polyptoton
- noun
- /ˌpɒlɪpˈtoʊtən/
- Literature
:
poliptoton
- Shakespeare emphasizes these points by polyptoton (blood, bloody) and alliterative consonance (shaft, shot, shift, and perhaps also safest): PREFORMATTED TABLE COMPLEX ALLITERATION
- using polyptoton
Examples
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The phrase 'A rise in rising prices' is a simple illustration of polyptoton, where the repetition of the root word highlights its various grammatical forms.
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In another example, an inner pair of near alliterative consonances seems framed by an outer pair of words making a polyptoton.
Academic text (1997) -
Polyptoton is one common figure of repetition.
Academic text (1997) -
This example also seems to illustrate the playfulness with which Shakespeare often uses polyptoton.
Academic text (1997) -
Such a repetition of a word with grammatical and etymological variations is the classical rhetorical scheme, polyptoton.
Academic text (1991) -
In yet another example, Shakespeare uses polyptoton and a triple alliteration, with a third word (come) that is etymologically unrelated, but nonetheless closely echoes the related pair: PREFORMATTED TABLE
Academic text (1997) -
In the phrase 'With weeping we lament, and with lamenting we weep,' the use of polyptoton showcases the power of repetition in language.
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The poet's use of polyptoton in 'I dreamed a dream' emphasizes the different nuances of the word dream within the same sentence.
Synonyms
To use words with the same root close together to make writing sound stronger
Repeating a word or short phrase in a sentence to add emphasis
Surface Forms
Morphology
polyptoton = poly + ptoton
Although poly- meaning 'many' is recognizable, the remaining element is a learned Greek form that most English learners would not know, so the word is not transparently compositional.
Etymology
Polyptoton comes from Greek parts poly- ('many') and -ptoton (a root meaning 'forms'), so it means using 'many forms' of the same word, as in 'love, loved, loving', to make a point.
