Editing Parenthesis (rhetoric)

{{Short description|Grammatically optional part inserted into a passage}}

In [[rhetoric]], a '''parenthesis''' ({{plural form}}: '''parentheses'''; from the [[Ancient Greek]] word παρένθεσις ''parénthesis'' 'injection, insertion', literally '(a) putting in beside') or '''parenthetical phrase''' is an explanatory or qualifying word, phrase, clause, or sentence inserted into a passage. The parenthesis could be left out and still form grammatically correct text.<ref name="Walker1823">{{cite book|author=John Walker |title=A Rhetorical Grammar: In which the Common Improprieties in Reading and Speaking are Detected ... |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8TsJAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA99 |year=1823 |publisher=T. Cadell |isbn=978-1333239831 |page=99}}</ref> Parenthetical expressions are usually [[delimit]]ed by round brackets (also known as [[parentheses]]), square [[bracket]]s, dashes, or commas. English-language [[Style guide|style and usage guides]] originating in the [[News media#History|news industry of the twentieth century]], such as the ''[[AP Stylebook]]'', recommend against the use of [[square bracket]]s for parenthesis and other purposes, because "They cannot be transmitted over [[List of wire services|news wires]]."<ref name="AP2014">{{cite encyclopedia|editor-surname=Christian|editor-given=Darrell|editor-link=openlibrary:authors/OL7512788A|editor-surname2=Froke|editor-given2=Paula Marie|editor-link2=openlibrary:authors/OL8932325A|editor-surname3=Jacobsen|editor-given3=Sally A.|editor-link3=Sally Jacobsen|editor-surname4=Minthorn|editor-given4=David|editor-link4=openlibrary:authors/OL7512789A|encyclopedia=[[AP Stylebook]] 2014|entry=brackets <nowiki>[]</nowiki>|version=Chapter "Punctuation Guide" |entry-url=https://archive.org/details/associatedpresss2014unse_l3a7/page/289/mode/1up|edition=49th|year=2014|publisher=[[Associated Press]]|location=New York|isbn=9780917360589|oclc=881182354|lccn=2002249088|page=289|title=Associated Press Stylebook 2014}}</ref> Usage of parentheses goes back (at least) to the 15th century in English legal documents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/parenthesis|title = Parenthesis &#124; grammar &#124; Britannica}}</ref>

==Examples==
;Billy-bob, a great singer, was not a good dancer.:The phrase ''a great singer'', set off by commas, is both an [[appositive]] and a parenthesis.
;A dog (not a cat) is an animal that barks.:The phrase ''not a cat'' is a parenthesis.
;My umbrella (which is somewhat broken) can still shield the two of us from the rain.:The phrase ''which is somewhat broken'' is a parenthesis.
;Please, Gerald, come here!: ''Gerald'' is both a [[vocative expression|noun of direct address]] and a parenthesis.
;People who eat broccoli are typically healthier—and happier—than people who don't.: The phrase ''and happier'', set off by dashes, is a parenthesis.

==Types==
The following are examples of types of parenthetical phrases:
*Introductory phrase: ''Once upon a time'', my father ate a muffin.<ref>''Garner's Modern American Usage'', (Oxford: 2003, p. 655)</ref>
*Interjection: My father ate the muffin, ''gosh damn it''!
*Aside: My father, ''if you don't mind me telling you this'', ate the muffin.
*[[Apposition|Appositive]]: My father, ''a jaded and bitter man'', ate the muffin.
*Absolute phrase: My father, ''his eyes flashing with rage'', ate the muffin.
*Free modifier: My father, ''chewing with unbridled fury'', ate the muffin.
*Resumptive modifier: My father ate the muffin, ''a muffin which no man had yet chewed''.
*Summative modifier: My father ate the muffin, ''a feat which no man had attempted''.

Within each example sentence, the parenthetical phrase is the portion that is displayed in an ''italic font''. It is called a "parenthetical" phrase even when it is '''not''' delimited by any brackets (such as round -- [or square] -- [[bracket]]s).

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Rhetoric]]
[[Category:Grammar]]
[[Category:Punctuation]]


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