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Tautology and Pleonasm
THERE are no insignificant errors in English Language. First degree, second or third degree, all errors must be weeded out, as far as possible.
Some of the errors we make in English Language are like stubborn stains on a garment, resisting bleaches and special detergents. The best way to learn this language is not to hate it. It is also not to hate those pointing out how you are breaching acknowledged rules of speaking or writing.
This is Chapter 1 of the new series IN THE CLASSROOM WITH MM. Be my guest!
This week’s lesson, like many more to come, is useful to both the teacher and the learner. Those who have no intention of sitting for any examinations can and will also benefit immensely as the material aims at eradicating common errors in general and developing command of English Language in speech and writing.
What is tautology? Look at the following statements.
1.The future leaders of tomorrow. (This error is always on radio, television and, with due respect, in newspapers.) We talk about “FUTURE LEADERS” chete, full stop, in proper English. All of them will be seen tomorrow (in the future). None of them remains in the past. Saka tongotika: We can only say, “These children are our future leaders.” Tosiya zvakadero-we leave out “of tomorrow”! Mazvibata? Iyoyi ndiyo inonzi tautology: (unreasonable/ unnecessary repetition). It really is not fair to call it an error; well it is, but certainly only some embarrassing unreasonableness in speech or writing.
More examples of tautology: (i) He returned back to Harare. Cf. He returned to Harare. (ii) The reason why we are here. . .” Cf. The reason we are here. . . (Leave out WHY. In every ‘reason’ there is a Why. Get that? (iii) In the final end we conquered. In the final conclusion, make sure you mention that point. Both statements suffer from tautology. FINAL means ‘the end’ or ‘conclusion’. There is no need to call them the final end or final conclusion. It’s that simple. Simply say, “In the end we conquered. In the conclusion, mention that point.”
(iv) What a sad misfortune! Cf. What a misfortune! All misfortunes are sad. I know philosophy can lock us up in some intellectual masturbation and argument. One can argue, “If a notorious terrorist dies, is that not a happy misfortune?” Philosophical nonsense or noise aside, we must stick to straight thought processes-not altered thought processes. We talk fundamentals of English Language here-its basics.
(v) It was a puzzling mystery. Cf. It was a mystery. (All mysteries are puzzling, in a normal world.) (vi) We then entered into the haunted house.cf. We then entered the haunted house. Once you enter, you are into. Don’t repeat yourself. That is tautology. You can only enter into an agreement. We then entered into an agreement with the Chinese. (Correct!) It is not a physical movement into. It is sort of figurative we can say.
USE OF ‘One of…’:
This is one of the trickiest little errors which adulterates English. Look at this.
2. (i)One of the kombi’s wheel. (ii) One of the lady’s worker. (iii) One of the chief’s aide. (iv) One of the trickiest little error. None of these statements is correct. In all of them we are talking about, NOT ONE, but ONE OF…You follow? So yes we are referring to ONE, but ONE OF many windscreens. Ipapo pokuti ONE , ndipo pane nyaya…nhai? Many students get confused. They focus on the plural and forget we are talking about ONE OF…one chete! Therefore the correct thing to say is, “One of the kombi’s wheels. One of the chief’s aides… One of the lady’s workers…One of the little errors…
3. “We felt so excited.” The speaker or writer wants to say, “We felt very excited” or “extremely excited.” “So excited” haaite ari ega- and then full stop. “So excited that we gave him a standing ovation,” is correct. ‘So’ anofambidzana na ‘that’ nguva dzose… all the time! The two go hand in hand. Thank you so much (wrong). Thank you very much (correct). It happens so often (wrong). It happens very often (correct). “So” does not mean “very”, but we often wrongly use the two interchangeably. Please complete your sentence by adding ‘that’ after every ‘So’. So big that…so drunk that…so heavy that’ etc.
USE OF ‘JUST’
There are one hundred and one different ways we can use ‘just’ though often at times we use it wrongly. I suppose the reason is because of these many options or angles of meaning available: over and above the following: morally right and proper, reasonable / well founded and deserved / right, we also have other meanings: exactly, exactly as, exactly at the same moment, barely / scarcely, at this moment, simply, only, really-truly, approximately. This abundance of other meanings is not an excuse for us to use the word ‘just’ randomly or wrongly and hope we mean something.
Look at the following examples: (i) I am just a teacher like you. Well, if you mean ‘I am simply a teacher like you,” that is fine. But why not avoid guessing what you mean and say so…. “…simply a teacher like you” than saying, “… just a teacher like you”? or simply “I am a teacher like you”?
(i) I just don’t know. Cf. I simply don’t know. (ii) I just don’t understand. Cf. I simply don’t understand. He was just waiting for his supervisor. Cf. He was only waiting for his supervisor. If we use ‘just’ everywhere, anyhow, as we have done over decades, it becomes hackneyed, overworked, overused, tired, clichéd.
