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Q&A Language specific rhetorical devices and their influence on non-English native writers [closed]

NOTE: I've heavily rephrased the original question in a last attempt to clarify it. Background to the question While studying Portuguese literature in secondary school, one learns several rhetori...

1 answer  ·  posted 8y ago by SC for reinstatement of Monica‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T06:01:49Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/26405
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar SC for reinstatement of Monica‭ · 2019-12-08T06:01:49Z (almost 5 years ago)
NOTE: I've heavily rephrased the original question in a last attempt to clarify it.

**Background to the question**

While studying Portuguese literature in secondary school, one learns several rhetorical devices, which include figures of speech and other devices. Within these 'other devices', one learns the 'double adverbiation' and the 'triple adverbiation' (to my knowledge, the term 'adverbiation' doesn't exist in English). These devices consist in using two / three adverbs in a row. The phrase typically includes an asyndeton and can further include a gradation. It was famously used by the Portuguese writer Eça de Queirós, in the 19th century, and it is yet to lose its rhetorical punch.

When students are requested to write short fictional or non-fictional texts, they are often encouraged (if they have a good teacher) to use at least a few rhetorical devices, whether figures or not.

Examples of the double and triple adverbiation:

> John breathed deeply, voluptuosly.
> 
> Annabel smiled rigidly, frigidly, listlessly.

I personaly use adverbiation while writing in Portuguese. When I started writing in English, I found the triple adverbiation sounded odd, but kept using the double one. My beta at the time (no literature studies or knowledge of rhetorical devices besides the eventual 'comparison' and 'repetition of x') told me straight off not to use two adverbs in a row (and added the clichéd 'avoid adverbs as much as possible'). She said it would always sound wrong to have two -ly ending adverbs put together. Point taken.

Therefore, I may write...

> Annabel speared the meat, fast and relentlessly.

But never...

> Annabel speared the meat, quickly and relentlessly.

Another curiosity is that when I do use double adverbiation in English, the asyndeton often seems to disrupt the rhythm of the phrase, whereas it would strengthen the rhythm of a Portuguese sentence. So, again, the double adverbiation, when used in English, has different characteristics.

**Question**

There are plenty of non-native English speakers who try their hand at writing a novel in English. Assuming that:

1. they have a good control over rhetorical devices as they learnt them in their native language
2. they are fluent speakers of English (even if some idioms and some advanced vocabulary may still elude them)
3. they consciously use rhetorical devices in their English writing 

**Is there at least one specific rhetorical device in any language other than Portuguese that is not (usually) used in the English language?**

I am not looking for solutions, since solutions are simply to, first, be aware of the pitfall and, secondly, get an _English_ book explaining rhetorical devices and go through each one of them analysing the examples to see how they are similar and/or different to one's native language.

What I am looking for is at least one example as the triple adverbiation from other languages that not Portuguese so that I can use them in my 'writers' group' in order to widen one's cultural horizons.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-01-31T06:20:05Z (almost 8 years ago)
Original score: 2