Is this a syntax? (quote from "Why Can't We Wait")?

Question

This quote is from the book "Why Can't We Wait" by Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Why did a thousand cities shudder almost simultaneously and why did the whole world--in gleaming capitals and mud-hut villages--hold its breath during those months?"

Is this sentence a syntax?

I feel that King uses these "--" in this sentence to kind of mimic what he is trying to say by the way he describes the capitals and mud-hut villages to be "holding its breath". When using these "--" readers are to pause a bit and continue reading, thats why I feel that the sentence is structured this way purposely to mimic what he is trying to say into the sentence.

What do you think?

Answer 1

Well, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing sentences in natural languages. A hyphen in English is used to create a pause and/or an extension of meaning-- a refining of meaning-- or a definition. You ask if the sentence is syntax. All sentences can be analyzed in terms of syntax. Your question is what syntax King is using in terms of the use of a hyphen. Look up hyphen and proceed accordingly, as to whether it has been used appropriately or not.

Answer 2

you're right, but i think that's called something. syntax is just how the words are arranged, so technically any sentence is a "syntax". there's different rhetorical techniques though, which is what you seem to be thinking of. like the villages holding their breath is personification