Ellipsis (figure of speech)

In linguistics, the ellipsis (from the Greek ἔλλειψις, élleipsis, "omission") or elliptical construction is a rhetorical figure consisting of the omission of one or more words in a clause that, although necessary for correct grammatical construction, are understood from the context. There are numerous types of ellipses recognized in theoretical syntax.

Examples

I wore the flowers and they, the incense.

In this verse the verb 'to carry' is omitted: I carried the flowers and they carried the incense.

Felix sang a romantic song and his friends, some boleros.

In this verse the verb 'to sing' is omitted: Félix sang a romantic song and his friends sang some boleros.

(Original text)

With these and other laws and statutes
we keep and live joyful;
We are lords of the fields, of the sown,
of the forest, of the mountains, of the fountains, of the rivers;
the mountains offer us wood of baldness; the trees, fruits;

vineyards, grapes.

(Text without ellipsis)

With these and other laws and statutes
we keep and live joyful;
We are lords of the fields, of the sown,
of the forest, of the mountains, of the fountains, of the rivers;
the mountains offer us wood of baldness; the trees They offer us fruits;

the vineyards They offer us grapes.

Miguel de Cervantes

The incessant repetition of "they offer us" it is annoying, but thanks to the ellipsis the reading becomes more fluid without losing its meaning.

According to certain manuals, all these examples are not examples of ellipsis, but of silepsis: according to this, ellipsis occurs when the verb has not been mentioned before in the sentence. This was so common in Latin that the verb to be was often omitted from sentences. If the verb was mentioned before, as in the examples above, then the figure would not be called an ellipsis, but a silepsis (note that the RAE does not register this meaning of the word silepsis).