Epanalepsis (from the
Greek , ''epanálēpsis'' "repetition, resumption, taking up again") is the repetition of the initial part of a
clause
In language, a clause is a constituent that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject and a syntactic predicate, the latter typically a verb phrase composed of a verb w ...
or sentence at the end of that same clause or sentence.
The beginning and the end of a sentence are two positions of
emphasis, so special attention is placed on the phrase by repeating it in both places. Nested double-epanalepses are
antimetabole
In rhetoric, antimetabole ( ) is the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in transposed order; for example, "I know what I like, and I like what I know". It is related to, and sometimes considered a special case of, chiasmus.
An antimet ...
s.
Examples
*
The king is dead; long live the king!
* History is ours and people make history. —
Salvador Allende
* They bowed down to him rather, because he was all of these things, and then again he was all of these things because the town bowed down. —
Zora Neale Hurston, ''
Their Eyes Were Watching God
''Their Eyes Were Watching God'' is a 1937 novel by American writer Zora Neale Hurston. It is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance, and Hurston's best known work. The novel explores main character Janie Crawford's "ripening from a vi ...
''
* Beloved is mine; she is Beloved. —
Toni Morrison, ''
Beloved
Beloved may refer to:
Books
* ''Beloved'' (novel), a 1987 novel by Toni Morrison
* ''The Beloved'' (Faulkner novel), a 2012 novel by Australian author Annah Faulkner
*''Beloved'', a 1993 historical romance about Zenobia, by Bertrice Small
Film ...
''
* Blow winds and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow! —
Shakespeare, ''
King Lear'', 3.2.1
* Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; — Shakespeare, ''
Henry V Henry V may refer to:
People
* Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026)
* Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125)
* Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161)
* Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227)
* Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...
'', 3.1.1
* Last things first; the slow haul to forgive them ... a telling figure out of rhetoric, , epanalepsis, the same word first and last. —
Geoffrey Hill, ''The Triumph of Love'', Section X
* Nice to see you, to see you, nice. —
Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was a British entertainer and presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series ''Sunday Nigh ...
(As a phrase repeated but inverted, this is also an example of
antimetabole
In rhetoric, antimetabole ( ) is the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in transposed order; for example, "I know what I like, and I like what I know". It is related to, and sometimes considered a special case of, chiasmus.
An antimet ...
.)
See also
*
Anaphora (rhetoric)
In rhetoric, an anaphora (, "carrying back") is a rhetorical device that consists of repeating a sequence of words at the beginnings of neighboring clauses, thereby lending them emphasis. In contrast, an epistrophe (or epiphora) is repeating ...
*
Anadiplosis
Anadiplosis ( ; el, ἀναδίπλωσις, ''anadíplōsis'', "a doubling, folding up") is the repetition of the last word of a preceding clause. The word is used at the end of a sentence and then used again at the beginning of the next sentence ...
*
Figure of speech
A figure of speech or rhetorical figure is a word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use in order to produce a rhetorical effect. Figures of speech are traditionally classified into '' schemes,'' which vary the ordinary ...
Footnotes
External links
Audio illustrations of epanalepsis
Figures of speech
Rhetoric
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