- published: 29 May 2014
- views: 77179
In everyday speech, a phrase may be any group of words, often carrying a special idiomatic meaning; in this sense it is roughly synonymous with expression. In linguistic analysis, a phrase is a group of words (or possibly a single word) that functions as a constituent in the syntax of a sentence—a single unit within a grammatical hierarchy. A phrase appears within a clause, although it is also possible for a phrase to be a clause or to contain a clause within it.
There is a difference between the common use of the term phrase and its technical use in linguistics. In common usage, a phrase is usually a group of words with some special idiomatic meaning or other significance, such as "all rights reserved", "economical with the truth", "kick the bucket", and the like. It may be a euphemism, a saying or proverb, a fixed expression, a figure of speech, etc.
In grammatical analysis, particularly in theories of syntax, a phrase is any group of words, or sometimes a single word, which plays a particular role within the grammatical structure of a sentence. It does not have to have any special meaning or significance, or even exist anywhere outside of the sentence being analyzed, but it must function there as a complete grammatical unit. For example, in the sentence Yesterday I saw an orange bird with a white neck, the words an orange bird with a white neck form what is called a noun phrase, or a determiner phrase in some theories, which functions as the object of the sentence.
Like the arrival of the purest from of life
It sets its course to remain just that
If not for the blatant disregard for its purity
It would never uncover the anger
Stormlit, Aqua
The crest of the waves reveal a
Sign of friendship with the moon
Embracing each other with the
Tides and currents that flow, throughout
The spaces meant for it to be!
"Reaching, to hold onto, the liquid, rain"
The perspiration on a sweating soul tells
The body what is known
The the water reveals the human effort
It tends to exceed its own demand
By taking the world by the hand
Stormlit, Aqua