Editing Parataxis (section)

==Meaning==
Parataxis may be considered from three points of view:

*the outer expression of internal psychological features of experience,
*the linguistic means to express the paratactic relation,
*and the resulting sentence structure.

The underlying idea is that, in a connected discourse, complete independence among the consecutive sentences is very rare. This observation is captured in the expression "[[train of thought]]".<ref name=morris/> Consider the following:

*The sun was shining brightly. We went for a walk.
*The sun was shining brightly; we went for a walk.
*The sun was shining brightly, and we went for a walk.
*The sun was shining brightly, so we went for a walk.

In the first example, the two sentences are independent expressions, while in the last example they are dependent. However, the connection of thought in the first examples is just as plausible as in the last ones, where it is explicitly expressed via the syntax of [[subordination (linguistics)|subordination]].

In [[spoken language]], this continuance from sentence to sentence is supported by [[intonation (linguistics)|intonation]] and timing ([[rhythm]], [[pausa|pause]]). While details may differ among different languages and cultures, generally similar musicality and shortness of pauses indicate the continuation, while the change of tone and longer pause generally indicate the transition to
another connected group of ideas.

In storytelling, storytellers utilize paratactic or [[Syntaxis|syntactic]] styles. Parataxis is common among oral storytellers. When telling a story orally, there are many inconsistencies because of the lack of a written-down, word-for-word, multiply-checked draft. However, audiences do not set out to compare the stories word for word and are only interested in the main points of the story.<ref name=":1" />