Exploring sentence structures, induction, and emphasis

Key

• “→” indicates first-level nesting (i.e., child), “→→” indicates second-level nesting (i.e., grandchild), and so on


• Each phrase is a semantic child only of the previously latest parent


• Two or more phrases are siblings if and only if at least one of them has a child phrase


• In the notation “n/state”, “n” is the level assigner and “state” is the state-marker


• In the notation “state/n”, “n” is the level to which the “state” corresponds

Analysis

“How is one difference of opinion sufficient to qualify the truth of a rift in the Anna Hazare camp—between Hegde and Hazare himself—in the eyes of the media?”

How is
1→one difference
2→→of opinion
3→sufficient
4→→to qualify
5→→the truth
6→→→of a rift
7→→→in the Anna Hazare camp
8→→→→between Hegde and Hazare himself
9→→→in the eyes of the media?

In the above example,

• 1 and 3 are siblings


• 2 is the child of 1


• 4 to 5 is a passive transition


• 6 to 7 is a passive transition


• 6→7 is the child of 4→5 is the child of 3


• 8 is the child of 7


• 7 and 9 are siblings

Thus,

1/origin → _child → sibling/1 → 2/origin → 3/child → _grandchild → sibling/3

Notes on the example

Reduction of complexity The most deeply nested child will receive the least emphasis. Consequently, more important points have to be nested earlier on. If one complex idea is to be delivered, it would be wiser to break the sentences down: that way, deeply-nested child phrases are eliminated and the subject is grasped easily. However, this breakdown increases the amount of physical space necessary to hold the text.

Siblings limit Sentence lengths are harder to analyse because different people have different attention spans, and when the payoff involved is space, passive transitions can be employed to keep from creating more children or more siblings. At the same time, it is advisable to limit the number of siblings in each sentence to two.

Fragmentation If a child phrase is being included, the norm is to fit it into the sentence between two commas or two M-dashes. This is also the reason commas are powerful because they induce a pause in the reader’s flow, as if breaking his/her speed and having him/her scrutinize the child phrase. At the same time, inserting too many such breaks makes the text read fragmented, and fragmented texts make for frustrating reading.

Transitive phrases Consider the previous sentence: “At the same time, inserting too many such breaks makes the text read fragmented, and fragmented texts make for frustrating reading.” In this case, the comma is used for a different purpose:

1/origin → 2/origin → 3/origin

Essentially, the phrase “At the same time” is used to conduct a transition from the previous sentence to the current one and so the first comma marks the end of the transition and the beginning of the body. Similarly, the insertion “, and” indicates a fusing of the current sentence—the body—and “fragmented texts make for frustrating reading.” In fact, in order to broaden the emphasis on the idea, “, and” can be removed and substituted with a period.