It contrasts with periphrasis, aureation and pleonasm. Additional tenses can be formed through periphrasis. Ptolemy does not use the term "Transjordan", but rather the periphrasis "across the Jordan". While periphrasis concerns all categories of syntax, it is most visible with verb catenae. Periphrasis is a characteristic of analytic languages, which tend to avoid inflection. Other languages employ periphrasis, with control verbs, idiomatic expressions or auxiliary verbs.