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Informative paraphrase varies in type and linguistic form
FREQUENCY AND TYPES OF DIFFERENT WORDING
Repetition – of both statements and individual words – is common in academic and professional writing. It has various uses: enabling different things to be said about the same idea, helping readers to see links between different parts of a text, giving a reminder of something said earlier, and clarifying something written just before. For a survey of all these uses in this blog, see 24. Good and Bad Repetition.
In many cases, repetition is worded differently from what it repeats. Doing this is not compulsory with the first three of the above uses, but often seems to be preferred there because of a belief that unchanged wording might be judged monotonous and hence poor writing style. An unfortunate side effect is that readers can quite easily fail to recognise the rewording as equivalent to the original (see 5. Reading Obstacles 3).
By contrast, the more informative clarifying use of repetition must logically be in different words. It is this use that I wish to focus on in the present post. Although it too features in the repetition post, the variety of linguistic expression that it can involve is not examined in detail. The grammar and vocabulary possibilities are actually quite extensive.
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KEY FEATURES OF INFORMATIVE REWORDING
Informative rewording necessitates mention of two different things: the original wording and its paraphrase. Paraphrase needs to be distinguished from identification, the type of meaning in the following (from 117. Restating Generalizations More Specifically):
(a) The first Roman Emperor was Augustus Caesar.
Although Augustus Caesar here is equivalent to the first Roman Emperor, it is not a rewording: the two expressions are not synonyms. A true paraphrase of Roman Emperor would be something like “absolute lifelong ruler of the Roman Empire” (see 80. How to Paraphrase).
The need of informative rewording to be given in two stages is not unusual in writing: other information types that have it, besides identification, include examples, consequences, similarities, names and exceptions. The two stages of informative rewording may, like those of these other meanings, be presented together in one sentence or separately in two or more.
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SINGLE-SENTENCE REWORDING
The following are the main means of saying something and rewording it in the same sentence.
1. BE (Definitions)
Definitions are one of two types of informative rewording that can be expressed with BE. It needs to be appreciated, however, that BE statements very often contain no rewording at all. Consider this:
(a) A bicycle is a conveyance.
The meaning of a conveyance here does not exactly correspond to that of a bicycle. The reason is that it applies to many other types of transport too, so that describing a bicycle with it does not indicate what distinguishes bicycles from them. For that, more information is necessary.
The usual way to create this more precise rewording is with extra wording before and/or after a general noun like conveyance:
(b) A bicycle is a two-wheeled conveyance (which is) propelled by human energy.
This is a classic definition format, with a relative pronoun (which) introducing more detail about the general noun, without an intervening comma (see 200. Special Uses of Relative Clauses, #6). The words by definition should not be added after the first BE (see 48. Tricky Word Contrasts 1, #2).
However, such sentences do not always make definitions, and are not the only way to make them:
(c) Sterilization is the cleansing destruction of micro-organisms.
Here, the additional definition wording after the general noun destruction starts with a preposition (of), a common alternative to a relative pronoun (see 252. Descriptive Wording after Nouns 1, #2).
One other way to define with BE is by means of a to verb (infinitive):
(d) To sterilize (something) is to cleanse (it) of micro-organisms.
This sort of definition typically has an infinitive before BE as well as after. Again, though, such a format is not always a definition. In the following example (from 119. BE before a “to” Verb, #5), the second infinitive names a result rather than equivalence:
(e) To climb Everest is to join a very select group.
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2. BE (Naming Statements)
In naming statements, the informative rewording says not what something means but what it is called. The name may follow on from defining wording or another name. Here is an example of the former:
(f) A Christian cleric in charge of a diocese is a bishop.
The elements within a BE naming statement are similar to those in a BE definition – but in a different order. Once again, such combinations do not always create rewording, other possibilities being identifying and describing (see 206. Ways of Conveying a Name, #2). To prevent misunderstandings, it is often advisable to replace BE with a dedicated naming verb.
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3. Other Verbs
Two alternatives to BE in definitions are MEAN and BE DEFINED AS. The latter is especially useful because it not only indicates explicitly that a definition is being given, but also allows a distinction to be made between definitions newly created by the writer and those relayed from somewhere else (see 238. Using a Verb to Perform its Action). For the first of these meanings the BE part of the verb is combined with can or may, for the second it is not (see 237. Auxiliary Verbs in Professional Communication, #4).
