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Horror aequi

Horror aequi,[a] or avoidance of identity,[2]: 100  is a linguistic principle that language users have psychological[3]: 266  or physiological[1]: 51  motives or limits on cognitive planning[1]: 51  to avoid repetition of identical linguistic structures.

The term originated in 1909 in Karl Brugmann,[4]: 219  who used it to explain dissimilation,[3]: 266  the tendency for similar consonants or vowels in a word to become less similar,[5]: 146  which can often be chalked up to simply "euphony".[4]: 219  Today, however, the term is usually applied instead to grammatical elements or structures.[4]: 219 

One of the most widely cited definitions[6]: 39 [7]: 71  is that of Günter Rohdenburg: "the horror aequi principle involves the widespread (and presumably universal) tendency to avoid the use of formally (near-)identical and (near-)adjacent (non-coordinate) grammatical elements or structures."[8]: 205 

In the study of phonology, such avoidance falls under the obligatory contour principle,[2]: 100  which holds that certain consecutive identical sounds are not permitted[9][10]: 383–84  (such as in Mandarin Chinese, where two third tones are not used consecutively[11]: 104 ).

The term horror aequi is sometimes extended to the stylistic preference to avoid repeating the same word in a given text.[12]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Baumann was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Levshina was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Malkiel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Berlage was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brugmann was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Szmrecsanyi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Iyeiri was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rohdenburg2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Leben was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference McCarthy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sheldon was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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