Redundancy (linguistics)

For other uses, see Redundancy.
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In linguistics, a redundancy is information that is expressed more than once.[1][2]

Examples of redundancies include multiple agreement features in morphology,[1] multiple features distinguishing phonemes in phonology,[2] or the use of multiple words to express a single idea in rhetoric.[1] For instance, while the previous sentence is grammatically correct and uses words appropriately, its rhetorical structure contains unnecessary repetitions and could be revised as, "Linguistic redundancy is regarded as having more than one: agreement feature in morphology; phoneme distinguishing feature in phonology; or word to express a single idea in rhetoric." as a clear, concise, and redundancy-free way to express the original concept.

  1. ^ a b c Bussmann, Hadumod (2006). Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. Routledge. pp. 399–400. ISBN 978-1-134-63038-7.
  2. ^ a b Crystal, David (2009). Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 406–407. ISBN 978-1-4443-0278-3.