perifrastiska

Perifrastiska, or periphrastic, constructions are linguistic forms that express grammatical information using multiple words rather than a single inflected form. The term covers both grammatical usage in which meaning is conveyed through auxiliary verbs, particles, or separate words, and rhetorical usage that achieves effect through circumlocution. Periphrasis contrasts with synthetic or inflectional forms, where a single word or affix carries the grammatical meaning.

Grammatical periphrasis is common across languages and can mark tense, aspect, mood, voice, or modality. For example, in English the present progressive “I am eating” uses the auxiliary am plus the present participle to indicate ongoing action, a periphrastic aspect. The periphrastic future can be formed with “will” or “going to,” as in “I will go” or “I am going to go.” The passive voice frequently relies on a form of the auxiliary be plus a past participle, as in “The ball was thrown.” Perfect aspect is often expressed with have plus a past participle, as in “I have eaten.” Do-support constructions used to form questions or negations in the present simple (as in “Do you know?”) are another example of periphrasis in action.

Rhetorical periphrasis, or circumlocution, uses multiple words to describe or substitute for a term, often for stylistic or humorous effect, such as referring to the sea as “the deep blue waters” or to a well-known person through descriptive phrasing.

Perifrastiska är vanliga i många språk och kan utvecklas när inflectioner försvagas eller när nya analytiska mönster blir produktiva. De ger flexibilitet i uttryck av tidsförändringar, aspekt och röst samt möjliggör nyanser och stilistiska variationer.