Apposition vs. juxtaposition

Question

Example:

He is G. Bush, the President of the United states. (G.Bush=the President of the U.S i.e. apposition)

Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, Toyota, Honda are the mainstream brands. (Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, Toyota, Honda are all different companies i.e. juxtaposition)

Then in this sentence:

To the Japanese, a 'foreign culture' has always represented something elegant and superior to their own, a pleasant ornament to wear, a useful accessory to adopt.

what is the grammatical relation between something elegant and superior to their own, a pleasant ornament to wear, and a useful accessory to adopt? Apposition or juxtaposition?

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi Taka,
To me, this is a tricky question, especially since my dictionary gives 'juxtaposition' as a meaning of 'apposition'.
Here are some thoughts.

Apposition
Words placed together to qualify or explain the first word.
My friend, a teacher, ....
Bozo the clown

Juxtaposition
Words placed together to highlight a contrast.
My friend, my enemy, ...

I tend to think juxtaposition is a form of apposition used to contrast.
By this definition, your sentence about foreign cultures uses apposition, but not the contrasting or juxtaposing kind.

I would say your list of car manufacturers is neither apposition nor juxtaposition, it's just a list, and as such the last item should be preceded by 'and'.

I might be wrong here. Others may offer you a much better explanation.

Best wishes,
Clive

Taka · Answer

I didn't mean such contrast, Clive. I should have said 'a series of items' for the second one, as you say. Sorry about the confusion.

Now, isn't there any possibility that they are just a series of items? Or are they in apposition?

Clive · Answer

Hi,

To the Japanese, a 'foreign culture' has always represented something elegant and superior to their own, a pleasant ornament to wear, a useful accessory to adopt.

OK, I hope I understand now.
To me, this is not a list for the grammatical reason that the last item is not preceded by 'and'. This signals to me that the writer is intending apposition.
The meaning also suggests apposition to me, although it could easily be put in list form and there wouldn't be a lot of change in the meaning.

Consider;
A. He is my husband, friend, father of my children.
B. He is my husband, friend and father of my children.
To me, 'A' signals a closer connection.
As regards usage, we write a lot more in style 'B' than style 'A'. 'A' sounds literary and 'higher style'.

As I said, others may offer other views.
Clive

Taka · Answer

0 Clive. 01blockquote

00 To me, this is not a list for the grammatical reason that the last item is not preceded by 'and'. 12blockquote

12br
02br
00Are you saaying that a series of items 01b00 has to 02b00 end with 'and item x'? I thought 'and' was the signal of the end of the series, which means 'there is noting more.' 02br
02br
00Example: 01blockquote

00 There were Taka, Clieve, and MrP in the room. (Only three people there. No more). 12br
10Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, Toyota, Honda are the mainstream brands. (Those five companies are not the only ones. There may be more. They are just examples). 12blockquote

10 0-

Clive · Answer

0 Hi, 02br
00Any list should end with 'and (last item)'. (Or other words depending on the syntax, eg 'or') 02br
01blockquote

00Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, Toyota, Honda are the mainstream brands. (Those five companies are not the only ones. There may be more. They are just examples).12blockquote

12br
02br
00You need to say '.... and Honda are ...'. 02br
00A list is a list. If you want to qualify or describe the list in some way, you need to explain in words. eg 02br
00Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, Toyota and Honda are some of the mainstream brands. 02br
00Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, Toyota and Honda are examples of the mainstream brands. 02br
02br
00Best wishes, 02br
00Clive 0-

Woodcutter · Answer

0 I'm not sure "and" is the point here. Adding an "and" will not make this sound like a plausible list. The items sound like the same thing described in different ways. 0-

Clive · Answer

0 Hi Woodcutter, 02br
00I don't understand. Would you say 'Tom, Mary, John came to class'? They are different entities, as are Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, Toyota and Honda. 02br
00Clive 0-

Woodcutter · Answer

0 The lack of 'and' is an indication of apposition, as you say. However, I think you could add 'and' and the sentence would still read like apposition. 0-

Clive · Answer

0 Hi Guys, 02br
00I think there's a difference between apposition and a list of 'characteristics' that all describe the same thing. Compare: 02br
00A. 'She is my wife, my friend.' 02br
00B. 'She is my wife and my friend.' 02br
00It's a fairly subtle difference, but to me, as I said earlier, 'A' signals a closer connection between the two words. 02br
02br
00In addition, there are cases where apposition and a simple list can result in different meanings. 02br
00C. 'I met my friend, Tom.' (means I met one person) 02br
00D. 'I met my friend and Tom.' (means I met two people) 02br
02br
00So, if we go back to the original sentence 01blockquote

00To the Japanese, a 'foreign culture' has always represented something elegant and superior to their own, a pleasant ornament to wear, a useful accessory to adopt. 12blockquote

12br
00I see this as apposition intended by the writer, but if he had added 'and' at the end, the meaning would not have been been greatly changed. 02br
02br
00Taka, once again I'm not sure if I'm answering the question that you have in mind. 02br
00Also, you were surprised by what I said earlier about lists. Do you have any more concerns about that? 02br
00Best wishes, 02br
00Clive 0-

CalifJim · Answer

0 To me, apposition is a means of 01u00explaining02u00 or 01u00identifying02u00 the preceding item. 02br
02br
00Bush is identified as the President of the United States. 02br
02br
00Chevrolet does not explain or identify Ford, and so on, down the list. 02br
02br
00The items in the sentence under consideration ("To the Japanese, ...") do not in any way identify or explain one another. This is clearly juxtaposition in my opinion. 02br
02br
00CJ 0-

Apposition vs. juxtaposition

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