolouthon, from an-: "not" and ἀκόλουθος akólouthos: "following") is an unexpected discontinuity in the expression of ideas within a sentence, leading to a form of words in which there is logical incoherence of thought. Anacolutha are often sentences interrupted midway, where there is a change in the syntactical structure of the sentence and of intended meaning following the interruption. An example is the Italian proverb "The good stuff – think about it." This proverb urges people to make the best choice. When anacoluthon occurs unintentionally it is considered to be an error in sentence structure, and results in incoherent nonsense. However, it can be used as a rhetorical technique to challenge the reader to think more deeply, or in " stream of consciousness" literature to represent the disjointed nature of associative thought. Anacoluthon is very common in informal speech, where a speaker might start to say one thing, then break off and abruptly and incoherently continue, expressing a completely different line of thought. When such speech is reported in writing, a dash (—) is often included at the point of discontinuity. The listener is expected to ignore the first part of the sentence, although in some cases it might contribute to the overall meaning in an impressionistic sense.