Noun phrases

149

There may be no end to wars and tumults among the nations; there may be no end to destructions of lives and property; there may be no end to shamelessness, foolishness and ignorance; there may be no end to the culture of impunity; there may be no end to armed robbery and such destructive tendencies, yes, there will be no end to the troubles and cares of our lives until we live lives of love or allow love to influence the principles of our existence. (TML, pp44-45)

The parallel syntactic structures in the above text are:

150 v. the culture of impunity

vi. armed robbery and such destructive tendencies viii. the troubles and cares of our lives

In the above parallel structures, the first group, that is, main clauses are initiated by the same lexical items there may be no end to and exhibit the same syntactic patternthere + verb + complement + conditional. The pattern is repeated seven times. The second group of parallel structures which areconditional clauses are initiated by adverb of time and have the same pattern Adverbial + Subject + Verb + Complement.The pattern is repeated three times. Then the third group, noun phrases, occur in the same paradigm of nominal group and occupy the same syntactic slot as complements. The main clauses express the problems of life that will continue to follow lack of love. The propositions start as probabilities and end as a certainty.

The first main clause serves as the thesis; it governs the other clauses which serve as its development. The bishop does not just want to stop at saying many problems. He goes further to explore instances of the problems in other clauses for the purpose of foregrounding his message in the minds of the faithful so as to drive home to them the enormity of the problems to which there would be no end without love. The conditional clauses embody the conditions that will either avert the problems or bring them to pass, that is, the presence or absence of love. The noun phrases constitute the problems of life to which the bishops see no end without love. The bishop has deployed these parallel structures for emphasis to ensure proper understanding of his message of love. The six-time repetition of the expression there may be no end to, which is a restatement of there may be no easy solution to, is aimed at emphasising and foregrounding the consequences of lack of love so as to drive home to the faithful the message of love.

Again, in text 72 below, the idea of fear as the opposite of faith is foregroundedthrough syntactic parallelism to ensure easy grasp of the message of faith by the audience.

Understanding the message is a step towards its acceptance.

Text 72:

Indeed we have many fears: we fear evil spirits and evil men; we fear witches and wizards; we fear ghosts and goblins; we fear sorcerers and medicine men; we fear pain, sickness and suffering; we fear childlessness and lack of male children; finally we fear death. (LTF, p.33)

151 In the text above,the parallel structures are:

I. Main clauses: Subject + verb + complement i. we fear evil spirits and evil men

ii. we fear witches and wizards iii. we fear ghosts and goblins

iv. we fear sorcerers and medicine men v. we fear pain, sickness and suffering

vi. we fear childlessness and lack of male children vii. (finally) we fear death. (LTF, p.33)

II. Noun phrases i. evil spirits and evil men ii. witches and wizards iii. ghosts and goblins

iv. sorcerers and medicine men v. pain, sickness and suffering

vi. childlessness and lack of male children

In the parallel structures above, the first group are clauses. They are initiated by the same lexical items we fear, and exhibit the same syntactic pattern Subject + verb + complement which is repeated seven times. These clauses are an elaboration of the many fears mentioned in the leading clause Indeed we have many fears. The bishop chooses to give instances of these fears in the subsequent clauses so as foreground their enormity and bring the message home to the faithful. The second group of parallel structures are noun phrases. They all belong to the same paradigm of nominal group and occupy the same syntactic slot as complements. They are the objects of the fears themselves and constitute semantic compounds (Yankson, 1987). The essence of the parallel structures is to bring to the consciousness of the faithful the magnitude of their fears which affect their faith as Christians. By this emphasis, the bishop hopes to create a proper understanding of the message of faith to facilitate positive response from the audience.

The message of loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church is emphasised in text 73 to ensure good understanding which is a prerequisite to persuasion.

152 Text 73:

I believe in theHolyCatholic Church. I believe in the Church founded on Peter. I believe in the Church which has remained faithful to the patrimony of Peter. That Church called by the Fathers, the Catholic Church, is the object of my faith. (FFF, p.28)

The above text contains the following parallel structures:

1. Subject +Verb+Complement

i. I believe in the Holy Catholic Church.

ii. I believe in the Church founded on Peter.

iii. I believe in the Church which has remained faithful to the patrimony of Peter.

2. Complement:

i. the Holy Catholic Church.

ii. the Church founded on Peter.

iii. the Church which has remained faithful to the patrimony of Peter.

The first group of parallel structures are sentences with the syntactic patternSubject +Verb+

Complement, which is repeated three times. They express the bishop‘s belief in the Roman Catholic Church. The second group are noun phrases which are expressed in different forms, and function as complements. They are the object of the bishop‘s belief. The bishop foregrounds the theme of loyalty to the Church through these parallel structures. By repeatedly confessing his belief in the Church, he hopes to drive home to his audience this message of loyalty, and persuade them to react appropriately.

In text 74, the theme of Christianity as a practical faith is foregrounded through the use of syntactic parallelism.

Text 74:

Theirs was a community under obedience and willingly learning in trust and belief the teachings of the apostles.

Theirs was a community where brotherly love (Philadelphia) thrived. Theirs was a community of prayer, and constant prayer meetings in the temple and in the homes. Theirs was a reverent society living in an awe of the sacredness that was their faith and hope. Theirs was a community of sharing benefits and burdens without deceptive exploitations and lies. Theirs was a community of worship and praise to God for his goodness. Theirs

153

was a community of miracles both by God directly and through them (Acts 2:4-7) (OEO, p.10)

In the text above, the parallel structures are: