Poorly structuring a sentence, making a mistake with the agreement, conjugating a verb incorrectly or making a similar grammatical error are actions that are summarized in the idea of solecism.
Solecism is a concept specific to the field of grammar that refers to the absence of syntax in someone's expression, whether when speaking or when expressing themselves in writing. It is an error, a language vice , which violates the norms of each language.
This syntactic phenomenon, also called anacoluto , leads to a sentence or phrase being poorly stated due to inconsistencies. Solecism , a term that derives from a Latin word that in turn had a Greek root focused on the idea of describing a lack of language based on incorrect pronunciations, is characterized by an alteration of the typical, conventional or usual structure of an utterance.
Sometimes there is a specific intention to appeal to solecism, understanding it as a rhetorical figure, while in other circumstances it appears in spontaneous colloquial speeches , everyday conversations, or is detected in texts. When this happens, the content is messy and even difficult to understand because elements such as connectors and prepositions are used incorrectly, the subject is modified in the wrong way or there is no agreement with verbs or grammatical number .
Types of solecism
As syntactic errors when speaking or writing are multiple, it is possible to recognize different types of solecism .
After evaluating each case (listening to someone or reading a writing), depending on the characteristics of the error, it will be determined whether it is a grammatical solecism , a construction solecism , a prepositional regime solecism , a syntactic solecism or a solecism of concordance .
Substitution and deletion are some of the actions that usually generate the so-called syntactic solecism . When a conjunction or verb is removed or omitted, for example, the content loses a valuable element, taking away the quality of the structure and even making it difficult (or even impossible) to understand.
If you make a mistake in gender and/or number, meanwhile, a solecism of agreement is produced. This vice can affect nouns or articles and cause the verb and subject to not correspond.
In an everyday and informal conversation, solecism can occur, but this language vice is not admitted in formal environments because it is conceived as a defect of someone when expressing themselves.
Examples
The number of examples that can be recognized in practice is inexhaustible, both within the Spanish language and when focusing on the development of other languages.
The lack of agreement , to detail a specific case, gives rise to sentences such as “There were people from different countries at the event” ( “There were people…” ) or “Sus ojos son rojo” ( “Their eyes are brown” ).
Especially in childhood, although throughout life the error can also creep in, the solecism translates into confusions of time such as the following: “Tomorrow I ate apple” ( “Today – or yesterday – I ate apple” or “Tomorrow I will eat apple” ” ), “El Año I will go to study” ( “This year I will go to study” , “Next year I will go to study” ).
The use of prepositions , likewise, is not always correct, as can be seen in expressions such as “They are applying vaccines for pneumonia” ( “They are applying vaccines against pneumonia” ) and “Manifiesta contempt on their son-in-law” ( “Manifies contempt by his son-in-law .
How to avoid solecism
You have to know how to avoid solecism in order to achieve appropriate use of language and achieve fluid and easy-to-understand communication. The challenge of every sender should always be that the message they wish to give reaches the receiver in the most direct and clear way possible.
To minimize errors or confusion when speaking or writing, it is essential to educate yourself about linguistics , learn (or review) verb conjugations and deepen your knowledge about pronouns .
In order to express ourselves correctly, it is essential to educate ourselves, know our language and respect spelling.
Other vices or errors that violate linguistic norms
In addition to solecism, there are other vices or errors that violate the linguistic norms of each language.
Very often, by emphasizing a reality that detracts from the quality of the language, wrong writings or pronunciations are noticed. This defect, which leads more than one individual to have in their vocabulary words such as “tualla” (instead of towel), “dentrífico” (the correct thing is toothpaste) or “comisería” (police station) believing them to be correct, is known as barbarism .
Another vice that overshadows discourse is called thingism . Those who have it are characterized by excessively reiterating the word 'thing' (or 'thing' ) without resorting to synonyms or being more specific through nouns consistent with the concept that is explained or described. Examples: “Here is a thing that came out of the pipe” or “Here they sell that thing that connects to the TV box and can be used to watch all the channels?” .
By focusing attention on the enormous range of existing rhetorical figures , meanwhile, other types of alterations in the structure of an utterance come to light. In this context, sylepsis (based on not matching number and gender: “The majority of attendees believed it was a joke” , “A large percentage of animals were victims of the fire” ) and polysyndeton (a resource characterized by due to the abundant use of conjunctions: “And he neither calls them nor cares about his children or me” ), to cite two specific cases that, in everyday speech or outside of artistic matters, do not They enrich the language but make it defective.