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Paratactic

Structure
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A stylistic arrangement of clauses or phrases placed side-by-side without subordinate conjunctions.

Detailed Definition
Paratactic in poetry describes a syntactic style that links clauses, images, or phrases without subordinating conjunctions (like “because” or “although”), relying instead on juxtaposition, coordination, or asyndeton to create open-ended, often cinematic or imagistic effects; associated with Modernist and Objectivist poetics (e.g., William Carlos Williams’s “The Red Wheelbarrow”), parataxis resists causal explanation, inviting readers to actively construct meaning from discrete elements placed in suggestive proximity, thereby emphasizing perception over interpretation and honoring the autonomy of each poetic unit.
Example
Example in poetry:
Paratactic: Ezra Pound’s “In a Station of the Metro” uses parataxis: “The apparition of these faces in the crowd; / Petals on a wet, black bough”; William Carlos Williams’s “The Red Wheelbarrow” omits conjunctions for stark juxtaposition; haiku tradition relies on paratactic imagery; contemporary poet Rae Armantrout uses fragmented parataxis in “Veil”; parataxis places clauses/images side-by-side without subordination; it implies connection through proximity rather than explanation.
Additional Notes
Paratactic style arranges phrases or clauses side by side without subordinating conjunctions, giving a clipped or declarative feel.
Also Known As
Coordinate syntax Side-by-side clauses Non-subordinate Equal-clause structure
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