Linguistic Phenomenons in "Syrinx" by Amy Clampitt

The English language is a complex machine built from many other languages and thousands of rules. Normally, these rules are found to be sound in most aspects of writing and speaking. However, when it comes to poetry, many of these rules are thrown out the window and replaced with other rules that better bring out the meaning of the poem. In the poem "Syrinx" by Amy Clampitt, morphological, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic phenomenon is used to better bring out the meaning of her poem.

Amy Clampitt uses morphological phenomenons widely within her poem, "Syrinx." Morphological phenomenons are "the study of the structure of words" (Fromkin 553). One part in particular that stands out as a morphological process is in the beginning of her poem. Amy Clampitt uses assonance in the lines "as a finger to articulate what ails it, the Aeolian syrinx" (Amy Clampitt 5-7). This morphological process creates internal rhyming within the poem; which increases the flow of the poem. The repeated /e/ sound lets readers quickly, efficiently, and smoothly read the poem. Though the morphological phenomenons may not seem important characteristics of the poem at first glance, these morphological phenomenons actually very important. This poem is not a typical poem in the ways of rhyming, alliteration, or consonance. Since these do not show up widely in this poem, this use of assonance and morphological phenomenons brings the poem together in a way that helps it read as a poem instead of a short anecdote.

This poem cannot only rely on morphological phenomenons, since it does not have an abundance of it. To help the poems meaning and smoothness, it adds linguistic phenomenons beyond morphological phenomenons, such as syntactic phenomenons. Syntactic phenomenons are "the component of the mental grammar that represents speakers' knowledge of the structure of phrases and sentences" (Fromkin 562). When you read this poem quickly, it is very interesting that most of it actually reads as normal sentences and can be understood quite easily. As far as poetry goes, I have not seen a lot of that. But, toward the end of the poem it veers from this path of Subject-Verb-Object, and decides to make a new sentence. The poem takes out the sentence of the poem entirely, and makes a sentence that is Verb-Object. "Can be thought of (is thought of by some) as a higher form of expression" is a very unique sentence within this poem of complete sentences that follow the normal Subject-Verb-Object word order (Clampitt 21-23). The poem does this to enhance the meaning of this sentence within the poem. It makes the reader think about what the poem is actually getting at, because the poem is inferring the subject of the poem through the Verb-Object. It enhances the poem in a way that normal texts cannot.

"Syrinx" also expresses semantic phenomenons. These phenomenons deals with the "properties that are part of word meanings and that reflect our intuitions about what words mean" (Fromkin 192). These phrases can also be expressed as metaphors sometimes. "Syrinx" begins with a metaphor. "Like a foghorn that's all lung, the wind chine that's all percussion" (Clampitt 1-2). This is a metaphor because it is comparing the properties of foghorns and wind chimes to a bird's syrinx. This helps the poem express its meaning by describing the subject of the poem. Since some people are not familiar with a syrinx, myself included, it helps enlighten readers and specifically describes what they are reading about.

Finally, this poem expresses pragmatic phenomenon. Pragmatic phenomenons are "the interpretations of linguistic meaning in context" (Fromkin 199). Other major pragmatic phenomenons are deictic expressions. Though I found "Syrinx" to be mostly non-ambiguous, I did find a deictic expression. About halfway through the poem, the author describes the use of syntax. As a side note she adds, "is thought of by some," which is a deictic expression (Clampitt 22-23). This is a deictic expression because we do not know who some is referring to. It could be upper class, working class, bird watchers, etc. We do not know, so we just have to make our own interpretation. This deictic expression helps the poem by giving it room for interpretation. It lets the reader decide who these people are who think syntax is a "high form of expression" (Clampitt 24).

This poem used many linguistic phenomenons to bring the poem to life. These include morphological phenomenons, semantic phenomenons and pragmatic phenomenons. Though all of these phenomenons may seem hidden at first, with some careful reading and interpretation, this poem thrives.