Epanalepsis

The epanalepsis is a figure of speech defined by the repetition of the initial word (or words) of a clause or sentence at the end of that same clause or sentence. The beginning and the end are the two positions of stronger emphasis in a sentence; so, by having the same phrase in both places, the speaker calls special attention to it. Nested double-epanalepses form another figure of speech, which is called an antimetabole.

Examples

• The king is dead, long live the king.
• Severe to his servants, to his children severe.
• 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. - Their Eyes Were Watching God ( Zora Neale Hurston)
• Beloved is mine; she is Beloved.
• Blow winds and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow! —Shakespeare, King Lear, 3.2.1
• Nice to see you, to see you, nice. - Bruce Forsyth

Etymology

From the Greek ἐπανάληψις, epanálēpsis, literally meaning "repetition, resumption, taking up again".

See also

• Anaphora (rhetoric)
• Anadiplosis
• Figure of speech

References

• Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920). Greek Grammar. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. p. 673. ISBN 0-674-36250-0. 

External links

• Audio illustrations of epanalepsis