4. He was put into police cells. Cf. He was thrown into police cells. Isn’t that better? Of course!
5. He threw the stone to him and injured him. Cf. He threw (hurled) the stone at him and injured him. If you throw something ‘to’ someone, this suggests a friendly action…no harm intended. Eg ‘Throwing the stone to Shamiso.’ Shamiso will catch the stone. If you throw ‘at’, you intend to harm. The stone will injure her. You are attacking her. Mazvibata? Good! These seemingly small, insignificant details of correctness matter in teaching or learning English Language.
5. Patients were attended.(wrong). Cf. Patients were attended to. (correct)
6. A loaf of bread.(May be not wrong but certainly illogical / not sensible). What other loaf would it be?
Also watch out for PLEONASM!-the tendency to use more words than are necessary. Eg . To hear with your ears. To divide the orange into four quarters. I saw it with my eyes. He was bleeding blood. Killing someone to death. Stoned him to death. If you ‘stone’ anyone, you kill by use of stones. You cannot stone anyone and not kill. Pleonasm is a form of tautology.
I love these tiny details of meaning. You create a cutting edge (precision) in your English and make all the difference between fine and refined language. Proficiency in English language usage, in speech or writing is more than sheer ability to convey sense. We can all say something in English, but it is the quality and flavour of it, in one word the command, that make the difference.
6. One dozen of eggs.(wrong) Cf, One dozen eggs.(correct). The dozen is not ‘of eggs…made of eggs). It is one dozen eggs. Simple! Like one cup tea, not one cup of tea! Three cups flour, not ‘of flour’! One teaspoon of sugar (wrong) Kana ndimiwo makamboona teaspoon yeshuga? Handiti ndeyesimbi? Ichi ndicho chiShona chizere kuti, ‘One teaspoon of sugar.’ Hazvinei makadzidza sei? It does not matter how many degrees you boast. It is wrong-full stop!
7.English is a must….(wrong).Cf. English is a must-read (correct)…This car is a must-have/ must –see (correct). But certainly not a must. English is not a must, is it? A car is not a must. A novel is not a must. Marriage is not a must. Surely we know what these items, concepts, practices, subjects, languages are. They are not a MUST. At least not in English! Teibhuye Chingezi chemene chisina mapipi achireketi kuti A MUST! A must yechii?
8. He said he picked a cigarette stub…(wrong). Cf. He said he picked up a cigarette stub (correct). We pick items…loose items from the ground. We pick attached items, eg flowers. tea-leaves, fruit etc . Kutanha it is called in Shona. ‘Pick up’ refers to ‘kunhonga’(not the Anglican Bishop). I hope I am talking to someone. Tirikunzwanana? Good! Not only good…fascinating, interesting, isn’t it?
9. She stays alone in a four roomed cottage. This speaker or writer wants to say, “She lives alone in a four roomed house / cottage.” What is ‘staying? Staying suggests a temporary…very short stay. She stays at The Sheraton (meaning she is booked at The Sheraton.) For a few days, weeks perhaps! If it is his home (pamuzi pemene pake paanogara) then ‘she lives there.’ Mwanase kuzvizwa? Mwashuma. Thank you.
10. Feeling extremely tired, I slept at 9 o’clock. The writer or speaker wants to say, “Feeling extremely tired, I went to bed at 9 o’clock. No one knows what time they sleep. However, we all know when we go to bed (to rest.)
11. The house he bought is haunded. (hounded?) (wrong) Cf. The house he bought is haunted.(correct).
12. They were playing draft…(draft?) Cf. They were playing draughts. The game is called DRAUGHTS (pronounced drafts), not DRAFT. But we all say ‘draft’. Don’t we? Eya ana Mtape mweitambe ‘draft’ pashi pemusharu kanyiyo. Mutambo iwoyu woku bhobha unonzi DRAUGHTS. Mwazvizwa madhodha? End of story.
Weeding out stubborn common errors is one area we need to deal with as teachers and learners. These errors, most of them, obviously compounded by mother-tongue interference, seriously compromise all effort, especially in the ears of those who know and markers who are knowledgeably meticulous about the- common- errors pandemic. It is one of my goals IN THE CLASSROOM WITH MM, to fight these errors wherever they may be found; in our everyday speech, or for teachers, indeed as they teach, or as students, in their written work, compositions and all of it, until they acquire skillful mastery and command of the English Language. It is my hope and wish that I teach communication skills that will enable my readers to be more proficient in their English Language for examinations and self-development.
We cannot continue to allow this foreign language to contaminate our children’s pass rate and hinder their prospects of bright future careers.
Students, tell a friend about these important series of classroom practice.
Tell them seriousness business has started. Parents, please buy a copy of The Manica Post every Friday, or subscribe indeed, and ask your son or daughter to like this column. You will not regret you did! There can never be a better way of complementing mainstream classroom practice than this Manica Post Grammar school.
The battle continues next week. Until we win, ALUTA CONTINUA!
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