SECTION III.—­FIGURES OF SYNTAX.

A Figure of Syntax is an intentional deviation from the ordinary construction of words.  The principal figures of Syntax are five; namely, El-lip’-sis, Ple’-o-nasm, Syl-lep’-sis, En-al’-la-ge, and Hy-per’-ba-ton. EXPLANATIONS.

I. Ellipsis is the omission of some word or words which are necessary to complete the construction, but not necessary to convey the meaning.  Such words are said, in technical phrase, to be understood;[477] because they are received as belonging to the sentence, though they are not uttered.

Of compound sentences, a vast many are more or less elliptical; and sometimes, for brevity’s sake, even the most essential parts of a simple sentence, are suppressed;[478] as, “But more of this hereafter.”—­Harris’s Hermes, p. 77.  This means, “But I shall say more of this hereafter.”  “Prythee, peace.”—­Shak. That is, “I pray thee, hold thou thy peace.”

There may be an omission of any of the parts of speech, or even of a whole clause, when this repeats what precedes; but the omission of mere articles or interjections can scarcely constitute a proper ellipsis, because these parts of speech, wherever they are really necessary to be recognized, ought to be expressed.

EXAMPLES OF ELLIPSIS SUPPLIED.

1.  Of the ARTICLE:—­“A man and [a] woman.”—­“The day, [the] month, and [the] year.”—­“She gave me an apple and [a] pear, for a fig and [an] orange.”—­Jaudon’s Gram., p. 170.

2.  Of the NOUN:—­“The common [law] and the statute law.”—­“The twelve [apostles].”—­“The same [man] is he.”—­“One [book] of my books.”—­“A dozen [bottles] of wine.”—­“Conscience, I say; not thine own [conscience], but [the conscience] of the other.”—­1 Cor., x, 29.  “Every moment subtracts from [our lives] what it adds to our lives.”—­Dillwyn’s Ref., p. 8.  “Bad actions mostly lead to worse” [actions].—­Ib., p. 5.

3.  Of the ADJECTIVE:—­“There are subjects proper for the one, and not [proper] for the other.”—­Kames. “A just weight and [a just] balance are the Lord’s.”—­Prov., xvi, 11.  True ellipses of the adjective alone, are but seldom met with.

4.  Of the PRONOUN:—­“Leave [thou] there thy gift before the altar, and go [thou] thy way; first be [thou] reconciled to thy brother, and then come [thou] and offer [thou] thy gift,”—­Matt., v, 24.  “Love [ye] your enemies, bless [ye] them that curse you, do [ye] good to them that hate you.”—­Ib., v. 44.  “Chastisement does not always immediately follow error, but [it] sometimes comes when [it is] least expected.”—­ Dillwyn, Ref., p. 31.  “Men generally put a greater value upon the favours [which] they bestow, than upon those [which] they receive.”—­Art of Thinking, p. 48.  “Wisdom and worth were all [that] he had.”—­Allen’s Gram., p. 294.