Figures of repetition
Repetition is a major rhetorical strategy for producing emphasis, clarity, amplification, or emotional effect. Within the history of rhetoric terms have been developed to name both general and very specific sorts of repetition. Repetition is used whenever you want to add emphasis, so may be found in any and every part of a legal argument, so it is a good one to know.
General Terms for Repetition
Conduplicatio
Ploce
Repetition of letters, syllables, sounds
Alliteration- repetition of the same sound at the beginning of two or more stressed syllables.
Assonance-repetition of similar vowel sounds, preceded and followed by different consonants, in the stressed syllables of adjacent words.
Consonance- the repetition of consonants in words stressed in the same place (but whose vowels differ). Also, a kind of inverted alliteration, in which final consonants, rather than initial or medial ones, repeat in nearby words.
Homoioptoton- the repetition of similar case endings in adjacent words or in words in parallel position.
Homoioteleuton-similarity of endings of adjacent or parallel words.
Paroemion-alliteration taken to an extreme — every word in a sentence begins with the same consonant.(rhetorical vice - to be avoided)
Paromoiosis-parallelism of sound between the words of adjacent clauses whose lengths are equal or approximate to one another. The combination of isocolon and assonance.
Repetition of words:
Adnominatio (When synonymous with polyptoton) Repeating a word, but in a different form. Using a cognate of a given word in close proximity.
Anadiplosis-the repetition of the last word of one clause or sentence at the beginning of the next.
Anaphora -repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines.
Antanaclasis -the repetition of a word whose meaning changes in the second instance.
Antistasis-the repetition of a word in a contrary sense. Often, simply synonymous with antanaclasis.
Conduplicatio-the repetition of a word or words in adjacent phrases or clauses, either to amplify the thought or to express emotion.
Diacope-repetition of a word with one or more between, usually to express deep feeling.
Diaphora-repetition of a common name so as to perform two logical functions: to designate an individual and to signify the qualities connoted by that individual's name or title.
Epanalepsis-repetition at the end of a line, phrase, or clause of the word or words that occurred at the beginning of the same line, phrase, or clause.
Epistrophe-ending a series of lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences with the same word or words. The opposite of anaphora.
Epizeuxis-repetition of words with no others between.
Mesarchia- the repetition of the same word or words at the beginning and middleof successive sentences.
Mesodiplosis- repetition of the same word or words in the middle of successive sentences.
Palilogia -Repetition of the same word, with none between, for vehemence. Synonym for epizeuxis.
Paregmenon-a general term for the repetition of a word or its cognates in a short sentence.
Ploce-a general term for the repetition of a word for rhetorical emphasis.
Polyptoton-repeating a word, but in a different form. Using a cognate of a given word in close proximity.
Polysyndeton-employing many conjunctions between clauses.
Symploce-the combination of anaphora and epistrophe: beginning a series of lines, clauses, or sentences with the same word or phrase while simultaneously repeating a different word or phrase at the end of each element in this series.
Repetition of clauses and phrases
Anaphora-repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines.
Coenotes- repetition of two different phrases: one at the beginning and the other at the end of successive paragraphs. A specific kind of symploce.
Epistrophe-repetition at the end of a line, phrase, or clause of the word or words that occurred at the beginning of the same line, phrase, or clause.
Isocolon-a series of similarly structured elements having the same length. The length of each member is repeated in parallel fashion.
Mesarchia-the repetition of the same word or words at the beginning and middleof successive sentences.
Mesodiplosis-repetition of the same word or words in the middle of successive sentences.
Repotia-the repetition of a phrase with slight differences in style, diction, tone, etc.
Repetition of ideas
Commoratio -dwelling on or returning to one's strongest argument.
Disjunctio- a similar idea is expressed with different verbs in successive clauses.
Epanodos-repeating the main terms of an argument in the course of presenting it.
Epimone-persistent repetition of the same plea in much the same words.
Exergasia-augmentation by repeating the same thought in many figures.
Expolitio-repetition of the same idea, changing either its words, its delivery, or the general treatment it is given.
Homiologia-tedious and inane repetition. Unvaried style. (avoid)
Hypozeuxis-opposite of zeugma. Every clause has its own verb.
Palilogia-repetition in order to increase general fullness or to communicate passion.
Pleonasmus-use of more words than is necessary semantically. Rhetorical repetition that is grammatically superfluous.
Scesis onomaton-a series of successive, synonymous expressions.
Synonymia-the use of several synonyms together to amplify or explain a given subject or term. A kind of repetition that adds force.
Tautologia-the repetition of the same idea in different words, but (often) in a way that is wearisome or unnecessary.
Traductio-repeating the same word variously throughout a sentence or thought.
Acknowledgement
The above information on individual rhetorical techniques is reproduced from the website “Silva Rhetoricae” (www.rhetoric.byu.edu ) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Credit for this content lies with Professor Gideon O Burton of Brigham Young University.