The main alternatives to BE when defining words precede a name are BE CALLED, BE NAMED, BE KNOWN AS, BE TERMED and BE REFERRED TO AS. All except BE KNOWN AS allow the same use of may/can. When a name is being equated to another name, these verbs typically accompany also or alternatively (e.g. is also known as…).
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4. Apposition
Apposition is consecutive noun expressions each referring to the same thing (see 77. Pairing of Same-Meaning Nouns). It resembles BE in allowing an idea to be either identified or reworded, but differs in that it does so incidentally within a sentence about something else. Rewording with it may be defining, naming or renaming:
(g) Sterilization, (in other words) the cleansing destruction of micro-organisms, is vital in the laboratory.
(h) The definite article, (in other words) “the”, sometimes has a non-definite meaning.
(i) Aubergines, (in other words) egg plants, are growing in popularity.
In all of these types, it will be seen, the second noun expression has two surrounding commas. Sometimes two dashes or two brackets are used instead (see 294. Parentheses); sometimes a full stop needs to replace the second comma or dash.
The optional use of in other words after the first comma has various alternatives, of which the most exact is that is or that is to say (for the difference, see 309. Tricky Grammar Contrasts 5, #7), or their common abbreviation i.e. (see 48. Tricky Word Contrasts 1, #8).
When a name precedes a definition, as in (g), a further alternative is or. When a definition comes first, as in (h), namely becomes possible. When both nouns are names, it is possible to say also called or alternatively known as (sometimes informally abbreviated to aka).
The use of or in apposition structures can sometimes be confusing. The problem is that this equivalence-showing meaning is the opposite of the more common alternative-naming meaning of or, indicating two or more different possibilities (see 266. Indicating Alternatives). In extreme cases, misunderstanding equivalents as alternatives can lead to time being wasted on dictionary consultation in order to obtain the already-defined meaning. Thus, readers need to be especially careful when encountering or (see “Preliminary Considerations” in 177. How to Guess Meanings in a Text).
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5. Relative Clauses
When a name directly precedes its definition, in the manner of sterilization in sentence (g), one can usually add who or which + equivalence verb (BE, BE DEFINED AS, MEAN) after the separating comma, e.g. sterilization, which is… in (g).
This use of who or which is technically called “non-defining, even though it is introducing a definition! The reason for the apparent contradiction is that it is actually outside the definition (inside which another relative clause – a defining one – will often be found). The name “non-defining” is an unfortunate one, better replaced here by something like “equating” because it indicates the exact equivalence of the noun before it to the definition after (see 34. Relative Pronouns and Commas).
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MULTI-SENTENCE REWORDING
When alternative wordings are presented in separate sentences, the second sentence often indicates this with special language. One factor governing the linguistic possibilities is how much of the first sentence is being reworded.
6. Rewording a Whole Sentence
It very often happens that a second sentence rewords all of the first:
(j) Excessive intake of alcoholic beverages has a deleterious physical effect. In other words, it is unhealthy to drink too much.
Here, the aim of the rewording is not to define or name any particular concept but to help the reader to understand a complicated or technical statement.
In other words in this use is a connector – an adverb-like expression that shows a meaning link between adjacent sentences (see 40. Conjunctions versus Connectors). Its use in a new sentence is grammatically different from that in sentences like (g)-(i), where the rewording is not a verb-based statement. These alternative uses of in other words make it grammatically similar to for example (see 226. Words with Complicated Grammar 2, #4). That is to say has them too.
Another rewording indicator is to put it another way. This could be classified, like the others, as a multi-word connector, or it could be thought of as just an infinitive phrase with a commenting capability (see the end of 183. Statements between Commas).
One other alternative to a connector is what I call a “connector synonym” – usually a non-adverbial way of expressing a connector meaning (see 112. Synonyms of Connectors). The most basic in sentences like (j) is probably a starting This + equivalence verb: This means…, This is tantamount to saying…, This equates to saying… etc.
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7. Rewording Part of a Sentence
This kind of new-sentence rewording normally requires repetition of the original word(s):
(k) Only a bishop can grant permission. A bishop is (defined as) a Christian cleric in charge of a diocese.
To use MEAN instead of BE (DEFINED AS) in such combinations, it is necessary to begin the second sentence The word(s) (repeated wording) mean(s)….
When the second sentence is naming rather than defining, a common formula is The name given to such (key wording from the definition) is… . When it is presenting an alternative name, one might say Another name for (earlier name) is….
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