A paraphrase is a text that seeks to expand and explain another speech.
The first important thing to do in order to establish the meaning of the term paraphrase is to determine its etymological origin. In this sense, we can say that it emanates from Greek. Specifically, from the word “paraphrasis”, which is the result of the sum of the following components:
• “Para”, which can be translated as “next to”.
• “Phrasis”, which is synonymous with “expression”.
Paraphrase is a speech or text that aims to explain and expand information , with the aim of making the data easier to understand and assimilate by the recipient. The concept derives from paraphrăsis , a Latin term.
Types of paraphrases
What paraphrasing seeks is to clarify the different dimensions of a message . For this, it develops a kind of imitation of the original speech, although appealing to a different language.
Specifically, we can establish that there are two fundamental types of paraphrases:
• Mechanics . This basically consists of replacing expressions with other phrases or synonyms, which involve, however, a minimum syntactic change.
• Constructive . This other type of paraphrase, for its part, consists of, completely maintaining its meaning, reworking any text to obtain another that is totally different.
Paraphrasing can be constructive or mechanical.
How to do it
There are several ways to perform a paraphrase. The message can be absolutely rewritten, creating a new text but that maintains the first meaning. Another option is to resort to synonymy to change the words, preserving the syntax almost unchanged.
For example: “The irruption of Phoebus illuminated our home” is an expression that can generate a paraphrase such as “The sunrise illuminated our house.”
Mediators and paraphrasing
In many aspects of life the use of paraphrase is used. Thus, for example, one of the professionals who uses it the most at all times is the mediator. This one, which is responsible for dealing with complicated situations such as kidnappings or many other types of conflicts, continually uses this resource.
Specifically, what it does repeatedly is propose to one of the parties to the conflict the same idea and solution, but with different words and structures. In this way, at each moment that party to the conflict can understand that the mediator is “taking their side” and trying to help them, when in reality the position of this professional is the same from the beginning. However, he knows how to disguise it very well.
Its use in publishing and literature
A common use of paraphrase takes place in educational institutions when a student must explain, in their own words, something that the teacher has transmitted to them. When giving a lesson , therefore, the student will paraphrase the educator's dissertation.
Paraphrase also appears when poetry is converted into prose, or when a story or novel is taken to the field of verse. Certain classic books, on the other hand, also generate paraphrases when some authors seek to “update” their language and replace the original vocabulary with terms that are more frequent in the current era.
The translation of a text from one language to another, finally, can be considered as a paraphrase.