Tournures

Tournures is a term used in linguistics and literary analysis to refer to the manner in which words are arranged to form a sentence or expression—the overall phrasing or construction that gives a text its characteristic style. The word is often translated into English as “turn of phrase” or “wording,” and it encompasses both set expressions and syntactic patterns.

The concept is broader than individual words: it includes idiomatic expressions, fixed phrases, and the specific sentence structure that shapes tone, formality, and rhythm. In this sense, tournures can be idiomatic (such as common phrases that carry meaning beyond their literal words) or constructive (such as syntactic possibilities like inversion, fronting, or the use of cleft constructions). Because tournures influence readability and tone, writers and editors consider them when shaping voice or translating texts.

In practice, tournures are analyzed to understand a language’s stylistic options and to compare translations or adaptations. They can reflect register (formal versus informal), genre conventions, and historical usage. For example, inversion or fronting can create emphasis or a lyrical cadence, while a colloquial tournure may convey immediacy or conversational tone. Fixed tournures, such as proverbial expressions or established collocations, contribute to language rhythm and recognizability.

Examples of common tournures include syntactic patterns like subject-auxiliary inversion in questions or fronted adverbials for emphasis, as well as idiomatic expressions that cannot be understood by literal translation. Preserving a text’s original tournures is often important in translation to maintain tone, style, and intent.

See also: turn of phrase, idiom, syntax.